Help...Grand Cayman Stingray City

[mdvasquez]

Getting ready for my cruise in October and need help deciding. Not sure if I should go on the Stingray City Snorkel Tour or the Stingray City Reef Sail & Snorkel. Anyone ever been on and can tell me the difference? Also looking into the Aquaboat & Snorkel Adventure. Would love comments on all. THANKS.

 

[jeanneg]

I booked the short stingray trip with Captain Marvin this past July and loved it. It was 2 1/2 to 3 hours and was just the right length of time for me. Capt Marvin's is a real class operation. They are less expensive than Disney and will not charge you if the ship doesn't make it into port. We visited Stingray City and then another location for snorkeling. Swimming with the stingrays was definitely the highlight of my entire cruise. It is very scary, but a whole lot of fun. By the end of the trip, most of the people on our boat had touched and fed the stingrays. Be sure not to miss it!

 

[Marcotta]

We just got back yesterday from the Aug. 16th Western cruise and also did Stingray City through Capt. Marvin's. It was hysterical seeing the pre-panic jitters (my own included) but turned out to be one of the highlights of the cruise.

I would tell you NOT to miss it -- and to go through Capt. Marvin's as well

 

[ruvidu]

I agree with the previous 2 posters as well. You will save time and money by doing a little reasearch on line and booking your own excursions. Capt. Marvin's folks are first class all the way. It is only a short 3 block walk from the dock.
Russ

 

[Bobbimom23]

We went on the July 19 cruise and did the Stingray City Sail & Snorkel Excursion. It was wonderful. The boat was new, the staff was great and patient and informative. We had a lot of families on board and a few younger children (my son is 5) and they provided smaller snorkels & life jackets for the little ones. They even let my son "drive" the boat. There was a videographer on board (part of the boat staff) that video taped everything from our ride out to the reef, the snorkeling and even did underwater shots of sealife and the stingrays. The video was available for sale on Magic later that day.

There was free lemonade and snacks on board and they also had a cash bar for those that wanted something alcoholic.

I would highly recommend this excursion. Swimming with the stingrays was something we will never forget! BTW, we will probably do this again next year as we are booked for the July 17, 2004 cruise!!




Bobbi

 

[cruisnfamily]

We are booked on the "Island Tour and Snorkel with the Stingrays" for our cruise next month. Barb and Tony took this one and recommended it so we thought we'd try it. We like to do DCL tours.

 

[SeaSpray]

Who does Disney do their Stingray City tour through?? Or do they own their own boats for this excursion??

 

[Bobbimom23]

I can't remember who the company was that did our excursion. Disney does not do their own excursions, they only act as a booking agent for the company who actually does the excursion.

I did a lot of research on the excursions offered and in the long run, I decided that it would be less of a hassle if we just went ahead and did everything through Disney. We knew all of our transportation to and from the excursions would be arranged and taken care of, and that the excursion company probably had to meet certain Disney expectations in order to be an offering through them. To us, if it was a little more expensive, it was worth it, as we were on vacation and did not want to have to worry about the little things.


Bobbi

 

[Dreamer04]

I agree. I prefer DCL excursions for the same reasons. All the details are taken care of for me. I will say that I am planning on the Dolphin Discovery Cove excursion in Cozumel, but then I have to stop by Sally's Mini Golf...it sounds great. We are also planning on swimming with the stingrays on Grand Cayman, but I am a little confused. There seem to be several different options and I don't know which one would be best for myself, DH, DS14 and DD6. Any advice?

 

[Kabuli1]

It may be true in most cases that it is less bother to stick with DCL excursions, but Capt Marvins is just no bother and is tons less expensive. The staff was lovely, there was a videographer on board and refreshments and the boat was small and uncrowded andvery very clean. We had a blast. Our boat was almost entirely made up of DISers! For a lovely day with all the same amenities as the DCL sanctioned excursion, I was happy to save lots of $$ and enjoy a boat filled with my favorite DIS family!

It was also fun to get to know people who were visiting from resorts on the island and compare notes w/ those from other cruise ships!

Karyn

 

[kpros]

Don't forget Native Way Sports. We used them for our Sting Ray trip back in May. We had about 20 people on the boat (all from the Magic). They were on time and everything worked well. So take a look at them as well.

Ken

 

[cjsmith]

We used Captain Marvins for Stringray City in June and loved the experience! The service was great and our boat wasn't crowded at all. There was our party of 9 and another family of 4 from The Magic as well. The video that was taken on board is great, I'm so glad that I ordered it. I would use Captain Marvins all over again.