Nassau...Stingray excursions??

[nhmomx2]

Hello...well, we leave in about a month and are trying to decide a few things 1) do we do any excursion or stay on the boat (it's only a 3-Day and we're first timers ) or 2) do we opt for a stingray excursion (my parents are going and definitly want to do this). Follow up to #2 is...has anyone done one of the excursions. BTW...this would be the only excursion we would even consider in Nassau!!

DCL has Blackbeard's Cay Beach & Stingray Adventure listed and Dreams has Stingray City & Blue Lagoon Combo listed. I'm looking for detailed info on both of these if anyone could help. I'm curious also, I had thought that Stingray City was listed on the DCL site, but it's not there anymore

As a little FYI...we will be travelling with our DS (10), DD(7), my parents (72/70). Thanks so much for any and all info!!!

 

[shannon1219]

The Stingray city Blue Lagoon combo is not available anymore. That is what I was told when I tried to book it last night.

 

[pediatric-rnp]

We went on the Stingray City Blue Lagoon excursion last April - I would never do it again or recommend it to anyone. It was a horror show. The platform we stood on to get ready was wall to wall people - we couldn't have fit one more person on it if we tried. Everyone was uncomfortable trying to get their shorts, tops, etc off so they would be in just their bathing suits. Then, there was just one staircase for everyone to use to enter the water. There were many, many small children who were very afraid to enter the water - they clung to their parents, who remained on the bottom of the stairs, not moving. Parents were cajoling and yelling at their kids that "By God if I spent all this money, you are d**m well going in!" The staircase was too narrow to pass these people, so everyone had to wait. Once we finally were able to get into the water, it was difficult to get beyond everyone - I had several young children grab onto my arms/shoulders and thought for sure I was going to go under! I got out, and my DH and 2 teen DSs left early - it was just not worth it, but was a loss of $$ for us, as it was fairly expensive. MY older DS is a marine bio major in college, and I knew it had to be bad for him to want to leave early - he was so looking forward to this excursion.

There was another thread about this excursion awhile ago, and several others had the same experience we did. Blue Lagoon is beautiful, and has a nice beach, but the lunch included in your ticket is nothing much.

If DCL did stop this excursion, it may be due to complaints from others who had similar experiences.

 

[nhmomx2]

I suspected something like this (and I had thought I read something about damage from all the hurricanes?). Has anyone done Blackbeard's Cay Beach & Stingray excursion?

Thanks for the information!!!

 

[nhmomx2]

Just a bump to see if anyone else has any comments??

 

[Echo queen]

Hello, we dh and 2 ds 6 and 9 did black beards on 3/10/05 dcl. It was great, it was our only excursion for the trip as well. I would recc. it. If you look at my past posts I give a detailed description of what to expect. We booked onboard for next May and I will do this excurison if its availible.

Hava a great trip.
Here is my past post.
The adventure starts with a 20 min boat ride to the island. They welcome you to island and will announce when it's time for you to snorkel with the stingrays. You can snorkel with the stingrays for about an hour I'm guessing. I was there for about 30 mins, others stayed longer.
At around 12ish they let you know it's time for you to have lunch (burgers, hotdogs,chips). Shortley after lunch they annouce it's time to feed the stingrays.
You leave the island at 2pm. The beach is nice and clean, my boys age 6 and 9yrs made sand castles while my DH and I basked in the sun. This was a great adventure. We will definitly snorkel with the stingrays again.

Have a great trip.

 

[nhmomx2]

Hi Echo Queen...

I did see your post along with another post that didn't look too inviting. It mentioned less than stellar facilities and rude employees. Can you comment on that? Thanks, I appreciate your input! Have a great day.

 

[shep]

From what I've seen here, I think we're gonna book the stingray excursion when we go in May....

 

[Echo queen]

On the black beard cay there are no stairs or platforms. They have a corner of the beach roped off and secured where the stingrays are, you just walk into the water. It's great I tell ya. The employees were nice and helpful. It sounds like the blue lagoon is where people ran into these isssues.

Have a great day.

 

[shep]

Can you book this 90 days out if your trip is paid off??

 

[bkg100]

We just got back from our cruise yesterday and we had a great time at Blackbeard's Cay. The weather was great and the stingrays were fun. There was a lot of them. It was not crowded since we were on only boat there. The beach was great. The kids played on the beach and in the water all afternoon.

 

[nhmomx2]

Thank you all! It has now come down to this excursion or the catamaran & reef snorkeling excursion. Ohh...if only my father would make up his mind - lol! They are experienced cruisers and this will be our first one!