Stingray City- Capt. Marvin's, Capt. Bryans or DCL???

[karebear1]

I have already reserved this tour with DCL, but I was wondering if it would be unusually crowded to do this through the cruisline? Can anyone tell me what their experience was like if they reserved through DCL to do this? Were there so many people that you really didn't get any individual chances with the stingrays?

Wondering the same thing about the other two companies. How were the groupos of people you went with? Were they as big as DCL's??? Were you satisfied with the company you chose? Any feed back from people that have done this excursion would be appreciated.

 

[BobandLee]

Originally posted by karebear1
I have already reserved this tour with DCL, but I was wondering if it would be unusually crowded to do this through the cruisline? Can anyone tell me what their experience was like if they reserved through DCL to do this? Were there so many people that you really didn't get any individual chances with the stingrays?

Wondering the same thing about the other two companies. How were the groupos of people you went with? Were they as big as DCL's??? Were you satisfied with the company you chose? Any feed back from people that have done this excursion would be appreciated.

We did our own at GC. We went with Captain Marvins and was very pleased. The only downside was that they don't pick you up at the dock, but it is a short walk. They left on time and returned when they were supposed to. Our boat had 9 or 10 people on it. Some of the others we saw were quite crowded. The Disney excursion? It did not go out because of the wind. We ended up with 2 on our boat from the Disney one. I would recommend Captain Marvins, but don't know anything about the other.
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[NeedsNEscape]

We did Capt. Marvins, too. In fact, we had a bunch of Disboarders on our ray tour! They were very nice. Incidentally, the Washington Post Travel section (Sunday, 11/21) had an interesting article on the state of GC after the hurricanes. I was happy to read that the sting rays were still there. It was interesting to read that even during the storm, the tour operators continued to go out to Stingray City and feed the animals to make sure that they would stick around!

 

[aprilgail2]

We used Captain Marvins...they were wonderful!! The boat was not crowded while others we saw there were packed but I dont know if they were Disney boats or not. I would use Captain Marvins again in a heartbeat!!

 

[jel0511]

Having talked to a few people on our 11/6 cruise that went on the DCL excursion, I'm glad we went with a private operator. She told me that there were about 60 people on the excursion with them, and she felt hearded. At Stingray City since there were so many of them, and so little guides, the stingrays really didn't get all that close to them, unless you were right near the guide. We booked our excursion with Nativeway Sports, and it was awesome. They picked us up right at the tender pier, and dropped us off at the pier, or would have left us at Seven Mile Beach if we wanted. Our entire boat was filled with Disney Cruisers, and most of us were DIS'ers. It was a great day, and I'd recommend them highly.

 

[karebear1]

That's what I was afraid of- crowded boats and no stingrays.

Any cruiser out there that have had a good result on doing this excursion with DCL?

 

[jgalecpa]

I do know the day we went with Capt Marvins the DCL tour cancelled AT THE LAST MINUTE, because of "rough seas".

We were out there and the seas were not over 1 foot.

Capt Marvins is the Bomb.

The extra walk is a great way to sho on the way back, or grab a bite at Rachmans restaurant and store.

Jim

 

[karebear1]

Jim-
How long did it take you to walk to Capt. Marvins and was it easy to find?

 

[hopelea]

We went on the DCL stringray excursion. It wasn't as bad as some have said. We walked to a place where we got on a/c vans that took us to our double decker boat. Yes, there were a lot of people. But, we never felt crowded. Once we got on the boat it was a nice smooth ride to the stingrays. When we approached the sandbar there were about 12 other boats there with people on them. I didn't feel crowded while on the boat, but I did once we entered the water. If all the tours go to the same sandar, I don't think it really matters how you get out to the sandbar, once you get there.....there will be a ton of people there.

The one thing that we didn't like is the tour guide wanted us all to circle around him at the end so he could educate us on the rays. He wouldn't start until we were all around him listening. My dh found this a little annoying.

All in all, we had a great time. For anyone that is apprehensive about going out on their own, like I am, it was a good excursion!

 

[albeers]

We used Native Way Watersports this past summer. Someone was waiting at the dock to take us to the marina. They had a nice clean boat with very knowledable crew. Not only did we get to String Ray city, but they took us to a reef with eels and sharks. I would highly recommend them. Their web site is http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/. Sharon, who is one of the owners, was our contact. Since they are local and family owned, they got us to the sand bar before the large tours came.

Alan

 

[mississaugamom]

Another vote here for Nativeway Sports. We were booked on the DCL excursion which was CANCELLED because of "high winds". Luckily I knew other tour operators from these boards and found the Nativeway Rep with his paddle right at the dock.

We went out on a lovely, uncrowded boat, paid $15 LESS per person that the Disney Excursion AND got to both Stingray City Sandbar (when it wasn't crowded) and to Coral Gardens for more snorkelling.

I'd highly recommend this company.

Arlene

 

[Sethsmama]

I am going on my first Disney Cruise in Oct. 05 for the 7 night western cruise. I have been to Grand Cayman's before and at the last minute the boat cancelled the string ray excursion. Needless to say I was PISSED!

So for all of you that have used Capt. Martin's it sounds great! NOW, did you make reservations before hitting land that day or what? any help would be appreciated, I don't want to miss string ray city again!!

 

[ncmvp]

Another vote for Capt. Marvin's. We did the short day tour (snorkel/stingraycity). If I were to do it over I would do the longer tour. You got alot more one on one attention than larger tours. We were a party of about 15. They parked our boat a little off to the side of the masses that were at stingray city. So even though you could see all the other boats and the masses, our tour just seemed more private. I prebooked the tour through their website www.captainmarvins.com. It is a very short walk from the pier to their office (5min?). I wasn't sure which way it was so I asked a police officer at the pier and he pointed me in the right direction.

 

[talicskai]

Avoid the DCL excursion ~ it was overpriced, the guide was annoying, the boat extremely slow and crowded! Others in our group had booked with Captain Marvins and had a wonderful time. I wish I had done more research before we left.

 

[DISNEYFAMILYOFFOUR]

We did the half day with Captain Marvins on our honeymoon while staying on Cayman Islands.

We are using them again and booked it directly through their website--also the half day. It was the main reason we choose the Western over the Eastern--so our children (and niece and nephew) can experience this awesome experience.

 

[Jhalkias]

My son and I did the DCL excursion on our Halloween cruise last year, and it was fine. They split our group into several smaller groups, and we immediately hopped on a smaller boat at the dock - rather than the double decker one.

While it was a bit close on the boat, we climbed to the front, and sat on the front of the boat- almost to ourselves.

If they all take you to the same sandbar, all I can say is that is where the crowd is! There must have been more than 30 boats in a circle around the sand bar, with probably 300 people in the water.

It was still a great experience, and we loved it. Plenty of contact with the rays if you wanted it, and lots of Rays swimming around looking for a handout.

The DCL experience may be different every cruise, so if I were doing it again, I would probably take tips from the others who have posted here on where to book.

 

[Mindymom]

Another vote for Captain Marvins! We went on the 3 hour tour and had a whopping 5 people on our boat (that included me and my 2 kids). We had a blast. The guide even let my daughter drive the boat back to shore.