stingray city

[dalmationlover]

I have a question for anyone who has done stingray city with the dc excursion. How many people do they take out at a time. It seems like it maybe more crowded than the private excursions. Did you feel like you had enough time and didn't feel crowded. Would like any input I can get. We definitly will be doing stingray city just don't know with who.

 

[tezb]

We too were in the same predicament. I heard from someone else that said they take out about 100-150 at a time. Looks like a double deck catamaran type. We went ahead and booked w/ DCL knowing that we can still cancel up to 2 days before we sail. Even though DCL is a little more in price, my DH feels better about using them because if there are any delays/ problems, DCL has to wait for you. Also, they are more likely to cancel in bad weather... for your own safety because they still have to answer to you later and see you, etc. The private/local companies are probably good too but they don't have to see you after the excursion and seems like they might be more likely to take you out even in bad weather because they don't want to lose out on money. Just mentioning all this because they are issues we had thought about and actually changed our minds into probably sticking w/ DCL. Another big plus is that DCL has a photographer take pics of you while at Stingray City and you have the option to buy the disc from them after. I like the idea of a professional taking pics of our family at such an experience. The other companies do not offer this or at least I know Nativeway said they don't offer it. Hope that helps....I know of one other person who used DCL and plans to do so again...

 

[WDWLVR]

We were on the DCL excursion and yes we were on a double decker boat, but it really didn't seem packed. It was about 80 people I think (4 busses of 20 each).

We had plenty of room and plenty of attention. The captain of the boat did a great job of explaining what would happen. He had two assistants - one that stayed on the boat to help people out and the other was passing out the foot for the stingrays.

We were in the water for about an hour and had a great time.

I have heard that some of the private excursions offer a tape of your experience so if that is something you would like then go with them.

I was very happy with the DCL excursion.

 

[inkkognito]

I think it depends on which excursion you do. There are two with similar descriptions. We did the one called "Island Your and Snorkeling with Stingrays," and we were broken down into vanloads of people. Each vanload went on its own small boat, so it was not crowded at all. The group was small enough for the guide to easily help us feed the rays, show us how to hold them, take photos, etc.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.disneycruiser.info or www.castawayclub.com

 

[trishy]

Originally posted by WDWLVR
He had two assistants - one that stayed on the boat to help people out and the other was passing out the foot for the stingrays.

I sure hope you meant to write "food".

We did the DCL Stingray Tour and were very pleased; in fact, so pleased that we are booked with them again for our July cruise. The comfort of knowing we're in DCL's hands in case of any possible "incidents" is what gives us peace of mind. They were awesome and no, it did not seem crowded at all. The guides were "excellent". There was plenty of time. It was not a case of "everyone get back to the boat so we can leave." It was more like "Okay, since everyone's already on the boat, let's leave." The stingray's are awesome, but there's only so much "petting" one can do.

 

[GOOFY D]

Originally posted by inkkognito
I think it depends on which excursion you do. There are two with similar descriptions. We did the one called "Island Your and Snorkeling with Stingrays," and we were broken down into vanloads of people. Each vanload went on its own small boat, so it was not crowded at all. The group was small enough for the guide to easily help us feed the rays, show us how to hold them, take photos, etc.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.disneycruiser.info or www.castawayclub.com

Sounds like we had the same one. It was one of the highlights of our trip!

 

[jpatrick]

we went with capt. marvins and there was only 15 of us on board. when we saw the other boats loaded down with over a hundred people we were sooo glad we chose capt. marvins! with a small group we got to spend more time in the water. this was the highlight of our trip.

 

[IrishCowboy]

We used Capt Marvin's in May 2002 and loved it! Only had 10-11 on board and the crew went out of their way to assist everyone. Capt Marvin's also will not charge you for the excursion if DCL can't tender into Grand Cayman.

One other question/comment: Isn't the cancellation policy for excursions 7 days with DCL?

 

[trishy]

DCL policy is cancellation 2 days before sail date.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Didn't see a photographer taking any pictures of our Stingray City excursion booked through DCL on the 5/10 sailing. We brought our own waterproof type cameras as did most others.

 

[buzz638]

hi jpatrick , irishcowboy

Very glad to hear those good words from you for
capt.marvin's.
We are booked with them on our august 16th cruise(first ever!)
-
couple of questions for you:

Is the office within walking distance of the port ?
-
Do they have someone with you in the water ?
DW and DD really want to do this but are a little bit nervous
being so close to those creatures....lol


And if you have any other tips or comments feel free to post them.

Thank you
Steff

 

[trishy]

I sure hope you just didn't see them - we had our family's pictures taken in the water with (a rather large) stingray by a photographer (believe he works for the the catamaran). We bought the pictures on disc. Lots of people were buying their pictures on disc. They were selling them at the dock (a little "shack" type place) when we got off the boat. I sure hope this hasn't changed... The pictures came out beautiful. We will definitely take an underwater camera on our next trip, though, just to get our own candid shots.

 

[dalmationlover]

Thanks everyone for the information. I like the idea of doing the island tour and than having a small boat. Would that be the same for the Discover Cayman Tour?

 

[nativefl]

We also just took(5/27) the Stingray City Tour with Captain Marvin & loved it!

2 items I wanted to make note of however, 1st they had someone filming our trip & for I think $57 we are getting a DVD. 2nd Disney did cancel their excursions when we were there, but Captain Marvin did not. At first I was a little concerned, but Captain Marvin's was completely upfront about the whole thing. They were the ones who told us it was a little rough & that Disney had cancelled, but they felt it was still ok to go. They said since Disney goes out with so many, it may not be as safe in rough waters, but since we only had 20 or so, it was easier for them to give us personal attention. There was one family with younger kids, 3-5yrs old & they did cancel, which Captain Marvins let them do without any hassel.

I will definitely tour with Captain Marvin's again next year. They have been around for almost 50 years. We appreciated their professionalism & felt completely safe.

Of course, if touring with Disney makes you more comforable, then I say that is what you should do. This is your vacation & you dont want to be stressing over anything!!

Have fun!

Leslie

 

[tezb]

Is the DVD thing new? Let us know how it turns out...the quaility, etc. Sounds like a great souvenir. I know people who have done the dolphin excursions who also film it in case anyone wants to purchase it. Just wondering how it will turn out, if your seas were choppy that day. We've booked our excursion w/ Disney but still haven't decided if we will stick w/ them or not. Also seems like Nativeway is good too.

 

[nativefl]

I am not sure if the filming is new or not. On the boat trip back, they played it for us & it looked good. There is no sound so they will be adding "island" music to it.

Yes, I agree it will be a great souviner. From what I saw on the boat, they filmed both my husband & myself holding the stingrays & my son petting one(from on the boat).

We should be getting it this week, so I will let you know what the final product was like.

Leslie

 

[tezb]

Leslie, pls remember to post after viewing the DVD. I may switch just for that feature. I even emailed them to make sure they will be doing it. How was the boat ride? Do you think bonine is necessary, or maybe just as a precaution?

 

[nativefl]

Originally posted by tezb
Leslie, pls remember to post after viewing the DVD. I may switch just for that feature. I even emailed them to make sure they will be doing it. How was the boat ride? Do you think bonine is necessary, or maybe just as a precaution?

Will do.


The boat ride was fine for us, but my family doesnt usually get sea sick. We honestly dont really take anything when we cruise. My husband has asthma & is alergic to aspirin, so he doesnt take much over the counter medicine. For my son & myself, we may take something the first day on board, but never after that, because we feel fine.

However, someone did get sick at the very end of our excursion, so if anyone in your family tends to get sea sick, then I would say take the bonine. It cant hurt.

 

[tezb]

thanks Nativefl.... from what I hear travelling the north sound is not usually rough, esp in July so we'll hope the weather cooperates....but I'll plan to have the bonine just in case. Don't really know if anyone gets seasick....the ship doesn't seem to bother my kids...but you never know w/ a boat and I don't want to be unprepared.

 

[dizneykids]

capt. bryan's also has a photographer in the water and offers video for $39 or dvd for $59. because of the choppy waters 5/27, they didn't film as much as they usually do, so they offered the video for $35, but no break on the dvd.

we've booked three or four excursions on our own over our last couple dcl cruises because of disney-imposed age restrictions (we have a 4yo) and have had no trouble whatsoever. capt. bryan's was great because my dh got sick and decided not to go out with the rest of us and capt. bryan's did not charge us in spite of our reservation for him to be with us. i HIGHLY recommend capt. bryan's.

note also with stingray city that there will be LOTS of boats and LOTS of people on the sandbar competely for the stingrays' attention. of course, there are also LOTS of stingrays. for those of you concerned with the number of people/size of your boat, it won't matter cause once you get out to the sandbar, there'll be another half dozen (or more) boats and appropriate number of guests in the water. when we arrived, our captain decided to take us to the reef first rather than to the sandbar because there were just too many people in the water at that time.