Swimming with sting rays? opinions....

[CAMICKEY]

Just relating an experience to think about. My DS5 at the time had never snorkeled before but is a proficient swimmer (swim lessons since 2) so we signed up for the sting ray tour. The first taste of saltwater he got in his mouth caused him to immediately get out of the water, thus pretty much ending it for DW or me to watch him. Although we still throughly enjoyed swimmming with the rays, we did wish for more time. We are working with him now in the swimming pool and go to the beach quite often but still did not book a snorkeling excursion for our next trip in May. We figure he will be ready soon though. Moral of the story - Well you know that now. - Mike

 

[bobbiwoz]

We went to stingray city on a cruise excursion. I had a great time. Yes, there were lots of people around, but if you just kept snorkeling, you saw how graceful and amazing the stingrays are. It felt like I was alone with them while I was snorkeling, and then I would stand up and be surprised at how many people were around and how noisy it was. What a contrast!

I wouldn't do it again, it's one of those "been there, done that" just my opinion.

Bobbi

 

[S.S.WILSON]

So If we do Capt. Marvins, do they allow less people on there boats? Also how does that work on getting off the ship? Are we last cause we didnt book a DCL excursion? Does Capt Marvins also take you snorkling on that tour?

 

[TheWog]

herrbeeb - try shoretrips.com they have lots of offerings for those islands. there should be a bunch of other sites as well. cruiseexcursions.com - try a google search for shore excursion caribbean and see what it comes up with....

 

[ruvidu]

You have to go to the theater and get a boarding pass for the tender. When the tender gets to the dock you will go to the street and turn left. You will then go about 3 blocks (short blocks at that) and Capt. Marvins is on the right. You will never be out of sight of the Magic the entire time.

http://www.captainmarvins.com/

We were there in time for the first outing of the day. It was a three stop tour. We snorkled on the first two stops and then just waded around with the stingrays.

I don't know how many people are on a DCL excursion but I saw boats pull up with 75 or more people in each.

Capt. Marvins also has water and fruit punch to clear the salt water from your mouth. They will also do a freshwater washdown on you as you get out after swimming with the rays.

Hope this helps,
Russ

 

[S.S.WILSON]

Thanks Russ. Did you have to wait to go, I thought I read somewhere that if you didnt book a DCL excursion you had to wait to get off? I could be wrong?? Also how many people were on your boat? 75 people on the Other boat! WOW, thats crowded.

 

[ruvidu]

We did not have to wait long in the theater. It is a first come, first serve thing. As you come in you are given a sticker with a character on it. We were Tinkerbell I believe. When they get enough to fill the tender they call your character and you go out with the CM and get on the tender. After the morning rush it is just first come, first serve on the tender. We were two of the first people there and were in town around 8:15 I believe.

There may have been 20 people on the boat. It was like a 30 foot diving boat with a open stern. It had a small bathroom as well. The crew was really persoanable. I talked to one of the guys coming back and asked him what it was like living there and doing this every day. His answer "boring".

There was a videotographer on board as well. I talked to her and her helper as we went out. She was originally from Canada and loved to dive but the two did not go hand and hand. She and her husband decided to pack it up and come to Cayman Island. He teaches diving and she goes out on the boats, shoots video and then pre sells you a copy which you will receive about 3 weeks later. It cost about $50 with shipping but when I look at it I think "Worth Every Penny". She get off first and goes down to the bottom. There she shoots up at the group as they snorkle. She also got some great interaction shots of everyone with the rays.
There was even a little baby about 8 months to a year old on the boat. The mama took her out and held her up so she could see the rays.

Can you tell we enjoyed this trip.
My wife stopped at a jewellry store beside the tender dock and bought a stingray charm to go on her bracelet. She shows it off and tells our story every chance she gets.

Hope this helps,
Russ

 

[soccercruiser87]

thanks for the help everyone. it helped me out a lot and im going to be swimming with the sting rays now. one more question, has anyone booked there sting ray excursions through stingray city? and how would you rate the excursion.

 

[mcnuss]

Originally posted by herrbeeb
mcnuss, how did you find out about other, ie, non-disney shore excursions. we are going to the eastern caribbean 6/26 and the disney offerings do not look tempting. i am considering touring st. martin/thomas/john on our own.

as you can tell from from my previous post i am not a fan of crowds. in fact it is remarkable how uncrowded the ship feels considering the # of passengers. i do avoid the family pool.

thanx,

herrbeeb

I hate crowds too!

I did a lot of research here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/index.cfm. I also looked at all the local websites to find out best beaches, etc... We did not do any DCL or group excursions other than the sailing trip. Not my style. We are doing the same itinerary with friends in Apr. '05 and they've already asked me to do the planning. Honestly, I think my entire budget for shore trips for 3 of us was under $300. We'd have spent that on one with DCL.

FYI -- we went to St. Martin/Thomas/John with another cruise line years ago and we did a most fabulous excursion on St. John which was to rent a small captained motor boat with 2 other couples. It took us first on a tour for about 1 hour and then to a very private cove for snorkeling, sunning, etc... for about 2 hours. It was pricey but oh so worth it!! We then walked around St. John which was marvelous.

Frankly, St. Maarten left me cold. We were on the Dutch side which seemed to me to be nothing more than a shopping mall. I went back to the ship, sat by the then-empty pool with a book in hand and sipped lemonade until everyone else came back.

 

[mcnuss]

Originally posted by soccercruiser87
thanks for the help everyone. it helped me out a lot and im going to be swimming with the sting rays now. one more question, has anyone booked there sting ray excursions through stingray city? and how would you rate the excursion.

"Stingray City" is where the stingrays hang out. I do not know of a tour company by that name.

We used www.redsailsports.com.

 

[herrbeeb]

thank you to TheWog and mcnuss for the very helpful information. even though we have been disney fans for years and this will be our 4th cruise i just discovered the dis board a week or so ago. it is most informative and i am impressed that many people will give honest and opinions even if they are somewhat critical.

shore excursions have always been the most difficult part of the trip to plan and the dcl offerings have been uneven.

i am the family trip planner and after cozumel my reputation is somewhat tarnished. i plan to take advantage of the excellent suggestions i received here to renew my position as the uber organizer.

thanx again,

herrbeeb