I had spent a lot of time researching the perfect excursion for my family in Grand Cayman. Actually, a more accurate description would be that I spent an inordinate amount of time researching excursions. To give the amount of research time I expended its just due, lets just say that the time spent easily eclipsed the amount of time I spent researching minivans, refinancing our mortgage, and reading new parenting books when the kids were born combined.
In order to spare you a reading induced coma of the many, many different excursions and options I considered, in my infinite wisdom I settled upon a non-
DCL Stingray City excursion. Specifically, I chose Captain Bryans Stingray City excursion with one snorkeling stop. The reasons for choosing this specific excursion were many, but the primary considerations included (i) Eva could join us on the excursion (she would have been excluded from the DCL Stingray City excursions which had an age 5 minimum); (ii) the excursion included only one snorkeling stop instead of two or three (the kids had never snorkeled and I anticipated that wed just stay on the boat during the snorkel stop); and (iii) the excursion departed and returned earlier than any other excursion so Spankys time left behind on the ship would be minimized.
Of course, things did not work out quite as they were planned.
I woke early Tuesday morning and enjoyed the view from Deck 10 as we approached Georgetown Harbor. At 7:15 am I started to wake the troops for our 8:45 am Stingray excursion. I should have started earlier. We inhaled our breakfasts and managed to get on one of the first tenders to shore.
At the last moment we lost my MIL, Bobbie, who claimed to be too tired to do the excursion. Bobbie didnt come out and say it, but I think the Steve Irwin tragedy kept her away. She probably didnt want to express her concerns in front of the kids. As it turned out, her silence was completely irrelevant. There was nothing that Bobbie could have said that would have induced any more fear in the kids than the mere sight of the stingrays, but Im getting ahead of myself.
Bobbies bailing on us created a dilemma for my Mom
to go or not to go. When I booked the excursion months earlier, my Mom was not exactly enthused by the idea as she doesnt swim. She probably figured that she would at least have Bobbie to keep her company. Now Bobbie was gone and she had an easy out. To my surprise, Mom decided that she was still coming. A decision that she came to regret.
Our excursion experience got off to a difficult start. It was extremely humid (foreshadow
the skies were about to open up), Eva was dying of thirst, and Noah could not stop complaining about the length of the walk from the tender to Captain Bryans. The walk was a bit longer than I expected. Captain Bryans email instructions had us reporting directly behind an English bakery a few blocks from the tender.
What we found behind the bakery was a dirt pad, a guy sanding down the hull of a broken down boat, a few chickens and a shack with a tin roof. I patted myself on the back for locating such a reputable looking excursion operator. I think my Mom started to wonder whether she could still grab a taxi back to the ship.
Wait. It gets better.
I advised a woman with a clipboard that were here for the 8:45 am excursion and she responded that due to an electrical problem the 8:45 am excursion would not be sailing. Instead, we were offered the 10 am sailing which included two snorkel stops instead of the one stop we had booked.
At this point, my internal alarm bells started ringing like mad. Why did I chance a non-DCL excursion? Do I forsake all the research hours I had invested and proceed with a sailing that no longer met my criteria? Is Captain Bryan and the free roaming chickens legitimate and to be trusted?
With much hesitation we agreed to the later tour for the same price as the cheaper tour we had booked. I am cheap at heart so this appeased me a little.
We had an hour to kill, so we walked around town. While doing so, we ran into Bobbie who was supposedly too tired to get off the ship. Hmmmmm.
We also discovered the greatest, most awesome souvenir
foreign currency. Youd be amazed how much more interested the kids were by a Cayman quarter than an overpriced snow globe or magnet. I figure that for the upcoming holidays Ill save myself a bundle by exchanging a couple of dollars for pesos in place of the Wii.
When it was finally time to return to the shack for our excursion it had started to rain. Not an all out wheres the ark type of rain (that came later), but a steady rain nonetheless. We huddled under the shack with 7 or 8 other suckers, I mean passengers, and awaited our transportation to Captain Bryans catamaran. I wasnt sure what the rain policy was and, sure enough, the confirming email from Captain Bryan made no mention of a refund in the event of bad weather. I therefore assumed that the policy was, We already have your money whether you like it or not.
Then the skies really opened up and I could tell from looking into the eyes of Karen and my Mom that all I needed to do was suggest that we bail and they would have approved. But then the bus showed up and we climbed aboard.
When we arrived at the catamaran, the group of 12 or 13 people all huddled in a tiny cabin to avoid the rain, but it was so hot and uncomfortable that we preferred the cold, pelting rain outdoors.
If nothing else, I was pleased that our excursion group was of such a small size. This was another reason that led me to Captain Bryans in the first place.
But that small consolation quickly dissipated when we were joined by a second bus carrying another 20 people from a Carnival ship. There went my small group. I have no proof, but I suspect that Captain Bryan cancelled the earlier excursion based upon a claimed electrical problem in order to send out just one excursion group. Call me a cynic.
When the catamaran finally departed in the pouring rain, all I could think to myself was, Just sit right back and youll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful ship
.
As I mentioned, I researched Grand Cayman excursions ad nauseam, but I had not researched what was actually involved in visiting Stingray City. As we headed out for open water, I kept searching and searching for land assuming that Stingray City would be a shallow area near a coastline. Boy was I surprised when it turned out to be a sandbar in the middle of nowhere.
The responsible parents that we are, we hadnt even thought about safety jackets for the kids until we arrived at Stingray City when we were handed flimsy, inflatable vests
not too reassuring.
The good
it had finally stopped raining. The bad
we could see from the safety of the catamaran that the stingrays were everywhere and they were HUGE. We had fed stingrays a year earlier in a tank at Seaworld, but those stingrays were chihuahua sized compared to the sea monsters swimming around our boat.
Before entering the water we were instructed on feeding the stingrays. In a nutshell, we were told to grab the squid in a fist with thumbs tucked in as the stingrays can easily mistake a thumb for a piece of squid. We were next told that since we were duly warned we should not complain if we returned to the catamaran with a missing thumb. Oh, the kids just couldnt wait to jump in.
After all of the other passengers entered the water, it was our turn. I somehow kept from falling backwards as I descended and had to pry free Evas arms that were interlocked around the ladder. I have to imagine that swimming with the stingrays at
Castaway Cay is much different than what we experienced. Dozens of stingrays were swimming over our legs. Other stingrays rose to the surface and body slammed us.
Alex was apprehensive at first, but it didnt take him long to enjoy himself. It took Noah a lot longer, but towards the end of the swim his nerves calmed a bit. He wouldnt float around by himself, but insisted on being held at all times. Eva was perfectly fine in the water so long as a stingray wasnt near, but the moment one approached (which was frequently) she shrieked so loud she could be heard over the motors of the many boats in the area.
My Mom was the only person not to leave the ship (including the crew). We would have to make this day up to her somehow.
The experience was like no other Ive ever had. After feeding the rays (thumbs intact), it was our turn to hold and kiss a stingray. Apparently, local lore has it that kissing a stingray will bring you seven years of good luck.
Alex went first. The excursion photographer had a little fun at Alexs expense and told him that he picked out a cute girl stingray just for him. Alex, a/k/a Mr. Sensitive, would usually be terribly embarrassed by such talk, but took the joking in stride and had his first kiss.
How much fun am I going to have with this photo when he starts dating!!
Karen and I also shared some saliva with the stingray, but Eva and Noah were a definite no. We ended up with a couple of good photos before it was all done.
Notice how calm Noah is on the far left.
We also ended up with our fair share of photos of legs and feet as we used the underwater cameras.
The first snorkel stop was at an area called The Aquarium. Karen somehow got Alex fitted in snorkel equipment and the two of them snorkeled for the first time ever and loved it. Noah wouldnt snorkel but I talked him into swimming with me. He was very comfortable in the water and had a blast. So much so that at the next snorkel stop at Coral Reef he snorkeled himself for the first time. This stop was amazing and we were surrounded by sea life. I was so proud of the boys. We now have a new vacation activity to pursue.
In the meantime, Eva was on the boat with my Mom. She was racing back and forth from one side of the boat to the other. My Mom was convinced that she was going to fall overboard. My Mom wasnt too steady on her feet on the rocking ship and clearly had enough. It was finally time to return to shore and she couldnt have been happier. The return trip was magnificent. The sun was out, there was a nice breeze, the sails were put up on the catamaran, and the ocean was a shimmering green.
What had started out as a very uncertain day turned out in the end to be one of the highlights of our cruise, except for my Mom who will stick to land only excursions in the future.
There was a very funny postscript to our ER experience during the stingray excursion. Karen got to talking with a woman on the catamaran who was the girlfriend of the captain. It turned out that this woman worked in the spa on the Magic. Karen mentioned that she had visited the spa the previous day and the woman was interested in which spa treatment she had. Karen couldnt bring herself to tell the woman that she had gone to the ER. Instead, she made up some story about having a treatment with oils and scrubs, but she couldnt bs this woman who was familiar with all of the treatments. Karen would start to make something up and the woman would try to name the treatment. I was in stitches as I listened in. Karen somehow eventually steered the conversation in a different direction. Not only could she not tell our moms about the ER, she couldn't even mention the word to a professional from the spa.
)
Then this boat drives(is that the right term...idk)up and we hop on with this other family. Well i just must say that my daughter is a little afraid(ok more like terrified 
)of sealife after one time being at the beach and almost got attacked by a HUGE fish with big teeth. We get in the water and she just sorta sticks by me. Well she just really getting used to it when it starts pouring(seriously it looked like Jaws)the waves got huge and my kids were hard to see when my son (who is younger than her) goes omg cool sharks! Well she hears this and you know what happens next...yes she starts screaming,"GET ME OUT, I WANT OUT! YOU SAID THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN! AHHHH!"(yeah i sorta told her this wouldn't happen!)She went back to the boat. She got to go to Del Sol so that made it up. But you just had to feel bad for her!
Your TR is great!
