Is doing a ship tour to stingray city an awful experience?

[barbaraanne]

Everyone says take the private tours, but I don't want the hassle of having to cancel if we change our mind (we can do that on princess up to something like 24 hours in advance), lose a deposit, or find out our private tour is canceled once we got there, then not know what to do. I know the ship tours are "cattle boats," lots of people, etc...I just wondered if they are really that bad?

 

I'm just looking to do the simplest thing.

 

thanks!

[ashnac]

I done an excursion through Carnival to stingray city sandbar and it was fabulous. Absolutely loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat

[barbaraanne]

I done an excursion through Carnival to stingray city sandbar and it was fabulous. Absolutely loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat

 

Thanks, that's good to hear! I appreciate your help. Was it just to the sandbar, or did you snorkel or go to Rum Point afterwards? All three are available on our ship. How many were on your boat?

[magyc1972]

loved stingray city

[barbaraanne]

Thanks for the picture! Is it best to go early in the AM while the rays are still hungry, or doesn't it matter?

 

If we are on one of those huge double decker boats, how does anyone get to see the rays up close?

[magyc1972]

we were on a smaller boat not at all overcrowded. They put a bucket of food out and the stinrays come in bunches. They told us it is good luck to kiss a stingray so i did and must say i have been pretty lucky. It really is an awsome experience.

[sunluva7]

We did Stingray City in 2002 with the Princess tour, and thought it was a great experience. There was none of the dreaded crowding on the boat nor in the water that other people spoke of. Of course, that was 8 years ago, so maybe things have changed.

[HoustonTodd]

We did a ship excursion to Stingray City and Rum Point Beach last time and it was amazing! That said, this time we are using a private tour company, but I don't think you will have a problem or "not enjoy" the cruise excursion.

[josask]

There are a lot of reputable private tour groups when you arrive so you don't have to book in advance. We have just recorded the names of companies that have had good feedback on the boards here. When we went 8 years ago, this is what we did and we had a TERRIFIC experience. We were in the same area (but not too close) to the tour from the ship, and there were a LOT more people in a smaller area. We felt we had more interaction with the stingrays because there were fewer of us with two guides in the water.

[Love Boat Dream]

Just did the ship tour with Princess and it wasn't much different than the last time I did it privately. We had a small boat with not a lot of people. It was an excellent trip. We paired it with the Dolphin swim.

[barbaraanne]

Thank you all, I appreciate everyone's input very much.

[mystone99]

DW and I did ship's tour with Carnival Legend in December. Catamaran ride over was uncrowded and we got to Stingray City early, only two other boats there. There were 10 we left.

 

Here are some pics. You'll have a great time. We got to feed them and even got a kiss.

[Mystiki]

I'm relieved to hear this too!

 

I heard so many good things about native way however they had no available bookings for when I want to do it, so booked through Princess even though some people had negative things to say.

 

I'm sure it would be a blast either way! (Or at least heres to hoping it will be!) :p

[Cuizer2]

Everyone says take the private tours, but I don't want the hassle of having to cancel if we change our mind (we can do that on princess up to something like 24 hours in advance), lose a deposit, or find out our private tour is canceled once we got there, then not know what to do. I know the ship tours are "cattle boats," lots of people, etc...I just wondered if they are really that bad?

 

I'm just looking to do the simplest thing.

 

thanks!

 

I've done both a Royal Caribbean ship tour to Stingray City and a non-ship tour to Stingray City. To tell you the truth, I was a bit disappointed with the non-ship tour. There was nothing wrong with it, I was just expecting better.

 

I would not hesitate to book a Princess ship tour to Stingray City.

[smacksgirl11]

We have done the ship tour of Stingray City and just loved it! Well worth, would do it again!

[terryde]

We did a carnival one and it was great, too. The boat was small and not overcrowded. When you are there, you do get out of the boat, so you see the sting rays up close and personal. I was holding a huge sting ray and asked the guide "If it stings me, will I die right here?" He said "No, mum. We put you on the boat and go back to the bus. We put you on the bus and go to the hospital. You die there." :D But that was long before Steve Irwin died from a sting ray barb, so it is no longer so funny. I doubt that anyone has heard of a cruise passenger dying while on a sting ray tour in Grand cayman.........

[cruiseorbust]

thanks everyone for posting....looking forward to it!

[ashnac]

Went on 1 last year through Carnival that done turtle farm, hell, and stingray city. I loved stingray city and it was an Awesome experience. Going back to Grand Cayman in June and pretty sure we are doing it again. It was me, my mom and sister that went. We loved the stingray city part and hell was ok and neat (not worth spending much time at all there) but we was not to fascinated at all with Turtle farm. It is just tons of turtles.

 

A guy that they call Shrek was one of our guides at Stingray city and he was AWESOME. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it

[familycruzr]

Everyone says take the private tours, but I don't want the hassle of having to cancel if we change our mind (we can do that on princess up to something like 24 hours in advance), lose a deposit, or find out our private tour is canceled once we got there, then not know what to do. I know the ship tours are "cattle boats," lots of people, etc...I just wondered if they are really that bad?

 

I'm just looking to do the simplest thing.

 

thanks!

 

We took a ship excursion to sting ray city and it was great. I'm glad we booked through the ship because there was a delay and we got back to the tender shortly after the ship was supposed to be gone. As soon as we were on the ship, they closed the door to leave.