CaribbeanSoul 05 Posted February 28, 2005 #1 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Hi all, I am fresh off the Jewel's tour of the Western Caribbean and wanted to tell the group we had a ball on the Cockatoo Catamaran. The crew was entertaining and attentive. Once at Sting Ray City, they got right in the water with you and assisted everyone in holding and feeding the creatures. It was a memorable for all of us - even those who were wary of swimming with the sting rays! Happy cruising. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted February 28, 2005 #2 Share Posted February 28, 2005 Agree with Caribbean Soul! The Cockatoo Catamaran is a wonderful way to see the stingrays in Grand Cayman! :) The Cockatoo was quite roomy with lots of space to move around. We had a comfortable, smooth sail out to the sand bar to swim with the stingrays. If you want to see stingrays, you will NOT be disappointed! There were lots and lots of big (many very, very large) friendly (many way TOO friendly) stingrays! :p Even WITHOUT feeding them, they followed us around like puppies! Stingrays do NOT have teeth and these are so very tame (too tame :rolleyes: ) -- almost no chance of getting stung unless you step on or badly abuse them. About the worst thing that can happen is a "stingray hickie" which does not hurt but last about two weeks. Try explaining that back home! :D The water at the sand bar was about mid-way on my husband. I floated around -- didn't want to step on one!! We stayed in the water long enough to take lots of pictures of each other with the stingrays. Getting in ond out of the Cockatoo was very easy. There was a long ladder (not the short type) and the ocean was quite calm. The water was VERY clear. You could see the stingrays quite well without even getting into the water (many folks didn't). Some of our best pictures were taken from the boat. The crew did an excellent job -- made sure everyone who wished was able to hold and feed one. The crew would even hold them us so folks who didn't get into the water could pet them. Great PHOTO-OPT! We were late getting back (awful traffic) -- 30 minutes after the last tender was due to leave. We tried to tell some of the people whe were becoming very concerned ... not to worry ... the ship would NOT leave its own tour. Sure enough, a tender was awaiting our tarty arrival. (Good case for doing a ship's tour?) We have been on both Captain Marvin's (which was fine) and Cockatoo. Actually, we liked Cockatoo better because it's a LARGE SAILING catermaran. To us the crew and our anchor location were also better on Cockatoo. Happy Sailing! OCruisers :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted March 6, 2005 #3 Share Posted March 6, 2005 Ooops! Also, wanted to mention that if we were doing the stingrays again we would certainly consider BUCCANEER! The Buccaneer is a sailing catamaran with an Open Bar -- not a party boat -- beer/rum punch available on the way back. The folks from the parent company of Buccaneer actully READ Cruise Critic and are very open to suggestions .... like cruisers would enjoy a beer/rum punch on the return trip .... In addition they were so very helpful keeping us up-dated on the conditions in Grand Cayman during that last awful hurricane! Happy Sailing! OCruisers :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unique Posted March 6, 2005 #4 Share Posted March 6, 2005 Open bar usually means drinks are free and on the Buccanear you have to pay for them. Someone who went a short time ago said it was pricey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted March 6, 2005 #5 Share Posted March 6, 2005 unique .... You are absolutely correct. It is NOT an "Open Bar". I have no clue how much drinks cost ... but my DH would have paid lots for a beer going back! :D Happy Sailing! OCruisers :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EydieG Posted June 7, 2005 #6 Share Posted June 7, 2005 We are doing the Cockatoo Catamaran in about 15 days. I have a question, however. Do we need snorkle equipment or not? (We always take our own snorkles when needed, husband can't imagine using someone else's snorkel.) I was so glad to find this post since I have heard many negative things about booking though the ship, but to me the piece of mind is worth the extra money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosieo Posted June 8, 2005 #7 Share Posted June 8, 2005 We did the Cockatoo and it was great. They supplied everything we needed, no need to take your own unless you want to. It was much more fun than the huge boats that take many people out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luv_to_Cruise Posted June 19, 2005 #8 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Hi! Does anyone have contact information for the Cockatoo Catamaran? We'd like to book this tour for December 26, it it will be available. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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