Grand Cayman Stingray City

[tntortiz8809]

Newbie here! I booked a surprise 5-day on the Carnival Destiny for DW's birthday. I"ve looked thru the excursions listed for our itinerary and there is no excursion to book for Sting Ray City. I've been told that StingRay City is a MUST. Does anyone know of a private company I can book thru or would it be better to contact Carnival to find out why it's not an option for my intinerary? THanks for your help!!!!

[kujobie]

When do you cruise? Sometimes they don't post all the excursions until a few months before.

[tntortiz8809]

ahhh and there it is! Not until January. Like I said, I'm a newbie and completely neurotic when it comes to traveling on vacation. I like doing my homework and knowing as much as possible about wher I'm going and what I'm doing.

 

Thanks for your assistance!!!!!

[Jenbo57]

Book it on your own. Cheaper, for one thing. We booked through Moby Dick Tours and had an awesome time; Stingray City has been one of the highlights of our cruises!

[DEBnGAB]

Go with the Nativeways Rum, Reef and Rays tour. Not only do you get Stingray City, but also snorkeling and Rum Point Beach...which includes lunch and is just beautiful!

 

http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/

[tntortiz8809]

Thank you all so much for your help! I look forward to this being the first of many cruises to come!!! I defintely want to make it a memorable one for my DW.

[truchattycathy]

Your wife will LOVE Rum Point Beach!! I have done Native Way's Rays/Reef/and RumPoint twice, and I am doing it again in Jan. Have a great cruise with DW!

[rokinrobin105]

we did the tour with Moby Dick and LOVED it

[TVChick16]

We did Captain Marvin's 3-location tour in January. Stingray City, Barrier Reef and Coral Gardens. You can see my pics via the link in my signature (most recent cruise) and my review on TripAdvisor (same screen name).

 

I highly recommend Captain Marvin's because we weren't packed onto the boat like many of the other tour boats we encountered at Stingray City. And the staff was wonderful!

[sdmike]

Highly recommend Captain Marvin's. Got there before the huge excursion boats and had plenty of time with the rays before it got crowded.

[golfb4cruzing]

We also did Captain Marvins and they were fine. But there were too many boats out there and hundreds of tourists and maybe 10 rays. Our guide chased one down and brought it over. Then everyone lined up for pics. Not our cup of tea. But the snorkelling was a good time. Next time we'll try something else.

[Princesss]

Everyone loves that excursion, it is the number one excursion. Grand Cayman is known for the stingray. Thats all fine & dandy, but as for ME -

I must be the only person in the world who does not feel that way.

I was scared to death, you get in the water and all those ugly gray things, large and small, are all coming toward you at once, fast !! It was the worst excursion I ever did and a horrible experience. Everyone was like "oh, they are so cute !" I'm like, "isn't this what killed the crikey guy ? I need to get back on the boat NOW !!!" The guide grabbed me from behind and was telling me not to go & some other crp I didn't understand with his accent but I said (insert profanity here) & wrestled him off !! And managed to get away from both the stingrays and the guide & got back on the boat ASAP. LOL my friend has this all on video & I am there screaming and cussing like a sailor. I was not impressed whatsoever from those ugly things and people were KISSING them ? WTH !! "Kiss one and have good luck" they say, "and we will take a picture, for ten dollars" Good luck ? Riiiiight...

In addition to that, I don't handle little slow boats very well. I'll just leave it at that.

By the way, the water at Grand Caymen is the most beautiful water in the world, all turquoise and clear.. I would have had fun if it werent for those hideous things attacking me !

Have fun !

[Rayefan]

We have done this excursion and LOVED IT! But, luckily for us we DID book with Carnival as our group was stuck in traffic and about 30 minutes late returning. Luckily for us Carnival waited for us or there would have been a lot of people left behind!

[Princesss]

We have done this excursion and LOVED IT! But, luckily for us we DID book with Carnival as our group was stuck in traffic and about 30 minutes late returning. Luckily for us Carnival waited for us or there would have been a lot of people left behind!

 

 

I know ! Isn't it weird how you can get so stuck in so much traffic on such a small island ?

[Rayefan]

I know ! Isn't it weird how you can get so stuck in so much traffic on such a small island ?

 

And on top of that after a beautiful sunny and hot day it decided to RAIN and I mean DOWNPOUR on us and of course we were in that little shuttle boat back to ship. Needless to say we did NOT make it to the main dining room for dinner. LOL

[mariamherrera]

Everyone loves that excursion, it is the number one excursion. Grand Cayman is known for the stingray. Thats all fine & dandy, but as for ME -

I must be the only person in the world who does not feel that way.

I was scared to death, you get in the water and all those ugly gray things, large and small, are all coming toward you at once, fast !! It was the worst excursion I ever did and a horrible experience. Everyone was like "oh, they are so cute !" I'm like, "isn't this what killed the crikey guy ? I need to get back on the boat NOW !!!" The guide grabbed me from behind and was telling me not to go & some other crp I didn't understand with his accent but I said (insert profanity here) & wrestled him off !! And managed to get away from both the stingrays and the guide & got back on the boat ASAP. LOL my friend has this all on video & I am there screaming and cussing like a sailor. I was not impressed whatsoever from those ugly things and people were KISSING them ? WTH !! "Kiss one and have good luck" they say, "and we will take a picture, for ten dollars" Good luck ? Riiiiight...

 

In addition to that, I don't handle little slow boats very well. I'll just leave it at that.

 

By the way, the water at Grand Caymen is the most beautiful water in the world, all turquoise and clear.. I would have had fun if it werent for those hideous things attacking me !

 

Have fun !

 

OMG I would SOOOOOO love to see that on video! LOL- I can imagine you going off! too funny! you should post a link if you have one!

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Newbie here! I booked a surprise 5-day on the Carnival Destiny for DW's birthday. I"ve looked thru the excursions listed for our itinerary and there is no excursion to book for Sting Ray City. I've been told that StingRay City is a MUST. Does anyone know of a private company I can book thru or would it be better to contact Carnival to find out why it's not an option for my intinerary? THanks for your help!!!!

 

try captain Bryan, Captain Marvin, or nativeway.

 

They are all pretty good and cheaper.

 

Bill

[bguppies]

Definitely book Stingray City on your own.

I've done it twice now and have a third booked for next month.

Stingray Sailing, Moby Dick, Captain Marvins and Nativeways all get great reviews.

My first trip I did Nativeways Rays,Reef and Rum Point tour.

My second I went with Stingray Sailing and enjoyed it much more.

(rebooked with Stingray Sailing for next month)

 

Both times we had maybe 20 people on the boat with us.

Both times the Carnival booked excursions would pull up in huge double decker boats with 100 plus people each time.

I have no idea how anybody would have anytime in the water with the Rays by the time they all waited in line to get off and back on.

 

It is the most amazing experience, having wild creatures swimming around you on a gorgeous sandbar.

(unlike other stingray excursions where they are captive, penned up creatures)

 

Hope you have a great time, no matter which way you go.

 

Bill

[jmwg49]

We did Nativeway in February. It was amazing! We got about 40 minute with the rays. There were lots of them, big and small. We got there long before the other boats came along, an there were only 7 of us on our boat! We were served some fruit punch on the boat ride out there. It was a beautiful day! We were then able to snorkel for about 1/2 hour or so on the reef, then off to Rum Point Beach for lunch (included in price) where I had blackened mahi mahi and it was great! The beach was a little crowded, but nice just the same. It is a very long day, but gave us about an hour at the end to shop around! Enjoy your day in G. Cayman! One of my favourite ports so far!

[l2f]

We used Stingray Sailing last year. They were great. Wouldn't hesitate to book with them again.

[cath32]

We went with Stingray Sailing last August. They meet you at the dock, then take you to board their little bus, to drive you to the marina. They have a catamaran and it was just beautiful to be sailing over the water. There were maybe half a dozen different boats at stingray city when we got there, but it really was no big deal. We were a bit away from the rest. Lots of sting rays to go around! We then went over to the reef for some snorkelling, and then sailed back to the dock. We really enjoyed our day with them. I would not hesitate to book with them again!

 

They also took pics of everyone with the stingrays that you could buy on CD if you wanted.

 

I think our tour was in the 9am-1pm time frame - or something like that. We got back in plenty of time and were able to do some shopping.

[slk09]

Stingray City (no matter who/or how you decide to book) is a must do!

The water is absolutely beautiful and the whole excursion itself was

awesome:)

[FAKE Inge]

We used Captain Bryan for the Stingray City trip. As you can see from the video it was a relaxing ride there and back, along with a couple of stops for snorkeling.

 

[TheGirlNextDoor]

We did an excursion to Sting Ray City and Rum Point Beach.... We actually booked it through Carnival while on ship the night before we docked.

[marshalltp]

I seventh Moby Dick.....fantastic tour operator....