Stingray City and kids

[Excited about Cruising]

My family and I are on the Enchantment in March. Kids ages 6, 10, and 11. My husband and 6 year old are not swimmers. The excursions seem to alway in snorkling, do you have to snorkle and will they be able to get in the water.

[rcrj762]

We will be going in Feb.with our two children 7&14. I will post a view when we get back. We have been on other snorkling trips and my daughter whould just watch. Someone on cruise critic posted a vidieo from their Sting Ray trip that I showed my kids and they are excited to go. Check the Grand Cayman board.

[freezone]

My DH and DD 6 yrs old went to Stingray City last year. She was fine the water was a little rough for the small swim to the sandbar but then you're standing at the sandbar with the stingrays. Booked excursion through RCCL don't know who they used.

[rcrj762]

We have booked with Princess cruise line.

[lisiamc]

I think it may depend on what the tide is doing - when we went to Stingray City the water was up to my shoulders. I'm 5'8" so it would definitely have been over the heads of younger kids. Several people stayed on the boat, and the guides brought a couple of stingrays over for them to see, so the non-swimmers won't feel left out if they decide to stay on the boat.

 

I'm not a confident swimmer, but I had a great time anyway.

 

Lisa

[4merlurker]

We were just at stingray city this past November. Nativeways Rays Reef & Rum tour. Our boat backed up to the sandbar and we climbed down the ladder right onto the sandbar. No swimming at all. My 9 yo was able to stand no problem. What a great day!!! :D

 

~Connie

[snowmouse]

We were there last Feb. The water was 4-5ft deep. My 8 year old would have done fine with the depth, but the waves also kept crashing and knocking her down. She was so looking forward to this, but was terrified and had to get back on the boat. it turned out to be quite disappointing.

[eab]

We did Stingray City with our kids last summer and the 9 year old had no problem standing up. He was scared of them touching him though (but not as scared as his 16 year old sister!). The 12 year old sister loved them and kissed them. The 9 year olds quote was "I don't mind touching them, but I don't want them to touch me!). But actually it was wonderful and a highlight of the trip. We didn't book excursion through RCCL, but used a private company that I found on the boards here. Captain ??? and it was a very good company and easy to find from the dock.

[feb06majesty]

Great information... so how does it work? you book the trip before the cruise and the tour folks pick ypu up at the ship? what is the price per person? any discounts for kids? (7 and 9 year olds). Thanks

[andnickali]

We are booked through Nativeway and are doing the Reef, Rays and Rum Point excursion. Go to the Grand Cayman board and there is tons of info on booking for the stingrays. Nativeway does give a discount for the kids- I think adults are $60 and kids are $45 for the above tour- including lunch. We are taking our 4, 8 and 10 year olds and I am thinking they won't have any problem at the sandbar (rays), but I am not planning on my daughter swimming at the reef (which is in deep 10-15 foot water).

 

Shannon

[AZPam]

We've done the sting ray thing twice with our kids. First time DD was about 13 and she basically walked on water trying to get back into the boat. She was totally freaked out. Second time she was 16 and did a little better, but still just couldn't handle those friendly sting rays! Be sure to talk to your kids about it a lot before going.

 

We've been lucky both times and the tides were with us. Water was only about 4-5 feet deep, but have heard plenty of people complain about it being too deep to stand in. The boats will give you life vests to wear, so that helps a little bit.

 

We've book with Captain Marvins and highly recommend them!

[ljpjr]

:confused: We have booked a stringray excursion thur rccl there will be 4 of us 2 teenage boys dh and I. I am the nervous one I'm not a strong swimmer and very timid of deep water hope we luck out and get low tide we are going in march and have a 9am time slot.The others are all strong swimmers. I must admit I am also nervous of them touching me. But i will try.:confused:

[Terpnut]

We just did this with our 5 and 7 years olds--neither of whom can swim. While people have said you don't need to swim and the water is shallow to stand, I'd like to just say that when the seas are relatively rough and/or your particular excursion boat stops in certain deeper spots, it is NOT possible to stand. In our case the water was over 5 ft high and the ocean was far from still.

 

Thus if you are not a good swimmer or have some fear of the water, it's possible that you will not like it. My kids were very intimidated by the sea motion and I couldn't hold them well since the water was too deep. The bottom line is that my wife and I loved it and my two kids were out of the water within minutes (although they said later they liked it).

[shrimp0]

We took our son when he was 5 and again when he was 6. I highly recommend bringing a water vest for the children to wear in the water. If you do not bring your own... ask the tour guides for a life vest from the boat. This will help give you peace of mind while in the water. This is one of our favorite excursions. We have gone 2 times with Nativeway and the very first time through a ship excursion. I would go with Nativeway again and again. They do give a discount for children and I also believe they will give a discount to any adults that want to go on the boat trip but not actually get in the water. ( just to see the sting ray from the boat).

As far as the snorkeling part of the trip... my son chose to stay in the boat both times at the reef. ( this is a stop made after going to the sand bar for the sting ray). There were a lot of fish that he was able to see from the boat anyway. I also stayed on the boat with him and just enjoyed the boat and weather. But, i would feel comfortable leaving him on the boat with the tour operators. ( they dont all get in at the reef... but they do get in for the sting ray). Hope this helps... happy to answer any questions about bringing children to sting ray city!!!!! This is NOT to be missed!!!!

[Daliaha]

Hope this helps... happy to answer any questions about bringing children to sting ray city!!!!! This is NOT to be missed!!!!

 

 

Question... :)

 

Going on the Victory March 26th..

 

We are thinking of bringing our 2 almost 3 year old son out to see these.. along with his 8 year old sister. We have a swim vest for him.. and he will be in my or Hubbys arms the entire time.. Do you think we will be ok..??

 

He loves water... I think he would get a kick out of these..

 

-Dolly

[I&MsMom]

Dolly: We're taking DD, who turned 3 last month, to see them in Feb. I'll let you know when we get back!

[Daliaha]

Very Cool.. =)

 

Thankyou.. Have a safe trip.. and I look forward hearing about your adventures..

 

 

-Dolly

[craftsnvines]

My family and I are on the Enchantment in March. Kids ages 6, 10, and 11. My husband and 6 year old are not swimmers. The excursions seem to alway in snorkling, do you have to snorkle and will they be able to get in the water.

 

I went this past August and the water is a little over 3 feet deep. Your kids can stay in the boat if they want,

We used Captain Bryant and he did a great job, He is in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. you don't have to do the excursions with the cruise ship. You will get a better price going individually. All the independent excursions rely mainly on tourists, so they plan to have everyone back in time for the ship. So don't worry about making the boat, they do it for a living and are very reliable.

Captain Bryant is the only person that has a alcohol bar on board, plus he has a sail boat, my hubby loved the idea of being on a catameran. Some people pay just for that so we kind of did two things for the price of one, that's one way of looking at it. My DH had more fun on the boat than with the stingrays. "Chicken" Take watercameras, and buy the DVD from the Photographer, it's about $75.00 but it is worth it. I'm still making fun of my hubby!

Have fun!