First Time Cruisers

[KMK41]

My daughter and I are taking our first cruise for her senior trip and I need some info on Stingray City tours. Can anyone give me feedback on Moby Dick Tours, Soto's, or Shoretrips? Any and all help would be appreciated

[twinkletoes4445]

We've not used any of the groups you've mentioned, but did use Captain Marvin's...twice and had a wonderful time on both trips.

 

The first time we were there (on a cruise), we did the short trip. Last month, we stayed there for a week, and did the 3-hour trip and really enjoyed ourselves.

 

For our fist time there, we did the shorter trip because of limited time (and wanted to do other things than snorkel). We started with a island tour (which our kids really didn't care for, but we liked it). We went to Hell, and then to the turtle farm and then around the general area. The we walked to CM's and went on the excurstion. After that, the driver dropped us at Rackham's for a late lunch. Rackham's is right on the water, with a nice view of the cruise ships. Then we walked back to the loooooonnnnnggg tender line.

 

I know you didn't ask about CM's, but since no one had posted on your thread, I thought I'd tell you about our experiences. Have a great time! :)

[Kishioka]

We were on the Mariner of the Seas in early January and we booked the stingray tour through Sotos. They were great and cost about half of what the cruise line was charging.

 

Their boat only holds 30 passengers and was extemely fast. The other boats were slow and had a hundred+ passengers. We spent 30 minutes snorkelling in a coral reef (10ft deep) before going to the sandbar. The boat captain threw in pieces of squid to attract fish. My kids loved it.

 

At the sand bar, the water was only 3 feet deep. Everyone got a chance to hold and feed the stingrays. The hundreds of people on the other boats barely got a chance to even see one.

 

They picked us up at 8:30am and we were back in the pier area by 11:30am. Highly recommended!

[andnickali]

We used Nativeway (Reef, rays and Rum Point)- the tour was wonderful and the highlight of the trip. They meet you at the pier, drive you to their boat and you leave from there. The tour we were on only had 16 people (my group made up 8 of them). Rum Point is not to be missed- there are plenty of threads that include pictures so I won't go into too much detail here. We were back to the pier by 2:45- so not much time for shopping (but that was fine for me).