Moby Dick Tours

[Jeal]

Beware - apparently, according to the owner, there is more than one boat used on the snorkeling tours - there is a "big" boat - the one shown on the web site and then there is the kind that we were on - small, dirty, and unsafe. We were taken to the spot where you get on the boat in a dirty bus with broken windows and bald tires.

We have cruised the Caribbean many, many times and used both ship sponsored tours and independent tours.

This was the worst tour for safety and cleanliness that we have ever been on.

We would never recommend them and have already contacted the tourism council on Grand Cayman about the condition of the bus and the boat.

I have never written a negative review before - we are pretty easily satisfied but feel that the word needs to get out about Moby Dick's especially for people with children.

If you do choose to use them, ask to see the bus that you are taking to the boat and a picture of the boat that you are going on before you pay. Our driver broke many traffic laws when returning to the ship including driving in the turn lanes to avoid the traffic back up.

It was awful.

[shirleygr]

Wow, I'm really nervous now. I booked Moby Dick for our upcoming Radiance cruise in November. :(

[Jeal]

I just read the review of Soto's and if I were you I would cancel your tour with Moby Dick and book with Soto's.

As I said in my previous message, safety was a big concern on this tour and was of no concern at all to the company.

Post when you get back and let me know if I just hit them on a bad day or if this is how their company is run.

[carolecruiser06]

What about Captain Marvin for stingray tours? Does anybody have any info/comments on that tour? We are going in Nov. for the first time and taking a 12yr and 11yr old.

[audreyt26]

We really enjoyed our tour with Capt Marvin and his crew as well as our own private tour afterwards. Everything was fantastic from the weather, to the kind attention the crew gave to my DH and DS(4) who didn't swim but were able to enjoy the entire snorkal and stingray adventure. We were there on April 7th from Costa Mediterrenea ( that excursion capsized! :eek:) and so glad we boked with Capt Marvins. Soto's was booked, Nativeway said nope and yet... they were trying to get us to sign up right off the tender?:confused: I don't know what that means when they say no to reservations and try to get you at the pier to pack a tour???

[shirleygr]

Sotos and Capt Marvin said they were booked. Capt Bryan's and Nativeway's excursion times didn't work for our port times. I also liked that we didn't have to put a deposit down with Moby Dick after reading how many ships miss GC.

Well, this is the first negative I've read and have 6 months to keep doing research. Have to see if anyone posts similar experiences as you did, Jeal.

I also plan on emailing Moby Dick and alert them to this post and see what they have to say for themselves.

Leaving tomorrow for my Enchantment cruise. Let you know what Moby Dick says when I return!

[montgomeryfamily]

This isn't the first time I have read about the two different boats used by Moby Dick and also read a couple of other negative reviews about this smaller boat. Perhaps if you do a search of the board you can find those threads

[crisp1]

One reason I booked with Moby Dick was exactly because they had smaller boats with fewer people. The bus from the tender area to the boat is an old school bus, the driver ( Philadelphia) was great, knew quite a bit about Cayman history, and a safe driver. If you want air conditioned vans, then book thru the ship. And if you do, you'll be on the other side of the sand bar with hundreds of other people from other big tours instead a group of 30-40. 2 boats, 2 crews, each very good. Our guy was Landon, a transplant from Canada, and his crew was Mike and Mikey. Yes, I wish I got off the ship 15 minutes earlier and got the first tour with Mark, but we had a great time. Because the bar was so crowded we snorkeled first, amazing! 2 -10ft of water, plenty of coral, and a nice variety of fish. When we got over to the sand bar ( about 200 ft away) many of the other boats were leaving. The big tours with large groups were on the opposite side ( 100 ft or more away). As we dropped anchor we could see the large shadows coming towards us from all directions. Landon and the Mikes were in the water with our small group gathered in a circle. We all got to hold, feed, and get our picture taken with these gentle creatures. I'm not sure if the other tour companies offer this, but Landon took many pics with a great camera. You were able to look at the pics and he would send you a cd ( anywhere in the world) for you to do what you want with your pics for $10 per pic ( a nice touch- I thought). Because we missed the first tour ( ours was 10:45 ship time) and we had to be back by 3 pm ship time. the tour time was getting down to the wire ( we got on the bus at 2:20) Philadelphia took side roads and bypassed the slow moving traffic on the main raods and got us back to the tender area by 2:40. 4 stars fom me

[mac66]

I used Moby Dicks last week. The bus was old but I didn't see a problem with it. The boat we were on held about 40 people with a two man crew. It sure didn't seem dirty or unsafe to us. There were about 10 of us together including my 78+79 year old parents. We had a great time.

[gltrans1]

We used Moby Dick Christmas week. We were on the boat shown on the website with Mark. Except for the hot school bus ride, the boat and crew was fantastic. They took us snorkeling first and waited for the stingray sand bar to clear out a little. The crew was very helpful with fitting my kids with snorkeling equipment and got right in the water with us and the stingrays. The boat was clean and safe and I would highly recommend Moby Dick.

 

_________________________________

 

Carnival Triumph 2005

[Chad_G]

We used Moby Dick Tours last week. I don't know what the little ship is that's referred to in this threas, but the one we had held about 25 - 30 people. The boat was in decent shape, didn't feel unsafe at all.

 

However, of all my private tours last week, Moby Dick Tours was definately my least favorite. The bus had "4x4" air conditioning if you know what I mean. The tour people had no personality. Before going into the water with the Sting Rays they gave no information about what to do, how to approch the stingrays, how to feed them, etc. After about 30 minutes everyone got back on the boat, no mention of where we were going. Thinking the tour was over, many of us got dried off and settled in. The boat then stopped after about 5 minutes and we were informed we could snorkel. Gee, thanks for telling us.

 

After getting back on the bus, the tour drops you off at the beach, but getting back is your own problem. Otherwise it takes you directly to the pier.

 

While on the boat and swimming about, the tour guides took pictures. Near the end of the tour they let you look at the digital camera and decide if you want to buy any pictures. It was $14 per picture, or all of them $55. The pictures would be delivered to the ship. We purchased two pictures. When we picked up the "pictures" from the ship later that night, we found a cd with the pictures on them. I find that to be very misleading, saying your selling "pictures" when all your doing is putting them on cd. However, I take some of the blame for not inquiring more about the pictures before buying.

 

Would I use Moby Dick Tours again? Nope, sounds like there's better tours out there.

[crisp1]

If you read the info on the web site, it tells you that you'll get to snorkel. Our guide described in detail what 'to do and what not to do' with the rays, otherwise you could injure them and yourself. Many tours don't give you the option to be let off at the beach. I heard the guide explain over and over about how the pics would be on a cd, for you to do as you please, and would be mailed to you. I never heard that they could or would be delivered to the ship- seems unlikely that they could timewise. I'd rather have a cd than a couple of 5x7's, with a cd I could print e-mail or put them oon my computer, with pics I'd have to scan them and loose some quality. To each.... Sorry you didn't get what you expected, I thought I got more

[Chad_G]

I do know that there were different guides depending on what time you went on the tour. Our guides did mention that they would not be doing anymore tours that day. Don't know if our guides were having a bad day or what, but there was absolutely no explanation of what was going on during the tour.

 

We talked with another couple on the ship who thought they were getting photo's, not a cd. I agree having pictures on cd is nice, but don't say your selling pictures when you're really selling cd's.

 

The tour was not awful, but it really paled in comparisson to the other tours we had during the week.

[amy4424]

I booked a Moby Dick Tour for 2 weeks from now, 6 adults all together. I was wondering, should we try to get the first tour of hte day, I think it's at 9:30am? Is that when the nicer boat leaves?

Amy

[crisp1]

Amy, I'd try to get on the earlier tour just to give yourself time to do something afterwards, go to the beach or shop etc. We had to wait for the 10:30, missed the 9:30 by a few minutes, and had to rush back to the ship. We were leaving port at 3:30 and the last tender was 3, we got dropped off in town at 2:40, never did get to the beach

[nfld]

Hi Amy

 

We did the 9:30 am tour....when you come off the tender and come out on the street, they are just to the right....look carefully, because if there are a few people gathered around you could just walk right by the display....like we did, but luckily I turned around and looked down and yep there they were, but surrounded with people, as you can expect it is crowded with people getting off the ship. It cost us $35, since we booked online, which I suggest you do....have your money out and ready for them...yes they do put you on a school bus to go there, the tour guide walks you to the bus about a 1 minute walk... the drive to the boat was about 10 minutes, which was no big deal, and the bus wasn't unsafe, the driver was good and they dont drive fast in Grand Cayman....it was 9 am in the morning, it wasn't hot on the bus, but a little tight on the leg room for the guys.

 

The boat was fine it only takes about 40 people max and at no time did it feel unsafe.....the captain, Zak, and his mate Mike went through everything with us about the boat and about the StingRays....we arrived at the StingRays and it was a crowded place, but our boat was a bit away from everyone else and we had a good time...spent about 45 minutes in that area then back on board and we went to another area about 5 -10 minutes away and snorkelled....the snorkelling spot was very nice...it was quiet and I enjoyed it thoroughly.....we snorkelled for about 30 minutes and I didn't want to leave...

 

The ride back to shore was about 20 minutes, we talked to Mike, the ships Mate, a nice guy..we asked him about walking 7 mile beach and getting something to eat, he told us that when you get on the bus get off at The Royal Palms, which is about half way back. The Royal Plams is an outdoor bar and grill, right on the beach, we got at the Royal Plams and had a great lunch, their burgers and chicken sandwich are grilled on a big bbq grill and they were great. Maybe hard to find a table but be patient. Then we did a swim in the ocean had another drink or two and then back to the boat....where you get dropped off there are vans waiting to take you back to the Ship tender area.

 

Overall we had a fantastic day...any other questions ask away.

[shirleygr]

I emailed Mark directly and he answered me immediately. After his assurances, I feel confident we made the right choice in booking with Moby Dick. Will let you know how it all goes come November!

[afairbro]

Have a look at the Buccaneer catamaran, on Grand Cayman Cruise Excursions, its a wonderful boat, very clean and nice and the crew is excellent!

 

I plan on doing the Buccaneer Catamaran too, has anyone else done it?

[crisp1]

I thought about it but the wife and daughter wouldn't hear of it. They were anchored next to us on the 'light side' of the bar. Small group, looked good.

[afairbro]

Well, I booked with Captain Bryan's. I tried for the Buchaneer but the times didn't work for me. Has anyone used Captain Bryan's? I paid a $7 deposit, the rest $28 is due that day. And that day is only 10 days away!!!!!

[Nova Scotia]

We were on this tour on April 20th. The trip was pre-booked on-line months before we got there. We were told it would be with Captain Zak and we were very excited. We arrived at their umbrella 1/2 hour early, the boat we were supposed to be on had already left.

 

They farmed us out to another boat we were told sometimes took some of the overflow. The second boat was terrible, very old, and they overloaded it. There were not enough life jackets for all aboard, someone counted them. The ladder had no non-slip grips on the rungs and everyone was slipping getting back on board. Then when you climbed up on the back ledge the paint was chipping and it was all over everyone. Crew hardly spoke to us until we got to stingray city.

 

The bus was an un-airconditioned school bus, unless the air conditioning was supposed to be the two holes in the wall of the cabin and the broken windows. The driver never said a word to anyone the whole drive.

 

I wrote a note to Moby Dick asking why we were changed from our original reservation, they haven't taken the time to reply as yet.

 

We have done many great private tours and have never had an experience like this one. I would not recommend this tour to anyone. Obvoiusly even with a written reply to our reservation nothing is a sure thing with him. I would imagine that if he keeps doing things like this he will get a lot of bad reviews and the word will spread quickly.

[scampi]

I was on the same boat as Nova Scotia. We also were promised a 9:30 a.m. tour on the MD, meaning the Moby Dick. (the nicer boat with a white whale painted on its side with Capt. Zac. We had an excellent past experience on that boat.). However, the Moby Dick went out at 8:30 a.m. And another group went out at 9:30 a.m., our scheduled time on another boat. Although we arrived on time, at 9:00 a.m., we had to wait until 10:00 a.m. for the other boat that Nova Scotia described. I did not intend to post about our experience, but it has also been days since I e-mailed Moby Dick without a reply.

[montgomeryfamily]

Thanks for posting about your experiences. Changing boats and using the old boat is precisely the reason we have never booked with Moby Dick. Their web site never mentions that there is any other boat which could possibly be used. In fact, it says that "The Boat" used on the tour is the Moby Dick, with pictures of that boat and a description of it. But I had read several other negative reviews about people getting put on the old boat notwithstanding their reservation for the Moby Dick boat. IMHO there are too many private snorkeling tour companies in Cayman with excellent boats and simlar prices to go on a snorkeling tour on an overloaded old boat.

[awhcruiser]

I was also on the same boat with Scampi and Nova Scotia. It was an old boat, very overloaded, had rust on the back...The crew was good, but I feel we did not get what we asked for. When we asked an employee of Moby Dick why our reservation was not honored, she said that there were too many ships in port that day. Carnival had come in earlier than our ship, and that the original boat of Moby Dick had taken them instead. I looked at her and told her it was all about $$$$. She just walked away......I also told her I would spread the word.....

[afairbro]

I just returned from my cruise a week ago. Captain Bryan's tour was the best! Only 17 of us on the tour, the catamarran was great. Geico the tour guide was great!