Excursions with little ones? Stingrays?

[LUCINDA574]

We will be cruising in Dec on DCL Magic, our very first cruise. My daughters will be 2.5 and 4.5 when we go. I know some of the stingray excursions say any age, DCL's is only over 5, and I just dont see anything else I think would be fun outside of a beach break...can anyone recommend anything and if they did the rays with kids our age? ty!

[smilingrl]

I just got back from GC last week. We did the Native Way Rays, Reef and Rum Point Excursion with our 3.5yo. She LOVED the rays and got in the water with us while we were there. My husband held her in his arms the whole time and she touched them and let them rub against her legs. We were prepared for her to be frightened, and we planned to put her on our shoulders or take turns with her on the boat if she was, but she loved it. One thing that prepared her and got her very excited (I know people are going to roll their eyes at me for this one, but you do what you can to explain to them at that age) was that we told her she was going to see "Mr. Ray" from Finding Nemo. She loved it so much, she took a (very realistic) stingray stuffed animal to her preschool today for show-and-tell and told all her friends how the rays tickled her feet. I think it's all in how you present it to them. We were always very positive about it and we made sure nobody said anything in front of her about it being scary. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have.

[Paumavista]

My son had just turned 3 the last time we did the stingrays. We also took turns holding him but he really enjoyed it!

 

In fact we loved it so much that we'll be returning in April with the whole family....including a 3 & 4 year old....and two 8 year olds.

 

All my kids love the water. But if they are uncertain about getting in the water with the stingrays we'll stay near the back of the boat and they can wait on board. I don't expect any of them will miss the experience.

 

Judy

[kareng1]

I was just at Stingray City Feb. 20/08 (booked privately through Moby Dick Tours) and while I didn't have any children, there were several on the tour. The guides were great and explained to everyone about the rays on the boat ride out to Stingray City using a stuffed animal stingray. If anyone wanted more info before they got there the guides would come over and answer any questions. It was a great experience and the rays were gentle and amazing to see so close, they really do swim up to you and rub against your legs like a dog or cat!