Questions

[Hatty324]

1. Anyone gone to Stingray City (Grand Caymans) and swam with the stingrays? Is it worth it?

 

2. Does Princess Cays have good snorkeling?

 

3. I have heard it is a good idea to lock your suitcases before handing them off at the port because the dock workers may sometimes look through them and steal stuff. Is this true?

[rdsqrl]

I have never locked my suitcase and it never showed any signs of having been opened. But then I keep "valuables" -- jewelry, camera, perfume, etc. -- in my carry-on so the most expensive things in my checked bag are designer shoes and cocktail dresses -- if the longshoremen can fit into size 6.5 Jimmy Choos, then more power to them.

[Toto2Kansas]

1. Anyone gone to Stingray City (Grand Caymans) and swam with the stingrays? Is it worth it? We thought Stingray city was a hoot. Especially watching those that had never swam with stingrays before. OMG do people squell. LOL Yes, it is definitely worth it.

 

2. Does Princess Cays have good snorkeling?

That depends on where you have snorkeled in the past. For us, we don't consider it good, but we are comparing it to the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Gardens of Tahiti. If you have not snorkeled in those great places, then yes, it probably would be satisfactory to you.

 

3. I have heard it is a good idea to lock your suitcases before handing them off at the port because the dock workers may sometimes look through them and steal stuff. Is this true?

Definitely lock your luggage before turning it over at the ship, and also when you sit it outside the final night onboard. Although if flying, you may be asked to unlock it at the airport (plenty of time for that later). But never turn your luggage over without it being secured in some way.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Hatty324]

Since I've never snorkeled before I'm sure it will be great, although sometime I'd love to go to the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Thanks for the info on locking.

[Toto2Kansas]

Since I've never snorkeled before I'm sure it will be great, although sometime I'd love to go to the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Thanks for the info on locking.

 

Princess Cays is a great place to try snorkeling as you walk out from the beach. Much better than jumping off a boat for your first time. It is wonderful, and very easy to do. Enjoy!

[vickie_bernie]

Stingray city is a must, don't miss it. We booked independent tour with captain marvin, many moons ago

[Colo Cruiser]

The only thing I noticed is that Princess Cays is getting colder and colder water everytime I go there. :eek:

[Hatty324]

Sweet...now I just gotta convince the girl to do the Stingray City...she's afraid she will get stung.

[ashtyn]

Stingray city is a must, don't miss it. We booked independent tour with captain marvin, many moons ago

 

 

We too booked independently and always have since our trip to the Caymens. We were there right after the crocodile hunter was kiilled and my husband was not the most willing participant. He loved it, as did the other hundred or so people out there on the sand bar.

 

It is a must do!!!!!

[usha]

Stingray City is the most exhilirating excursion we've EVER done!

DH took a picture of me holding a kitchen table-sized stingray, and I could have sworn my face looked like this: :D

When we got the photos developed, my face actually looked like this: :eek:

:confused: Hmmmmmmm, could have sworn I had a huge smile!

Do it! IT'S INCREDIBLE!!!!!:D

Don't know about snorkeling on Princess Cay; didn't do it when I was there before.

It's a good idea to lock your luggage ANYWAY. Just makes it a little harder for ANYBODY to rifle through your stuff.:o

[Times Prince]

We too booked independently and always have since our trip to the Caymens. We were there right after the crocodile hunter was kiilled and my husband was not the most willing participant. He loved it, as did the other hundred or so people out there on the sand bar.

 

It is a must do!!!!!

We've booked through the ship, and have had the trip cancelled once due to weather, with full refund on our bill.

 

Stingray city in Grand Cayman is the best stingray experience we have had, and we've tried several, including one in Moorea in the Pacific.

 

Regarding the crocodile hunter - from the videos I've seen his habit was to jump from a boat on top of the ray, startling it into a defensive reaction. As the guides will tell you, stingrays only have a defensive reaction when they fell their life is in danger, like lifting them out of the water for an extended period of time.

The stingrays at Stingray City are fairly used to people, and are still wild animals. The guides will tell you in advance what not to do.

 

the water is about 4 - 4.5 feet deep, so the snorkel and mask allow you to see the rays swimming beneath. Stingray city has a soft sand bar that one stands on. It is a great experience.

[JLC@SD]

....it is more like wade with the stingrays......;)

[tropicgirl3]

Stingray City is an awesome experience. We have done it twice now...and I would love to do it again. We have taken friends that were hesitant to try, but they ended up having a ball! You can feed the rays and have some fun photos taken with them. Bring a water camera if you end up trying the excursion.

We have also snorkeled at Princess Cays. It was actually my first snorkeling experience and I agree that as a beginner it is a great location to try.

Have a great trip!!

[Steve R]

We did stingray city and had a blast! Just make sure if you feed them to keep your hand flat. They will crush your finger if you keep them bent. Trust me I found out the hard way. As for the locking your luggage, we have never done that and never had a problem with it.

[chasetf]

My answers are embedded

 

1. Anyone gone to Stingray City (Grand Caymans) and swam with the stingrays? Is it worth it?

Yes... It was worth it but not our best experience. It is crowded (more folks than rays) but you will have plenty of time with them. We had a better experience in Tahiti.

2. Does Princess Cays have good snorkeling?

Not that great. I would not count on going to the Cays just for the snorkeling.

3. I have heard it is a good idea to lock your suitcases before handing them off at the port because the dock workers may sometimes look through them and steal stuff. Is this true?

Always better to be safe than sorry. I never have anything in those bags that I worry about losing. If they need my underwear worse than me..... well I guess they will get it.

As far as Stingray City in the Caymans..... here are some pictures when we went.... and we had four ships in port that day.

[annmarz]

I am 5'3" and it was pretty easy to stand on the sandbar but the water was up to my neck. With the waves I wouldn't call it wading, but it wasn't full-blown swimming snorkeling either. A wonderful experience for nonstrong swimmers who want to see the stingrays. There were dozens of them - all sizes. Very fun. There were big waves but no strong currents - unlike the "Swim with the sea turtles" expeience in Barbados which was difficult to do.

[UtterCaro]

1. Anyone gone to Stingray City (Grand Caymans) and swam with the stingrays? Is it worth it?

 

2. Does Princess Cays have good snorkeling?

 

3. I have heard it is a good idea to lock your suitcases before handing them off at the port because the dock workers may sometimes look through them and steal stuff. Is this true?

 

1. Yes and yes. Next to parasailing, it was the most fun I've had on a tour.

2. Sorry, never been there.

3. Folks need to recognize that luggage is inherently insecure. Locks and zip ties won't keep out anyone determined to get in. (Besides, I'd wager that the vast majority of longshoremen are honest, hardworking people who have neither time nor inclination to look through bags, much less steal from them.)

 

Caro

[mytime53]

Stingray city was a tour I would never choose...but my husband did and I LOVED it. The tour we had included snorkeling afterwards, and after 20 years of not bothering to snorkel because my first few experiences were so uncomfortable for me, I am now hooked on snorkeling because of that one day.

[jbbnb]

We booked independantly also it was a great experience and not as many people as the ship tours. We had more time with the rays the water was probably waist deep, I imagine this changes due to weather and where your boat sets anchor. We also went snorkeling and stopped for lunch at a beach resort. I would do it again in a heartbeat. My DD who was 10 at the time was very wary of the rays. They come up to your legs and rub against you it is unclear who is more curious the people or the rays.

Never been to Princess Cay but imagine it is similar to the other lines private islands. Not the best snorkeling but good for beginners.

We also carry any valuables in our hand carried luggage and don't lock the bags. If they want to get in the bags those locks are not going to keep them out. We have had more trouble with people taking our bag accidently, this has happened three times now. Once it took two years for us to get a bag back. Make sure you put some sort of obvious identifier on your luggage like a big purple pokadotted bow or something.