Snorkeling with Stingrays excursion

[Fawn]

OK, trying to make a decision here. Where else to go but to all of you guys??

I'm trying to decide between Disney's excursion, Red Baron, Captain Marvin's, and Captain Bryan's. Wow!

Can anyone offer advice/opinions on any of these? Thanks in advance!

 

[Lisa F]

I haven't done it yet but since we are on the same cruise I'll share what I'm PLANNING to do. Since Grand Cayman is the only port where you need to tender and I have no clue what that will be like, I am going to snorkel with the stingrays using disney's excursion (actually it is the only excursion that we are booking). It just seems the easiest and I know Disney will get me there and back!

Lisa

 

[ruvidu]

You can not go wrong with Capt. Marvins. They treated us like family. There were 8 of us Disboarders on the boat. We had never met up before we got on the van. It was a hoot. They offered a video tape of our excursion which we purchased. It is well done and well woth the $54 extra dollars. I think the excursion cost $68 for the two of us. We will use them on future cruises and are thinking about the full day next time.
It is just a short walk to their place when you get off of the tender. You can purchase the Tortuga Rum cakes two doors down. They have samples on the table.
Be sure to take a towel and a dry shirt with you. We took the shirt but forgot the towel. We ended up using the shirt for a towel.

Have a great trip.

Russ

 

[inkkognito]

Since we had never been to Grand Cayman before and wanted to be sure we'd be off the ship on time, we booked through Disney on our first Western. For our trip in January (see you there, Fawn!), we will most likely be trying Captain Marvins. Disney's was great...the only thing I didn't like was that the line-up after we got off the ship and were waiting to go to the vans was rather disorganized. Of course, that was only the second Western sailing so maybe it is better now. Other than that, we loved the excursion. We were on small boats with small groups that allowed plenty of attention from the captain in helping us hold stingrays for photos, feeding them, etc. I saw some very large boats with huge crowds of people....not sure where they were from, but definitely not the Disney excursion.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[mdvasquez]

We just got off the magic today and we did the stingray excursion with Disney. WE LOVED IT!!!! It was absolutely the best thing we have ever done and I would do it again in a heart beat. We went on the early morning one, 7:50 I think. Which got us back on the ship before lunch was over. I thought they were pretty organized. And when we got out to stingray city there was four or five other boats with people out there. But there was plenty of stingrays and you were not that close to the other boats!! Since this was our first time I wanted to use Disney excursions, and with the success of this one, I probably will use the same next year when we go.

Dena

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Fawn, if I recall, we're on the same cruise--I just booked with Capt. Marvin's this week. It was $39/adult, $29/child, they make 3 stops. We're at 10 am, but you have to be at their building (2 blocks from dock) by 9:15, bring a shirt, towel, and sunscreen. They have drinks/snacks or bring your own. Remember, I have little kids (5 and 7), so you may want to go a different routef you don't want to listen to somone else urchins! . But I felt it was a better deal than the Disney excursion, more personal, etc. On the other hand, I don't think you could really go wrong!

 

[KarenNY]

I was on the same Capt Marvin excursion as Russ. It was fabulous.

 

[mpaone]

We just got off the Halloween Cruise and used Captain Marvin's.
They were wonderful!! We did three stops...a Coral reef, a Rock Garden and then Stingray City. At the rock Garden one of the guides pulled out a huge green eel from a rock. It was awesome.
Out boat was not crowded at all. We did the 10:00 run. When we got to Stingray City we were off in an area to our ourselves and saw a LOT of Stingrays! We got to feed them, hold them, get our pictures taken with them. It really was a LOT of fun. I recommend Captain Marvin's highly!

 

[Lisa F]

Now you are making me want to do captain marvin's! How early were you able to get to shore from the disney boat? This whole tender thing worries me!

LIsa

 

[ruvidu]

I just checked my journal I kept the week we did the Western and it says that we got our tickets at 8:00 AM and arrived in Grand Cayman on the tender around 8:30. It is just a 5 minute walk down to Capt. Marvins office. There was not but about 20 people on the tender we went on.

Hope this helps,

Russ

 

[Lisa F]

Peer pressure worked! Plus the fact that captain marvin's half day snorkel tour stops at two other locations and disney just stops at stingray city? Anyway, we just booked online for our 1/4 cruise (Buzz 'n Belle's mom, you booked for 1/7 correct??? Just making sure I got the right date!) Looks like we will be going at the same time as you will. If I wanted to avoid all children I would not be on a Disney cruise! (even though we don't have kids). I can't wait!

Lisa

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Welcome aboard, Lisa! Yes, we're booked for 1/7 at 10 am. I only mentioned the caveat about kids because my understanding is that Fawn (who's also on "our" cruise) is travelling as a honeymoon/family reunion with an adult/young adult group. My kids are actually well-behaved, most of the time, and I think any time you book something like that, you're going to have SOMEONE's kids with you. But, if she preferred to avoid little kids, it's okay--believe me, some days I wish I could! But Capt. Marvin's does sound like lots of fun, we're really looking forward to it.

 

[Lisa F]

I can't believe how close this cruise is. We've been holding the reservations for almost two years. TWO YEARS! I can't believe it's almost here! (of course, in the time between making the initial reservation and now we have already taken two other cruises! January last year and the $99 cruise).

Thanks for confirming the date. I have had bad luck with dates this trip. We are going to WDW for NYE and then going on the cruise, then spending another couple of days at WDW before returning home. When I originally bought my plane tickets I put in 1/3 as a return date instead of 1/13!! Luckily I caught it when I got the confirmation but I still had to pay the change fee to change the date (although the price dropped by $30 each so the net change was only $20 each, but still!) since we are flying before New Year's our ticket prices have gone through the roof since then so I'm glad I caught it, but now I am paranoid about every single date!

How considerate of you to worry about Fawn's honeymoon!

Lisa

 

[nicurnc]

Consider using Native Way Sports in Grand Cayman. They were fantastic!!
We were picked up at the landing for tenders by the owner and brought to the marina. We had a small group (10 people) And two guides. We received so much personal attetion. We all got chances to pet and hold the rays. They caught lots of different sizes of the rays for us to experience. What an incredible day!
Then we left that sandbar and boated to two different reefs to snorkel. The coral and fish were amazing. One guy in our group got so lost in looking he manaaged to get far away from our boat. No problem, mon! We just circled around to pick him up.
Water and punch were provided as well as a fresh water rinse before we headed to shore.
We were returned to town by taxi (included), and still had some time before our ship left. We grabbed some lunch at Hard Rock Cafe, they have great views of the harbor upstairs.
The price? $25.00/pp!This operation is handled so well by the Ebanks family. Sharon, the owner's wife, was so sweet in all our email correspondance.
We saw groups from Capt. Marvin's and the cruise ships. HUGE amount of people and everyone did not get to interact with rays we found out from others on our cruise.
Oh, the company also provided food (squid) to feed the rays.
Give them a try, the are pretty new in the business and are trying hard to make a good name for themselves (transaltion- excellent service to you !)

Loretta

 

[Cheryl N. WI]

Hi everyone from the 1/4/03 Magic! We're cruising with you guys too and I was all set to call DCL first thing Tuesday morning to book the 7:50 Disney excursion that Dena (mdvasquez) did but now I beginning to wonder about this. We were planning to do this excursion with our friends that we're meeting up with on the ship because we also like the idea of seeing a little bit of the island and going to the turtle farm with the excursion. We'll have to talk this over.

Dena did you enjoy the Turtle farm and the rest of the tour of the island? We will be 4 adults and DD 8yr old. DD, DH and I love animals and sealife and I thought they would enjoy the turtle farm and this would be a good way to see some of the island but still have some time to get to 7 Mile Beach for the afternoon. Did this excursion get you right back to the Magic or did it leave you at the dock when it was over? I am wondering if it was convenient to have lunch on the Magic and then still have time to tender back to the island and have some more beach time. Any info would be appreciated!

Cheryl

 

[Fawn]

OK, you have me convinced...Captain Marvin's it is! I'm going to go book it online today. Do I understand right that you did the half day excursion versus the two-hour one?

You're very sweet for mentioning the little kids. While true we are on our honeymoon, we NEVER mind children nearby....attested to by the fact that we're bringing 5 out of our 9 kids with us! We actually gave passing consideration to bringing our 2 year old grandson along. Of course, we came to our senses on that one! Our youngest are 11 and 12, so they will enjoy other munchkins being along on the boat versus all adults!

So sounds as if there will be a mini-Dis meet on board Captain Marvin's on the 7th at 10! See you all there!

 

[mpaone]

The Captain MArvins tour we did was the 3 hour tour, with 3 stops. Someone previously mentioned another cruise and said they thought Capt Marvins and DCL was crowded. I cant speak for the Disney excursion but the Capt Marvins boat we were on had maybe 15 people at most. The boat was very roomy. They provided punch and water and they shower you off when you are done. They also provided squid for you to feed to the Stingrays if you wish. EACH person got a chance to hold/pet and get pictures taken with the rays. They never rushed us. The guides we had were very friendly and good with the kids that were a little intimidated by the rays. Also when we got to Stingray City they pulled our boat to an area by itself, we were not on top of any of the other boats. We had an entire area all to ourselves. Overall it was a GREAT excursion and I would recommend Capt Marvins highly!! Have fun!

Maureen

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Um, Fawn, I believe it's the 7th, not the 10th. Just don't want you to book the wrong day! P.S. My kids are actually really well-behaved, and if you have girls, especially, you can expect to see Buzz turn on the charm (at WDW, he collects lipstick kisses the way other kids collect autographs!). Good to have you coming, I'm sure it will be a blast!

 

[Fawn]

Originally posted by BuzznBelle'smom
Um, Fawn, I believe it's the 7th, not the 10th. Just don't want you to book the wrong day! P.S. My kids are actually really well-behaved, and if you have girls, especially, you can expect to see Buzz turn on the charm (at WDW, he collects lipstick kisses the way other kids collect autographs!). Good to have you coming, I'm sure it will be a blast!

I know, I caught myself there, too! Somedays I'm lucky if I can find even one brain cell!

My kids are perfect angels also! Well, some of the time....they do sleep after all. Having had four big brothers to practice on all their lives, my girls are flirts also...so sounds like a great match! LOL

We're gonna have a great time! How many do these boats fit...will we all be on the same one??

 

[JODIELYN]

After reading all these posts giving the thumbs up to Capt Marvins i really can't wait... i am so so excited about our big group going on this excursion.

Question... are there some people who stay on the boat and do not get in with the stingrays? One of the families traveling with us has a 3 year old... he loves the water but wonder weather we'll be able have him in the water...

Get ready ... here we come....!!!