Princess Stingray & Highlights or Someone Else?

[TirNaNog]

Has anyone been on the Princess Stingray & Highlights Tour and can comment? We want to go to Stingray City and also see some of the Island. This sounded like a reasonable way to go. There are 5 of us: 58, 55, 29, 28 & 21. Some may want to hit the beach and snorkel after the tour. Is this Princess excursion the best way to go for first time cruisers or is there a better option?

[TirNaNog]

Hi, still looking for help on this question. We leave on Feb 5 so I would need to make any changes from the Princess to another excursion soon if necessary. Thanks for any input.

[JohninDC]

Many on these boards suggest an independent tour operator for snorkel and stingrays (try Moby Dick or Capt. Marvin) because of better service, smaller boats/crowds & cheaper prices. Either before or after the tour you'll have time to wander around town or hit the beach or cab to "Hell" (lava rocks and tourist trap post office/souvenier shop). Good luck!:)

[VRRoom]

Compare prices. You'll get the same locations with pretty much everyone, but if you do the ship's excursion, you get the additional benefit of crowded conditions and excessive prices. For less than $50/person, you can book an independent operator (just browse the boards for suggestions) who will meet you at the pier, transport you to a boat and take you to one or two snorkeling locations and the very same sandbar the ship's tour goes to. Most of the independents will scope out the crowd at the sandbar and snorkel first if it's crowded.

 

We used Moby Dick last week. Had the option of being dropped at 7 Mile Beach (public bus stops regularly and charges about $2.50/person to the pier) or one of the restaurants closer to the ship. I got the impression from talking with the guys that most of them cooperate, so if there was a breakdown with a boat or bus, I'm betting one of the other operators would come to the rescue. In fact, our guy was going to swim over to a different boat to get a pair of size 14 fins for me until someone else that size decided he didn't want to get in over his head. Very friendly bunch.

 

This was our 3rd cruise. We've only booked one ship's tour (but got added to another thanks to a "connection" on one of the ships). Would only use ship's tours if it was a distant excursion, like Tulum from Cozumel.

[nicolewisconsin]

We did Princess's tour and had the wonderful experience of our boat breaking down on the tour, so we got to spend 2 hours on the boat getting pelted by waves... I was so sick.

 

The good news is that we got our money refunded 100%

 

However, the tour was awesome... The stingray part and the turtle farm, at least.

[halifaxtraveller]

We just did the stingray tour with Rowan Watersports. If you email him ahead of time, he will give your the online price of $30 per person. We thought they were great! Only 12 people on our boat, so there was plenty of room. Just check out their website www.rowanwatersports.com

You can tell them in advance you are coming, they will reserve a spot for you, and then you pay cash $30 when the tour starts. If you don't go, you will not get charged. They will meet you at the pier, and then it is a short 2 minute walk to the bus, which takes you to the boat. The boat was quite large, with two decks. There was plenty of shade, if you wanted to go underneath you could. There is also a changing room and bathroom on the boat too. They provide bottled water as well, and the tour lasts a little more than 3 hours. Since there was only 12 people in our boat, we had lots of one on one time with all of the stingrays. I would go again with these guys, very fun and very professional, and the best prices around! If you email Polo, you will get back to you right away!

[vegas248]

We just did the stingray tour with Rowan Watersports. If you email him ahead of time, he will give your the online price of $30 per person. We thought they were great! Only 12 people on our boat, so there was plenty of room. Just check out their website www.rowanwatersports.com

You can tell them in advance you are coming, they will reserve a spot for you, and then you pay cash $30 when the tour starts. If you don't go, you will not get charged. They will meet you at the pier, and then it is a short 2 minute walk to the bus, which takes you to the boat. The boat was quite large, with two decks. There was plenty of shade, if you wanted to go underneath you could. There is also a changing room and bathroom on the boat too. They provide bottled water as well, and the tour lasts a little more than 3 hours. Since there was only 12 people in our boat, we had lots of one on one time with all of the stingrays. I would go again with these guys, very fun and very professional, and the best prices around! If you email Polo, you will get back to you right away!

Thank you for the info. We just booked this!! Can't wait. We leave on 2/20 on the Conquest!

 

Jennifer