Nativeways IS the best!

[jrlaurie]

We just returned from Explorer of the Sea's. We were booked for the Rays, Reef, and Rum Point excursion. We met at the scheduled meeting place for check in, which is right where the tender boats dock, so very easy to find. We checked in and were early, so we did some shopping for about 45 mins. Checked in for the 2nd time and we were off for our awesome day. When we were getting in our van, we realized there were only 4 of us getting on. My DH and I, and another couple. We thought how awesome is this. We drove to our boat, met Chris our captain (what a great guy) and we were off to Stingray City. It is amazing pulling up to the sandbar. To think that you are in the middle of the ocean, and can stand in 2-4 feet of water. As we were ancoring (SP?), my Dh and I see these HUGE blobs of grey in the water, we were just thinking that it was the bottom, coral or something. Then they started moving, I will never forget my DH and I looked at each other and in unison said "Holy Sh*t" then started laughing. We jumped in, and they were all around us, gliding through the water gracefully. They would brush up against our legs, and let us pet them.

 

When it was time to feed them, my DH was first, and camera in my hand snapped away as about 5 of them were all around him, trying to get his attention (like a puppy wanting a treat). Then when they thought I had food, they were all over me, literally. Never once did I feel treatened. It was scary and amazing at the same time. We spent about 30-45mins here. And noticed that as other boats came, they had alot of people on them. Chris did say that normally they average 22 on a boat for their tour, which would still have been good, as the other boats had more then that.

 

We were then off to Coral Gardens just a few minutes away. Beautiful fish, it was what I think swimming in an aquarium would feel like. We (my DH and I) decided to only spend about 15 mins here, since the water was getting rough, but also because the other 2 people didn't want to get in the water. So we decided to leave and spend more time at Rum Point. So glad we did.

 

Food was included, so Chris gathered our orders and called it in. It was ready when we arrived, Dh and I changed our clothes, and sat down on this beautiful, laid back small island to eat. I ordered a salad which was huge, and Dh ordered fish and chips which he said was great. The other couple had huge portions of their food as well. After we ate, DH and I found a hammock with our name on it, imagine that. There is a gift shop, which I thought alittle pricey, but I'm a cheapo. We spent about 1-1 1/2 hours here. It is a beautiful island. We didn't really walk around to see what else is there, but I'm sure there is more to see. We met Chris at the boat at the time he told us to. And he was there to help us in the boat, and drive us back.

 

On the way, we past beautiful houses, so on the way back, Chris took alittle detour for us to see these homes up close. Probably not a good idea, since I took a picture of one and told my DH he had to build it for me :D .

 

When we returned to the dock, they were there waiting to take us back to the tender dock. They were soooo friendly, both on the way there and on the way back.

 

Also what was great booking with a local operator is when we got back, we found out that our ships tour had cancelled due to rough waters. Though it was alittle rough, we never felt like we were not ok. And also was never nervous about getting back to the ship on time. I did keep on eye on time but Chris, knew when our last tender was, and was on top of letting us have time at each stop, but keeping to our schedule.

 

I can not say enough about how awesome Nativeways is. I would not hesitate to book with them in the future. Please let me kmow if I can help with any questions.

[WeCruiseForFun]

Hi jrlaurie:

It is great to hear that you had a good time with Nativeway. We have booked them for our trip next month. Everything we have heard is good, so we are really excited. My brother and his wife went to Rum Point a couple of years ago and they said it is wonderful. Thanks for sharing your experience. Reviews like yours give us confidence to try something new!

[nursejewels]

Wow, this trip sounded awesome! I am cruising w/ CCL to GC in June for first time and am very interested! Did you book this trip independently? Do they have a web site? Did they give you any opportunity to snorkel? I snorkeled w/ rays in Nassau at Blue Lagoon and got a nice "hickey" from a ray on my knee...did any of them give you or your mates any love marks?

[jrlaurie]

nursejewels- I did book this trip through thier website www.nativewaywatersports.com, Sharon was always quick to reply, however keep in mind that it does take a few days for a response, something about there internet taking longer. You can call to set up reservations also. I did call once to ask another question, and she took off $5.00 from my amount for the phone call fee. Very nice I thought.

 

We did snorkle around with the rays, also at Coral Gardens. I'm sure you could at Rum Point, but we didn't, though there were other in the water. I had heard about the hickey's, but didn't receive one. I actuaaly didn't feed them, kind of nervous, but my husband did. No marks for him either. I would say this was the best day of our cruise. Just amazing.

 

WeCruiseForFun- You will have a wonderful time. Can't wait to hear your review.

[FWCruiser]

Thank you for the great review - I have been looking at that exact excursion through Nativeways. My primary concern is the time crunch and getting back to the ship on time. (Especially if others from a different boat are on our tour and we have different time constraints). What time did you get back to the tenders? We will be on Royal Caribbean with a 4 pm departure out of GC. Is that enough time (that would be 3 pm GC time, right?):confused:

[DancingNancy_570]

We used them last year for the stingray tour. We did the Rays,Reef and Rum last week while on the Mariner. They are a fabulous company. The beach was great and so was the food. They are the only tour company I will use in GC.

[jrlaurie]

FWCruiser-We were in Cayman from 9:30-5:30. The last tender was 5:00. But we were the only ship in port that day. So this excursions time was changed to suit our time. When we returned we did have about an hour before the last tender, time for a little shopping. And yes Cayman time is 1 hour behind. If the times are the same for your excursion, then you would have 15 mins. or so before the last tender. We had no problems but 15 mins is cutting it close.

 

What time is the excursion hours? Maybe it's earlier for your ship, since you leave earlier then we did. You could also check www.cruisecal.com to see if there are other ships in port.

[willowcreek1955]

We just returned from Explorer of the Sea's. We were booked for the Rays, Reef, and Rum Point excursion. We met at the scheduled meeting place for check in, which is right where the tender boats dock, so very easy to find. We checked in and were early, so we did some shopping for about 45 mins. Checked in for the 2nd time and we were off for our awesome day. When we were getting in our van, we realized there were only 4 of us getting on. My DH and I, and another couple. We thought how awesome is this. We drove to our boat, met Chris our captain (what a great guy) and we were off to Stingray City. It is amazing pulling up to the sandbar. To think that you are in the middle of the ocean, and can stand in 2-4 feet of water. As we were ancoring (SP?), my Dh and I see these HUGE blobs of grey in the water, we were just thinking that it was the bottom, coral or something. Then they started moving, I will never forget my DH and I looked at each other and in unison said "Holy Sh*t" then started laughing. We jumped in, and they were all around us, gliding through the water gracefully. They would brush up against our legs, and let us pet them.

 

When it was time to feed them, my DH was first, and camera in my hand snapped away as about 5 of them were all around him, trying to get his attention (like a puppy wanting a treat). Then when they thought I had food, they were all over me, literally. Never once did I feel treatened. It was scary and amazing at the same time. We spent about 30-45mins here. And noticed that as other boats came, they had alot of people on them. Chris did say that normally they average 22 on a boat for their tour, which would still have been good, as the other boats had more then that.

 

We were then off to Coral Gardens just a few minutes away. Beautiful fish, it was what I think swimming in an aquarium would feel like. We (my DH and I) decided to only spend about 15 mins here, since the water was getting rough, but also because the other 2 people didn't want to get in the water. So we decided to leave and spend more time at Rum Point. So glad we did.

 

Food was included, so Chris gathered our orders and called it in. It was ready when we arrived, Dh and I changed our clothes, and sat down on this beautiful, laid back small island to eat. I ordered a salad which was huge, and Dh ordered fish and chips which he said was great. The other couple had huge portions of their food as well. After we ate, DH and I found a hammock with our name on it, imagine that. There is a gift shop, which I thought alittle pricey, but I'm a cheapo. We spent about 1-1 1/2 hours here. It is a beautiful island. We didn't really walk around to see what else is there, but I'm sure there is more to see. We met Chris at the boat at the time he told us to. And he was there to help us in the boat, and drive us back.

 

On the way, we past beautiful houses, so on the way back, Chris took alittle detour for us to see these homes up close. Probably not a good idea, since I took a picture of one and told my DH he had to build it for me :D .

 

When we returned to the dock, they were there waiting to take us back to the tender dock. They were soooo friendly, both on the way there and on the way back.

 

Also what was great booking with a local operator is when we got back, we found out that our ships tour had cancelled due to rough waters. Though it was alittle rough, we never felt like we were not ok. And also was never nervous about getting back to the ship on time. I did keep on eye on time but Chris, knew when our last tender was, and was on top of letting us have time at each stop, but keeping to our schedule.

 

I can not say enough about how awesome Nativeways is. I would not hesitate to book with them in the future. Please let me kmow if I can help with any questions.

What time did you get back to the ship?

[4merlurker]

We have this trip booked with Nativeway for November! Cant Wait! Glad you had such a good time. Thanks for the review! :)

[Nliedel]

Awesome review, very informative post! Thank you so very much.

[jrlaurie]

willowcreek1955-Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. Are ship was to leave at 5:30pm, and last tender was 5:00. We got back to the tender dock at 4:15 ship time. We could have went back to the ship early, however we wanted to do some shopping.

[AdventureJunky]

jrlaurie,

We just returned from the Carnival Miracle. We were booked for the Rays, Reef, and Rum Point excursion as well. There were only six of us on the boat with Captain Chris. My DH and I thought Chris was the best. My review would almost be the same as yours. Chris let us each take a turn driving the boat to Stingray City. When we arrived at Stingray City 40 stingrays headed straight for us. They were very friendly, a little too friendly :) . I think we stayed as Stingray City for 45 minutes.

After Stingray City we went to Coral Gardens. The water was a little rough, but I think we snorkeled for 40 minutes. The coral was beautiful and we saw hundreds of fish. While my DH and I were snorkeling we saw a huge barracuda. My DH was curious and swam closer; I swam back to the boat. When everyone got back on the boat, Chris took our orders for lunch. During the boat ride to Rum Point my DH talked to Chris about fishing for barracuda.

Rum Point was beautiful and very clean. Our lunch was great. I had the Caesar Grouper Wrap and my DH had the Spicy Grouper Sandwich. Both meals were huge and delicious. Our meals came with fries and a drink (water or ice-T). We relaxed on Rum Point for about an hour and a half.

I think my DH would say his favorite part of the excursion was the boat ride back to the marina. While we were relaxing on Rum Point, Chris caught a baitfish off the boat. On the way back to the marina he let me DH fish for barracudas off the back of his boat. My DH had 2 barracudas on but he didn’t land one. Also on our way back to the marina Chris drove through a mango grove and showed us several lizards and huge homes.

Our last tender boat was at 3:15. Chris continually kept track of the time and we got back to port right on time to board the last tender. My DH and I could not stop raving about Nativeway. We asked Chris for his business card and we will not hesitate to give him a call when we are on the Cayman Islands.

[jrlaurie]

adventurejunky-Dead on, they are the best. Chris took us to the see the homes as well because I keep asking questions about them. I have a picture of the huge one, that almost looks like a hotel. He said his friends, daughter designed it. Beautiful. That's cool you got to see barracudas. We saw one in Cozumel. Glad you had a great time.

[pfleer]

Do any of you remember what all was on the menu for lunch?

[grizzy]

jrlaurie,

 

Hey...I was on the same cruise as you...met you at the Love and marriage show.

 

Just wanted to echo your props for Nativeway. Our group of 17 had a private charter that morning and had a blast. I think we saw you guys pulling up to SRC when we were going to our third snorkel stop. We've used them 4 years in a row now and always have a blast.

 

Sounds like rum point was nice. We always want to do that but love 7 mile so much.

 

I wanna go back :eek: !

 

Chris

[moakes]

We booked with Nativeways for the RRR Tour in August. Each post i've read about them has been very positive and it is making it harder and harder to endure the wait till we leave!

[mnsawyer]

This tour is new and certainly is one that offers a little bit of everything. I think when you've done the touristy stuff (Hell, 7 Mile Beach, Turtle Farm) you are looking for something more. This to me, fits the bill. It's a popular one that's for sure!

 

Does anyone know about this tour when you sail on the Carnival Glory? The time of arrival isn't until 9:00 a.m. and I believe the tour departs at that time? Thought I read some where that Nativeway adjusts for the schedule for the day the Glory is in port.

 

Thanks!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We just returned yesterday from the Explorer of the Seas & did Native Ways. You can read my entire review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=184413

 

We only did the Rays & Reef as we wanted to have some serious shopping time. However, if we go again, I think we will definitely do Rum Point after reading your review! We were also the only ship in port that day & Native Ways changed their schedule to accomodate us. It was a great tour that I would highly recommend any day. :)

 

Just one sidenote: Sharon e-mailed me that the time of our tour was 10:30 island time which was 11:30 ship time. She explained that the Cayman Islands are on the same time as ship time until Daylight Savings Time begins. Then, because the Caymans do not observe DST they are one hour behind. On the ship they INSISTED that the Cayman Islands were on the same time as the ship, they even made an announcement that the time was the same. However, once I got on the Island I asked several natives the time. They all gave me a time ONE HOUR BEHIND ship time! So be careful, Sharon knows what she is talking about. I just hope no one missed the boat! :eek: