Stingray City by Helicopter

[WineDown17]

HAs anyone done this? Is it worthwhile?

[dbarry]

I have contacted the company in Grand Cayman, but unfortunately they have been very slow to respond. I think this would be a great way to see Grand Cayman, especially after being there a few times. You can swim with the stingrays and visit the turtle farm only so many times! I'm still hopeful that they will get back to me before my 02/26/06 Mariner of the Seas cruise. One tip, RCCL is offering this excursion for $139. You can book directly with this company and pay online a week in advance for $85. The only problem that I see with this is that if the ship doesn't call on Grand Cayman, you may lose 50% of your payment for not canceling 24 hours in advance. If you go through the ship, if you don't stop there you get a full refund. Sounds like quite a savings booking independently, but like I said they haven't responded back to several of my emails over the last two weeks. Wish I could offer more information. If I get to do this, (I may just book with the ship) I will post a review when I get back.

Darlene

[drew sailbum]

Or split the difference. There is usually someone holding a sign for helicopter tours somewhere along the waterfront of Harbour Drive.

[dbarry]

I received a call tonight from Cayman Helicopters. I am very excited to say that I feel much better since they have contacted me. I will post a review when I get back. As I mentioned above, if you book online a week in advance the cost is only $85.00. This is the same company that RCCL uses for their offered "Stingray City Helicopter Tour". The difference is just the cost, RCCL's price is $139.00. When I asked about the possibility of the ship not being able to tender into Grand Cayman they assured me that I would receive a full refund. Also a problem for us was that according to their web site, they require a minimum of four passengers per reservation. There are only two of us, but they are just pairing us with someone else. Maybe even a RCCL guest who is paying a bit more for the same tour?

 

Darlene

 

Thought I'd add a link to Cayman Helicopters right here

[TravelWorks]

I am confused...

 

Do you jump out of the chopper to see the sting rays and pet them at stingray city/sandbar...or are you just flying over looking at everyone else playing in the water with them?

 

Or does the helicopter have pontoons on it so you can land there out in the water... How do you take a helicopter to stingray city in the ocean?

[dbarry]

:D

I am confused...

 

Do you jump out of the chopper to see the sting rays and pet them at stingray city/sandbar...or are you just flying over looking at everyone else playing in the water with them?

Or does the helicopter have pontoons on it so you can land there out in the water... How do you take a helicopter to stingray city in the ocean?

So sorry for the confusion! I have been swimming with the stingrays on past trips. It is truely a "must-do" in Grand Cayman. Also a trip to the turtle farm, the rum cake factory, and of course the trip to the post office at Hell cannot be missed. Mostly I think this will be a great way to see and to take some unusual photos of Stingray City, the ship while tendered and Seven Mile Beach. There are going to be like six ships in Grand Cayman the day that I am going to be there. That is alot of people, so this will (I think ) get us away from some of the crowd. The tour is only about an hour long but the $85 charge seems to be more reasonable than the ship's $139 charge for the same thing. I'm not sure what we will do after the tour, perhaps taxi over to 7 mile beach to be with the crowds, or maybe going back to the ship to enjoy the uncrowded pool deck.

Darlene

[dbarry]

Just back from my Mariner of the Seas western cruise. We had an awesome time with Cayman Island Helicopters! I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but I certainly wasn't disappointed! I love to fly, but this was so cool, and different than being in an airplane. I got some great pictures and a little bit of video, but gave up on the video as it was somewhat difficult to tape, watch the sights, "surf the waves at 7 mile beach", and did I mention "buzzing the jetskiers"? Awesome tour!! I would recommend this tour for everyone. The helicopter was quite roomy, there were 6 of us and the owner/pilot. As I said above we saved a pretty good bit of money by booking this tour online vs. booking with RCCL. Check out the earlier post for the link to their website!

 

Darlene

[lynchad]

Darlene: Thank you for the posts. I have reserved this through the ship, based upon your post I thought I would look into doing it independantly. How easy was it to transfer to the airport and back - what is the expected cost? There is only two of us, so I was also wondering if you thought there was any risk of not being able to go if we did not have another couple sign up. Appreciate your feedback,

[dbarry]

lynchad - No problem posting. I have learned so much from these boards, I am more than happy to "give back". Cayman Helicopters picked us up right at the tendering dock, and returned us right outside of the gate to the tendering area. No charge for transportation. They actually have a "kiosis" right across the street from the tendering area, but they walked us over to there and we were taken to the airport from there. When I booked with them I was worried about there only being two of us as well, but I sent in the booking form with our names on it anyway. They will put you with others. There ended up being six of us in total. The only problem that I had was that I needed a little more than "we will take care of you", which is what they said when I first inquired, and which by the way they did "take care of us", but right up until the last minute I wasn't sure how things were going to go. I knew that we were booked, I had paid for it in full. But I wasn't sure about the details. I actually checked my email while aboard the ship, the night before Grand Cayman and there was an email from them explaining the time to meet, etc. The tour was great, well worth the fee and the owner's of the company were great as well. After meeting Nathlie, I felt that we had known each other for a long time. I'm just a details freak, and was a little worried about things working out. I know that if I go to Grand Cayman again, I would not hesitate doing this tour again. Especially if I could save the money by booking on line. What ever you do have a wonderful time.

 

Here is a link to my pictures of Grand Cayman taken from the helicopter.

 

 

Darlene