tips for Stingray City Tour?

[TechKnowBabble]

My BF wants to do the Stingray City Tour. He says that if you shuffle your feet in the water the stingrays will move away from you. After he told me I could possibly step on one and be seriously hurt I am quite nervous about the whole thing. Buuuuuttt...it will be his 30th bday the day we're there and I would do anything to make his bday perfect. Suggestions for me?

 

Thanks!

[MurfAtHome]

Check out Captain Marvin's excursion, competitive price, great crew, beautiful boat and smaller groups than the excursions reserved through the cruise lines. Trust me, the stingrays do not want to be stepped on, and after a minute in the water with these graceful and gentle creatures you will have no regrets about taking the plunge. Water is only waste deep on the sandbar and yes, I suppose its possible that if you tried really hard you could try to pin a stingray under your foot and in the area where the stinger is located, but the odds would have to be stacked against you. Throw caution to the wind and experience something you won't soon forget. Our two teenagers and 10 year old were with us, and there was a videographer on board that capture the family snorkeling prior to reaching the sandbar, and the resulting footage was set to reggae/calapyso music and recorded to DVD. It cost us $35 and we got the DVD within a week of returning home. Great memories!!:cool:

[zydecocruiser]

My BF wants to do the Stingray City Tour. He says that if you shuffle your feet in the water the stingrays will move away from you. After he told me I could possibly step on one and be seriously hurt I am quite nervous about the whole thing. Buuuuuttt...it will be his 30th bday the day we're there and I would do anything to make his bday perfect. Suggestions for me?

 

Thanks!

 

Don't worry - be happy.

 

When you might encounter stingrays in the wild, you shuffle your feet to avoid stepping on them - the stingrays at the sandbar are incredibly tolerant of people. I've accidently stepped on them there without incident. Now if you intentionally go stomping around trying to smash one...

 

The stingrays at the sandbar are generally constantly on the move looking for humans handing out free food so are not just buried on the bottom where you could step on one.

 

 

[DEERINH2O]

Go, you will have so much fun and glad you did. I have been twice and am going back in August. We love to do the Stingray tour, each time it is all fun again. I use Nativewaytours they always do a good job and make you comfortable.

 

Kathy

[Nebr.cruiser]

Gosh, they really aren't scary at all. They are used to people and, as another poster said, you'd have to work really hard to get hurt by stepping on one. I suppose it's possible, but a remote chance. I think the name "stingray" intimidates people, but they are quite gentle.

[cruisevers]

This is a don't miss, definitely! One of the best times we have had on all our cruises! Also try Nativeway, they are great. reasonable, great boat and good prices. Very personal service.

http://http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html

[TechKnowBabble]

thanks for all the input. I will 'brave it out' This might sound like a very silly question, but from someone who was very scared just holding a turtle at the turtle farm when we were in GC in 2004, I'm nervous. Are they very aggressive taking the food from you? Does their mouth touch your hand? What should I expect?

 

Thanks again!

[D4]

Yes, do it!!! Although we've been to GC 5 previous times, we never did the Stingrays until last week. I thought I'd be too afraid to get out of the boat, but I did fine. I did scream for a bit though! They just swoop past you and rub against you! They call them the puppy-dogs of the ocean because they are friendly and just want to be petted and get food. I was afraid of stepping on them too, but did ok. You're out in the ocean, so there are waves and I felt like I was losing my footing several times. I found that moving a bit farther away from the boat made standing easier because the sandbar was higher.

 

I didn't want to feed them, but our DD kept feeding them. Yes, your hand comes into contact with them and their mouth is on their underside! They suck the food out of your fingers.

 

We did the excursion through Carnival because we didn't want delays in tendering. (DH was in the hospital a few weeks earlier and a lot of walking and standing was hard for him.) There was a photographer on board and a videographer and we bought the pictures on a CD and the DVD. They are super souveniers!

 

It was the highlight of our cruise and we'll probably do it every time we go to GC!

[PalmTree902]

Who did you do your tour with? the cruise ship or a private tour? I just booked the Bucaneer? Anyone been on the bucaneer?

[JAKE3337]

We were just on the Bucaneer last week when we were on the Crown Princess. I spent a lot of time trying to make up my mind who to book with on my own. We paid $35 per person. Meet at 10am, were on the catermaran at 10:30am and didn't return until 1:45pm. We only had 11 people on our 50 ft catermaran. The guides were great and made everyone comfortable making sure everyone got to hold/kiss the stingrays. Other boats we saw were packed with people on board. It was a great trip and you will be very happy that you picked Captain Bryan's Bucaneer. Have fun!!:)

[PalmTree902]

Thanks Jake3337. Appreciate your response. Hope we are that lucky with 15 people or so. 5 being us. You really lucked out. Have a wonderful day.

 

___________________________________________

Celebrity - Zenith 1994

Royal Caribbean - Enchantment of the Seas Sept. 2006

[TechKnowBabble]

Thanks for the input everyone. I admit I'm still scared but I will try it. Has anyone been on Celebrity's Stingray City tour? Will they also have a videographer as well? I definitely want footage of it, but if both of us are in the water we need someone else to video it :D