Reef, Rays and Rum PT

[Melmo]

My traveling friend just told me that she saw the same tour as the Native Way RRR tour on the Carnival excursion list. Plus there is rum punch on the way back. She said it was also $60. I am sure this is wrong, but it is too late for me to check as pre-order time is over for Carnival excursions. Does anybody know about this?

[monty_11]

The tour that Carnival offers is $55 for 4 hours but it isn't quite the same as what Nativeway offers. The Carnival excursion only does Stingray City and Rum Point. Complimentary water / iced tea is provided.

The Nativeway tour is $60 for 5 hours and does Stingray City, Barrier reef snorkeling and Rum Point beach. I thought I saw somewhere that it also included lunch at Rum Point.

We're debating on whether to go with Nativeway, Cpt. Bryan or Cpt. Marvin. I don't think we'll do the Carnival excursion.

 

Peter.

[Dgonza]

Yes, I believe nativeway does include lunch at rum point. They will call in your order and it will be ready when you arrive at the beach. Another thing to think about is with the Ships excursion you will be on a cattle boat. With Nativeways, the only take up to 25 people, so you get a little more personal attention.

[DukeFamily]

With NativeWay your $60 DOES buy your lunch at Rum Point. We just did this in June. The lunch was very good, too. Also, on our boat there were only about 20 of us in all. While we were at stingray city I could see the boats used by various cruise lines for the excursion, and let me tell you they could not have squeezed one more person on those boats. They were jam packed, top deck and bottom. It looked miserable to me. We were at Rum Point almst two hours and I bet there weren't 200 people there in total the whole time we were there.

[cuizinmania]

We are doing RRR with Nativeway in June. Does any one have any suggestions on what food to order for lunch, and what would be a good choice for pre teens that are NOT picky eaters. Thanks

[smashley]

Nativeway sounds like a great tour, I'm definitely looking into it. I have a question about the food as well, what do they serve?

[wilee]

The food from the Nativeway tour was provided by the restaurant/snackbar type place at Rum Point. While on the boat they provided a menu to make a selection. Seems there were some burgers and various sandwiches. There was also tea and water available with the lunch. The food was good.

[signman]

My suggestion is to order what you like. I had the blackened chicken sandwich and enjoyed it. There are about 20 items.

[drew sailbum]

We are doing RRR with Nativeway in June. Does any one have any suggestions on what food to order for lunch, and what would be a good choice for pre teens that are NOT picky eaters. Thanks

 

I think you pretty much have the pick of whatever you'd like from the Wreck bar menu. A few of those menu items include:

 

Boboli Chicken Sandwich

Club Sandwich

Jerk Pork Sandwich

Chicken Caesar Salad

Mahi-Mahi wrap

Sweet Chili Garlic Wings

Cheeseburger

Hot Dog

... and more

 

It's all pretty good, but my favorite has to be the jerk pork sandwich.

[Melmo]

The tour that Carnival offers is $55 for 4 hours but it isn't quite the same as what Nativeway offers. The Carnival excursion only does Stingray City and Rum Point. Complimentary water / iced tea is provided.

The Nativeway tour is $60 for 5 hours and does Stingray City, Barrier reef snorkeling and Rum Point beach. I thought I saw somewhere that it also included lunch at Rum Point.

We're debating on whether to go with Nativeway, Cpt. Bryan or Cpt. Marvin. I don't think we'll do the Carnival excursion.

 

Peter.

 

Thank you. I am making many choices for a large group of people, and it is making me so nervous. I knew the Carnival trip couldn't be the same, but when she insisted, I didnt know what to say. Nativeway has gotten amazing reviews on here, and the whole tour just sounds so perfect! My cousin did it 2 months ago, and says it was her favorite part of the cruise!

[KUCruiser]

For those of you who have been, does the Native Way RRR Tour include snorkeling equipment?

 

Thanks!

Kimber

[monty_11]

I just got my reservation confirmation email today and they say in the email "We provide free use of all snorkeling gear and vests, food for the Rays, and complimentary punch and bottled water."

 

Cheers,

Peter.

 

For those of you who have been, does the Native Way RRR Tour include snorkeling equipment?

 

Thanks!

Kimber

[KUCruiser]

Great. Thanks. Sounds like a deal. We'll book it. Do they pre-charge or take a deposit and you settle onsight?

[monty_11]

KUCruiser,

They require a credit card number to hold the reservation but they do not bill the tour to your card before hand. You will pay on the tour boat. They take cash, Traveler's Checks, MasterCard, Visa, American Express and Discover.

 

Peter.

Great. Thanks. Sounds like a deal. We'll book it. Do they pre-charge or take a deposit and you settle onsight?

[LRene]

Last month they were no longer taking American Express on the boat. It's a great tour - try the blackened mahi sandwich! Wonderful. And there is a bar at Rum Point (not included, of course). I would highly recommend this tour over a Carnival tour. I read somewhere a while back that Nativeways is going to be providing tours for RCI so they could get booked up a lot quicker. There were a LOT of people from Princess on our last one making me wonder if it was a ship tour for them.

[TennisLover]

We're booked on RRR with NativeWay on our Feb. cruise. Our group has four families (4 people each) and 1 single. What do you suggest we tip at the end of the tour?

 

I am group organizer and I want to give everyone an idea of all the tips "suggested" for the week.

 

Also - we have some picky eaters and a couple of vegetarians in our group. Do you think we'll be all right with the lunch they offer? (otherwise, I'll just tell them to eat a big breakfast!)

 

Thanks!

[KUCruiser]

Thanks, Peter. I've e-mailed our reservation. Heading there in June on CCL Liberty. Two teenage sons have never been and they are really looking forward to it. I think this excursion gives them great variety at a great price.

[MCManders99]

I hear this is currently becoming a Princess Tour. They have a Rays Reef and Rum Point tour on the excursion list. I have tried to email NativeWays to find out if they are doing this, but I never heard any responses. For some reason I have tried to contact them for info and never got any responses. I gave up. If someone knows about them doing the Princess Tours, let me know.

[LRene]

Tennislover - I know I've seen the Rum Pt. restaurant menu posted on here somewhere but I couldn't find it for you. I remember there were salads and some appetizers that may be vegeterian but can't remember for certain. As for tips, we did $5 per person. Keep in mind that they videotape the entire day and will put the hard-sell on you to buy the DVD for $60. I had NO intention of buying it but I'm a sucker and in the end, felt sorry for the videographer who worked so hard. We actually enjoyed receiving it a couple of weeks later and it's pretty good! If I had seen the nurse shark that she got on tape, I would have been walking on water to get back to the boat but I missed it. :eek:

 

MC - 99% on our tour were from Princess. I'd almost bet money they're doing the Princess sponsored tour.

[PSCruiser]

Just did Nativeways last week for the 3rd time, and recommend highly - these guys are a class operation.

To answer a few questions I've seen:

Lunch works as follows - after snorkelling, you get back on the boat to head for Rum Point. They hand out menus for the restaurant there, and then radio your order ahead. When you get there your order is ready, along with iced tea and water.

Some items that I can remember included fish and chips (Mahi), fish sandwich (grouper) , jerk pork sandwich or platter, burgers, grilled chicken sandwich etc., Platters come with rice and beans, Sandwichs with fries or salad. All items were good.

Snorkel equipment is included.

Last time we were there, in October with Princess, I had made reservations and then was contacted by Sharon who said that she would honor our reservation, but that any future reservations would have to be booked through Princess since they were going to be contracted with them.

Tips - always a guesstimate, but I went with $5 pp.

[srobins]

This is in reference to the Stingrays Tour - but I think that this company is really trying to cater more to larger groups. We have enjoyed our tours when they were smaller, but that was a few years ago.

 

On my first trip to Cayman we took the tour with Native Way and it was fine, but our last two trips have been a disaster. In December of 05, my sister and I had booked with NativeWay. I can tell you more details, if you like, but basically, we waited for over an hour to get on a van full of people to go to a boat where we waited for another period until another bus comes and unloads a large group onto our boat. Our tour was to begin at 12:00, and we waited from 11:15 until almost 1:00 for the boat to leave the dock. The tour should have had 15 or 20 maximum and we had at least 60 on board.

 

The tour was stressful, frustrating, rushed and less than expected. The short time we actually got to spend with the stingrays was the only remarkable part of the trip. I did send an email to Sharon when we returned from that trip and she promised us a free trip the next time we returned to Caymans.

 

So, last month we booked with them again. This time I had my sister and two others with me. Again, we waited for a long time at the Gazebo for them to figure out who was supposed to be going on the tour. We walked to a parking lot, boarded a crowded van and sat for awhile in the hot van while the guide went and talked to some other people. We had 18 in the van with kids sitting on laps. I thought we would have a nice size group. After switching us to another van, we left for the dock. When we got there, we unloaded and by the time we got to the boat, there was no place for anyone to sit - it was already full of people. We said, "no, thanks" and asked to be taken back to the pier. I even spoke with Sharon on the phone (one of the guides called her) and I told her that this is not what I expect when I book with NativeWay. She said that the problem is that I keep coming during a busy time and it will always be like that if I come when there are lots of ships at Grand Cayman.

 

So, word to the wise - if you book with Native Way you may have a large group depending on how many ships are in port and how many people they can book at the pier. They take anyone they can -- people stand around and book passengers as they get off the ships. You may have a nice group, but my experience says that they will take as many as they can fit on the boat.

 

If they have contracted with Princess to do this tour, you can bet that they will put as many as they can on the tours.

 

Sherryl