Stingray Sandbar who to book with?

[gam888]

Read somewhere in the review someone only paid $25 to the Stingray Sandbar? I read on the internet it ranges between $35-$40. Has anyone paid lower? Can you take a taxi there and just pay the entrance fee? Has anyone hired a taxi to just tour around the island? What is the cost per person? We are a family of 5. We are going on the Carnival Legend this August, has anyone been canceled from the port because of rough sea and tender boat can't dock? Where would Carnival substitute the port and if they don't replace it would they offer compensation for missing it?

[bookbabe]

Can you take a taxi there and just pay the entrance fee?

 

It's not that type of attraction. :D A taxi will sink halfway, since Stingray Sandbar is just that...a sandbar out in the ocean where stingrays hang out. The costs of the excursion are mainly for the boat/operator to take you out there...

[gam888]

Ha ha I know what you mean about taxi sinking in,:D, What I meant to say was can you take some form of public transportation from the dock to the Stingray location, pay the admission and go in?:confused:

[EBallgrl]

No, you must go with a Tour. You can either pre-arrange a tour, or pick one from the many companies at the dock. You will probably get a better price if you get a tour at the dock, but you do not know anything about the company. You may end up sitting in a hot van or bus until they get enough people to sign on to the tour.

[bookbabe]

Ha ha I know what you mean about taxi sinking in,:D, What I meant to say was can you take some form of public transportation from the dock to the Stingray location, pay the admission and go in?:confused:

 

There's no admission fee. It's just open water. Anyone can go there for free if they have their own boat...my DH and I do it all the time.

 

Unfortunately, there aren't any "public" boats of the type you mean, if I'm understanding your followup question correctly. The way it works is that you take a taxi or bus from the cruise ship pier to the tour company's dock. (Usually this is arranged by the tour company and is included in the price.) You then board their boat and go to Stingray City (it's not anywhere close to where the cruise ships anchor). You may have other stops for snorkelling or beach time somewhere, depending on which excursion you choose. After spending some time out at the sandbar, you get back on the boat, go back to the dock, then board the taxi/bus to get back to the cruise ship pier.

 

Does that help clarify things a bit?

[txladydi]

Okay, assuming you understand now that Stingray City is not like a park where there is an admission charge. I would like to suggest you book in advance online with Captain Marvin's. They don't charge your credit card until you show up to take the tour. They have an office/gift shop near the pier where you will get off the tender boat - about a 5 minute walk. They put you on a bus to go to their location where you get on their boat to go to Singray City. It's a marvelous tour, not overcrowded and very nice folks.

 

Your other question, yes, the stop at Grand Cayman can be cancelled because of rough seas. All the cruise lines want to keep you safe, and therefore won't stop if the seas are too rough. During August you should not have a problem with this, unless there is a hurricane - in which case your whole itinerary may be changed. When a single port is cancelled, they usually refund your port fees for that port, usually about $25 per person.

 

One other point, sometimes the cruise ship can stop at Grand Cayman, but then you get on the island and Stingray City is closed to tours because of rough seas - not very often this would happen. In that case you wouldn't be charged for the tour that you had booked online. You can walk around downtown Georgetown by the pier, or take an island tour that goes to Seven Mile Beach, Hell, the Turtle Farm and Tortuga Rum Cake factory. There is also the Botanical Gardens, and the Blue Iguana conservation area.

 

The time seems to confuse a lot of people. Grand Cayman is on Eastern Standard Time year around - they don't do Daylight Savings Time. So during August their time will be an hour behind Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

 

Enjoy your visit, it's a beautiful island with friendly people. We went in 2004 from Voyager of the Seas, and are going this June to a resort for 8 days!!! Can't wait!

Di

[2PinaColadas]

We went with Moby Dick. Had a fantastic time. Whoever you book with, don't miss it. It is an experience you will never forget.

[gam888]

Thank you all for replying my post!

[Dpeeps]

We just got home yesterday.....I booked the stingray,snorkle coral reef and starfish tour through nativeway.....It was fantastic!! They actually quoted me 40 dollars for adults and 30 for kids.....but when we got on the tour....they only charged us 35 for adults and 25 for kids! They made 3 stops...first was the actual swimming with the stingrays, then we snorkled at a coral reef, then the last stop was snorkling for these really big star fish. This guy was on board who took pictures the whole time and you could purchase the CD when he was done if you wanted it. When we got back to the ship....we talked to some people who had booded the same tour thru the ship and payed 85 dollars!