Native Way Rays and Rum Point

[noleswin]

Has anyone booked this at the pier instead of in advance?

[MamaParrotHead]

Nativeway is one of the more popular and affordable tour vendors on GC, I'm sure they don't have much "walk on" business. Especially if there are more than a couple of ships in port. If it something you think you want to do, just curious as to why you don't book it ahead of time? If nothing else, they don't ask for any deposit when you DO book online...you really have nothing to lose if you end up changing your mind and contact them to cancel.

[aquatot11]

I am also curious why you would wait to see if you could join their RRR Tour at the pier. You wouldn't save anything...and there is a very good chance that they would be sold out and you would miss a great tour. They have a maximum of 25 per tour, and they sell out quickly. We've got a group of 14 for December.

 

Charlie

[noleswin]

Went ahead a booked online. Will I receive a confirmation email?

[MamaParrotHead]

Yes, within a day or so.

[PlanoDebbie]

Just got off the Conquest yesterday and had done the Rays, Reef and Rum Point Beach excursion while in Grand Cayman. It was awesome!

 

Depending on how many people have pre-booked the excursion, they will take some last minute add-ons. We did not have to pre-pay for the excursion at all, so I would recommend that you book ahead of time to be sure you have a spot. They have two boats. We had a total of about 35 guests split between the two boats.

 

Thomas was our Captain and very friendly and helpful. JC and Moses were also very sweet and helpful. Based upon all of the wonderful reviews we read here on CC is why we booked with Nativeway.

 

We were a group of six ladies. Three moms and three girls who just graduated from High School.

 

There will be someone on the pier with a sign to greet you and let you know where to sit and wait while the rest of the group tenders in. We all loaded up on a great big school bus for the drive over to where their boats were docked. Total of 17 guests on our boat.

 

Took about 20-25 minutes to get out to Stingray City. The water was beautiful and the ride was very smooth. Probably about 10 other boats already out there when we arrived. You will need to enter the water barefoot, so don't bother buying watershoes like we did. Thomas and his crew did an excellent job of explaining to us what we should and should not do. DON'T try to chase or grab a stingray on our own. They know what they're doing, so let them catch the critters. JC took several pictures of everyone holding and kissing the stingrays as well as getting a back massage from one. It was soooo fun! We spent about 45 minutes there.

 

After Stingray City we moved over to the reef for some snorkeling. They provide all of the equipment for you. Mask, fins and snorkels. Not too many fish, but the water was crystal clear and so refreshing. Stayed here for about 45 minutes as well.

 

Next, we were off to Rum Point Beach for lunch. Thomas had passed out menus on the boat for us to choose what we wanted for lunch. It was ready when we got there. Also included a glass of iced tea. Food prices are very high there, so to have lunch included was quite a bargain. After a leisurely lunch, we still had nearly 90 minutes to play on the beach and cool off some more in the water. It was awesome!

 

On the way back to their dock, all of our girls got quite the thrill to ride on the front of the boat. All six of us absolutely LOVED our tour and felt it was well worth the $62.50 we paid for it.

 

On a side note, bring some extra money if you'd like to buy the pictures they took. They will print one picture for $20, or copy all of them to a CD for you for $50. They'll take about 9 - 11 pictures of you. If you purchase the CD they will also include some pictures of the fish and stingrays for you as well. This is simply an additional service they provide if you choose to buy the pictures. There was absolutely no pressure to buy them at all! I think just about everyone bought a CD on our boat.

 

I told Thomas that I had found them through Cruise Critic and that we were all very impressed with their service and friendliness.

 

Two thumbs up for Nativeway! We would absolutely use them for a future trip.

[PlanoDebbie]

Oh, I forgot to say that when we got back to the ship I had plugged our CD into my laptop only to discover that the pictures of my daughter by herself were not included on the CD. We had done one big CD for our entire group of six, so JC had missed a few of the pictures.

 

Fortunately he had put his e-mail address on the CD envelope if we had any questions. As luck would have it, there was a 50% off internet rates for two hours when we got back on the ship. I sent JC and Nativeway a quick e-mail to let them know that my daughter's pictures didn't make it on the CD and could they please just e-mail them to me before deleting them.

 

Whew! JC replied in less than 2 hours and sent the 4 pictures that I was missing. Wonderful customer service. My husband loved all of those pictures.