Lisa
You can visit the best snorkeling reefs in the Cayman Islands at Coral Reef without another boat in sight. Enjoy over five miles of untouched reefs filled with marine life. Snorkel with Parrot fish, Angel Fish, Trumpet fish, Sea Cucumbers, Flamingo Tounges, Sea Fans and much more. Stops can include: South Channel Gardens, Sunset Reef, Ridgefield Reef, Sunrise Reef or Cannon Reef. All for only $35 per person. And shuttle service is free to customers on some trips.
There is another tour we have taken several times in the Cayman Islands, that is snorkeling with the stingrays, it is another awesom experience, we booked it through the ship on-line and recieved our conf. via e-mail and our tickets were in our cabin. No lines to get into.
have a great time. Dolphin
Lisa,
Our cruise is in March 2005 and I booked an excursion through cozumelinsider.com for our dolphin excursion at the Chankanaab Park. Jacqueline was great!! She did mention this excursion was filling up fast. We did not go through the cruise line because they did not offer the Royal Swim. Therefore, we are being brave and going on our own. This excursion on our own cost more but we were after the great experience.
I am still working on an excursion at Grand Cayman. Our ship arrives at 7:00am and there will be a total of 6 ships at port. I am debating on using Capt. Marvin (meet at 9:00 am), Capt. Bryan (meet at 8:45 am) or Sotos (meet at 8:30 am)for this excursion, except the meeting times are so early I am afraid the tendering will hold us back and we would not make the scheduled time.
My concern booking through the crise line is the amount of people they pack on their boat. Does anyone out there have a suggestion? I am ready to make a reservation but I am just worried about making the early time with any of the private companies. I do not want to miss this excursion at the stringray city.
Should I just book through the cruise line?
Mip - what's the difference between the ship's dophin adventure and the Royal swim? Ship costs $136 for 3 1/2 hours and cozumelinsider's costs $125 for and hour. Is it the program?
Your question: From what I've seen here, you're better off booking Stingray city with the cruise line. People have commented on how Capt Bryan's meeting time is cutting it too close. Lisa
With 6 ships in port, I would book it with the cruise line right now. I guarantee you that there is not enough capacity to handle everyone that wants to do Stingray City from 6 ships. Also, I guarantee you that tendering will be slow and difficult, as the Grand Cayman tender wharf was only designed to handle two ships a day.
Before POD technology, there was only a small area where ships could actually drop anchor. Now they can simply pull up, set their GPS coordinates and stay in the same spot the entire day without dropping anchor. Unfortunately, the tender wharf hasn't kept up with the technology.
If you book the ship's Stingray City excursion, they will make sure you get there on time and it really isn't something that you want to miss.
With 6 ships in port, I totally agree with Tom's suggestion of booking the Grand Cayman Stingray Excursion through the cruise lines (that's a lot of people to be tendering).
As for the Swimming with the Dolphins Excursion, make sure to check if you will be doing a dolphin encounter or the actual swim. The encounter is simply standing on a platform and the dolphins swim by and kiss you and you can pet them. With the Royal Swim you are actually in the water with the dolphins where you have a chance to interact with them.
Lisa,
The dolphin adventure through the ship will only allow you to lay on the dolphin's belly as to the royal swim includes the "foot push", where the dolphins push you through the water like superman; the "dorsal tow", where you will have the chance to be pulled across the water surface by two dolphins, the "hurdle jump" and of course free swim time with the dolphins. As for the dolphin encounter, we will be standing on a platform which is submerged in the water and the dolphins will be swimming right up next to you. The platform is primarily used so that the younger ones do not have to tread water. Cozumel insider has three different programs, they include the dolphin encounter, royal dolphin swim and the dolphin snorkel/swim adventure (this is the one the ship offers). My son is a little afraid and when he saw the different pictures of the different activities with the dolphins he picked the encounter; as to my daughter she has no fear. We also decided to do this excursion on our own because we were told that the park offered alot of other activities. If we were to book through the ship we would not have time to enjoy the park. If you booked this excursion I how you guys have a great time. I myself can not wait for this excursion !!!!
Thank you all for your suggestions on the stingray city excursion in Grand Cayman I have dicided to play it safe and stay with the cruise line. But if any of you guys have any suggestions please let me know. This is our first trip and I am looking for a great experience for my family.
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