great stirrup cay stingrays

I have 2 questions concerning the stingray excursion at great stirrup cay.

one concerns getting into the water from the boat.My wife has severe arthritis in her back and especially the knees and she wonders how difficult it would be for her to get in and out of the water.

the other question concerns the water depth.My 7 year old grandaughterr who is almost 4 feet tall will be with us.i just read 3 reviews on other sites concerning this excursion.the first said the depth was 15 feet,the second 3 feet,the third 5 feet.

obviously with a 4 foot tall child,2 of the reviews seem to pose a problem.

any advice on both questions appreciated

Generally, there is a ladder to get back in the boat....I can't imagine you could effectively see the stingrays in 15 ft. of water...you really need to be standing, so they can swim about you! You will be required to wear a floatation device of some sort that they provide.

I have the same question as well. Here's part of a review on the NCL site: "We expected to walk onto the beach, with the water being about waist level, to touch the stingrays. Instead we went on a boat ride to a dock where we had to go down a step ladder into deep water. It required about a 15 foot swim to reach the sandbar. We weren't advised of that, so it was scary for some of us to drop off the last rung of the ladder. Also, if you don't swim, this isn't a good thing for you. Another thing was that getting from the meeting place to the transport boats required a half mile walk. We weren't expecting that, either. So for some people this whole activity level is more than 1." This would be a deal-breaker for our group. Comments appreciated.