Nativeway is GREAT!!

[From_Arizona]

We loved the service we recieved with Nativeway Nov 2003...been a while since the last vacation. I am waiting for a response for our next visit to Grand Cayman on Sept 2 via Mariner. I inquired about a longer Stingray visit since our last one seemed way to short. Is anyone using Nativeway on Sept 2 and also interested in a longer excursion time?? Maybe we can get this request honored if we have more interested parties. Our booking is 2 people, my husband and I.

[ljones]

I don't want to offend anyone either - but I agree w/ wolfganghowell. Also, while @ Stingray city, I was told that it would be best to wear a t-shirt rather than slather on sunblock before interacting w/ the stingrays.

[Rhonda1205]

They are very quick at responding to e-mails -send them an e-mail and they can answer all your questions

 

 

We can't get a response to our e-mails. We've sent two so far. Can somebody confirm for me what e-mail address we should be using. We sail in two weeks!

[sstaarzz]

Hi

We are taking our first cruise on RC Navigator on October 30. I have sent an email to Native Ways to make a reservation for the snorkel and swim with the sting rays (stingray sandbar and coral gardens). Does anyone know the tour times? I have heard many people complain that they almost did not make it back to the ship so this makes me a little nervous. We arrive in Grand Cayman at 8AM (is this Miami time or Grand Cayman time)?? We are a party of 5 but only 4 want to swim with the stingrays. My husband just wants to hang out on the beach. I wonder if I have to pay the full price for him as well. Thanks

[madge62]

I just recently booked with Sharon at Nativeway for our stingray/island tour excursion in January. She did take a few days to get back to my email request, I actually emailed her again to remind her I was wanting to make a reservation and she got back to me fairly quickly. I'm now waiting to hear from her by phone so she can take my credit card # (as we have a larger group, she requires it for confirmation only).

 

Their email address that I have been using is nativway@candw.ky

[cruisinqt]

I was thinking about booking Nativeway for our upcoming cruise. Does it have a place to change out of your wet swimsuit? My daughter will want out of her wet swimsuit and into dry clothes as soon as possible.

[Lemk85]

I have been reading these posts and checking out the NativeWay web site, but most of the tours do not list a departure time. We will be in Grand Cayman with Holland American on 8/25, and my family and I, total of 4, are intertesed in the Stingray City/snorkeling tour and the Grand Island tour. Can anyone provide departure times and let us know if it is possible to do both tours. According to HAL, we are docked from 8am to 6pm. I have been told that HAL is one of a few cruise ships that adhere to local time. Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

Mike:confused:

[madge62]

Mike, that's the same tour we've booked. We were advised the tour started at 9:30 a.m., I believe we're to check in at least a half hour before and it lasts 4.5 hours. I think we're at Stingray City for 2 or 2.5 hours and then the bus tour.

[Lemk85]

:cool: Has anyone else here had any problems in getting NativeWays to respond to your emails? They answered once, and it's been three days and two new messages that they have not replied to. In their original response, they requested my phone number which I gave them, but have heard nothing since.

 

We were interested in the Grand Island/Stringway City/Snorkle trip but can't get them to respond.

 

:mad:

[madge62]

Still waiting for Sharon to call me as well...........

[From_Arizona]

I received an email from Sharon that they were off the Isalnd and will return soon. Indicated they would reply as soon as the returned.

[Lemk85]

Hi!

We're interested in the Nativeways Island Tour/Stringray and snorkeling tour, but as I sated in a previous post, I can't get anyone to get back to me, except for one email, which I will paste here. It seems I was advised the Island tour is first, then the Stingray City tour, which is the oposite of what you were told. I am also concerned, that if we dock at 8am, can we make the meeting time?

Here is the one and only response I have received to date:

 

Hi Michael,

 

Greetings from Grand Cayman...and thanks for contacting us!

 

We have a tour that departs the pier at 9:30 AM Central Time and

completes at around 2 PM. It first does the island tour, then goes to

Stingray Sandbar and snorkeling. The price is $45 per person.

 

Let me know if you would like to reserve. Also include your telephone

number.

 

Sharon Ebanks

[cruisinqt]

I plan on using Nativeway for my tour also. I have heard many people say that the 9:30 meeting time is not a problem. And having the stingray tour later is probably much better. All of the cruisers go on the morning tour to the stingray bar so it is very crowded then. I hear it is much better later in the day after the tourists leave. You miss all of the crowds and get the stingrays to yourself. I just wish they would e-mail me back. I have e-mailed them twice in the past four days and have not heard a thing back from them. You would think that if they were gone they would at least have someone watching things for them and answering some of the e-mails so that people would at least know what's going on. Oh well, I guess I'll wait a few more days and give it some time. Patience is not one of my strong suits. And I like to have everything organized before I go. I'll just have to remember that saying that my mom used to use all of the time. "Good things come to those who wait." And from what I hear, Nativeway is very good!

[Lemk85]

As Cruisinqt wrote:

I'll just have to remember that saying that my mom used to use all of the time. "Good things come to those who wait." And from what I hear, Nativeway is very good!

 

Yes, but we have to just keep waiting to hear from them.

 

Anyone else signed up for the Nativeway Stringray/Snorkel/Island Tour on 8/25 at 9:30?

We're on HAL, docked from 8am to 6pm, (Family of four, with two teens, 18 and 16). Maybe we can get a charter and stay longer at Stringray City or a longer island tour. Let me know here or directly at

mkuhn19510@comcast.net

 

Thanks!

Mike

[madge62]

Hey Mike. To answer your question about our tour, I had a look at the confimration Sharon sent and it says "after the Stingray/snorkeling tour, you will be taken via bus to popular attractions around the island." It leaves at 9:30 am EST and they want us to check in at 8:45 am EST, no later than 9:15 am EST.

[Lemk85]

Hi Madge:
Still no word from Nativeways and your confirmation contradicts what they told me as to the order of the tour. I'll give them a little more time based on the previous post that they are "off the island", but if I don't hear soon, it'll be Capt. Marvin for us.

Mike

[Gradelady]

[quote name='wolfganghowell']Not to sound like a meanie party pooper, but taking the stingrays out of the water and putting them on your head as a "hat" is not good for these amazing creatures. I would ask everyone to respect these animals - Cayman has had some problems with humans overdoing the interaction with them. I don't mean to offend anyone and I'm sure we all want to protect these animals and their environment as much as possible. Thanks for thinking about it![/QUOTE]

Well said! I agree...

[jstducky]

[quote name='Lemk85']I have been reading these posts and checking out the NativeWay web site, but most of the tours do not list a departure time. We will be in Grand Cayman with Holland American on 8/25, and my family and I, total of 4, are intertesed in the Stingray City/snorkeling tour and the Grand Island tour. Can anyone provide departure times and let us know if it is possible to do both tours. According to HAL, we are docked from 8am to 6pm. I have been told that HAL is one of a few cruise ships that adhere to local time. Thanks for any help you can provide.

Mike:confused:[/QUOTE]
mike -

i am sorry to hear that you haven't heard back from sharon. the first time i ever emailed her i heard back within a few hours. the second time i emailed her i took about 3 days for a response. i had heard from others before to wait a few days. i guess the cayman islands only have one ISP and with storms going in and out of there they have trouble connecting to the internet sometimes.

i can attest to the storm part.. i was just in grand cayman 2 weeks ago and we had a nasty storm blow through the island. luckily though the storm didn't hit until we were done with our nativeway excursion.

let's see if i can help you out. i was on the zuiderdam 7/10-7/17. i booked the stingray city & island drive tour through nativeway. the tour was to begin at 9:30. it ended at about 2 pm. it was well worth the $40 we paid. we went snorkeling first at stingray city, coral garden and the reef wall, then we went on the island drive after that stopping at the turtle farm and hell.

as you mentioned the zuiderdam does stick to local time. the week i went we were in to grand caymand and anchored and the ship was cleared by local authorities by 7:45 am. the tendering process took about 15 minutes. we were on land by 8:15 am. we had an hour or so to walk around georgetown and do some shopping before the tour started at 9:30 am.

anyhow, the nativeway guys were great. we had sheldon and michael and they were fabulous. the nativeway tour was definitely the highlight of our western caribbean cruise!

[Lemk85]

Thanks, jstducky! We finally haerd back from Sharon and are booked on the same tour you took - 9:30 to 2pm Stingray City and Island Tour. Sounds like you had a great time! Any tips to pass along?


Mike

[jstducky]

mike... glad to hear that you finally heard back from Sharon. any tips.. hm... not really anything i can think of off the top of my head. just be prepared to have a great time. the nativeway guys are really caring and attentive. they try to make sure that everyone who wants to experience the stingrays gets some one on one time. they came around to everyone and made sure that everyone got great pictures and got to touch and feel, etc. definitely bring an underwater camera or two with you. it is defintely worth the money to spend on one of those disposable underwater cameras. the pictures you get will last a lifetime. i got some really clear pictures developed of the stingrays swimming underwater. also i got great pictures holding the stingrays and kissing them! also the other stops along the way are spectacular, coral gardens and the reef wall. i only hope that you and your family have as great of an expeirence as i did. as i said my day at grand cayman was definitely the highlight of our cruise!

let me know if you have any other questions.

[Lemk85]

jstducky:

Thanks for the info on NativeWays. Two questions, if you don't mind - did they have a videographer or photographer on board? Did you have any trouble making the meeting time? Since we aren't scheduled to dock until 8am, and I heard HAL lets those who purchased shore excursions thru them off first, will we have any problems making the meeting time?

Oops, I lied! How about a third question? Can you tell me where you made stops on the land tour, and what else beside Hell and the Turtle Farm you saw. I appreciate your help and I hope I'm not being a pest.

Thanks again!

Mike

[Ellya]

We had no problem meeting the tour, in fact we got there earlier than the guide did! When I went to get the tender tickets I told the girl that I had a 9:00 tour and she put me on the list. I don't know if that made any difference, but it couldn't hurt. I didn't mention that it wasn't a ship tour.

[cruisinqt]

Lemk85 I am so jealous! :p It has been a week and I still have yet to hear from Nativeway!:( I have e-mailed them twice and have heard nothing. I know there is a large number of CCers going because it's the halloween cruise. I wonder if they are already sold out for that day so e-mailing us back is not a priority for them?:mad: I am almost ready to check out Soto and book with them. I might wait one more day. But this is really getting frustrating!!! :eek:

[Lemk85]

cruizinqt - It took Nativeways three days and several emails to get back to me with the reservation. In fact, once they confirmed it, they asked for my phone number to obtain cc info, - that was two days ago, and they have not yet called.


Mike

[jstducky]

[quote name='Lemk85']jstducky:

Thanks for the info on NativeWays. Two questions, if you don't mind - did they have a videographer or photographer on board? Did you have any trouble making the meeting time? Since we aren't scheduled to dock until 8am, and I heard HAL lets those who purchased shore excursions thru them off first, will we have any problems making the meeting time?

Oops, I lied! How about a third question? Can you tell me where you made stops on the land tour, and what else beside Hell and the Turtle Farm you saw. I appreciate your help and I hope I'm not being a pest.

Thanks again!

Mike[/QUOTE]
mike... not a problem at all..

lets see what i can do

1) there was a photographer on board. well i kind of lied. there were 3 nativeway boats out there all together the day i went. one was a private charter and they went off on their on. the other 2 boats went first to stingray city. the photographer was actually a woman on the other boat. but while we were at stingray city, after she had taken pictures of the passengers on the other boat, she made her way over to our boat and took pictures for us. she had a digital camera so she was able to show everyone their pictures right away. people who wanted to purchase the pictures paid for them right there and i think she said that the pictures would be delivered to the ship before it set sail. there was no videographer however.

i have heard from other people though that there was no photographer when they went. so perhaps the photographer isn't there all the time. or maybe someone needs to request a photographer? not sure.

but even if you have a photographer you're going to want to buy an underwater camera and take your own pictures. it will be well worth it.

2) i had no trouble making the meeting time at all. we too were scheduled to be at GC at 8 am. however, the ship arrived at GC around 7:15. around 7:45 they made the announcement that the ship was cleared by authorities and that anyone who wanted to go ashore should head to the Queens Lounge on Deck 2 and get tender tickets. at 8:00 am I headed over to the Queens Lounge to find that there was no one there at all! I got my tender ticket and headed down to the gangway. We probably waited in the tender about 5 minutes for the boat to fill up then we were on our way. We were at the North Terminal by 8:20 am.

there were 3 other ships at GC that day that had all arrived before us so there were a lot of people at the Terminal, but I was able to spot Kirk from Nativeway right away. He was holding up a red and yellow sign.

We told him we were early. He checked us in and then told us to go do some walking or shopping in town and just meet back at the terminal at 9:20. so I had a whole hour to spare. So don't worry about making the meeting time.

3) on the island drive we only had those 2 stops at the Turtle Farm and Hell. We drove by the Governor's Mansion and he gave a tour as we drove through the island, but we didn't make stops. We didn't get back from snorkeling until almost 1 pm and then when we boarded the bus he asked us what time our last tenders were. someone on the caribbean princess said 3:00 pm so he said he would make sure we were back on time. plus while we were snorkeling we could see that on the side of the island where the ships were a nasty rain storm was rolling in. while we were on the island drive towards the end, the rain started coming down on us.

hope this info helps... let me know if you have any other questions