Just got back from Rays, Reef & Rum Point tour

[rcprncss]

Tbag, what time of year did you go? Only 7 people on your excursion? Wow! That is awesome not having too many people, kind-of like a private tour! :)

[Jungle Jane]

Hey RC, we only had 12! We had 25 but there was a party of 13 so NW made the call to split us onto 2 boats which was nice. Just NINE days for you! WOOHOO!!!

 

There were no kids on our boat other than my 13 y/o DD but on neighboring boats I did see some little ones. The smallest one I saw was about 4 I'm guessing and she had to be held b'c the water was to deep for her to stand at SRC. There were a couple of screaming kids here and there but that seemed to be because the parents were forcing the experience on the kids. Saw other kids around the same age or a bit older who were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Just keep in the mind that depending on how tall your child is and how choppy the water may be that day, you may have to hold the child or have the child sit on the edge of the boat.

[tbag124]

Tbag, what time of year did you go? Only 7 people on your excursion? Wow! That is awesome not having too many people, kind-of like a private tour! :)

 

Early December 2005 :) It was fabulous! We;re going again w/ our group this November!! :)

[Kiki in Michigan]

I am interested in this tour also, but I was wondering if any children go on it? I know some tours are geared more for adults and some are geared more for families. My DH and DD (who will be 5 at time of sailing) are cruising this December '08 and Grand Cayman is on of our ports. Anybody have experience with children on this tour or do you know of tours that are kid friendly? DD is not afraid of water or most anything. She is very adventurous.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

We had our 2 daughters, age 10 & 12 on the excursion and they loved it! There were also younger children on the excursion and they seemed to have a great time also--especially at Rum Point where they could play in the beautiful, shallow water and enjoy the beach. As far as the stingrays, my daughters were a little timid and didn't want to get in the water but the guide was awesome and brought a stingray right up to the boat so the girls could see it up close and touch it. I wouldn't hesitate to bring your daughter!!

[TexasRain]

Thank you all. I am going to book them right now because it seems that everybody who has taken their tour really seemed to enjoy it. Plus, now that I know DD will enjoy it also, it is a done deal! :D

 

I am so looking forward to this next cruise.

[sunfan03]

We were on the Carnival valor in January and booked Nativeways for their Rays, Reef and Rum tour - except for the choppy water (can't control the weather), the tour was great. Chris was our skipper on the boat and he did a great job in bringing the sting-rays close so that all on our boat could hold and/or feed the sting-rays. Again, the water was choppy, but the experience was second to none. We also bought a waterproof camera bag to keep the digital camera safe and took some excellent pictures of the rays. We went to the second location for some snorkeling and then off to Rum Point for lunch and relaxation. It was our first port of call and we had a great time. Can't go wrong with Nativeways and the rays!:)

[stillcruisin']

We really enjoyed our Reef, Ray, and Rum Point tour earlier this month. Thought I would share a few of our pictures as well. My husband said this trip was the highlight of his cruise (I was a little too nervous for it to be mine, but I still enjoyed it). A very good tour.

P.S. It's seven years good luck if you kiss a stingray! ;)

[stillcruisin']

Darn--I don't know why these pictures didn't post before. I'll try again.

 

 

 

 

Rum Point--isn't it beautiful?

[Jungle Jane]

We really enjoyed our Reef' date=' Ray, and Rum Point tour earlier this month. Thought I would share a few of our pictures as well. [/color']My husband said this trip was the highlight of his cruise (I was a little too nervous for it to be mine, but I still enjoyed it). A very good tour.

 

P.S. It's seven years good luck if you kiss a stingray! ;)

 

 

Our guide Sheldon laid a line on me, he said 7 yrs good luck if you kiss a sting ray and 100 years good luck if you kiss a Sheldon :)

 

Keep trying with the pics, I'd really like to see them. Are you copying your images from a site like webshots or photobucket?

[stillcruisin']

Keep trying with the pics, I'd really like to see them. Are you copying your images from a site like webshots or photobucket?

 

I just had those three pictures. They didn't show up in my first post but did in the second. (I do have other pictures, but they show the same thing: huge stingrays in the water with people and beautiful Rum Point Beach.)

[Jungle Jane]

I just had those three pictures. They didn't show up in my first post but did in the second. (I do have other pictures' date=' but they show the same thing: huge stingrays in the water with people and beautiful Rum Point Beach.) [/color']

 

Uh oh, that happened to me too...I could see the pics I posted but no one else could, just the dreaded square with the red X. Unless it's just me...can anyone else see stillcruisin's pics?

[TexasRain]

Nope they are not showing up for me either. Wish I could offer advice but I am not computer savvy. Hopefully you can get them to show up. I just booked this excursion yesterday and I am very excited about all the good reviews it gets.:)

[stillcruisin']

Uh oh, that happened to me too...I could see the pics I posted but no one else could, just the dreaded square with the red X. Unless it's just me...can anyone else see stillcruisin's pics?

 

Thanks for letting me know. Here I was thinking I had gotten the pictures to post. I don't know why I can't get them to work. I've even managed to post a picture before on another board, but it's not working this time around. Oh well. I think I'll try one more time. Let me know if it works. Thanks!

[rcprncss]

They worked! Great pictures! Love the two of you with the stingray! I am a little nervous about kissing a stingray. :p

[Jungle Jane]

They worked! Great pictures! Love the two of you with the stingray! I am a little nervous about kissing a stingray. :p

 

You HAVE to do it! Don't be nervous, the guides have a good handle on them and can tell when one is fiesty and not in the mood. Just pucker up baby! LOL! It's kinda firm and rubbery, and FISHY! But how can you not with the promise of 7 years good luck!?!?

Make sure you come back and post your ray kiss pic for us!

[azkcruizers]

My family of 10 did the rays reef and rum point tour in January. I have three children.7,9, and 12. My youngest 2 were right in the water with the fish and stingrays. The water was a little choppy so they did need some help snorkeling though. My oldest enjoyed from the boat. The beach was beautiful. The highlight of the trip was when Sheldon had my 7 year old daughter tell the boat driver to get out of her seat. She had no trouble being as bold as she is and the driver moved and she drove the boat for a good 10 minutes . The smile on her face was priceless!! She is still talking about it. We all had a beautiful day. Enjoy

[GrammyJill]

on this excursion. Thanks for all the info.

 

Can you tell me how long we will be at each "event" I want the most time at Rum Point I think. But, then again can't wait to snorkel. lol

 

Anther question I haven't seen in my searching endeavors, I asked today if we could bring a cooler onboard & was told no problem but to realize it's not a private outing. Did you see anyone else bring beverages onboard? I would think a couple of cold beers after snorkeling would be awesome. I figure there would be a quick stop shop close to the pier to buy them.

[Jungle Jane]

on this excursion. Thanks for all the info.

 

Can you tell me how long we will be at each "event" I want the most time at Rum Point I think. But, then again can't wait to snorkel. lol

 

Anther question I haven't seen in my searching endeavors, I asked today if we could bring a cooler onboard & was told no problem but to realize it's not a private outing. Did you see anyone else bring beverages onboard? I would think a couple of cold beers after snorkeling would be awesome. I figure there would be a quick stop shop close to the pier to buy them.

 

We were at SRC for about 45 mins to an hour and same snorkeling, which seemed cheap to me when I first heard that was about how long we'd have but when we were actually there it was plenty of time. Rum Point we were probably close to 2 hours.

 

You can bring your cooler, no one will bother it.

 

HAVE A BLAST!

[azkcruizers]

Our tour was about the same times. Have a wonderful time.:)

[karchrmom]

We just did this tour on Monday, me, DH, and 12 & 14 DD & DS. We were the only one's on the boat. We had an amazing time!! We had enough time at all three stops, we were all nervous about getting in with the stingrays and by the time we left they were signing up my DS for a job in a few years!! Definitely do it and don't by worrred, everyone was friendyly and we had a great time!!!

[rcprncss]

We did this tour last week on our cruise. It was great! There were about 15 of us, which was nice. We spent about 30-45 minutes with the Stingrays and about the same snorkeling. The guides gave us squid to feed the stingrays and it feels so weird when they slurp it out of your hand! There was a camera guy there taking plenty of pictures while you hold a stingray. I didn't do the snorkeling and stayed on the boat but dh saw some fish and took a few pictures. Our last stop was Rum Point. We had lunch at Rum Point (the food was good). We spent about 1 1/2 hours there, just like others have mentioned with this tour. It did end up raining for about 30 minutes, so we huddled in the bar. The sun came out when we had about 20 minutes left. Rum Point is beautiful! We are glad we did this excursion but wished I could have enjoyed the sun more at Rum Point. We even got back to the port in plenty of time to do some shopping for our rum cakes to take home. By the way, we did lots of taste testing and dh and I both agree that Blackbeard rum cakes taste better than the Tortuga. Just thought I would mention this. We bought the Blackbeard. :)

 

The only thing I didn't like was the guy on the boat selling his pictures for $20 each. That is just crazy! Our group didn't buy any and I don't know if anyone else did. Now we would have paid $10, maybe $15, but $20 is just too much. We don't have a picture of us kissing the the stingray though. But at least I can tell Jungle Jane that I did it! :)

 

Overall, it was a great excursion! A great value for your money, considering it's Grand Cayman and the prices are so high there!

[Jungle Jane]

We did this tour last week on our cruise. It was great! There were about 15 of us, which was nice. We spent about 30-45 minutes with the Stingrays and about the same snorkeling. The guides gave us squid to feed the stingrays and it feels so weird when they slurp it out of your hand! There was a camera guy there taking plenty of pictures while you hold a stingray. I didn't do the snorkeling and stayed on the boat but dh saw some fish and took a few pictures. Our last stop was Rum Point. We had lunch at Rum Point (the food was good). We spent about 1 1/2 hours there, just like others have mentioned with this tour. It did end up raining for about 30 minutes, so we huddled in the bar. The sun came out when we had about 20 minutes left. Rum Point is beautiful! We are glad we did this excursion but wished I could have enjoyed the sun more at Rum Point. We even got back to the port in plenty of time to do some shopping for our rum cakes to take home. By the way, we did lots of taste testing and dh and I both agree that Blackbeard rum cakes taste better than the Tortuga. Just thought I would mention this. We bought the Blackbeard. :)

 

The only thing I didn't like was the guy on the boat selling his pictures for $20 each. That is just crazy! Our group didn't buy any and I don't know if anyone else did. Now we would have paid $10, maybe $15, but $20 is just too much. We don't have a picture of us kissing the the stingray though. But at least I can tell Jungle Jane that I did it! :)

 

Overall, it was a great excursion! A great value for your money, considering it's Grand Cayman and the prices are so high there!

 

 

YAY! I'm so happy you did it, I knew you'd love it. I agree the tour pics were a rip off, luckily we had our own underwater camera and we took pics for another couple and they took pics for us so we got some great ones. I would have paid $10 also or even $15 if it was a great pic, but that guy wanted too much.

 

I'm so happy you had a good time, I would have felt like a jerk if you hated it after I went on and on about how great it was.

 

Now this makes me wanna go back again!

[cruznchic]

Pardon my ignorance once again.:o But is Rum Point a beach they take you to after the string ray and snorkeling? Is it part of the famous 7 mile beach? Sorry for the silly questions, but greatly appreciate your help.

[Jungle Jane]

Pardon my ignorance once again.:o But is Rum Point a beach they take you to after the string ray and snorkeling? Is it part of the famous 7 mile beach? Sorry for the silly questions, but greatly appreciate your help.

Yes, and No.

 

Yes, Nativeways takes you there after snorkeling and SRC on the RRR tour, but no, Rum Point is not part of 7 mile beach.

 

Depending on when your ship is scheduled to leave port, you may or may not have time to se 7 mile beach also.

 

Enjoy!

[cruznchic]

Thanks Jungle Jane. You rock!!!:D