Stingray City with Captain Marvin on Grand Cayman
Jun 11th, 2003, 11:10 AM
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Stingray City with Captain Marvin on Grand Cayman
I just returned from the Navigator on June 7, 2003 and wanted to post this info about Captain Marvin's.
My wife and I decided to go to sting ray city and when we did our research it seemed that three places kept popping up. Captain Marvin?s, Captain Bryan?s and Nativeway (catamaran). We chose Captain Marvin?s because it had the highest number of positive reviews and it visited three locations (as opposed to two locations). Captain Marvin?s visited Coral Gardens, the barrier reef and sting ray city. FYI ? coral Gardens was nice, but the Barrier reef was much better. Also, the barrier reef is only 100 yards from Stingray City. RCCL?s excursion with the closest times and locations cost $58 per person, which is $18 more than what it costs with Captain Marvin (also the ship?s excursions pack more people on the boats).
At the barrier reef the guide told us that there might be an eel and maybe a nurse shark nearby and he would try to find them. So I stuck next to him and as soon as we hit the water some people said they saw the shark, but they scared him away. So the guide, the videographer and I located the eel and the guide lured it out with some food. After he fed it, it moved towards me and I scooted out of the way (later on I saw myself on the video).
Then we moved the boat the 100 yards and joined the hundreds of people at sting ray city. My wife and I had swam with stingrays in Belize but this was different because here we were in waist-chest deep water and could easily stand. We were able to feed the stingrays and hold them for photos.
The video was pretty good, but expect to pay $55 for a VHS tape or $65 for a dvd, both of which will be mailed to you in a week.
Captain Marvin?s offers ice-cold water or fruit punch on the boat ride and it didn?t run out. Oh yea, all of the Navigator-run excursions required you to wear a life vest, but Captain Marvin?s did not. Although he had plenty of vests, I never need one, but I don?t think that many people wore them. My wife and I know how to snorkel, so we didn?t need lessons, but I was one of the first off the boat so I have no clue if they even offered lessons.
They had a tip jar on the boat but they don?t even mention tips. So if you want to tip, make sure to do so while you are on the boat so they guys get the money. When they brought us back to town, we all got a free rum cake and they did some kind of drawing and one person from our tour got a free T-shirt. Pretty cool.
We didn?t get back into town until about 2:15 ship time and we had only about an hour to shop. Keep in mind that Grand Cayman is an hour different from the ship's time, so if you are told to meet at Captain Marvin?s shop at a certain time (we were told 9:15, which was 10:15 ships time) keep that in mind, so you don?t sit around waiting for things to open, like a fool. Even if you get off the first tender, there are a few shops open (not many).
My wife and I decided to go to sting ray city and when we did our research it seemed that three places kept popping up. Captain Marvin?s, Captain Bryan?s and Nativeway (catamaran). We chose Captain Marvin?s because it had the highest number of positive reviews and it visited three locations (as opposed to two locations). Captain Marvin?s visited Coral Gardens, the barrier reef and sting ray city. FYI ? coral Gardens was nice, but the Barrier reef was much better. Also, the barrier reef is only 100 yards from Stingray City. RCCL?s excursion with the closest times and locations cost $58 per person, which is $18 more than what it costs with Captain Marvin (also the ship?s excursions pack more people on the boats).
At the barrier reef the guide told us that there might be an eel and maybe a nurse shark nearby and he would try to find them. So I stuck next to him and as soon as we hit the water some people said they saw the shark, but they scared him away. So the guide, the videographer and I located the eel and the guide lured it out with some food. After he fed it, it moved towards me and I scooted out of the way (later on I saw myself on the video).
Then we moved the boat the 100 yards and joined the hundreds of people at sting ray city. My wife and I had swam with stingrays in Belize but this was different because here we were in waist-chest deep water and could easily stand. We were able to feed the stingrays and hold them for photos.
The video was pretty good, but expect to pay $55 for a VHS tape or $65 for a dvd, both of which will be mailed to you in a week.
Captain Marvin?s offers ice-cold water or fruit punch on the boat ride and it didn?t run out. Oh yea, all of the Navigator-run excursions required you to wear a life vest, but Captain Marvin?s did not. Although he had plenty of vests, I never need one, but I don?t think that many people wore them. My wife and I know how to snorkel, so we didn?t need lessons, but I was one of the first off the boat so I have no clue if they even offered lessons.
They had a tip jar on the boat but they don?t even mention tips. So if you want to tip, make sure to do so while you are on the boat so they guys get the money. When they brought us back to town, we all got a free rum cake and they did some kind of drawing and one person from our tour got a free T-shirt. Pretty cool.
We didn?t get back into town until about 2:15 ship time and we had only about an hour to shop. Keep in mind that Grand Cayman is an hour different from the ship's time, so if you are told to meet at Captain Marvin?s shop at a certain time (we were told 9:15, which was 10:15 ships time) keep that in mind, so you don?t sit around waiting for things to open, like a fool. Even if you get off the first tender, there are a few shops open (not many).
Jun 11th, 2003, 03:35 PM
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It depends on the ship you are on.
When on Princess - the ship time is the same as the port time. On RCCL and Celebrity - the port time is often different from ship time.
I have only raves to say about Capt Marvin's trip. I had an excellent time.
When on Princess - the ship time is the same as the port time. On RCCL and Celebrity - the port time is often different from ship time.
I have only raves to say about Capt Marvin's trip. I had an excellent time.
Jun 26th, 2003, 08:52 AM
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Snorkelman, Theresa and Yank Fan:
We will be going on the Navigator of the Seas in Feb. 2004. This will be our third cruise. We have always booked excursions through the cruise line, not thinking it may be less expensive booking excursions on our own. Where and how did you get information about excursions that you could book on your own? Please advise.
Thanks for the tip for Captain Marvins. We will definitely look into this.
Maureen
We will be going on the Navigator of the Seas in Feb. 2004. This will be our third cruise. We have always booked excursions through the cruise line, not thinking it may be less expensive booking excursions on our own. Where and how did you get information about excursions that you could book on your own? Please advise.
Thanks for the tip for Captain Marvins. We will definitely look into this.
Maureen
Jun 27th, 2003, 06:22 AM
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Momeck- I generally find out about excursions through forums like this or crusecritic.com. On Caribbean cruises I rarely take any "organized" excursions, except for some boating type trips. I ocassionally take the cruise excursions if they are catamarran/snorkeling type trips.
I hope you have a great trip!
I hope you have a great trip!
Jun 28th, 2003, 08:59 AM
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I never book ship excursions anymore. They are almost always more expensive, crowded and you have no control over your trip time. We love Capt Marvin's- went for a repeat with my girls this spring and they gave me a discount. Link:
http://captainmarvins.com/
http://captainmarvins.com/
