? about Grand Cayman.

Have just made the final payment on our cruise in Octob er from Galveston on
RCI Rhapsody of the Seas, and was told we could now choose our shore
excursions. We are able to do that in Cozumel and in Jamaica, but the Grand
Cayman one is blank, and they say they are working on it. Has any one been
to Grand Cayman lately on RCI, and what shore excursions did they pick? Am
just kind of curious, as we have been there twice, and not interested in
Hell anymore or the submarine, and am just wondering what else to do there.
Thanks, Marge

In article <12dcb61nvqdo9f5@corp.supernews.com>, bjbriggs
<billbriggs@cableone.net> wrote:

> Grand Cayman lately on RCI, and what shore excursions did they pick? Am
> just kind of curious, as we have been there twice, and not interested in
> Hell anymore or the submarine, and am just wondering what else to do there.

Snorkeling with the stingrays on Stingray City Sandbar is highly
recommended. You can do it as an RCI excursion or book with an
independent operator. Or you could simply take a taxi to Seven Mile
Beach and have a beach day.

--
Charles

"Charles" <fort@his.com.remove.invalid> wrote in message
news:060820061406421161%fort@his.com.remove.invali d...
> In article <12dcb61nvqdo9f5@corp.supernews.com>, bjbriggs
> <billbriggs@cableone.net> wrote:
>
>> Grand Cayman lately on RCI, and what shore excursions did they pick? Am
>> just kind of curious, as we have been there twice, and not interested in
>> Hell anymore or the submarine, and am just wondering what else to do
>> there.
>
> Snorkeling with the stingrays on Stingray City Sandbar is highly
> recommended. You can do it as an RCI excursion or book with an
> independent operator. Or you could simply take a taxi to Seven Mile
> Beach and have a beach day.
>
> --
> Charles

Most people see the obvious things like sting ray city, hell, turtle farm &
7 mile beach but I've never gone in the other direction to see much. What
attractions are on the other end of the island?

In article <IktBg.1086$Pc.731@tornado.tampabay.>, RichC
<rcacace@{REMOVE_TO_REPLY}swfla.> wrote:

> Most people see the obvious things like sting ray city, hell, turtle farm &
> 7 mile beach but I've never gone in the other direction to see much. What
> attractions are on the other end of the island?

Rum Point, supposed to be a great beach. You have to rent a car to get
there.

--
Charles

bjbriggs wrote:
> Have just made the final payment on our cruise in Octob er from Galveston on
> RCI Rhapsody of the Seas

Oh, BJ, I'm so jealous! We did the Rhapsody in January and had a great
time. The ship is a great size, not to big and not too small, and we
met some of the nicest people from Texas, Oklahoma and New Orleans on
board. The cruise director was fabulous, and if Derek Lewis is still
playing in the Schooner bar, don't miss him!

If you've never been to Grand Cayman before, you may want to do a
Stingray City excursion, which you don't have to book through the ship.
We used Captain Marvin with great success, and there are other
excellent local vendors as well.

~ Peri

> If you've never been to Grand Cayman before, you may want to do a
> Stingray City excursion, which you don't have to book through the ship.
> We used Captain Marvin with great success, and there are other
> excellent local vendors as well.
>
> ~ Peri

May I suggest if you do go to Stingray City, take the earliest time you can
go. It gets pretty crowded out there with boats as the day goes on.

This was the highlight of our cruise back in April when we sailed the on
RCL. Be sure and give em a big kiss. They like that.

Dave

I concur.... STINGRAYS.

--tom


"bjbriggs" <billbriggs@cableone.net> wrote in message
news:12dcb61nvqdo9f5@corp.supernews.com...
> Have just made the final payment on our cruise in Octob er from Galveston
> on RCI Rhapsody of the Seas, and was told we could now choose our shore
> excursions. We are able to do that in Cozumel and in Jamaica, but the
> Grand Cayman one is blank, and they say they are working on it. Has any
> one been to Grand Cayman lately on RCI, and what shore excursions did they
> pick? Am just kind of curious, as we have been there twice, and not
> interested in Hell anymore or the submarine, and am just wondering what
> else to do there. Thanks, Marge
>

"Brian K" <brianblog1951@> wrote in message
news:flABg.5522$0e5.1178@newsread4.news.pas.earthl ink.net...
> One word about Stingray City. Sometimes the water is too turbulent and
> visibility is down. When that happens all excursions to Stingray City
> get canceled. So have a plan "B". When going to Seven Mile Beach you
> don't have to take a cab. There's a shuttle bus that's very inexpensive.
> Just don't cut it close. On the return to downtown, the bus waits until
> it fills up before leaving. Fine and good if a lot of people want to
> leave. But if you have to be back downtown at a given time, you have to
> allow some wiggle room when not too many folks want to leave.

Visibility isn't an issue. The water is waist deep.

And if it's that rough... the ships won't even anchor because it will be too
rough for tenders.

--Tom

"RayC" <ray@rayzplace.com> wrote in message
news:i5udnWHF0aevR0rZnZ2dnUVZ_vydnZ2d@wavecable.co m...
> scabbardgirl wrote:
>
>> We saw someone at one of the condos around there - they got some ammonia.
>> It didn't help.


Here in SW Florida sting rays are fairly common in the summer months. I
don't think there's much you can do for the pain other than possibly a
strong prescription pain killer. The ambulance service must take 8 or 9
people a day to the hospital at Fort Myers beach. People have got to learn
to shuffle their feet & not just take a step.

scabbardgirl wrote:
>
> The brown spotted rays are not large like the stingrays or manta rays.
> They are small enough that they are easy to step on. When they are
> laying on the bottom, they blend in very well. The guys at the dive
> shop later said that, yes, they always shuffle when they walk.

I've seen four different types of rays in the Caymans.

The 'brown spotted' mentioned above has yellow spots and has common
names of Yellow Stingray, Yellow Spotted Stingray, Lemon Ray, plus I've
heard them called by Butter Ray in the Caymans. It is a bottom
dweller, typically more often near eel grass and coral formations
(where it blends in better) than buried in an open sand patch.

The Southern Stingray is the ray that's best known from Stingray City.
It is the most common and is also is a bottom dweller and will
frequently bury itself. Often seen with a black bar jack in a
symbiotic relationship.

Spotted Eagle Rays (aka White Spotted Eagle Ray) are less common but
not uncommon in the Caymans. They're usually seen swimming in
midwater, but they often are bottom-feeders, digging in sand for
mollusks, etc.

Manta Rays (aka Devil Rays) are generally rare in the Caymans, as they
are pelagic plankton feeders and clear waters generally mean less
plankton, but the Cayman's walls do provide upwelling opportunities
similar to seamounts. They'll virtually never be found at the bottom
and are nearly always seen swimming in midwater, usually at/near a
dropoff. The ones I've seen in the Caymans typically have been in the
4ft - 8ft wingspan range, which is small by worldwide standards.

All of these technically have venomous tails that could be a hazard,
but pragmatically, the majority of the hazard potential is from
inadvertantly stepping on a Butter or Southern while its napping.


-hh