We had two very good tours prior to this one in Cozumel
and Costa Maya. This one was easily the very worst we have ever taken in 16
cruises and was not as advertised. On a previous cruise, we’ve taken a previous
stingray city tour.
We phoned an RCI excursions agent before we left for the cruise and were told
the excursion was personalized and had beer and soda. We booked the excursion
online. The tour was not personalized and the beer and soda was not supplied.
The time in stingray city was advertised to be one hour but was only 45 minutes,
which made the trip time 1 hour and 45 minutes, so most of the excursion time
was spent on a small rundown, fishing boat. Our 45 minutes in stingray city was
enjoyable.
As we arrived at the dock & the driver stopped alongside the small rundown,
fishing boat, the Morning Spirit, a number of the excursion takers groaned
“we’re not going to be taking that boat, are we?” We were hoping things would
surely improve. After we boarded the fishing boat, we were informed that we were
going to have a video made (no mention beforehand) and we should perform in
certain ways and look happy for the video. We were not happy about this video.
We believe that this opportunity to sell us a video was what they though
of as personalized. On the boat trip out, everyone was very glum and sat in silence and no music or
stingray info was given.
Our tour was NOT PERSONALIZED, though another stingray city excursion, which was
not advertised as personalized, was personalized, though we paid more for ours.
We saw that considerable info was being provided by a guide from the other tour
and went over to obtain some info as he was finishing up. In addition, we found
that he had given considerable info during the trip out and they also had music,
We were stuffed onto the small boat, and 15 people were led to sit on top of the
roof even though a safety sign said no more than 10 people were allowed and
though a man at the dock told our tour captain (?) that he must remove some of
the people, he did not.
The tour captain (?) told us we had soda in the cooler to drink. After we were
underway, someone opened the cooler to find ice and 3 plastic containers (as
milk comes in) which looked like a jug of water & a jug of previously opened
punch(?) & one 64oz bottle of punch. The Grand Cayman COMPASS under Today’s Tips
stated “To avoid illness, drink only bottled water, carbonated beverages, beer
or wine, with no ice.” Though many on the bottom opened the cooler to look, none
took a drink going out, and two people on top, who did not see into the cooler,
were given a drink coming back.
When we boarded the ship, since the desk excursion was closed, we went to the
pursers and complained about the tour. The purser asked us to fill out what she
called a comments form with our complaints and said the excursion head would
contact us that day.
We were not contacted that day or the next day and went to the excursion office
during the 1 hour window the next day and talked to one of the excursion people,
who told us:
. None of the excursion people on the ship would recommend the personalized
stingray tour,
. RCI was forced to offer that tour by Grand Cayman,
. The tour operators could call the tour anything they wished (the issue,
“personalized”, was included in the title and the description). We felt this
meant any deception would be allowed.
The COMPASS for Grand Cayman did not mention this tour among the 18 which were
listed.
Later the next evening we had a note in our cabin saying that 20% ($9.60 each)
would be deducted from our tour. This was unacceptable to us, so we went to the
pursers, told her so, and asked to speak to the head of excursions. The purser
went back to get her but came out without her and told us we would have to
contact the main office in Miami & gave us a business card of that office. We
were very unhappy that at no time were we allowed to speak to the Excursions
Mgr.
We called RCI Miami customer relations, and told her the above details and were
told that the $9.60 was a good offer and that they would get back to us and that
“she would make sure that the right people are aware of this”.
Stingray City itself is enjoyable, but beware of the tour you take to get there,
because more of your tour time is spent traveling than at Stingray City.
This is how the tour was specified: On page 43 of our GUEST VACATION
DOCUMENTS: GCV Personalized Stingray City Snorkeling Tour. Note GCV1 was on our
confirmation e-mail.
We did contact American Express and raised a dispute, which causes AMEX to
remove the charge from our billing for a period of 3 months or until it is
resolved and requires RCI to challenge our dispute effectively within that time
(through AMEX), or it is forever removed from our bill.
Our overall cruise was a surprisingly good one. In general, the food and service
were much better than expected.
The tour company was not advertised. Possibly, they don’t want you to know. The
name of the fishing boat was the Morning Spirit ( ORNING PI T was on the
circular lifesaver).
Grand Cayman Photos
Click on thumbnail to enlarge
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Load em up...move em out
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Though you can't see them all, there are 15 up there ... the sign says 10 PERS MAX.
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Refreshments ... only one person on top who couldn't see what's in cooler, had anything to drink
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The sting-rays are alway great
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The sting-rays are alway great
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The sting-rays are alway great
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The sting-rays are alway great
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Not yet fully loaded; my photo somehow makes this boat look better than it was
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