THE AMAZING STINGRAY CITY

Can you guess what was the last port of call on our cruise?  This was exciting for me.  Even though the main reason for this cruise was to visit Belize, I was still excited to visit the Cayman Islands.  I've always seen pictures and television commercials for "The Cayman Islands"...unfortunately I can't replicate in words the famous tune on the commercial of someone singing "The Cayman Islands".

As in Belize, our ship and the Carnival Glory were tendered just offshore.

Our shore excursion was in two parts: Snorkeling and then a visit to the world-famous Stingray City.  We were not the only excursion boat there!

There were over a dozen other excursion boats all parked around the sandbar that is Stingray City.  As you can see, the sandbar allows you to get off the boat and stand waist-deep in the water.

While you stand in the water the stingrays swim right past you. 

Some are big and some are much smaller.  The females are the larger-sized stingrays.  You go girls!

Some people were afraid to stand in the water, fearful of being stung by the tail barb.  However, the stingrays are so used to human presence and contact, so there is nothing to fear.  The stingrays will swim right past you.  We still had our snorkeling masks on, so we stuck our faces under the water to watch the stingrays swim right past us.

You had the opportunity to "pet" the stingrays.  A member of crew would hold the stingray and you could touch it.  They just feel like squishy rubber.  We did not have the opportunity to feed them.

Some people had "personal" encounters with the stingrays...

The stingrays are so gentle and used to human contact that you can actually have one lay on top of you. If it really likes you, it will give you a big kiss!