Castaway Ray's Stingray Adventure - with child

[Andrew C]

I attempted to search for this but could not find any details on what I was looking for. I signed up my daughter and I up for the stingray adventure at Castaway Cay for our upcoming cruise. It lists the starting age to be 5, which she is. However, I was looking for opinions as to if this could be too much for her. I am confident she won't be nervous around the sea life but I would like to know how intense the snorkeling is after the initial encounter with the ray. My daughter is comfortable in the water and can swim relatively okay for her age. But she is also tiny for her age so I was thinking about things like the depth of the water, etc. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[ChuckElias]

Andrew,

First of all, great avatar. Reds are still undefeated, and in second place only due to goal difference. Big Champions League game away this week. #YNWA

Second, I've not done the Stingray experience. However, check this post from the forum's thread on shore excursion reviews:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/disney-cruise-line-excursion-reviews.837325/page-2#post-4955552

My guess is that your daughter will be able to snorkel as much as little as she is comfortable with, and she'll be provided with flotation equipment (even if it's just an inflatable vest). So she should be able to simply float and stick her face in the water if she wants.

 

[Andrew C]

Andrew,

First of all, great avatar. Reds are still undefeated, and in second place only due to goal difference. Big Champions League game away this week. #YNWA

Second, I've not done the Stingray experience. However, check this post from the forum's thread on shore excursion reviews:

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/disney-cruise-line-excursion-reviews.837325/page-2#post-4955552

My guess is that your daughter will be able to snorkel as much as little as she is comfortable with, and she'll be provided with flotation equipment (even if it's just an inflatable vest). So she should be able to simply float and stick her face in the water if she wants.

Thanks!

 

[MaryJaneP]

Lets see, we are happy to share our observations on Castaway for you to consider. 1. Water slopes from beach gently so you can pick a depth which is comfortable for her. 2. Snorkeling (which we have done) at beach's edge, is rather bland, in our view, and the submerged goodies (statues, etc) are a strong swim away. Also, the equipment, which we rented, is pretty beat up. We have heard the advice to bring your own to save rental costs and because it is presumably in better shape than the rental equipment is. We haven't packed in the past primarily to save luggage space. 3. The stingrays are huge, but we had 3 daughters (8, 11, and 14) do the feeding and they loved it. They are not nervous around most living creatures. Since you are gonna be there with her, she can hide behind you if she gets freaked out. You most likely will not be alone at a feeding station. Not sure if strength in numbers helps you and/or her. Also, both of you can (assuming you are willing to lose the money) walk away at anytime. In fact, the CMs told us that they occasionally have neophytes that think they want to try it and then change their mind once a stingray comes around. The rays are not threatening in any way. Hoping you and yours have a great cruise.