How much time did you waste here because of tendering?

[Karysa]

The only time that I visited GC was in 2004 and since we did not plan a ships excursion it took over 2 and a half hours to board a tender. Is this normal? If so do you book ship excursions at this port just to ensure that you can leave on the first few tenders?

[habby]

Wow. On the Carnival Victory we were off the ship well before 9:00, after having had breakfast, and no we didn't get up extremely early. We even did this with a group of 7 early-20-something males who had partied hardy the night before!

[Karysa]

Wow. On the Carnival Victory we were off the ship well before 9:00, after having had breakfast, and no we didn't get up extremely early. We even did this with a group of 7 early-20-something males who had partied hardy the night before!

 

What time did you anchor? We anchored before 9 on the Voyager and didn't get called for a tender until after 11:30. Since there are only 3 ports and only Cozumel is an extended stay I want to avoid wasting 2 hours waiting for my turn to get off the ship in GC.

[nybumpkin]

We anchored around 7 and walked aboard a tender a little after 8, without having an excursion booked.

[Plant]

What time did you anchor? We anchored before 9 on the Voyager and didn't get called for a tender until after 11:30. Since there are only 3 ports and only Cozumel is an extended stay I want to avoid wasting 2 hours waiting for my turn to get off the ship in GC.

 

I'd say this is very unusual on the ship's we've sailed. Usually, the people with shore excursions are tendered in first (which takes about an hour to an hour and a half), then they announce that the tenders are open to anyone. Without a ship excursion I'd expect to be on the tender at 10:30, if not earlier.

 

It's possible that rough seas slowed down the tendering process. The Captain will try his/her best to get into port. This may have happened if the seas were rough, but not rough enough to cancel the tender's all together.

[habby]

We anchored around 7 and walked aboard a tender a little after 8, without having an excursion booked.

likewise

[Happy2cu]

So is this a problem if you booked excursions that are not through the ship? Kind of worried about it now. I made a reservation with Major Tom for cave tubing and the confirm said that we are to be in the first group of tenders to disembark - that this includes independentantly booked tours. Anybody know if this is true?

[Happy2cu]

So is this a problem if you booked excursions that are not through the ship? Kind of worried about it now. I made a reservation with Major Tom for cave tubing and the confirm said that we are to be in the first group of tenders to disembark - that this includes independentantly booked tours. Anybody know if this is true?

 

oops never mind above quote, wrong board - thought i was on the Belize Board, LOL.

[mdrobtx]

likewise

 

Same here. Was there last Tuesday. We anchored at 8am and were on shore by 9am headed to the car rental.

[Karysa]

Thanks for the replys. We had a beautiful day weather wise so that had absolutely nothing to do with it. We arrived for 9 as planned. The ship that I am to be on next is planning to anchor at 7:30. Maybe the difference is that in 2004 more people booked cruise line excursions compared to going out on your own and with the amount of people who cruise over and over again to this port maybe they just hang back a little longer now and there isn't the mass exuduse that happened back then. Maybe they have more tenders to combat this issue as well. I have looked into private excursions and most start at 10:00 so I would want to be on a tender by 9 or 9:15. Now I got it. The reason for the ships excursions all going first was related to the time of our arrival. Of course, that has to be it. The excursions all probably started at 10 so they had to get the passengers off before that. Now if the ship gets in 1.5 hrs before then there is more time to play with and with less passengers booking ships excursions and more just hanging back there is probably less wait for those who want to get off and do their own thing.

[habby]

It could also depend on the cruise line you're sailing. Lots of variables to consider.

[jkjmt]

We just got off Carnival Legend on January 10, 2010....they include anyone with early excursions on their tendors. You go to the Follies Lounge and get numbered stickers. They'll call one or two of their excursions, plus at least one number of non-carnival excursion people.

 

We had a non-carnival excursion and went and had breakfast and then headed to the "A" deck around 8:45 a.m. and there were no-lines and all the numbered stickers were already off. No problems what so ever!!!!

[Karysa]

We just got off Carnival Legend on January 10, 2010....they include anyone with early excursions on their tendors. You go to the Follies Lounge and get numbered stickers. They'll call one or two of their excursions, plus at least one number of non-carnival excursion people.

 

We had a non-carnival excursion and went and had breakfast and then headed to the "A" deck around 8:45 a.m. and there were no-lines and all the numbered stickers were already off. No problems what so ever!!!!

 

 

So as long as the ship arrives on time it should be alright to book a private excursion. If the ship gets in at 9 instead of 7:30 I would imagine that the cruise lines first priority would be get the passengers who booked the cruiseships excursions off first. This would go along with their mantra of why you should book the cruiseships excursions.

 

Has anyone been on a ship that arrived in GC late? How did they deal with the tender situation then?

[jkjmt]

The cruise ships want to make everyone happy.....so everyone will cruise with them again.....plus the tendor boats want to bring people ashore to spend money. You won't have any problems......also.....if the boat is late, your excursion people (if they're a reliable company) will know and will be waiting for you. Any Carnival cruise I've been on has had their excursions and non-carnival excursions on the first tendor.

[Karysa]

The cruise ships want to make everyone happy.....so everyone will cruise with them again.....plus the tendor boats want to bring people ashore to spend money. You won't have any problems......also.....if the boat is late, your excursion people (if they're a reliable company) will know and will be waiting for you. Any Carnival cruise I've been on has had their excursions and non-carnival excursions on the first tendor.

 

When you say non-Carnival excursions does that also include people without any preplanned excursions?

[przyk]

I only rushed off a Carnival ship early once. No one asked me for documentation of my non Carnival excursion. In fact, as I recall many people showed up at the tenders who had not made any arrangements to depart early and everyone was accomodated.

 

Some people want to rush off the ship, some people will take their time and have a leisurely breakfast before departing and others will stay on the ship in port all day.

[cruisegal40]

We are sailing on LOS in April. Ship does not even get there until 10:00 and we leave at 6:00. Not even sure we will get off the ship. We have done this island before, so the most we would probably do is a beach. Thinking we might be better of just staying on the ship while everyone else fights the crowds.

[PAcruiser116]

We are sailing on LOS in April. Ship does not even get there until 10:00 and we leave at 6:00. Not even sure we will get off the ship. We have done this island before, so the most we would probably do is a beach. Thinking we might be better of just staying on the ship while everyone else fights the crowds.

 

 

We are sailing on LOS in April, too...We have never been to Grand Cayman. I really want to do a Stingray/Snorkeling excursion, but I'm concerned about the times as well. Are you staying on the ship because of the tender times? I am wondering if it will be difficult to do things because of the 10 am arrival...

[bookbabe]

The tenders are generally much easier than everyone thinks. All you're doing is waiting in line for a shuttle boat rather than waiting in line to walk down the gangway...my experience has been that there's lines either way. :D But I guess no one cruises to avoid lines...

 

The advantage to your ship arriving a bit later is that everyone from any other ships in port will be done the tendering process already and cleared out of the port area.

 

If you're concerned about timing, just pay the extra and do one of the ship's excursions to Stingray City. Yes, the group tends to be a bit larger than a privately-booked excursion, but it's simple, requires no research, and you just follow your cruiseline guide on and off the boat during the tender process. Couldn't be easier...

[PAcruiser116]

I would be more than happy to do an excursion through the ship, but I dont see one I like as much as ones with the independent companies. You get more for your money, too. It also looks like on the day we are in Grand Cayman, we are the only ship there, so that might make everything easier!

[startraveler]

The thing to remember, too, is that Grand Cayman can be an hour earlier than NY (Eastern) time. We didn't have a shore excursion when we were there in October 2008, got to shore at 09.00, and wondering why stores weren't open... it was 09.00 ship time, not local time. We wound up having breakfast at one of the local cafes to kill the hour.

[NutsAboutGolf]

To my understand, the biggest variable is how many cruise ships are in port that day and what's their tendering time...

[Karysa]

I only recall one other ship, a Costa ship in port on the day that we were in GC. It just seemed that it took forever to get the Voyager unloaded. I am glad to hear that most people do not have this problem. I would prefer to use an independent tour operator here but not if it is going to cost me 2 hours of my time.

[princessangi]

okay, we are doing FOS in April and I just checked the port schedule and 5 ships are in port that day. Some of them are quite as big as the FOS! Do you think that I would be better off booking through Royal? I really had my heart set on the jetski with Fat Fish...never rode a jet ski before and I've always wanted to!

 

Thanks for anyone's advice