Please, Need information regarding tenders!

[Drew's Wife]

Out of our ten cruises, this will be the first one that has ever had a tender involved. Ports and excursions are really not an important part of our cruises, but we usually like to just get off the ship for no more than an hour and walk around, just to say "we've been there". I can't do the all day excursions due to health issues. Need to be able to go back to the ship when I am ready.

 

My question is, If we tender over to Grand Cayman can we come back whenever we are ready? Do these tender boats run every few minutes? The lady at Carnival told me that we could come back whenever we wanted to as the tenders ran every few minutes, but I wanted to find out from some people who have experienced this. I would hate to miss going over to the Grand Caymans,, but if we had to stay for several hours or most of they day, we would just pass and stay on the ship.:(

 

Also, do we have to make arrangements with Carnival for a tender? As you can tell, I don't know the first thing about how this works.

 

Thank you all for any help that you can give me regarding how these tenders work.

[timh111]

The tenders run all through the time the ship is anchored, back and forth between the ship and the island or port. When we just went to Belize on the Carnival Dream this past April, I tendered back and forth 3 times (twice just for the ride), getting off only once. The tenders are usually contracted via the cruise line to transport passengers to and from the ship and there are usually MANY! So yes, you can go and spend as much or as little time on the Island.

[Drew's Wife]

The tenders run all through the time the ship is anchored, back and forth between the ship and the island or port. When we just went to Belize on the Carnival Dream this past April, I tendered back and forth 3 times (twice just for the ride), getting off only once. The tenders are usually contracted via the cruise line to transport passengers to and from the ship and there are usually MANY! So yes, you can go and spend as much or as little time on the Island.

 

 

Thank you so much! Just what I wanted to hear!:)

[marshhawk]

We were on the Legend and tendered into Georgetown(Grand Cayman), no problem. We were doing the submarine which only took an hour, we browsed some shops, visited the museum, and when we got hungry, we tendered back for lunch. (I figure I paid for the food on the ship, why pay twice and eat elsewhere). As our tender was going out to the ship, another was headed to shore.

Cayman in beautiful! Clean! Well kept, and I would hate it for you if you missed this paradise.

If you are up for a little walking, it would only take you about an hour and a half to wander around the main three blocks, and then back on the tender. Enjoy!:)

[pbsweetheart]

I'm a virgin cruiser going in a few weeks. I guess a tender is what gets you from the boat to shore. Do you have to pay to get to shore??

[cobo]

no, they go back and forth to the ship all day while in port.

[pbsweetheart]

no, they go back and forth to the ship all day while in port.

 

Thanks!!

[Havin'fun]

We have been tendered 3-4 times on our last cruises. Each time the cruise line has used their lifeboats as the tenders. If you are up early you can see them being lowered into the water.

[Drew's Wife]

Thank you all so much for the information. I knew I could count on the folks here at CC to come up with the answers!:) You are always a wealth of information, and I appreciate it so much.

[marshhawk]

In the Caymans, there were good sized, people ferries, not the ships life boats.

(This was on Carnival Legend)

[drew sailbum]

Tenders run throughout the day. There is a big rush first thing int he morning of passengers coming ashore and another rush in the hour or so before ship departure. During those times you may have to wait a while in line for a seat on the tender.

 

Some cruise lines use their life boats and others use locally contracted tenders. Some use a combination of the two. There is no charge as you already paid for this service in your cruise fare.

 

--- Not THAT Drew