10 Ships in Port at GC??

[MBeamTX]

Thanks for the link, twinkletoes. According to this site, though, well over half of the 7 Mile Beach resorts are still wholly or partially closed, which is what I'd understood to be the case. That leaves fewer places to spend the day for all of the cruisers coming ashore. I'm staying on the ship, unless our itinerary changes and we end up sharing the port with lots fewer ships.

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[twinkletoes4445]

I have a friend who owns a place down in GC, and she said that things are really pretty much back to normal on 7-mile beach. All the main hotels that rent out chairs (Marriott, Westin, and the Hyatt) are open for business. Just because they are working on the building (in some of the places), it shouldn't (and doesn't) have any bearing on the beach area.

 

Just because several of the condos are scenduled to open till this summer or fall, it really won't have any bearing on cruise ship passengers. They don't rent out chairs, nor provide any services for the cruise passengers. It's the big hotels, that have the food, drinks and activities, and they are open. And the restaurants, except a few, are all open for business.

 

The real problem is the number of ships. It's going to make the beaches very crowded, since most cruise ship passengers stay in that general area. However, if I'd been to GC, and I was in port with that many ships, I'd probably stay on the ship also. Even if Ivan hadn't hit, there's no way I'd want to be on that small island with 25,000 cruise ship passengers flowing through the island. It's way too many people even if half get off and tender in. If I hadn't ever visited GC, I'd tender in and deal with the crowds. It's a lovely place and not one to miss regardless of how many condos are open or closed. :)

 

We've just booked a week in January, so we'll get to see first-hand what's open and what's not open.

[ShamrockFL]

Does that sound possible? I've been emailing our preferred tours to get a reservation immediately because it seems like the tours will fill up fast with that many people. Has anyone ever been to GC with this many ships in port?

OK McBrides - when in December are you going to be there - we're there Thursday 15th - also 10 ships that day - have you taken all my reservations already!!

[mcbrides]

Hi Shamrock- :)

 

We're also there Thursday, December 15. I did go ahead and reserve the helicopter tour, as well as Capt. Marvin's. We'll likely head right back to the ship after these tours. What craziness!

[twinkletoes4445]

Hi Shamrock- :)

 

We're also there Thursday, December 15. I did go ahead and reserve the helicopter tour, as well as Capt. Marvin's. We'll likely head right back to the ship after these tours. What craziness!

 

Helicopter tour? That sounds like fun. Is that a ship tour, or something you did on your own?

[ShamrockFL]

Hi Shamrock- :)

 

We're also there Thursday, December 15. I did go ahead and reserve the helicopter tour, as well as Capt. Marvin's. We'll likely head right back to the ship after these tours. What craziness!

 

The funny thing is, about 2 months ago I tried to get a Roll Call going for our cruise - we're on Radiance 12/11 by the way, and only got two people to respond, so I was beginning to think we had made a mistake taking a cruise so close to Christmas and that no one went at that time. Now I see half the world will be in the same place at that time. Interested to see what your reponse is to the question on the Helicopter tour. Kind of disappointed if Cayman turns out to be a bust as ours is a family cruise and our group haven't been there before - just us, and we really were hoping they would see it in a good light as we really enjoyed it there. Better than being at home freezing though!!

[woodofpine]

We were in GC with 4-5 and it was a bit busy, we were more recently when a bunch more were in and it definately took the bloom of an otherwise nice island; the shopping areas around the port to Eden Rocks were jammed. Stingray City was crowded too. If you've not done Stingray City then it's a must; but get booked in advance with a good operator (Marvins, Sotos, Nativeway). If you've done the rays before then I'd book a non-ray city snorkle trip with one of the above. There's plenty of reefs for the snorkle operators to spread out...

[kenandlaura06]

We were in GC with 4-5 and it was a bit busy, we were more recently when a bunch more were in and it definately took the bloom of an otherwise nice island; the shopping areas around the port to Eden Rocks were jammed. Stingray City was crowded too. If you've not done Stingray City then it's a must; but get booked in advance with a good operator (Marvins, Sotos, Nativeway). If you've done the rays before then I'd book a non-ray city snorkle trip with one of the above. There's plenty of reefs for the snorkle operators to spread out...

 

 

How far in advance do you need to book?

[wwicklund]

I guess we got Lucky, there are only 4 in port when we are there. and 3 in KW, and 4 in Cozumel. Hope everyone has a nice cruise!