Grand Cayman tender

[acctgtogo]

If we have a private tour in Grand Cayman, do we have to wait until the ship tours depart to take the tender? Just trying to determine what time to book a private tour or if we should take a ship tour to be safe. Thanks.

[WestLakeGirl]

Yes. Ship tours have priority. Also those in Suites and Elites get priority tender tickets.

[cruisestitch]

This island is known for rough water -- have even had tenders moved to a different location than what had been scheduled and I know that sometimes you can't get ashore at all. Something to consider. Be sure you understand if you do or don't have to pay if you can't get off the ship!

[subtchr]

Yes. Ship tours have priority. Also those in Suites and Elites get priority tender tickets.

 

Although this may technically be the policy, when we visited GC on the Solstice a couple years ago, we had a private tour, and I was able to get tickets for tender #1 just by arriving early to the distribution area and waiting for it to open.

 

We had actually arrived a bit late to port, because of some extra noro cleaning that delayed boarding and subsequently our departure from Fort Lauderdale. So I was motivated to get as early a tender as we could.

 

It was not a problem, and we easily made it in time for our early Rays, Reefs, and Rum Point tour with Nativeway.

[vulcan1971]

I've been to Grand Cayman before and had to tender into port from the Norwegian Pearl. I was fortunate in that I was booked into the Haven suites in a Garden Villa. One of the perks was priority tendering. If you are making private tour arrangements, just be mindful to allow enough time for debarking the ship.

 

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[biggerbearmom]

We were there in Dec 2012 with swells that impeded tendering. We waited over two and a half hours trying to get a tender for our 12:30 private Sting Ray tour. Had we not been given a priority ticket at the last minute by our room steward we would have missed the tour.

 

 

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[acctgtogo]

Thanks for all of the insights into tendering. If we do decide to book a private tour, I will make certain that we leave ample time and that we are not penalized if weather prohibits us from taking the tour.

[blueboro]

The other thing to consider is that last time we were there on an X the ship time did not change to port time. So, when we thought we were on a 10:00am private excursion it was actually an 9:00am excursion port time. Which meant instead of getting back at 2:30 it was actually 3:30 ship time and cutting it close. So make sure you know what time ship time vs. port time is when setting up private excursions.