acctgtogo Posted September 23, 2013 #1 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WestLakeGirl Posted September 23, 2013 #2 Share Posted September 23, 2013 Yes. Ship tours have priority. Also those in Suites and Elites get priority tender tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisestitch Posted September 23, 2013 #3 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subtchr Posted September 23, 2013 #4 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vulcan1971 Posted September 23, 2013 #5 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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. Sent from my Samsung Note II on the T-Mobile 4G LTE network using Tapatalk Beta 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggerbearmom Posted September 23, 2013 #6 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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. Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acctgtogo Posted September 23, 2013 Author #7 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueboro Posted September 23, 2013 #8 Share Posted September 23, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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