Ashore from Divina in Georgetown

[joern]

I could really use a little help from someone who has been to Georgetown with Divina.

 

We are arriving there on feb 14 (cruise is Miami, Jamaica, Cayman, Cozumel and Bahamas).

 

I am looking in to booking a tour to Stingray City with one of the local companies, but meeting time is 9,00. According to MSC schedule we will be in port from 9 to 16, but according to local port authorities it is 8,00 to 16,00.

 

I am affraid that we won't make it ashore till 9,00, but the tour company say that this is plenty of time, all though they suggest that we get on one of the first tenders.

 

This is a better and cheaper tour than the one MSC offers, so would prefer to go on it, but can we make it there in time?

 

Thanks in advance

[irenedee]

Although I have yet to cruise with MSC- doing your same route in a few weeks, I have sailed with Celebrity a few times to Georgetown

 

In my experience everyone wants to get on the tender boats early and the ships always give priority to those passengers who have an excursions booked with the ship. Since the Divina is a large ship with 4K in passengers you might be challenged making that 9am tour

 

 

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[billybob57]

Don't worry they will wait for you plus they will be busy trying to fill the boat up doing a hard sell from the kiosks

Great trip loved it

 

 

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[nw gardener]

I am following, same issue for me for my Feb 25th cruise. I booked with Aquarius tours and they want us to meet at the dock at 0900 because the local port authority says we are in at 0800. So I contacted MSC as I had questions about the excursion on the website thinking that I will just forget the added cost so I won't stress missing the excursion due to the tender process. There is NO description of it at all other than the listed price and after being transferred to several different people including a supervisor, got no answer (surprise! 😁). So I am still in limbo as to what to do and hope someone here can shed some light. Thanks!

 

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[joern]

I've decided to take the chance and have booked wit Stingray Sailing. Just hope that we can make ashore in time

[nw gardener]

Update 😊, maybe talking to a supervisor worked, or chalk it up to the mystery of the MSC website...,there is finally after a week a description of the tour I was looking for. Now I have to decide which tour to go with.

 

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[CruiseCrew123]

If it is anything like the Fantasia they give priority tenders to those on MSC trips and then black and gold card holders . I would be very surprised if you are able to disembark early unless you are in one of these categories

[TravelLovingGal]

Moreno, we are on the same cruise.

 

I booked a morning tour through Acquarius Sea Tour. On their web site they say, "Differing time zones can make it very confusing for guests. Simply submit your reservation saying whether you prefer a morning or afternoon tour and we shall come back to you with information."

 

On my reservation confirmation email they state;

"MEETING TIME

8:45AM CAYMAN ISLANDS TIME

!! This may not be the same as your ship time !!

This DOES allow enough time for you to tender from your ship to the meeting point"

 

It is $50 for a 3.5 hour, 3 stop snorkel tour to Stingray City Sandbar, starfish Point Beach and either Coral Gardens or the Reef.

 

They also have great directions about where to go to meet and pay.

[acruiseb4]

Moreno, we are on the same cruise.

 

I booked a morning tour through Acquarius Sea Tour. On their web site they say, "Differing time zones can make it very confusing for guests. Simply submit your reservation saying whether you prefer a morning or afternoon tour and we shall come back to you with information."

 

On my reservation confirmation email they state;

"MEETING TIME

8:45AM CAYMAN ISLANDS TIME

!! This may not be the same as your ship time !!

This DOES allow enough time for you to tender from your ship to the meeting point"

 

It is $50 for a 3.5 hour, 3 stop snorkel tour to Stingray City Sandbar, starfish Point Beach and either Coral Gardens or the Reef.

 

They also have great directions about where to go to meet and pay.

 

 

Hi, did you do this trip, how was it?

 

We are hoping to do in July but are worried about not having enough time to get off the tender and get to the meeting point, any info you can give would be great.

 

Thanks

[GOLDENBONNY]

Hi, did you do this trip, how was it?

 

We are hoping to do in July but are worried about not having enough time to get off the tender and get to the meeting point, any info you can give would be great.

 

Thanks

 

 

We had Stingray excursion many years ago and its amazing . We took it from cruise ship because of tender and time of excursion . Ours included Hell and Rum factory .

[acruiseb4]

We had Stingray excursion many years ago and its amazing . We took it from cruise ship because of tender and time of excursion . Ours included Hell and Rum factory .

 

 

Thanks for the info, I think we will look at the ship excursions don't want to be stressing about getting off the ship on time.

[Homosassa]

When we did the Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Nassau route on Divina last year, we stayed on ship's time (EST) and never changed the clocks.

[joern]

I did the tour two weeks ago. It was no problem at all. They announced that tender tickets could be picked up from 7,45. I was there 7.15 and one of the first to be in line. We got on the first tender and had plenty of time. Ship time was the same as cayman time. Will recommend Stingray Sailing. Check them out on TripAdvisor. Simply the best

 

 

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[TravelLovingGal]

Hi, did you do this trip, how was it?

 

We are hoping to do in July but are worried about not having enough time to get off the tender and get to the meeting point, any info you can give would be great.

 

Thanks

 

From joren

I did the tour two weeks ago. It was no problem at all. They announced that tender tickets could be picked up from 7,45. I was there 7.15 and one of the first to be in line. We got on the first tender and had plenty of time. Ship time was the same as cayman time. Will recommend Stingray Sailing. Check them out on TripAdvisor. Simply the best

 

 

We did the exact same thing as Joern and had no problems at all.

 

Acquarius Sea Tour was fantastic! We would definately go with them again. They also photograph the tour and give you access to the photos to download for free!!!!

[acruiseb4]

I did the tour two weeks ago. It was no problem at all. They announced that tender tickets could be picked up from 7,45. I was there 7.15 and one of the first to be in line. We got on the first tender and had plenty of time. Ship time was the same as cayman time. Will recommend Stingray Sailing. Check them out on TripAdvisor. Simply the best

 

 

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Thank you for the info that puts my mind at rest, I will look into Stingray Sailing.

 

Julie

[acruiseb4]

From joren

 

 

 

We did the exact same thing as Joern and had no problems at all.

 

Acquarius Sea Tour was fantastic! We would definately go with them again. They also photograph the tour and give you access to the photos to download for free!!!!

 

 

Thank you :D

 

Julie

[TravelLovingGal]

Thank you :D

 

Julie

 

 

If you do book with Acquarius, they will send a reservation confirmation.

 

In the Meeting Point section of the confirmation there is a CLICK HERE link after:

 

Captain Mario or a representative will collect you at this point at the meeting time

DO look for him carrying the ACQUARIUS SIGN

Click on it and you will get a picture of Captin MARIO with his sign. But even more important, there is a map of the harbor with the 3 different terminals the ship tenders use and the location where you will meet up. Unless you have a fantastic memory and a great sense of direction, 😁 print that out and take it with you. The terminals are not as far apart as they look on the map. We were dropped off at the south terminal, which was the farthest one from where we needed to be, but it just took a couple of minutes to walk there.

It also has their phone number. We got there early, before Mario. When we couldn't find him I showed the flyer to some of the vender/tour people who were there and one used the number to call and find out where he was. It was reassuring to know we were just early and hadn't somehow missed him.

[dexddd]

Does MSC still use their own tender/life boats vs. the larger ones from the port? Last time we were there on NCL with 4 ships (one being Divina), MSC was the only one using their own, smaller boats.

 

Line going back to ship was super long but others recently said it wasn't too bad.

[TravelLovingGal]

Does MSC still use their own tender/life boats vs. the larger ones from the port? Last time we were there on NCL with 4 ships (one being Divina), MSC was the only one using their own, smaller boats.

 

Line going back to ship was super long but others recently said it wasn't too bad.

 

 

Yes, the Divina does use its own boats. There was no line when we got back from our tour but I don't know about later in the afternoon.

[Glamourgal]

To get tender tickets...does only one person from the cabin have to stand in line for the tender tickets or does each individual have to get their own tickets?

[TravelLovingGal]

To get tender tickets...does only one person from the cabin have to stand in line for the tender tickets or does each individual have to get their own tickets?

 

I don't know. We both went to get the tickets with our stuff for the day. They ask you to be ready to go when you get your tickets. (See quote below from the Daiily.)

 

After we got our tickets we waited for disembarkment to start in the lounge just outside the Eaterly Resturant and watched them lower some of the tenders. It was interesting. They annunced our group over the intercom and we went down. I'm not sure we would have heard it if we had waited in our room.

 

Tickets are issued for boarding groups, not times. We were in the first boarding group and boarded not too long after we got our ticket. In the Daily it said the first tender would leave "around" 8:30, but we were already on shore well before 8:30. If you aren't in the first group don't worry. The were several other tenders lined up ready to move in when ours left. They each hold 120 people (according to the sign on the side).

 

This is from the daily. The bold type is is theirs.

"...please pick up your tender ticket in the Eaterly Resturant, deck 7, between 7:45am and 11am only when you are ready to go ashore. Please do not collect tickets until you are ready to disembark.

...Disembarkation with tender boats takes longer than the ordinary disembarking procedures. Therefore, to ensure a quick and smooth disembarkation, we kindly ask you to follow our instructions, do not overcrowd the Reception area on deck 5, but instead wait comfortably in any of the lounges on deck 6 or 7 until your tender ticket letter is called."

[Fireman69]

In Grand Cayman, what time would the last tender be if we depart at 16:00? Is it 1hr, 1-1/2hr or 2hrs before departure time? Thank you.