Tender question (grand cayman)

[ELA]

Equinox gets to port at 10am during our July cruise. I want to book an excursion for stingray and snorkeling but I'm not sure what Is the realistic time we will make it off the ship. Is 11:15 too soon. Thanks,

Ela

 

 

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[PRH]

Depending on how many want to get off first thing, it could be. It takes time to wait in line and then to board the tender-- they won't go until fully loaded. In January, they ran two tenders from different locations on the Equinox which helped things go a little faster. The second one was not at all mobility challenged friendly as there were outside stairs to navigate. It also took longer to get everyone down and on-board. Safer bet is 11:45 as you cannot count on there being two running at the same time.

 

 

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[Hydrokitty]

Equinox gets to port at 10am during our July cruise. I want to book an excursion for stingray and snorkeling but I'm not sure what Is the realistic time we will make it off the ship. Is 11:15 too soon. Thanks,

Ela

 

 

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If you booked it through X you'll be off in time. If it's a private tour they should wait for you if necessary.

[macaroni]

We got on line before the time stated that tickets were being given out...we were on the 1st or 2nd tender..took no time at all....go get the tickets earlier than stated and you should be off quickly.

[ELA]

We got on line before the time stated that tickets were being given out...we were on the 1st or 2nd tender..took no time at all....go get the tickets earlier than stated and you should be off quickly.

 

 

I'm an early riser [emoji6] so getting tender tickets may not be an issue. We are still researching options but want to leave time to walk around town after the excursion.

Thank you!

 

 

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[hancock]

I have gotten off in GC where they have used a large town tender to get passengers off quickly rather than the ship's tenders. Ship tenders were used later.

[hancock]

I have gotten off in GC where they have used a town tender to get passengers off quickly rather than the ship's tenders. Ship tenders were used later.

[OCruisers]

Ela ... What time does your ship leave the port?

[ELA]

Ela ... What time does your ship leave the port?

 

 

I believe we leave at 6 so i would like to be back on the ship by 5

 

 

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[Shadow9612]

If you booked it through X you'll be off in time. If it's a private tour they should wait for you if necessary.

 

I believe that excursions booked through X also get priority tendering (so that they can meet their excursions).

 

If you arrive at 10am, I would think an 11:15am is ok, but may be wrong, but you may want to consider a later booking, or verify that a private tour will wait for you if you are late.

Edited March 13, 2017 by Shadow9612
Correction

[fielddreamer]

Equinox gets to port at 10am during our July cruise. I want to book an excursion for stingray and snorkeling but I'm not sure what Is the realistic time we will make it off the ship. Is 11:15 too soon. Thanks,

Ela

 

 

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We were there in Dec on Reflection and booked a private stingray tour at 11:30. They handed out tender tickets starting at 7:30 in the wine bar. I was 3 in line and had not problem ! They usually use the islander tender boats which hold 200 and they had 4 that day. They only problem with using cruise tour it will be like a cattle call ! Don't worry about being back in time, that is not a problem !

[wallie5446]

If you booked it through X you'll be off in time. If it's a private tour they should wait for you if necessary.

Yup! The tour CO's have been doing this a very Iona time and know the tendering process better than the cruise line! :D

 

OP, you will be okie dokie with the 11:15 time frame.

[cluso]

Ela,

Check to see how many ships are in port on your date. We were there in January 2017 and there were 6 BIG ships dropping anchor--including 2 Celebrity. What a zoo--the town was overrun and not fun to walk around. Our ship only had two tenders working. The port authority was using bigger local boats to transport people to cut down on the number of tenders because of the small docking area.

We did not go down to pick up tender tickets and did not use our Elite offer. It took over two+ hours to get the people with tickets off. We just waited it out, but again, the town was too crowded. Long lines for getting back to the ship, too.

 

Some tour operators will not wait too long for late arrivals since other customers tend to get "tense" about waiting. And, then there are timing issues to deal with.

 

Good luck!

[Baron Barracuda]

Was there late last month and tendering process was a real mess. Six ships in port and high winds and chop had tenders bouncing all over. Afternoon thunderstorm made things worse. We were anchored pretty far from shore so tender ride took 10+ minutes with lots of spray. Our last returning tender was unable to dock with us and had to back to port. Passengers were then told to put on life jackets and sent back out on larger double-deck tender. They were all soaked to the skin when they finally got aboard Equinox. Carnival ship that called there next day had to skip port entirely. Hopefully July is calmer for you.

[Flafun888]

If 3 ships are in port including ours, but 2 of them port from 7-4pm and ours ports from 10-6, do you think that will make stingray and other popular spots a little less crazy when we go?

[fielddreamer]

The stingray location will always be busy so that is why we do a private trip. We only had 10 people on a really nice cat. and plenty of room for the other boats. If you ckeck into videos on you tube you will see the ship tour boats really overloaded. It cost us $135 per couple and had a great time. Can send you photos of our trip !

[Flafun888]

The stingray location will always be busy so that is why we do a private trip. We only had 10 people on a really nice cat. and plenty of room for the other boats. If you ckeck into videos on you tube you will see the ship tour boats really overloaded. It cost us $135 per couple and had a great time. Can send you photos of our trip !

 

Thanks for your reply! :) We actually booked a private excursion with Aquarius, so no worries there. I try to avoid the ship sponsored excursions when I can.

 

I was just asking with respect to how crowded that general area and town will be if 2 of the 3 ships are on a diff schedule. Was hoping the crowds might be a bit lighter if we're not even getting off the tender until 11/11:30 and the other 2 ships are sailing at 4pm.

[lovecruzin]

I have a question re the last tender...

We are in GC until 4pm, does anyone know what time the last tender to the ship for passenger will leave? :confused:

[stoddaj1]

Last week it was 3:30. Enjoy!

[lovecruzin]

Last week it was 3:30. Enjoy!

 

Perfect, thanks! The excursion we are looking at gets back at 2:30 so that gives us time...

[impatientlywaiting]

If the weather is too bad in Georgetown, the ships will move to Spotts Bay on the south side of the island and buses will pick everyone up and bring you to town. We've done this in the past on Legend of the Seas. Also, we spent 2 weeks on Grand Cayman this past January and witnessed it at least 4 times due to bad weather.