TENDER in Grand Cayman 12/20/18 Regal Princess

[baintz]

Has anyone cruised via princess and visited the port of Grand cayman?  I just returned back to the ship after almost two hours of waiting in line and then floating in the tender (waiting again) to reboard the ship!  This morning It took over an hour to get into the port via tender (and there was no wait in the ticket line... the wait was for a spot at the port)I don’t understand how a ship this size thinks it’s acceptable to use one tender spot at port at a time!?!?

 

Finally at 310 (last tender was supposed to be 330), they began using two tender spots at port.   

This is our first time cruising with Princess... so I’d love to know if this is the norm.   Our ship is still waiting to leave... and it’s 510pm now.  

 

Thanks for for any input!

[katisdale]

Regardless of the cruise line, access to the dock in Grand Cayman is determined by the port not the ship. You can only have the number of tenders at the dock as you are permitted by the port authorities. I have been there when there was only one space available but when other ships sailed we were able to dock more than one tender. I have also seen the reverse when we started with three or four tenders and then that was reduced as other ships arrived.

[gottagocit]

Just returned from a cruise on the Royal that used tenders in GC and it was nothing like what you’re describing. There was just one other ship in port on the day we were there.  Perhaps that’s helped. We had a very smooth process with almost not waiting to get back to the ship. We went ashore as a group on an excursion and it was very smooth with no waiting either. 

Edited December 20, 2018 by gottagocit

[JoRoy218]

Glad you at least visited GC. We just got off the CB and were scheduled to visit there 12/17. Due to wave action (5-7 feet at tender pier) visit had to be cancelled.  Disappointed but understood. 

[Host CJSKIDS]

I've gone quite a few times, including twice in the last year and have thankfully never had the wait that you encountered.  I'm there with the Regal in January when there are 6 ships in port so hopefully don't encounter any issues.

[Colo Cruiser]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I have seen tendering issues a few times in GC.

Def not normal but it does happen.

Since you are onboard you should address this with ships staff.

Many operational reasons for delays when tendering.

GC can see some pretty dangerous swells

[MrBill64]

Another factor, it looks like there were 5 ships anchored there today.  I'm sure that had something to do with the long waits.

 

Bill

[Potstech]

2 hours ago, baintz said:

Has anyone cruised via princess and visited the port of Grand cayman?  I just returned back to the ship after almost two hours of waiting in line and then floating in the tender (waiting again) to reboard the ship!  This morning It took over an hour to get into the port via tender (and there was no wait in the ticket line... the wait was for a spot at the port)I don’t understand how a ship this size thinks it’s acceptable to use one tender spot at port at a time!?!?

 

Finally at 310 (last tender was supposed to be 330), they began using two tender spots at port.   

This is our first time cruising with Princess... so I’d love to know if this is the norm.   Our ship is still waiting to leave... and it’s 510pm now.  

 

Thanks for for any input!

 

Sometimes you just have to go along with a difficult situation. That is one of the reason that cruising is so much fun. I have seen far worse tendering situations.

[Pam in CA]

I’ve been to Grand Cayman quite a few times. Several were canceled due to seas too rough to tender, one should have been canceled due to rough seas. 

 

As with every single port around the world, the harbormaster determines where and when tenders will dock. I’ve been to ports when only one tender at a time was able to approach and dock due to local fishing boats needing to dock. Huge backups and long waits of literally hours both getting to shore and returning. Princess has not control over this. The only Princess ship I can think of that’s minimally affected by tendering is the Pacific Princess with only 670 passengers. 

[neverbeenhere]

We always check the passengers load for the day when visiting Grand Cayman, seems like it has been over 21,000 sometimes.  

[Wishing on a star]

We were on the last W. Caribbean sailing.

No issues at all with the Tender.

And, also a very high passenger/ship load at the port, maybe the same as this week.

Perhaps there were issues at the Port for some reason?????

 

There were high winds and swells,  but they did manage to run the tenders all day.

It was a gorgeous day!   But we didn't get to go out on our planned private Stingray snorkel boat tour due to the wind conditions.

Edited December 21, 2018 by Wishing on a star

[paradiselivin1]

Thankfully, we've never had a problem as this is our favorite port. Last month, we were the only ship in port! Sometimes the tenders are a bit slow in filling and if you are among the first onboard, you will sit for a while waiting for it to fill. Your experience was an unfortunate anomaly IMHO.