Tendering in Grand Cayman

[LovetheTXsun]

Can anyone provide information on the tender process at Grand Cayman?  We will be on Liberty of the Seas in May, arriving at  10am and departing at 6pm.  

We would like to book a snorkeling tour excursion outside of RC but are concerned about making our 11am meeting time.  

I’ve read that RC tours have priority and then possibly there are tender tickets?   Has anyone had success getting early tenders after priority?  

[Jimnbigd]

I think you'd have trouble making an 11am meeting. The tender process itself takes about 30 minutes (start to finish -- the actual boat ride is only 10 minutes or so, but it takes time to load and unload the boats) --  so you'd have to leave the ship by 10:30. Sometimes the tendering starts later than originally scheduled. I believe those booked on RCI excursions have first priority. Next, RCI would go by tender ticket numbers. Finally, about 2 to 3 hours after the first tender, you would not need a ticket.

 

Here is the Cayman Islands board; it might have more info --> https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/89-cayman-islands/

Edited April 8, 2019 by Jimnbigd

[LovetheTXsun]

12 minutes ago, Jimnbigd said:

I think you'd have trouble making an 11am meeting. The tender process itself takes about 30 minutes (start to finish -- the actual boat ride is only 10 minutes or so, but it takes time to load and unload the boats) --  so you'd have to leave the ship by 10:30. Sometimes the tendering starts later than originally scheduled. I believe those booked on RCI excursions have first priority. Next, RCI would go by tender ticket numbers. Finally, about 2 to 3 hours after the first tender, you would not need a ticket.

 

Here is the Cayman Islands board; it might have more info --> https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/89-cayman-islands/

Thank you for all the information Jimnbigd!  I was thinking it might be a bad plan to try to arrange for that early of a meeting time.  Definitely going to change that.

[cruiseguy1016]

Here's a tip that may speed things up a little. I was just on Adventure and we tendered in Grand Cayman. We boarded the tender on the upper deck. However, the tender was unloaded from the lower deck. So, when you get on the tender, head to the lower deck and grab a seat near where passengers get off.

[Iamcruzin]

I don't normally book excursions through the cruise line but the only time I consider them is for a tender port or a port that has an early departure from an island. For example we are in San Juan from 7:am to 2:pm so we booked a cruise line excursion. Now you have to add Key holders to the list of passengers who have priority. It's coming down to booking the cheapest cruise line excursion just to have priority tendering to get off of the ship.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Iamcruzin

[papaflamingo]

One possibility to ease your mind.  Unless you've got a specific snorkeling tour in mind, you can walk to the Eden Rock Dive Shop.  It's very close to the tender pier and is supposed to be great for diving and snorkeling.  We were going to go one cruise but the weather was not good enough so we simply went into town.    But the Tripadvisor reviews seem good.  It's a very short walk and has lockers and all the equipment for a very reasonable price, plus it will take the stress off of the tender schedule.  Just a thought.  Here's their website.

http://www.edenrockdive.com/index.html

Edited April 8, 2019 by papaflamingo

[OSUZorba]

How do the priority tickets work for suite people and the key people? Is it only for the first tender? Or can the cut the line whenever they want?