Tendering

[blanquita79]

Is it common that, due to bad weather, the ship is unable to tender to an island? We are going on a cruise in February and plan to get married in the Grand Cayman. My friend just went in May and said that they couldn't tender there because of the bad weather. Do you think I'm safe in February? It would ruin the whole trip if we weren't able to get there!

 

Cruise Valor

[Bonnie J.]

The only way to get to Grand Cayman is by tender. If the water is rough, the ship will skip that port. You have NO way of knowing what the water will be like ahead of time. On one cruise there it got rough AFTER most passengers had gone ashore. It also started to pour rain. The ship pulled up anchor and moved to the calmer other side of the island. They got a bus to take pasengers there. But if they can't tender where they usually do, they won't tender at all. Can you imagine what it was like when passengers saw the ship wasn't there? We were at dinner when the passengers finally got back to the ship.

So, you will be taking a chance planning a wedding there. I think there is one line or ship on which the Captain can perform a wedding - Princess? Maybe you should think of getting married before you leave port or if you can find a minister get married in the ship's chapel. Even in Cozumel some ships tender. You can never be gareented (sp?) you'll get to port when you tender.

[cherylandtk]

I agree with the above answer; while cancelling tenders is not a frequent occurence, it does happen often enough that I would not plan something as important as a wedding around it. Shopping and sightseeing, that is another matter.

 

Blanquita--Perhaps you could rethink your wedding plans. You don't mention which line you are on, but I suggest you take a ship where you can have a backup onboard plan (for example, Princess has onboard at sea weddings whereas Carnival will only do them when stopped at a port even though they both have wedding chapels onboard). Other options I have heard of are having a small legal ceremony at the local courthouse before the cruise and use the gala ship event as more of the 'reception and commemorative' event. You will find lots more discussion and options on the Honeymoon and Wedding board under the Special Interest Cruising section of CC. Good Luck.

[Nliedel]

I love Grand Cayman. That said I've missed in on ships about 5 times now. I was thrilled when I got there last week. Missing GC happens often enough that I would never plan a wedding there. The area is rocky and the winds, if they pick up will cancel the stop very quickly. I would hate to have your wonderful wedding ruined that way. If you really want to get married in a specific port then please fly there. These are ships and misses happen quite frequently, even in non tender ports.

[LinDon]

BonnieJ., what would happen if you were out on a non-ship excursion like Captain Marvin's and the boat had to move? Anyone experience that before? I know I read that if that ship does not tender you can cancel your trip with them but I wonder how you get to your new ship location if you are out on their tour.

Thnks, Linda

[threecats]

You should also consider, that ports where the ships do not tender can be missed as well. We missed Kauai last year, because the entire port was closed due to high seas, even though we would not have tendered. I can understand that your trip would be spoilt, if you can't get married, but you might want to consider to do it either on the ship or before you leave.

[Bonnie J.]

The ship had the bus for ALL passengers who were still in port, not just those on ship's tours. We were on last tender about 3:30 before the move. Think you had to be back by 5:30. When passenges got to original tendering spot, they were told what was happening and put on the bus.

[LinDon]

Thanks. One more question - it sounds like from your response that you schedule ahead of time what time you will tender back. Is that accurate? If so how does that play into doing excursions outside of the ships? We have only tendered in Labadee and you just stood in line to get back.

Thanks, Linda

[wrp96]

To think about when scheduling a port wedding: if you want to get married in a certain place, a cruise ship is really not the best transportation to get there, unless you are flexible and have back up plans. For every wonderful port wedding, there is a tale of a bride and groom who missed their port, due to bad weather, scheduling changes or the like. Tender ports are the least reliable, but as someone above said, ports can be missed for any reason. Grand Cayman in particular is one of the most missed ports. Cozumel has its own problems now. On my cruise in December, we still got to go to Cozumel, but found out 2 weeks before the cruise that we were going on a different day and that our other port had been completely changed.

[Sueseb]

Tender ride to Grand Cayman was beautiful last Easter, but coming back it was a nightmare. Someone said getting on the tender was like having to jump on to a moving roller coaster and that was not far from the truth. I would not take the chance. Ship (Zaandam) was supposed to leave port at 5:30 if I recall but didn't leave until 8 because they couldn't get everyone back in time.

[kitty9]

To the OP----Grand Cayman is the MOST OFTEN cancelled port in the Caribbean. I've been on cruises that included that port at least 7 times, and I've only seen it 2 times. And most of the time, I cruise that area in February. Personally, I think it's a mistake to plan a wedding on an island that is a tender port. You could be greatly disappointed.

[Bonnie J.]

We always plan on getting back on board at least an hour before we have to. Feel its safer that way. When we did cave tubing in Belize (FANTASTIC with Reggie!) He made sure we would be back in time to get a tender and not the last one. (He has a boat to take us to the ship if we missed the last tender but he has never had to do this. ) I think all the 'local' tours make sure passengers do not miss the boat! If they did, they would lose their business!

Keep Smiling.....................