Grand Cayman Cancelled?

[cruisinggg]

All,

 

We are scheduled to be in Grand Cayman on March 26 but weather forecasts indicate it will be quite windy? I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I'm also guessing this might increase the likelihood of cancellation since it makes tendering more difficult. What do you all think?

 

Do cruise lines substitute another port of call? What's a possible replacement for Grand Cayman?

[nbevins]

we have been th grand cayman 4 time--2 time s we not able to get in because of weather conditions.No port is substituted--it probably would be difficult to find a port on such short notice.you will get a small amt credited for port charges there

[Capt_BJ]

Twice when GC was canx for us, due to ruff seas at GC, the decision was made far enuf out that we were re-routed to Cozumel. But that decision must be made 24 hours out and depends on the itin'ry and cruise line... For us it was NCL each time.

[dynozone84]

im going in a week and i see 20 mph winds, that doesnt seem like enough to stop the tenders? i could be completely wrong but 20 mph isnt too bad

[caymanjohn]

The Port Authority and the cruise lines have got a lot more careful about bad weather tendering into cayman after 2 January.

 

See -

http://www.eturbonews.com/986/cruise-visitor-arrivals-plummet-cayman

 

Judging by the current weather I would say you should be OK but, at this time of year, the seas can kick up in a matter of hours.

[cruisinggg]

Thanks all. I'm also showing 20 mph winds. That seems like enough to cause problems, but I really don't know. It's more than a gentle wind but less than a gale.

[Springbreak08]

So, does anyone know how windy is "too windy." At this point, I'd be willing to jump ship and swim if it means not missing the stingrays. . . LOL!

[LunaSmiles]

So, does anyone know how windy is "too windy." At this point, I'd be willing to jump ship and swim if it means not missing the stingrays. . . LOL!

 

We are just off NOS, stopped in Georgetown last Tuesday. Although we didn't have an excursion planned that included the stingrays, I do know that all of those excursions were cancelled. It wasn't the cruise ships fault, they said they had no control over it. The Grand Cayman Port Authority notified each cruise ship in port that for safety reasons, access to the Stingray City area would be prohibited. I don't think jumping ship and swimming (especially considering Stingray City is on the other side of the island) would make any difference.

[drew sailbum]

It is not just a matter of the wind strength, but also the direction. This time of year the weather is settling in to a normal springtime pattern with winds from teh east-northeast to east-southeast. This means that George Town is along the lee shore and cancellations are more rare.

 

An even milder wind from a different direction (northwest) can stir waves into the George Town Harbour causing a diversion to the alternate tendering site of Spotts on the south side of Grand Cayman.

 

Finally, depending upon a weather forecast more than 3 days in advance is not very reliable for wind speed... unless they are predicting a hurricane!:eek:

[GJClay]

We are just off NOS, stopped in Georgetown last Tuesday. Although we didn't have an excursion planned that included the stingrays, I do know that all of those excursions were cancelled. It wasn't the cruise ships fault, they said they had no control over it. The Grand Cayman Port Authority notified each cruise ship in port that for safety reasons, access to the Stingray City area would be prohibited. I don't think jumping ship and swimming (especially considering Stingray City is on the other side of the island) would make any difference.

 

I was on that cruise also. We had already booked the Seven Mile Beach Break through the ship, but it was complete mayhem in the Metropolis Theater which was the meeting point for excursions, due to everyone being up in arms about stingray city being closed. I was a little annoyed with this since our excursion was not cancelled but we were not called for our excursion at all due to the cruise line giving preference in tendering to stingray city tours that had been called off. We waited one and one half hours to figure out how to get to a tender. There was no direction whatsoever unless you had booked stingray city, so we just got in a long line and finally got on a tender with no help from the crew as there was only one woman to handle the many hundreds of people who had booked excursions.

 

We finally arrived at the resort for our excursion at 11:15a.m and then everything was fine. It was a great day, and I was happy GC was not cancelled all together; although I felt sorry for the people who had looked forward to stingray city. The disorganization of our excursion was the only problem I had with how the cruise line handled it's responsibilities, I wanted to add, having no other complaints.

 

How high do you think the winds were that day? At the beach it was not windy at all, but it certainly seemed like there were fairly high winds where the ship anchored (or whatever you call it).

[rickb609]

We were in George Town last Tuesday 3/18/2008. The Port Authority canceled all boat excursions to the reef area (reef and stingray city) due to the wind conditions. We had no problem tendering, just no reef. Luckily I knew that we could walk to Eden Rock and snorkel on our own there. The people working at the dive shop were wonderful. You could use their facility without even using their equipment. We rented a locker and did some wonderful snorkeling right from the shore. We managed to salvage a good day in the water even though no trip to stingray city.

[reneeshane]

We just came off of Serenade of the Seas 3/15-3/22 and we were supposed to go to Barbados on day 6 however, due to 18ft swells (very rare at this time of year we were told) it was cancelled. No replacement port, no money back, just 65 hours of rough seas!! Good Luck.

[woodofpine]

3 for 3 in GC, but last go 11/06 we moored at Spotts Bay (and got one of the few mooring slots due to a required medical evacuation) other ship arrived and turned away.

 

The winds were strong from the west/NW and the surf was crashing onto Front Street. We rented a car and drove the island. Rum Point (on the NW) was beautiful but wind blasted. The east and southeast shores however were a virtual mill pond. Our drive provided interesting insight into how amazingly different windward verses leeward shores can be.

 

That night we cruised to Coz through 38-48 knot winds averaging 42-45 knots. We tendered in Coz and the large local tender craft were really being thrown around (it was not too safe); the tenders were tossing 5 feet. The beaches (and St. Miguel) on the west were pretty much unuseable due to wind and surf, but you'd never have known over at Chen Rio and Cocoanuts where we went on the east coast - completely flat.

[bookbabe]

The one thing people need to keep in mind is that when it's really wavy, Stingray City is not that much fun (and a bit dangerous, which is why the Port Authority closes it). The Port Authority is just looking out for people's safety, and I know it's disappointing, but I think people would be much more disappointed if they'd gone and had a lousy time.

 

When it's calmer, the water ranges from 3-5 ft deep in the central area where most of the ships anchor. You can stand easily and focus on interacting with the stingrays, and it's a lot of fun. When it's wavy, you spend the majority of your time trying to keep your footing as the waves are crashing against you (or crashing over your head) and you have trouble enjoying yourself and get tired out very quickly. Even the stingrays get tired and have trouble taking the squid since the waves are bouncing them around too. :(

 

Trust me, I've been there on a "moderate waves" day, and didn't end up staying long because it just wasn't any fun. I never even consider going out on a day with any more severe waves than "calm to moderate" any more, even if it means not going out to Stingray City that trip. If I'd paid money to go on a day like that, I think I would have felt ripped off.

[caymanjohn]

Just to give you a weather update for 25 March.

 

It was flat calm off George Town on Easter Sunday. Easter Monday around 2pm things started to kick up wit torrential rain and high winds. The six cruise ships scheduled for today were diverted to Spotts, got no idea how many actually moored up there.

 

Stingray City and the Sand Bar are closed for safety reasons.

 

Just so you know that these closures are not arbitrary, "Under the Port Authority Law 1999, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service is allowed to issue instructions such as this to prevent injury and preserve life."

 

In the past (that is until around mid-2007) the decision was generally left up to the watersports operators but some of the bigger names really pushed the limits of safety, forcing official intervention.

 

I'm sorry if people feel hard done by when Stingray City is closed but it's a relatively small sand bar in a big lagoon and getting swept off it in 4-5 foot waves is a sure way to ruin your vacation.

[sqdancr]

Our youngest DS will be married on Smith Cove's beach next week. Wondering what happens if the wind kicks up and RCI cancels the trip into town? They have booked a catamaran reception too. The wedding is thru RCI (RCI finally told them TODAY where and when the ceremony would be, and ONLY because the kids called them every day for the past 3 days!) so I assume they would do something on the ship for them, but the caterer and boat,,, well who knows. I will be soooo glad when the wedding part of the cruise is over and we can just relax.

 

Where is the best weather report to log into before the cruise?

 

karenC

[drew sailbum]

Smith Cove is a lovely spot, but if the ship can't make the port of call then other plans will have to be made. I don't know what guarantees the cruise line can provide for alternate accomodation.

 

I strongly discourage tourists from looking at long range weather forecasts and putting much faith in them. You can't do anything about the weather anyway and often your cruise has begun by the time more reliable short range forecasts can be issued.

 

There is a link to the forecast from the government meteorology office at the Cayman Islands Government homepage at www.gov.ky

[sqdancr]

Drew, thanks for the soothing words. I bookmarked the website you mentioned. We have been to Georgetown many years before and it was one of our favorite stops. Unfortunately, we were there only a couple of hours. It was one of the cleanest most friendly places we have seen in the Caribbean. I was thrilled when our kids chose this port as their wedding scene.

 

Hope all will be great when we get there.

 

thanks,

karenC

[maidaweb]

We were just there on March 26th on Norwegian Jewel, and incredibly gusty winds. All Stingray City, all snorkling, all scuba were cancelled. We spent time at Boatswains lagoon which was protected and loved it. Tenders took longer to get into port due to high winds. Just have a back-up plan in case the winds are too high!

[Cruise4Sunshine]

So, does anyone know how windy is "too windy." At this point, I'd be willing to jump ship and swim if it means not missing the stingrays. . . LOL!

 

Just back from Liberty of the Seas. Cayman Islands was quite windy and really a last minute decision to put down anchor and tender in. Once ashore we were informed our snorkel trip was canceled, although I heard the stingray trips went ahead, as it's a calmer side of the island. So we asked the tour company what else we could do, and they directed us to a taxi stand between the tender landings. We stumbled upon Ursula (a charming Cayman native) and her van, and for $20 per person (there were 3 of us and another family of 5) we went up the west side of the island, past 7 mile beach, to the turtle farm, rum & cake tasting (where they delivered to the ship all wrapped to pack on the last day, to Hell and back. Short stops at each location made us feel like we had planned this whole day. It was a great day, in spite of the weather. Lunch at Margaritaville (where my college aged girls had too much fun!), and back to a VERY long tender line back to the ship. Up until the approximately 1 hour line to get back to the ship, it was a great day, in spite of Mother Nature. By the time we returned to our stateroom, our shore excursion had already been credited to our account, making stopping by the Shore Excursion desk unnecessary.

[2112]

On cruises, I am 1 for 2 for getting into Grand Cayman. I also spent a week there on a land based trip. It is not just wind speed but direction as well as to whether you will make it into Grand Cayman by tender - and if you will get to go to Stingray City. The time on a cruise that we didn't make it in, there was actually very little wind or obvious swells from the ship - it was just the direction of the swells that caused us to miss it. If the wind is from the west or north, that is when you might have problems. If the wind is from the east or south, you will probably be ok.

[cruisinggg]

Thanks everyone. We were able to tender, but stingray city was canceled. We went to the beach instead. Very nice, but still pretty windy and not that hot out. Hopefully, we'll be able to come back to Grand Cayman. Can't wait.