Any advice on 8am independent tour in Cayman with 7am arrival?

[blubionda]

Hi All,

We are sailing Solstice into Grand Cayman with a scheduled "dock" time of 7am and I'm considering booking an independent tour for 8am. However, knowing the tender process can be hectic when first arriving, I'm wondering if this is cutting it too close and should we chose the later tour option (10:30). I'm looking at the 8am thinking it might be less crowded at Stingray City earlier in the day but don't want to risk missing it - any advice???

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

[rjscott]

We are just back from the Equinox and we were to arrive in GC at 8AM. We planned to rent a car, and, thinking like you, that the tender process would be hectic, we reserved the rental pickup for 9:30. We secured tender tickets for 8:30, but didn't need them as they started the tenders before 8AM. We were onshore before 8:30. The return tender experience was just as highly organized. So, if your experience on the Solstice would prove to be as well-organized as our's, you should be onshore well in time for your early excursion. However, I'd ask about two things; 1. If the ship is late arriving, can you be switched to the later time w/o a cancellation fee? 2. If the ship doesn't make port due to rough seas (this has never happened to us, but I've talked to crew members who said it has happened recently), can you cancel w/o penalty?

[blubionda]

thanks rjscott - GREAT advice, thank you!