Ship shorex vs independent tour

[Thebes]

Hello CC folks,

I have a technical question when we dock at Cayman in feb at 10 A

There will be 5 ships that day. Here is the deal :

Ship shorex to stingray depart 10 ( same time ship docks), tour goes till 2

Independent tour with native way start at 12 , goes till 3

I really don't like ship excur but in this case I like :

1- returning to the ship before the crowds and tender lines start for 5 ships

2- with ship excur, we will get priority tendering upon arrival

Does anyone agree with this or have a comment or input ?

I appreciate the help :):):)

[Heartlands1]

I would recommend you stay with the ship excursions. I have visited twice. First time we took cab to Seven Mile Beach returning at 2.00pm for the tender back to ship. Last year we wanted to try an excursion knowing there would be plenty on offer at the port cheaper than Carnival. So we didn't book anything. On arrival at Grand Cayman we were diverted to Spot Bay and eventually got a place on the tender. It was too late for an excursion and there is literally nothing other than a stand selling canned drinks and coconuts at Spot Bay so we got a taxi ($10 per person each way) to Georgetown with just enough time for a quick walk round and a very expensive pizza - wish we had booked with Carnival as their excursions were diverted to Spot Bay and their passengers given preference for the tenders. I'm told this often happens so this probably isn't the best port for private excursions.

[Thebes]

I would recommend you stay with the ship excursions. I have visited twice. First time we took cab to Seven Mile Beach returning at 2.00pm for the tender back to ship. Last year we wanted to try an excursion knowing there would be plenty on offer at the port cheaper than Carnival. So we didn't book anything. On arrival at Grand Cayman we were diverted to Spot Bay and eventually got a place on the tender. It was too late for an excursion and there is literally nothing other than a stand selling canned drinks and coconuts at Spot Bay so we got a taxi ($10 per person each way) to Georgetown with just enough time for a quick walk round and a very expensive pizza - wish we had booked with Carnival as their excursions were diverted to Spot Bay and their passengers given preference for the tenders. I'm told this often happens so this probably isn't the best port for private excursions.

 

Thank you for responding :)

[OCruisers]

We still never (after many cruises) have a problem with booking an excursion thru the ship when it works best for us. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~~

[Thebes]

We still never (after many cruises) have a problem with booking an excursion thru the ship when it works best for us. :)

 

LuLu

~~~~~

 

Heard some negative comments about ship shorex :

1- the # of pax is huge like 80-120

2- time spent at the venue is less than what independent operators offer

3- they run at high cost compared to independent ones.

Is all this true ?

[acctgtogo]

I'm curious as to how often and what time of year the ships have trouble tendering in Georgetown. We were told it doesn't happen often. Is that true? Does it usually happen at certain times of the year? Thanks.

[Colorado Kat]

Heard some negative comments about ship shorex :

1- the # of pax is huge like 80-120

2- time spent at the venue is less than what independent operators offer

3- they run at high cost compared to independent ones.

Is all this true ?

 

In my experience, this is all true.

[nirmd01]

I'm curious as to how often and what time of year the ships have trouble tendering in Georgetown. We were told it doesn't happen often. Is that true? Does it usually happen at certain times of the year? Thanks.

 

We were on a cruise in Jan 2009 & were unable to tender in to Grand Cayman due to heavy swells- meant an extra seaday.

[drew sailbum]

I'm curious as to how often and what time of year the ships have trouble tendering in Georgetown. We were told it doesn't happen often. Is that true? Does it usually happen at certain times of the year? Thanks.

 

There is less than 5% chance of being diverted to Spotts.

 

Diversions are more common in the peak cruise season, the winter months.

 

The alternate facilities at Spotts can only handle up to three ships. If more ships are due to call on a day where diversion is in place then the extra ships just keep sailing to the next port.

 

And finally, yes it is possible that with ocean swell from certain directions that all ships will have to cancel and keep sailing onward.

[acctgtogo]

We will be there in January. There will be six ships in port that day. We are the last to arrive so I'm hoping that we don't get diverted as we will be one of the ships that sails by on the way to our next destination.

Edited November 12, 2013 by acctgtogo