Carnival Debark in Cayman

[Spartancoach]

We arrive in Cayman at 7:30 am on the Carnival Magic in February. We will have priority debark with FTTF. Is it realistic to think we will tender in and be on land by 7:50 or 8 am? We are trying to do Captain Marvin's stingray city which leaves at 8:15 am. The main reason why we want this one so bad is that they drop you off at 7 mile on the way back to maximize our time in the port. Thanks in advance for your help!

[Purvis1231]

The tour companies know when to expect you so I think you will be fine.

[BlerkOne]

Make sure they know what ship you are on.

 

 

I think most companies can drop you off along 7 Mile Beach since you pass it on the way to the boats.

[klfrodo]

We’ve enjoyed Captain Marvin’s numerous times.

Have always waited for a few stragglers.

If you’re running late, they’ll wait.

[Spartancoach]

Thanks for quick replies. Has anyone been one on one of the first tenders and wondering if you can recall how fast you got on land.

[SonOfSailor]

There are a lot of factors. I have been there twice, and both times the tender was slightly delayed due to wind and waves. They did dock with the ship finally and then started to ferry folks ashore.

[BlerkOne]

Don't try to time tenders. Have everyone in your party ready to go and meet wherever Guest Services says to meet. Lots of people have Priority and many may have the same idea.

[xbatt8]

And I hate to be Darren Downer, but there is also a possibility of getting redirected to Spotts Terminal... which is about a 20-25 minute shuttle ride to get back in to Georgetown.

 

Sometimes the wind and rough seas prevent tenders from using the Georgetown terminals. When this happens, ships can cancel the port, or they can sometimes use the alternate terminal on the leeward side of the island.

 

If all of the excursion’s people are coming from cruise ships, then the company might go to Spotts terminal to get them. But this could also mean an hour of the excursion used up on going the opposite way to do this. However, in places like this, excursioners can come from the ships OR from the many hotels on the island. Not sure what they would do if their excursion were mixed.

 

So, I’m not trying to put a gray cloud on your plans, just to give a heads up that things can sometimes get tricky. We have been detoured to Spotts Terminal on 2 of our last 3 trips to GC.

 

Bob

[riclop]

We arrive in Cayman at 7:30 am on the Carnival Magic in February. We will have priority debark with FTTF. Is it realistic to think we will tender in and be on land by 7:50 or 8 am? We are trying to do Captain Marvin's stingray city which leaves at 8:15 am. The main reason why we want this one so bad is that they drop you off at 7 mile on the way back to maximize our time in the port. Thanks in advance for your help!

They will wait for you.

[BlerkOne]

Nobody here is going to compensate you if they don't wait for you.

[dmdiver]

Have you tried emailing Captain Marvin's with your question? I know someone mentioned a different terminal that could be used, but we've never had that happen in all the times we've been to Grand Cayman, so I'm thinking it may not happen often or maybe just certain times of the year. What we did have happen once was that our scuba excursion was cancelled due to water conditions. And it was rough getting on the tender as well, but no change in where we anchored or tendered.

[CRocks]

I think Stingray City was the best excursion we've ever taken, enjoy!

[coevan]

If you are on the first tender you will be waiting 45 minutes to an hour for your tour to fill. The tour companies do this every day and understand the tender system.

[BlerkOne]

Established tour companies probably understand the tendering in Grand Cayman better than the cruise lines, but you still don't want to push your luck or be rude to the other guests.

[evandbob]

Don't overthink the tendering, it is an easy process and in Cayman it takes about 5 minutes from ship to shore. If you have FTTF and tender early, you'll likely have to wait for other cruisers from your ship who don't have early tendering or those from a different ship as there are usually a few anchored at GC.

Enjoy your excursion and your cruise!

[Quilcruisers]

I agree with everyone here. We went to roatan in August and had an excursion planned for 8am. Well, it was 10am by time we went the wrong way and all caught up with each other. The tour guides at the port tried to get us to rent cars or take other tours. Come to find out our tour was waiting for us, we had 14 people and they had 1 bus for us to ride to the zipline and beach. We were so stressed thinking we missed it the good thing too is we only paid a deposit so we wouldn't have lost much, it was so fun too. Long story short, dont stress about it, they are watching for the ships to roll in.

 

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[coevan]

without you, they don't make any money, of course they will wait. We were an hour late to Grand Turk, I had a private dive booked. I always keep their phone or email address in hand. When we arrived the dive master said, the whole island knew you were an hour late.

[Lottacruises]

Roatan?

[BlerkOne]

without you, they don't make any money, of course they will wait. We were an hour late to Grand Turk, I had a private dive booked. I always keep their phone or email address in hand. When we arrived the dive master said, the whole island knew you were an hour late.

 

Huge difference between a private and a shared tour.

 

The people who paid the same and managed to get to the tour on time don't appreciate being cheated out of their full tour time. When a tour company does multiple tours a day they have to try to keep on schedule. If not, they could lose money.

[poz222]

Also, FYI, Grand Cayman does not observe Daylight savings time, which means They are Eastern time zone (GMT -5) year round. Summer they are 1 hour behind Miami. So make sure all times with vendors are SHIP time... but get all cut off times verified directly with vendor to be sure.