Grand Cayman Tender from Summit

[Ekelley8804]

Hi all,

We will be on our first Celebrity Cruise in December stopping at Grand Cayman and it seems there will be quite a few ships in port that day. We are hoping to get some information on the tendering process, as we have never been to a port in which tendering was necessary. Time in port is posted as 10:00AM to 6:00PM. We are trying to plan out our day and get a general timeline to figure out what is actually achievable without being too stressful, this is supposed to be a vacation after all! It might be that we just give up and go on a snorkeling excursion with the ship, which is usually not our first choice as we tend to find better deals. Does Summit/Celebrity use their own tender for this port or do they use one provided by the Caymans? Do we have to just line up early or do we need to get a ticket for a certain time frame somehow? Thanks for any help anyone can provide!

[NutsAboutGolf]

Was on the infinity in July, went to GC.  No tickets.  Just arrive 5mins before and you should be on the first tender.  Our port time was earlier than yours, our first tender left about 2/3 full.

[Beachlover1989]

We were in GC on Equinox along with a bunch of other ships in 2018.  The morning tenders were the ship's, because another ship was using the GC tenders.  In the afternoon, we were able to use GC's much larger tenders to get back to the ship.  This was pre-Covid and it took quite a while in the morning, so if your ship is full, I suggest getting your ticket early, unless of course you're in a suite, or Elite or better.

[hcat]

Gr Cayman tendering is subject to variables including weather in general, sea conditions, type/size of tenders being used,  and number of ships in port. It is a crowded port with lots of traffic.

 

We have been on a few snorkel excursions with the cruise line ( but not the rays..they seemed crowded) . Advantage to ship's trip was getting off the ship in an early group ( if an a.m, trip), and getting to the snorkel site or transp to it in good order.  One snokel site was very close to the tenders..lots of activity there. Another was way far away at a  past its prime resort ( very rough water..better for divers than snorkelers).  Check port boards for info and reviews.

 

If you do it on your own, there are  opportunitues near or at tge tender pier from what we recall.

 

Port has nice but expensive shops...and a few nice lunch spots..check the side streets. Make sure about ship or port time adjustments, It is a loveky port if not too crowded.  Have fun!

[hcat]

PS

line up early for tenders going back..lines can be long in the sun!

[lifeisrealygood]

There seems to be very few tendered ports these days, but, even though many do not like ships excursions, too expensive, too crowded, whatever, I would take a ships excursion when tendering.  Again, you said you are on vacation, and do not want to worry,.  So, take a ships excursion.  Easy off the ship, but in a lot of cases, coming back to the ship, you are in line with everyone else.  But, you will get back to the ship.  They will not leave people who are on the dock waiting to board the tender, unless of course the last tender has left.  Which will not happen if people are still on the dock.