Tender or Pier

[pcbcruiser]

We are cruising to Grand Cayman and Cozumel in May on Carnival Inspiration. I sent an email to an indepent travel guide in Cozumel asking about a possible excursion. His reply to me was that I may want to think about booking the excursion through the boat because since their is no pier and they tender all the guests to the island that they give first preference to those cruisers who have booked through the cruise line. My question..... will we dock at a pier in Grand Cayman or will we be tendered into port their also?

 

We will have teenagers with us and want to book a stingray city excursion.

 

Thanks for your help.

[tyson]

You will tender into Grand Cayman.

[coiran]

Everybody tenders into Cayman and depending on how many ships are in it can be a real problem! Go to this site to find out how many ships will be in. If it is more than 3 it is going to be a real zoo at the dock.

Ron

[cruiserssandr]

Grand Cayman is also missed a lot because it is too rough for the tenders to run. If you book an excursion on your own you should check to see what their refund policy is if the ship doesn't make that port. We did book a sting ray ciy and snorkel excursion on our own in Feb 05 and it was very good. However the one the cruise ship was using was canceled due to rought seas.

[tcrny]

Hi, my family and I just cruised 2 weeks ago with stops in Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Costa Maya (Century Celebrity). You will tender into GC and Cozumel, but Costa Maya has a pier. We booked a private stingray/snorkel tour for Grand Cayman through Nativeway ahead of time. It all depends on the method your cruise line will use to tender its guests. Century uses their own life boats. We had to go early in the morning to where they hand out tender tickets on our ship. Yes, ship excursions get first preference. Our ship (total of 7 in port that day) arrived in Grand Cayman at 7AM, so I made sure we got tender tickets early enough and easily made it onto GC with time to spare for our 9:30 reservation with Nativeway. They know very well that delays can happen with tendering in, and this tour company is well equipped with several opportunities for guests who couldn't get off the ship in time. Nativeway had 3 different tours going on within a half hour of each other that morning. I highly recommend Nativeway. You can email Sharon Eubanks ... just go to their website (nativeway.com). She responds right away.

 

We tendered into GC alright, but by early afternoon winds were kicking up. We still had our stingray excursion, but the waves were a bit high for the area that is very shallow and usually calm waters. I wish the waters were a bit more calm, but we had a great time. Nativeway crew made sure everyone got to hold a stingray since there weren't as many stingrays around because of the waves.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck .. Cathy

[biddiscombe]

How do you find out how many ships our docked in the same port. I am going to be in Grand Caymans on May 2nd and would like to know what to expect.

Thanks

[captNcrunch]

How do you find out how many ships our docked in the same port. I am going to be in Grand Caymans on May 2nd and would like to know what to expect.

Thanks

We were there two weeks ago with 7 ships in port, no problems. Service was fast.

[02bthere]

Another poster gave me this site to see what ships are in ports - www.cruisecal.com. It tells you what ships are in port and when they arrive. Also, your cruise line website should have a link that will tell you each ports method of disembarkation (tender, dock, etc.) that's helpful too (tho' Cozumel is getting a pier open and at least one ship (varies as to which cruise line) seems to get docked on arrival.)

[biddiscombe]

Thank you 02bthere! I got my answer on how many ships are in port from that website!

[mayaglenn]

the best place to see how many ships are in GC is http://www.caymanport.com

 

As the new terminal is now being used, there are three terminals in GC and 6-7 ships is now a much more organized situation.

 

Due to several factors - GC will probably remain a tender destination for some years to come.