Are 5 ships in port at Grand Cayman a lot?

[LiricaBound]

I just checked the Cruise Ship Calendar site and it appears there are "only" 5 ships in port the same day we'll be there (December 27th). On average, is this considered a lot of ships or a few? Will it be ridiculously crowded or reasonable? No clue really as to what to expect. I was there a couple of years ago but it seems to me there must've been 20 ships or so in port because there were people EVERYWHERE. It was so crowded and it took quite a long time to tender (I was with Princess -- don't know if that makes a difference). I'm sailing with MSC's Lirica this time around. I posted it here because 1) the Lirica thread gets little to no action and 2) neither does the Grand Cayman Ports of Call thread.

 

As for our other ports, we seem to be the only ship for Santa Marta, Cartagena, and Puerto Limon and only two ships in port for Critobal and Roatan. Instinct tells me this is a good thing, no?

 

Thanks in advance :)

[wrp96]

To me 5 ships in port is too many, as we were completely crowded with only 4 ships my first visit, but it can really depend on the size of the ships. 5 mega ships is way too many, but if a few of them are smaller ships, it might be more manageable.

 

You'll love being one of only 2 ships (or by yourself) in the other ports.

[Keith1010]

The reality is that this is a peak time of the year for cruises in the Caribbean so it's not surprising that there are so many ships there this time of year. Grand Cayman is fairly large so while five ships are quite a bit it won't be as intense as some places in the Caribbean would be with five ships. But, it will be busy.

 

Many of the other ports that you are going to are not the typical ports that most cruise ships go to, thus you are the only ship in port.

 

I do like Grand Cayman quite a bit so it's good you are stopping there but on the most part it's usually more fun with less ships so I think that's great about the other places you are going to.

 

Keith

[cherylandtk]

Grand Cayman port authorities used to limit the number of ships they would let in on one day--I can't recall the number but someone else will have that information and post, I am sure. But it was a pretty low number. After hurricane damage to the island they changed that rule, so as to get more tourists back to the island, and once you open that door its hard to slam it shut again. 5 ships is on the upper end of tolerable for most people. It also depends on the whether the tenders are dealing with rough water or not as to whether there will be long lines or short lines. Rough water + few ships can create some difficult lines, but rough water + lotsa ships = nightmare lines.

[KelJ]

Eek! There are EIGHT ships in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, the day we're there (December 20th).

[LiricaBound]

Eek! There are EIGHT ships in Georgetown, Grand Cayman, the day we're there (December 20th).

 

EEK! is right! Like I said, I don't know the exact number of ships in port when I was there a couple years ago but it seemed like a ridiculous number of people. We were all walking in file -- two by two -- like cows to the slaughter! Of course, we were tourists to the beach, but still. I think we went to Seven Mile Beach and it was very crowded. But still again, I'd rather be packed on a tropical beach like sardines than fighting the Christmas crowds in the mall. :D

 

Here's hoping you get an early tender, get a prime seat on the beach of your choice, and the majority of the passengers on the other 7 ships decide they would rather stay on board and play Bingo!

[book-a-roo]

someone told me there was going to be 8 on our trip too (in november) that was bad news to me. I do believe it was about half that on my last trip there (jan 06) and I think we waited in line to get back on the ship for well over an hour (at the least). It was my favorite port...well one of them anyway....but it was small and hard to get into some of the stores because there were too many people.

[second honeymoon]

someone told me there was going to be 8 on our trip too (in november) that was bad news to me. I do believe it was about half that on my last trip there (jan 06) and I think we waited in line to get back on the ship for well over an hour (at the least). It was my favorite port...well one of them anyway....but it was small and hard to get into some of the stores because there were too many people.

 

I am just wondering why did you have to wait for over a hour to get back on your ship?

We are going on our first in cruise in Feb and there will be 4 ships in that day. I am trying to decide if we should book with the ship or Nativeways I just do not want to miss the ship...

[book-a-roo]

we booked a great tour outside carnival and had the best time ever! The ship isn't going to leave while there are hundreds of passengers waiting in line to get back on. I mean I wouldn't be like staying out past the time to get back on...I'm just saying we were back in a resonable time frame and stood in line with what seemed like half the population of the world lol! There were lines like I've never seen snaked all over for the different ships. It was a new experience for us so who knows if it's the norm or not. We were in line behind the dancers and they seemed a bit surprised with the lines and they were upset because they could not get back on the ship any faster than the rest of us and were very upset because they were supposed to be at a rehersal for that nights big show.

[LiricaBound]

The reality is that this is a peak time of the year for cruises in the Caribbean so it's not surprising that there are so many ships there this time of year. Grand Cayman is fairly large so while five ships are quite a bit it won't be as intense as some places in the Caribbean would be with five ships. But, it will be busy.

 

Many of the other ports that you are going to are not the typical ports that most cruise ships go to, thus you are the only ship in port.

 

I do like Grand Cayman quite a bit so it's good you are stopping there but on the most part it's usually more fun with less ships so I think that's great about the other places you are going to.

 

Keith

 

Hi Keith,

 

I was surprised about the other ports and being the only ship, even if they aren't "typical" stops. That's why we chose MSC -- I couldn't find another line that was going to those types of ports during that timeframe. I guess even if it's crowded, Grand Cayman is an awesome place. Some day I'm gonna spend more than 5 hours or so there :p

[wrp96]

Hi Keith,

 

I was surprised about the other ports and being the only ship, even if they aren't "typical" stops. That's why we chose MSC -- I couldn't find another line that was going to those types of ports during that timeframe. I guess even if it's crowded, Grand Cayman is an awesome place. Some day I'm gonna spend more than 5 hours or so there :p

 

On the longer cruises it is more likely that you will be the only ship in port at many of your ports due to being able to be in ports on weekends when most cruises are in Florida loading and unloading, plus when you add that only 2 of your stops are ones that are common to be reached on 7 day cruises, it's not surprising that Grand Cayman is the only port where you will be crowded. On my 10 day Panama Canal cruise, we were the only ship in port in Grand Cayman - due to the day of the week we reached GC, our most "crowded" port was Puerto Limon, Costa Rica with 3 ships. Santa Margarita and Cartagena are not common stops on any line, especially Cartagena.

[Traveler630]

If the site you have checked doesn't show the scheduled times in port, check out www.cruisecal.com, it will show the arrival times and departure times of the ships for a specific date/port. Hope this helps.

[honeyclair]

We will be on the Coral Princess in October and started worrying about how many ships will be in port with us. I was totally surprised to find that during our 10 day cruise, we will only be in one port with any other ship. Grand Cayman, just us, Ocho Rios, just us, Limon, just us and three others with us in Cozumel. I can't believe how lucky we are! Thanks for the website, you made my day.

[book-a-roo]

Wow!! That IS awesome! That should be one great trip!

[lyttleone1977]

When I was in GC, our guide told us that the most ships that are there has been known to be there in one day is 10. There were 4 ships the day I was there, and it was not that bad. I did a tour that got me away from Georgetown, and probably the busiest spot outside of Georgetown was the tiny gift shop in Hell. It did not seem that bad to me, but you never know. The shops were not overally crowded, but there was a lot of people out on the streets. Upside is though, I felt very safe walking around GC (I was traveling alone), probably because of all of the people there. The worst part was the drivers - too fast and too close to each other.

[Caitlinsmama]

We just got back from our cruise this past week.

 

I checked the port calendars before we left and only 1 port was correct as to how many other ships would be in port with us. So I wouldn't consider those calendars 100% accurate.

 

We had a total of 3 in port at Grand Cayman. They separate you good enough when getting off the tender so there isn't a mass of people in one spot, but even just all the people from our ship in that one little area it was so congested. There were lots of people everywhere, but I didn't seem to notice it bother anyone. It gets dangerous at the street because some of the drivers are crazy and don't want to stop for you to cross in the crosswalk!!!!

[CaribbeanBound]

More than 2 ships in Cayman is a lot. Whatever you do, book a private (non-cruiseship) tour to enjoy smaller crowds on your tour.

 

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/caribbean-secrets.html

[Mel]

I just checked and found that there will be Ten, count them, TEN!!! ships in port at Grand Cayman on December 26th when we are there on the Carnival Miracle. I don't know if I'm glad I checked or not..... We are planning on booking a 3 stop Stingray and snorkelling tour probably with a private operator (there will be probably 16 of us in our party going on this tour). Does anyone have any recommendations or hints about who to go with, knowing how many ships will be there that day?

[book-a-roo]

This is the link to the place we used in January. We LOVED LOVED LOVED them! There were maybe 10 people on the boat and it was a very nice time. They did a great job!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=401196&goto=newpost

[Mel]

Hi Book-a-roo, Thanks, but I couldn't get the link to work. What was the name of the company you used?

[book-a-roo]

Well I see I posted the wrong link ...lol...sorry about that!

It's grandcaymancruiseexcursions.com

They have 2 different snorkle/stingray deals. We had signed up for the one that was a few bucks more but the the day of the excursion our port time was cut was down and many trips were canceled. We arrived early because we were just scoping out the place (we had never booked outside Carnival before) but after we got to talking to the people they asked us if we just wanted to take the earlier trip since we had to be back earlier and since we were there early anyway. We did and it was the best thing i've ever done! I just can't say enough about it. In november we booked the same one as we attempted to do last time because it has 3 stops and it's a little longer. We can't wait! Since going with this company I heard many other people saying how much they enjoyed them too. I am so glad I tried them out! (ok i'm starting to sound like a commercial! hahaha)

[suzy1212]

Cayman Islands Port Authority is the most accurate site to see how many ships will be in Georgetown. http://www.caymanport.com/schedule.htm

 

Only 3 on September 21st. Yeah! :D

 

There were 8 on the day we were there last December. :eek:

 

It was crowded, but not unbearable.

[marysb]

There were 8 on the day we were there last December. :eek:

 

It was crowded, but not unbearable.

 

Glad to hear this...we will have 9 ships in March.

[blyle]

Infrastructure was damaged last year in Hurricane. We were the first ship to arrive last year when the port reopened. Hopefully the new pier area is open. One was damaged last year so it was not a happy time. The main road is only 2 lanes and there is horrific traffic on the main road in the P.M.so you have to cut your beach time short and get back to town early. Always keep that in mind if you go off on your own. THen the tender lines get very long at about 2pm and the wait is in the sun so its hot! Also there are different ways to tender. One is using the ships life boats and the other is using GC tenders which are larger. So basically your experience will depend on a number of factors.

[texancruzer]

Well we were there in Nov. 2003 - there were 5 ships in port that day including us...... IT WAS A ZOO. People everywhere. Not exactly my idea of paradise no matter how beautiful it is.