problems with tender?

[deemk]

i'm learning new stuff all the time with these boards, and this is our first cruise. i've just learned that grand cayman is a tender port and had to find out what that meant. has anyone out there sailed carnival to grand cayman and had problems getting off? do i need to worry about weather in the winter? we're going end of jan. and if we've booked a tour will we miss it because of this tender situation? i'm a bit worried about this...

[Calicruisefamily]

Do not worry. We went to Grand Cayman last month on RC's Voyager of the Seas and the tender was great ! We had about "8" ships in port with us and every ship had tenders for just that ship :) We did not have much of a wait to get on or off the ship and if your tender does run a little late do not worry the tour guides will wait until the tour bus is full. As far as the weather goes you should be fine Aug-Oct is when you should worry. When we left the port we had a few showers but nothing to worry about it stopped in minutes. Have a great time on your cruise Grand Cayman is beautiful !

Cali :)

Monarch Baja 11/30/07

Voyager W. Caribbean 12/06

Voyager E. Caribbean 11/05

S.S. Azure Seas Baja 11/90

[momjeeps]

I've only been on one cruise so far. I'm going to book a last minute deal for my 10 year anniversary soon... But on our first cruise we did have one tender. We didn't have any shore stuff planned though so it wasn't critical for us and in fact I went to the infirmery that day before tendering because I had fallen down the stairs (clutz!). That was a joke by the way. Unless you are dying I wouldn't bother with the infirmery. At least that was my experience on the Elation.

 

Back to the subject... From what I've read on other posts, it sounds like if you've booked your excursion through the cruise company they give you priority getting off the boat.

 

Don't know if that helps.

 

Vonavie

[ccnwater]

Calicruisefamily: It has been a few years since we have cruised to Grand Cayman, I do not remember where we tender into? I assume Downtown Georgetown is a pier? We will be on the Navigator of the seas, and have planned to catch a bus/taxi to Cemetary beach to snorkel. Have you or anyone heard of this beach? By looking at this map (If it will post) can you tell me where we tender into?

http://www.*******************.com/Cayman.htm

And if anyone reading this knows where to find the Cemetary beach, please let me know! Thanks

[Calicruisefamily]

Calicruisefamily: It has been a few years since we have cruised to Grand Cayman, I do not remember where we tender into? I assume Downtown Georgetown is a pier? We will be on the Navigator of the seas, and have planned to catch a bus/taxi to Cemetary beach to snorkel. Have you or anyone heard of this beach? By looking at this map (If it will post) can you tell me where we tender into?

http://www.*******************.com/Cayman.htm

And if anyone reading this knows where to find the Cemetary beach, please let me know! Thanks

 

 

 

 

Yes you tender into downtown georgetown every ship seems to have its own drop off/pick-up area. We got off over by Margaritaville But some of the other ships would have people get off over by Hardrock cafe. I did a search on Cemetary beach and it looks like a beautiful beach great for snorkeling. I saw alot of people taking taxi's to beaches we drove by that is a great idea ! We will have to do that next time. Sorry I could not open you link.

Cali :)

Monarch Baja 11/30/07

Voyager W. Caribbean 12/06

Voyager E. Caribbean 11/05

S.S. Azure Seas Baja 11/90

[PSCruiser]

The difficulty with tendering depends on the water conditions - when smooth it is fast and easy, when choppy it can be very slow at the ship-tender transfer. Sometimes it can be so bad that they decide not to let anyone off the ship.

However, keep in mind that the tour operators are pros - they do the same tours every day, with the same ships every week. For any given sea condition they probably know if there will be late arrivals based on how efficiently each ship tenders and whether they got into port on time. Tour companies don't get favorable reputations by leaving without many of their clients. We had slow tenders on two occasions at GC, and each time the tour operators (non-ship) waited for us, even though we were quite late.

[littlehead]

Hi Guys

We will be on a Carnival cruise in May. It's my second one. I've just learned about this tender thing (I'm from Brazil...) and I have a question... Is it possible to return to the ship whenever we want or we have to wait until the end of the day, when everybody is problably returnig from their excursions???

We are not planning one while in Gran Cayman...

Thanks a lot!!!

[littlehead]

Hi Guys

We will be on a Carnival cruise in May. It's my second one. I've just learned about this tender thing (I'm from Brazil...) and I have a question... Is it possible to return to the ship whenever we want or we have to wait until the end of the day, when everybody is problably returnig from their excursions???

We are not planning one while in Gran Cayman...

Thanks a lot!!!

[drew sailbum]

Yes. You can return to the ship at any time. The tenders operate throughout the day.

 

Near the end of the day the lines are long waiting to board the tenders. If you head back earlier you can miss that.

[drew sailbum]

Yes. You can return to the ship at any time. The tenders operate throughout the day.

 

Near the end of the day the lines are long waiting to board the tenders. If you head back earlier you can miss that.

[littlehead]

Thank you drew sailbum!!!!

[shepp]

Grand Cayman has a reputation as an unreliable port to tender into - conditions are sometimes simply too rough. (See the boards for repeated, similar stories.) When I cruised there in late January of 2006, we had to skip the port, and I later learned that other ships all that week did, too. I'm giving it another try in December, but yes, it's entirely possible that you'll miss a port day.

[Budwheat]

Grand Cayman has a reputation as an unreliable port to tender into - conditions are sometimes simply too rough. (See the boards for repeated, similar stories.) When I cruised there in late January of 2006, we had to skip the port, and I later learned that other ships all that week did, too. I'm giving it another try in December, but yes, it's entirely possible that you'll miss a port day.

 

We were OK last week (Zenith), and the tenders were fast and efficient. They even got my wife's electric wheelchair on and off. It was a little tougher with high seas in Cozumel (another "tender" port), but between the Zenith crews and the tender crews, they made it work!:D

[tmcraine]

Budwheat - I noticed you said your wife was in a wheelchair on the tender. I'm taking my mom (age 79) on her first cruise and Grand Cayman is one of our stops. She's not in a wheelchair, but sometimes has trouble with balance and walks slowly. Do you think she'll have problems getting off and on? Thanks for the info.

[lizardhowson]

i've just learned that grand cayman is a tender port and had to find out what that meant. has anyone out there sailed carnival to grand cayman and had problems getting off? do i need to worry about weather in the winter?

 

Of course, some cruisers have not been allowed to tender.

 

If the water is too rough, you will not be allowed to tender.

 

Captain's decision.

 

Since there is NOTHING you can do about it, why worry ? :confused:

 

Just hope for smooth seas that day.

[VegasPinkGirl]

Grand Cayman has a reputation as an unreliable port to tender into - conditions are sometimes simply too rough. (See the boards for repeated, similar stories.) When I cruised there in late January of 2006, we had to skip the port, and I later learned that other ships all that week did, too. I'm giving it another try in December, but yes, it's entirely possible that you'll miss a port day.

 

 

If, for some reason, it is too rough to tender into Grand Cayman does the cruiseline do anything to make up for that? Obviously it isn't their fault and they probably can't go to another port but do they do anything at all? Just curious as I've never had a port cancelled before. Thanks.

[frog lover]

We passed Cemetery Beach on the way to Hell I think it is farther out 7 mile beach you can take a cab or the local bus.

You catch it out front of the library turn right at Columbian Emeralds then left at the post office and up 2 blocks to the library. $2.50 pp each way.

The tender lines get huge at the end of the day and traffic can get bad we walked back from 7 mile it took us 2.5 hours!!!!!:eek:

[florida cruiser girl]

Was there on Carnival Valor on 4/5, and they give out numbers to be called. Very bad system, IMHO. We had planned an independent tour & ended up not being able to go because we waited from 9:30AM(when they started giving out numbers)-12:45PM to get off the ship! On the island at 1PM. It was ridiculous. We ended up walking around & eating at Hard Rock. Made a nice day, but not what we had planned, since there are so many things to see there.

[bamrak]

Of course, some cruisers have not been allowed to tender.

 

If the water is too rough, you will not be allowed to tender.

 

Captain's decision.

 

Since there is NOTHING you can do about it, why worry ? :confused:

 

Just hope for smooth seas that day.

 

 

 

 

Just wondering.....what would make them not allow someone to tender?

[ShedQueen77]

Just wondering.....what would make them not allow someone to tender?

 

From my understanding, it's mostly weather related.

[One hot mom]

Was on the RC Voyager last week and we definitely had tender issues. First, believe the CD when he tells you it will take 1 - 3 hours to get off the ship that morning. Luckily, we had a tour and were given preference. Everyone else had to go to the theater at 7am to get a number, and sit and wait..... Friends didn't get onto Cayman until noon, then the last tender back ws at 3:30. Short day. Bigger problem was the tendering due to a storm blowing in at 2pm. We were stuck on the tender, tossed about like rag dolls, for 1 hour and 45 minutes before being brought back to shore because the tender kept smashing into the side of the ship. It was actually quite scary. Our waiter told us that they've had to bring people back to shore and wait until after 9pm until the waters calmed enough to tender. Plus, there were 6 other cruise ships there. Very crowded. If I went there again with so many others, I would enjoy a day on board and forget the island!

[lizardhowson]

Just wondering.....what would make them not allow someone to tender?

 

You must have not really read my post..

 

When the water is too rough..

 

(It is difficult to step from the ship onto a tender which is bobbing up & down like crazy. They don't want people to fall or slip & get hurt)