Are they ever going to build a pier there for cruise ships?

[c75]

We were scheduled to stop there the week of the 7th, and it was too rough to tender in...speaking with another couple, that was the 4th time they tried to get to Cayman on different cruise ships and have still never got in!! So obviously this happens a lot and the island has to hate losing that 14$ per person they get from the cruise ships.

 

 

Is there any plans to ever build a pier so boats dont have to deal with the tenders?

[perkypat23]

We were scheduled to stop there the week of the 7th, and it was too rough to tender in...speaking with another couple, that was the 4th time they tried to get to Cayman on different cruise ships and have still never got in!! So obviously this happens a lot and the island has to hate losing that 14$ per person they get from the cruise ships.

 

 

Is there any plans to ever build a pier so boats dont have to deal with the tenders?

 

Because of the reef surrounding the port, they have to tender in, so I don't see them ever building a dock...

[caymanjohn]

We have a picture of the proposed George Town harbour in our office. It would cater for maybe five cruise ships at a time. One problem is funding. The Royal Watler Terminal went way over budget and is next to useless if we even get a slight swell, so the government is unlikely to get backers queuing up to fund a bigger project.

The other problem is the fact that George Town would need to be completely rebuilt to accommodate the plans so the terminal would actually have to be somewhere like Spotts, about five miles to the south.

As far the reef system off George Town is concerned, most of it has been trashed by cruise ships and run off from development work already so that's not a consideration.

If you want visit Grand Cayman we have good hotels and it's a very safe environment with good air connections from the USA - why not come and see?

[drew sailbum]

The current government announced the intention to undertake building a cruise ship dock to accomodate 2 to 3 ships.

 

Since this would not suffice for even half the ships in port on many days, I really don't see the point.

[jimbob98]

There were three or four cranes working out on a pier near the Carnival tender dock last week. Perhaps a connection here?

[jimbob98]

There were three or four cranes working out on a pier near the Carnival tender dock last week. Perhaps a connection here?

[drew sailbum]

There were three or four cranes working out on a pier near the Carnival tender dock last week. Perhaps a connection here?

NOPE. Those are the normal cranes used to load/unload cargo vessels.

 

At this point any cruise dock is only in the planning stages. There will be a process of engineering planning, environmental evaluations, and more before any building begins.

[ghsmith178613]

No dock in GC? :eek: Another "not mentioned" detail from the line! :mad:

 

Ok. So, say the weather is good in late September, and I can get a tender ride to the island, how many hours does this cost me? Round trip? Actual hours I can expect on the island? :confused:

[yuyi64]

No dock in GC? :eek: Another "not mentioned" detail from the line! :mad:

 

Ok. So, say the weather is good in late September, and I can get a tender ride to the island, how many hours does this cost me? Round trip? Actual hours I can expect on the island? :confused:

 

I hope you don't think I'm being mean, but it is impossible for any cruise line to mention every possible detail of a cruise in its literature. It has been well-known for decades that Grand Cayman does not allow cruise ships to dock due to environmental concerns, and the tendering process is an acceptable alternative except when high winds prevent it. That's why it's important for travelers to become informed about their itinerary prior to cruising since there is no way the cruise line can inform you ahead of time about every possible situation you will encounter during your cruise. Tendering will not cost you "hours". You might have a short wait to get on the tender followed by a 5-minute ride to or from the ship. Overall I consider the tendering process to be a minor inconvenience if it's helping protect the delicate reef that makes Grand Cayman such a famous diving and snorkeling destination. Relax and enjoy it!

[DukeFamily]

No dock in GC? :eek: Another "not mentioned" detail from the line! :mad:

 

Ok. So, say the weather is good in late September, and I can get a tender ride to the island, how many hours does this cost me? Round trip? Actual hours I can expect on the island? :confused:

 

Well it's not an hours long process - it only takes a few minutes to tender in. I don't really remember how long the ride is - 15 minutes? I was there back in June on board RCI's Rhapsody. We had no problems whatsoever.

[ghsmith178613]

nothing mean about that.

i hope you wont think i am picking a fight when i say that i have to disagree about the lines not posting everything. since i write code, i know that a single line of text in the itenerary isn't that complicated. the tender issue is long term. the tender issue might be known to verteran tourist. i've never been on one of these.

I didn't find this board until i had invested a solid month of research - somewhere around 80 hours. none of the 20+ repeat cruise tourists that i spoke with in the last year heard about this board. the people that i am supposed to go with didn't know about this board. they are repeat cruise line tourists. they didn't know about tendering either.

i read another post on this system that quoted the ship captain saying that 25-45% of the time they couldn't tender because of weather. Yet, another said that the captain rode around the ship in a lifeboat for an hour before allowing guests to tender. other posts - and i've read most of this board - are somewhat negative about a tender rotation system for different boats in port at the same time.

the more information a tourist knows in advance, the more pleasant the trip.

information... feed me information....

[drew sailbum]

The recent numbers out from the Cayman Department of Tourism indicate that 2006 was a record year for cruise ship passenger arrivals in Grand Cayman. Approximately 1.9 million visitors arrived on Cayman's shores this way - and every one of them by cruise tender.

 

There is simply no way for numbers like that to be posted if 25-45% of ships can't tender.

 

Cayman does not easily present a way to build a suitable cruise dock. There is no one site that offers natural all-weather protected waters.

[twinkletoes4445]

If you want visit Grand Cayman we have good hotels and it's a very safe environment with good air connections from the USA - why not come and see?

 

Now that's a wonderful suggestion! After having visited Grand Cayman on a cruise, we found that we loved the island (and the the people who live there). I'd never visit Grand Cayman via cruise ship again...because I couldn't be trusted to get back on the ship!

 

It's safe...it's clean...the people are wonderful...and there's a lot to do.

 

The thing about cruising is you really need to plan on the ship being your vacation...the ports are just a bonus. So many factors can change the itinerary.

[ghsmith178613]

The recent numbers out from the Cayman Department of Tourism indicate that 2006 was a record year for cruise ship passenger arrivals in Grand Cayman. Approximately 1.9 million visitors arrived on Cayman's shores this way - and every one of them by cruise tender.

 

There is simply no way for numbers like that to be posted if 25-45% of ships can't tender.

 

Cayman does not easily present a way to build a suitable cruise dock. There is no one site that offers natural all-weather protected waters.

wow! i gotta see this miracle of modern transportaion. reallly hope i can tender in. speaking of doing the math - 1.9 million visitors on a 365 day year! so, something like 5205.4 guests arrive and depart there each day yet "Grand Cayman occupies 76 square miles;" (http://www.caymanislands.ky/tour_guide/about_location.aspx)

"With just over 40,000 people in the country,"

i gotta see the navy they use for that 5 minute boat ride! well, that explains this post: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=478327

and this link that embedded -

http://www.caymannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000105/010575.htm

 

i can look up the "25-45%" post if you need it.

[drew sailbum]

http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1019479

 

"With regard to cruise tourism, the arrival figures for 2006 (1.9 million) have officially exceeded the totals in 2003 of 1.8 million. Mr. Clifford said that this demonstrates that this sector has fully recovered from the losses experienced post Hurricane Ivan.

 

He noted that the cruise industry, for the most part, experienced fluctuating growth numbers for each month throughout 2006, ending the year with the highest overall number ever recorded.

 

“The largest influx of cruise passengers to dock in the Cayman Islands was reported in the months of January, March and December 2006 where the 200,000 mark was surpassed in each instance.”

 

Year over year cruise figures have been consistent, with cruise passenger numbers approaching 1.7 million in 2004, 1.8 million in 2005 and were just over 1.9 million at year end 2006, he said."

 

My comments:

Keep in mind a that there is definitely an off season, with summer having far fewer cruise ship arrivals. It's hurricane season, so ships relocate even though the seas are typically calmer and its easier to tender. In summer arrivals may be down to only 3 or 4 days per week.

 

Some days are FAR, FAR above the daily average. 5204 passengers can easily arrive on just two ships, and some days there are 7 or more!

[ghsmith178613]

http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1019479

 

"With regard to cruise tourism, the arrival figures for 2006 (1.9 million) have officially exceeded the totals in 2003 of 1.8 million. Mr. Clifford said that this demonstrates that this sector has fully recovered from the losses experienced post Hurricane Ivan.

 

He noted that the cruise industry, for the most part, experienced fluctuating growth numbers for each month throughout 2006, ending the year with the highest overall number ever recorded.

 

“The largest influx of cruise passengers to dock in the Cayman Islands was reported in the months of January, March and December 2006 where the 200,000 mark was surpassed in each instance.”

 

Year over year cruise figures have been consistent, with cruise passenger numbers approaching 1.7 million in 2004, 1.8 million in 2005 and were just over 1.9 million at year end 2006, he said."

 

My comments:

Keep in mind a that there is definitely an off season, with summer having far fewer cruise ship arrivals. It's hurricane season, so ships relocate even though the seas are typically calmer and its easier to tender. In summer arrivals may be down to only 3 or 4 days per week.

 

Some days are FAR, FAR above the daily average. 5204 passengers can easily arrive on just two ships, and some days there are 7 or more!

hey dude, peace... ok..

i will be in MO-Bay, GC, and Coz, with a very diverse group of seniors in September.

i will have an unbiased photo-journalist layout and report of the whole week.

let the waves break where they will.

[ghsmith178613]

multiple post. system is in triplicate mode

[ghsmith178613]

multiple post

[heydn62]

No dock in GC? :eek: Another "not mentioned" detail from the line! :mad:

 

Ok. So, say the weather is good in late September, and I can get a tender ride to the island, how many hours does this cost me? Round trip? Actual hours I can expect on the island? :confused:

 

Not sure about all cruise lines, but I know on RCI that all itinerary listings include notice if you will be docked or tendered.

 

:)

[Moeve]

Ghsmith I take it you did read the bit about "Tender port" in your Itin right??? That was the cruiseline telling you that they were not docking there!

[ghsmith178613]

like you said....

you don't know about all of the lines.

[ghsmith178613]

Ghsmith I take it you did read the bit about "Tender port" in your Itin right??? That was the cruiseline telling you that they were not docking there!

please re-read my original post.

please re-read my original post.

please re-read my original post.

please re-read my original post.

[ghsmith178613]

i always do my homework. just for a starting point:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=424946

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=429167

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=438132

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=431337

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=472681

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=447303

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=445714

 

there are at least 10 more on this system alone. do i need to list them?

 

drew... i really hope i get ashore there for photos and my own impression. i expect a local to defend home turf. one of this list of posts suggests that there are too many cruises going to the cayman islands. another says they are 0 in 4 cruises. you have some ambitious, well meaning folks working on the issue. industriallly speaking, tourism is the perfect business. cleanup is easy and trouble makers don't stay.

 

haydn... you're a veteran cruiser. you have four to my zip! so, this is how you treat guests? this is how you treat people that have not had the pleasure. this is how you use this system to invite others to enjoy?

 

moeve... you didn't read my original post. and, you didn't bring any urge to help a new subscriber and first time cruiser. you've been on this system since 2001. you brought a judgemental mind to this thread. i never said which line i would be on. and, yes i read their "contract" before i started posting here.

 

thanks, i really appreciate the way you foster the intent of this system and the good spirit of cruising. i really appreciate your help and positive reinforcement.

[drew sailbum]

Keep in mind, building a pier large enough to accomodate even one cruise ship is a massive undertaking. Construction will take many months, and may very well stretch over more than a year. Construction of a new dock just for tender vessels took quite a long time.

 

Long before any cruise ship dock could be completed, there will be extensive discussion of the state of ongoing construction here on this forum and in many other outlets I am sure. Certainly there will be no end to questions about the anticipated opening date, how usage of dock space will be allocated, and many more questions that will arise.

 

And yet, none of the currently discussed proposals would come near the capacity to handle the maximum numbers of ships which occasionally call in a single day. There have been a few occasions with up to 11 ships! The local discussion has been about accomodating 2 to 4 ships at a dock(s). Days with 6 or 7 ships are really rather common in the winter season. That will leave several ships still to tender for the forseeable future.

 

And however massive a cruise ship dock might be, the geography of the island is such that such a dock would still be vulnerable to rough seas that occasionally cause ships to tender at an alternate site or to skip the island alltogether. An equally massive breakwater would be needed to achieve an advantage in these circumstances.

 

Simply stated, having a dock may not fix much of anything for now as far as ships missing the port.

[twinkletoes4445]

Drew,

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer all of our questions. It's really nice to have someone who lives on the island to help us with the various questions we have about the island.

 

Personally, I love Grand Cayman so much that it doesn't matter how I get on the island...tender, docked, or fly in (my favorite). :)