Cruise ships banned from Grand Cayman?

[LovetheSea]

I am trying to figure this out? The article said that cruise ships that anchor off Grand Cayman are banned. I know that the ones that don't require and anchor are not. Most of the new ships use navigational systems to hold their position. But it looks like all the ships will have to be farther away from George Town? I am confused. Do you think we will have further to go to tender to town? Will we be dropped off someplace different now? I leave tomorrow and one of our ports is Grand Cayman.

This is the article...

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — The government said Tuesday it has banned cruise ships from anchoring at a port where their huge chains have damaged coral reefs.

Environmental officials say some coral can be preserved despite extensive damage along the sea floor near the Spotts Dock facility, which is used as an alternative port when seas are too rough for cruise ships to call on the George Town harbor.

 

"Because cruise ships are the biggest vessels to use the area regularly, their chains tend to cause a lot of the damage," said John Bothwell, a research officer with the British Caribbean territory's environment department.

 

A cruise ship anchoring for one day can destroy nearly an 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of intact reef, he said.

 

Cruise ships capable of holding their position without anchoring will still be allowed to unload passengers in Spotts Bay, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of the capital.

 

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Caribbean | George Town

[mamamo65]

This sound like it is the area the ships use when the winds are too strong to tender into Georgetown. I have read things in reviews and at the ports of call that they had to use the alternate area. Where the ships come in is usually right at Georgetown, not 10 miles away. But I won't have personal experience for another three weeks.

[Wennfred]

Basically, although I do beleive that the anchor and anchor chain can do some serious damage to the ocean bed, its sounds to me that the Caymans no longer need Cruise Ships on their islands. (1)The Caymans are one of the richest islands around and (2)The people there are getting tired of the massive traffic conditions when cruise ships arrive.

 

If they are so rich and needed tourism to support their island (which they dont), they can build a cruise terminal just like Belize is doing right now.

 

 

 

Fred

[LovetheSea]

I found a good map of the island. It shows Spotts Bay, where we will be parked. I always loved to see the view of the ship from 7 mile beach. I guess it will be different from now on.

[big_duck]

I found a good map of the island. It shows Spotts Bay, where we will be parked. I always loved to see the view of the ship from 7 mile beach. I guess it will be different from now on.

 

Like Mama, and the article itself said, Spotts Bay is the ALTERNATE anchorage. The usual anchorage is Georgetown.

[irishgirl]

I have cruised to Grand Cayman 5 times and we always anchored off Georgetown. I have never seen any ships at Spotts Bay. I think they rarely use that facility.

[LovetheSea]

***Cruise ships capable of holding their position without anchoring will still be allowed to unload passengers in Spotts Bay, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of the capital.

 

So doesn't this mean they will use Spotts Bay excusively from now on?

I have also been to Grand Cayman a few times before. This was just annouced this week!

[big_duck]

***Cruise ships capable of holding their position without anchoring will still be allowed to unload passengers in Spotts Bay, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of the capital.

 

So doesn't this mean they will use Spotts Bay excusively from now on?

I have also been to Grand Cayman a few times before. This was just annouced this week!

 

Also from the article "extensive damage along the sea floor near the Spotts Dock facility, which is used as an alternative port when seas are too rough for cruise ships to call on the George Town harbor"

 

The article is NOT talking about Georgetown.

[kujobie]

Ships anchoring at Georgetown have also destroyed parts of the reef there.

[MAC7]

Relax everyone....We were in GT last year on the Conquest and we were not anchored, niether was two RCL ships. They were able to hold there positions by running the thrusters. There was also another ship (small) that was actually moving slowly in large circles, all the while tender boats would pull up next to it and load or unload pax.

 

Cheers!

[BillnBobbi]

Basically, although I do beleive that the anchor and anchor chain can do some serious damage to the ocean bed, its sounds to me that the Caymans no longer need Cruise Ships on their islands. (1)The Caymans are one of the richest islands around and (2)The people there are getting tired of the massive traffic conditions when cruise ships arrive.

 

If they are so rich and needed tourism to support their island (which they dont), they can build a cruise terminal just like Belize is doing right now.

 

 

 

Fred

 

A good portion of the reef is right in the Georgetown Harbor, which is precisely why they do not build a cruise ship dock there - It would destroy the reef - which by the way is a living organism. That is why the large cruise ships have to tender out in the middle of the bay.

 

BnB

[MrPete]

Our first visit to Grand Cayman included a snorkle trip right there in Georgetown Harbor. We were amazed at the beauty, and, in fact, there was a ship that came right in and docked.....smaller, of course than a cruise ship, but big when you're as big as a grain of sand in an ocean......

[Grtcdnwolf]

It looks like it is true...

 

here is a recent aerial photo showing the cruise ships NOT anchored off Georgetown.

[nolaAlive]

It is NOT true that ships have switched to using Spotts. Crimony, they just got through building a new tender dock in Georgetown not that long ago.

 

Spotts is an alternate site when Georgetown is too rough for tendering. It isn't used that often and anchoring there is not allowed. Actually this is reinstatement of a ban that used to exist. A number of ships a Cozumel these days have to do the same thing.

 

http://www.caymannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000142/014296.htm

 

The picture above looks like an old google map shot and the satellite just happened to be overhead on a day when the ships were using Spotts.

 

You don't think that would be reported on the Port website if it was any big deal?

[drew sailbum]

To clarify:

 

Ships can continue to anchor in the primary anchorage site of George Town. The sea floor in the anchorages is basically devoid of coral life there.

 

The alternate cruise ship tendering site is in Spotts. A previously existing anchoring ban in this location will again be enforced.

 

Studies at the Spotts site show that a single cruise ship anchor chain is capable of destroying 0.8 acres of coral in one day. :eek: Such coral may take hundreds of years to regrow.

[Giventofly]

I have a feeling that we'll start to see more legislation like this coming out of the caymans. I can't find the link, but I was recently reading an article published in GC talking about the strong pressure AGAINST them ever building a dock. Not only for the vast environmental damage it would do, and how long it would have to be to get to cruise ship depth water, but there's a growing sentiment among grand cayman's popluation towards deliberatey trying to REDUCE the amount of cruise ship traffic.

 

Basically...the residents dont want 8 ships anchored off G-town. they want extended stay land based tourism, and I think this anchor ban is just the beginning of a long term effort to reduce cruise ship traffic.

[bookbabe]

I think this anchor ban is just the beginning of a long term effort to reduce cruise ship traffic.

 

Read Drew's post right above yours...there is no anchor ban in Georgetown.

 

All the article was saying is that they're going to actually start enforcing again a previously-existing ban on anchoring in Spotts Bay, the secondary (backup) cruise anchorage.

 

Ships will still be able to anchor in Georgetown harbor.

Ships will still be able to "stop" in Spotts Bay if Georgetown is full or too rough, but they'll have to be able to hold position without physically dropping an anchor.

 

Overall, while locals may complain about the crowds and traffic, I'd wager that they don't want to lose the income that the cruise ships generate. :D

[Giventofly]

Read Drew's post right above yours...there is no anchor ban in Georgetown.

 

 

I read the article, and I understand that this does not affect georgetown. I snorkled at spotts bay last time I was in GC, and that's where we tenderd in on the Dawn. The coral is beautiful there, and needs to be protected.

 

That said, I still think that there is a growing sentament among island politicians and environmentalists against cruise ships. In april, The Cayman Islands was formally warned by a delegation from the United Nations about the environmental damage it's doing to it's reef system for short term financial gain by allowing so many cruise ships to anchor in so many places(among other issues).

 

David C Smith, a UNDP program specialist told the Cayman Officials that Cayman must protect its diving tourism market by attempting to shift to a land based tourism market.

 

“Diving tourists make a lot more money than cruise ships,” he said. “These are what you want – not people who simply come in, buy a $20 t-shirt, then leave.”

 

They also supported a moritorium on new structures being built along seven mile beach, due to erosion issues.

 

Less than a month after this meeting, the new anchoring announcement was made. I simply predict that more legislation regarding cruise shipss will be coming out of the Caymans in the near future. Just an opinion, but it seems to be a trend.

[rosemail]

Giventofly, As a very long term resident of Grand Cayman, I find your post thoughtful and intelligent. While I doubt there is a hard link between the report to which you refer, and the restriction on anchoring in Spotts, I agree that there is a mounting concern regarding the negative impact of too many cruise ship calls, both on the environment, and on the infrastructure. Please note, there is a huge distinction between this concern (which I consider legitimate) , and the the sentiment expressed by other posters that Cayman may be too wealthy and not need or want cruise visitors. The silent skies following the tradegy of 9/11 and post Hurricane Ivan brought home forcefully the need for a divergent tourist economy.

 

FYI, the original scientific study that attempted to quantify cruise ship anchor damage at the Spotts port was published by another Smith, (Stephen H). almost exactly 25 years ago!

[Mark]

I think the Cayman government is not really interested in the cruis ship passengers and could really care less if they don't call anymore...and my opinion is that they should just call at some other island and let them have their land-based tourists...this must be a British thing because these folks sound just like those in Bermuda...most new cruise ships are too big to dock in St George and Hamilton and the harbors will not be enlarged...they prefer land-based tourists...too bad for Bermuda and too bad for Cayman! If I owned a cruise line, I would not want my ships running their engines and consuming fuel oil as at sea while "docked" in Cayman.:cool:

[m steve]

the ship could just throw a line to those jerks who jump off the ship and this would be their punishment holding the ship in place.

[rosemail]

Hi Mark, I am not sure what prompted your comments, but in my opinion it would be misguided to believe that the Cayman government does not care about cruise ship tourism. New multi-million dollar cruise facitlities only opened in recent months, and March 2007 recorded the highest number of cruise passengers EVER to Grand Cayman.

 

Sure there are many that think the government should limit cruise calls. In fact, there used to be a policy of no more than 3 or 4 ships per day. The policy has been loosely enforced, and, in the meantime, ships have got larger. In 2005, the cruise docks in Cozumel took a major hurricane hit, and the Cayman authorities (at the request of the cruise lines) accepted numerous rerouted ships.

 

What is evident to those that live here, cruise and air visitors, and to cruise line executives, is that nobody wins when the reasonable capacity of the destination is exceeded. Long lines, traffic congestion, overcrowded beaches, and lack of transportation are some of the problems.

 

As for air, versus cruise arrivals, Cayman has always viewed cruise ship passengers as potential future stayover guests. The congestion incurred with overcrowding is seen as a negatively influencing that possibility.

 

I am not a spokesperson for government, nor, for that matter, the Cayman people, but I feel confident that the vast majority of Cayman residents welcome cruise passengers to our shores.

[bookbabe]

As for air, versus cruise arrivals, Cayman has always viewed cruise ship passengers as potential future stayover guests.

 

Well said! And so very true...We visited Cayman for the first time about 10 years ago, on our honeymoon cruise on the Carnival Destiny, and fell absolutely in love with the place. We've been back multiple times since, and are just finishing construction on a place out at Cayman Kai.

 

If we hadn't visited first by cruise ship, I don't know if we'd ever have thought to do a land vacation on the island. It's not someplace that we'd listed as a "must see" spot...and boy, did we ever learn what a mistake that was! :D

[Giventofly]

As for air, versus cruise arrivals, Cayman has always viewed cruise ship passengers as potential future stayover guests.

 

I personally, as a cruise vacationer, consider this to be flawed thinking by the cayman travel board. It may seem like an easy sell, I mean when you are selling anything, it's always easier when the sales leads are brought to you by someone else, rather than having to search them out.

 

As someone who goes on cruises often, however, the cruise offers so much more to me than a land vacation anywhere can offer, and I honestly don't believe I'd ever restrict myself to only one island for the meager one week off i get per year.

 

Time before last that I was in Grand Cayman, I was solicited several times by tour operators, and others, trying to gauge my intrest in doing a land based vacation "next time". It was all hospitable and not invasive or annoying, but I do think it was misguided.

 

If the cayman tourism board is spending money on trying to convert cruisers to land tourists, I think they might be barking up the wrong tree. Now, the data you have available down there might differ, and if it does, i'd love to hear that I'm wrong, but among my circle of friends, cruising is IT, and we'd never do a land based vacation anywhere.

 

The one thing the cayman people are doing right is providing a wonderful experience, and a welcome environment that cruise ship tourists (those that are inclined to do a land based tour) would want to return to.

[bookbabe]

If the cayman tourism board is spending money on trying to convert cruisers to land tourists, I think they might be barking up the wrong tree. Now, the data you have available down there might differ, and if it does, i'd love to hear that I'm wrong, but among my circle of friends, cruising is IT, and we'd never do a land based vacation anywhere.

 

That's not necessarily the norm, at least in my experience. In our circle of friends and family, only my parents are even remotely interested at all in cruising...everyone else goes for strictly land-based vacations. We managed to convince one other couple to try a cruise, and they thought it was "okay" but not something they'd do again as a first choice of vacation. :confused: I don't understand it, but it takes all types, I guess.

 

However, our original cruise stop at Cayman ten years ago convinced us to return multiple times, bringing many of those "land only" friends and relatives, and ended up in a land purchase and house construction so that we can return as often as we like. My FIL is there right now, in fact...and he's a die-hard non-cruiser who only visited Cayman the first time due to our cruise-inspired recommendation.

 

Like I said, it takes all types...