Excursion times for Mariner of the Seas

[FL TERP]

Hello,

 

This is my first post on ANY online forum so take it easy. I am cruising on the Mariner of the Seas at the end of February with my girlfriend and parents. We would like to take a short, non-cruise line, excursion to Stingray city while we are in George Town since it is our first time on the island. I researched some private tours from recommendations on this site and we thought that Captain Marvin's sounded great. We really wanted to do the 8:30am two-hour tour so we had the rest of the day to shop (mom and girlfriend), or lay on the beach (me).

 

The itinerary for the Mariner says we get in at 8:00am so I obviously didn't think we would be able to make the 8:30am, but I emailed Captain Marvin's anyway figuring it was worth a shot. I was promptly responded to by Ruth who seemed very nice. She said we would not be able to make it if we got in at 8:00am, but she also said that the Mariner usually arrives at 7:00am and that we would then be able to make it no problem.

 

Does anyone here know what time the Mariner really arrives and whether we would be able to make an 8:30 tour for Captain Marvin. The next tour is at 11:15am and we really don't want to go that late. If anyone has done this before it would be great to hear from you. Or if anyone has another company that may suit my preference I would be willing to try that.

 

Thank you for any help you can provide.

[iglvr]

Hi Jason,

 

We were on the Radiance of the Seas and in Cayman on Nov 21st. It was our first cruise. We were supposed to arrive at 10AM so we booked the 11:45AM with Captain Marvin's. The ship daily wrote that tender tickets would be available at 9AM. To be on the safe side, I went down to stand in line 20 mins early and there were only about 10 people in front of me. I was able to get tender tickets for the first tender.

 

Well, we arrived about an hour early and the first tender left at 9:30 while we were eating breakfast! Of course panic set in as I thought we would now have to wait for the last tender. One of the passengers who was a frequent cruiser told us no big deal; we could take the next available tender. We stood in line for about 20 mins, got tender #8 and arrived downtown around 11:30.

 

I can't speak for the Mariner but the Radiance got into every port early on our cruise. I think the trick is to go down early for the tender ticket when you get to Grand Cayman.

 

We also dealt with Ruth at Captain Marvin's and everything went smoothly. They prefer to be paid in cash but will take a cc. I can't remember which terminal we were at but Captain Marvin's Waterfront Centre office was right across the street to the left. By the way, they moved a few doors down to the right so don't panic (like I did) when you see their old office front boarded up.

 

We had a great time at Stingray City. Our boat only had about 10 people so we got a lot of personalized attention. The crew were great fun and give you lots of squid to feed the rays. My hubby had a regular feeding frenzy going on. There was an independent videographer with us that day and you can purchase a dvd for $50. We bought one and it just arrived this week. We were really pleased, it was worth every penny for the memories. He got some great underwater movie shots of the snorkeling trip and our interaction with the stingrays. Also, remember to take an underwater disposable camera with you for some still shots.

 

We were back in town at 4:30 and had an hour to shop before the last tender left.

 

Hope this helps and have a great time!

[cujosmom]

Jason - I can't give you any definite answer but I'll tell you what I do know.

 

We're going on the Mariner Jan 27 sailing. Our itinerary also says 8:00 AM for arrival but the Grand Cayman Cruise Calendar shows the Mariner arriving at 7 AM. We've booked with Moby Dick Tours and he also says the Mariner will be there at 7 AM. We have a 9 AM tour scheduled and MD is confident we will have no problem making that tour time. I'm assuming these tour operators know more than the cruise line. ;)