Can I get an early tender if I don't book tour through Carnival?

[Bluemoon319]

Hi, in another thread a poster kindly copied the whole week of Carnival Capers from his recent cruise. It said that unless you booked a tour through Carnival, you had to wait till 9:30 to even get a tender ticket which was mandatory to take a tender off the ship. I have booked a tour through Coral Breeze tours (anyone know anything about them?) & am rather concearned about not being able to get off the ship early enough. I called Carnival & was told I had to wait till I got on the ship to see if I could get an earlier tender, but no guarantees. Has anyone had experience trying to get an early tender & was it difficult? I really like Carnival, but this seems like a rotten deal to miss your tour if you don't book through the ship. I often do, but this time I was not interested in any of the excursions they have to offer in Belize. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[happybooker1]

a couple of weeks ago, the Tender Tickets were TRASH. I stood in line in the downstairs lobby for 20 minutes, got the tickets, hurried down the stairs, and NO ONE even asked about the 'tickets'. I even asked the tender captain & he said he didn't need it.

 

This was in Grand Cayman, but next time I go on a cruise w/tenders I'm not going to bother with getting the 'tickets' and see what happens.

 

I have also heard if you take your confirmation email for your private excursion to the desk before you get to 'wherever' they will put you on the first list to go out. Never tried that though.

 

I had a private excursion on GC, NOT w/the ship, had to be @ the dock by 8:15. We were there by 7:50.

[pjtulsa]

We were there in June & had a private tour. We rec'd tender #1 tickets in the lounge and were on our way right away.. they actually called tender 1 & 2 together..

 

I am not sure if they had taken the ship excursions off earlier but we were off in plenty of time to make our tour. Be Aware that You will encounter plenty of pushing and shoving as you make your way to the tenders, for some reason people just feel the need to do this even though everyone will get on :confused:

[welldone60]

We were on the Glory in February and they had all the people who used private vendors for tours meet in one of the louges at 8 am. The ones who booked thru Carnival met in another location. We were on the Belize dock by 8.45 (including a 20 min tender ride)