MSC Seaside - Grand Cayman - Tender

Hello everyone! Just noticed that when arriving to George Town with MSC Seaside we need to go to the port by tender boat. Do you know how long does it takes knowing that the ship's estimated arrival time is at 8am? Do we need to book a place on the tender? When? This is all new to me, so some good explanation about how it works on the Seaside would be very nice :) I'm planning on a little diving tour and need this kind of info.

Thank you all!

I have not been on any MSC cruises yet, but have been to Grand Cayman many times. All ships have to tender at this port since there are not any deep water piers so Grand Cayman can protect their reefs. Since all ships are in the same boat sort of speak, Grand Cayman supplies large tenders to most, if not all, cruise ships that are anchored a mile or so offshore. These tenders are much larger than the small tenders that cruise ships carry so they can move passengers fairly quickly. However, it is not unusual to have wait times when trying to return to the ship.

A ship the size of Seaside will obviously take some time to move all departing passengers to shore. Others will have to comment on Seaside's specific disembarkation/tendering process.

When you have your group together you go get your tickets.

When you have your group together you go get your tickets.

MSC has tickets for tenders? Hmmm...another difference. Good to know, thanks.

MSC has tickets for tenders? Hmmm...another difference. Good to know, thanks.

NCL uses tickets for tenders also. Not sure about other cruise lines?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

So does Carnival. EM

So does RCI and X...

They will issue the time and place for getting the tender tickets in the daily program. Ship tours don´t need a tender ticket.

steamboats

Anyone with experience with handicap walker on tender for Grand Cayman? Heard rumor that MSC may use lifeboats instead of larger tenders. Last visit there was easy on and off, but was not with MSC.

So does Carnival. EM

We were on the January 6th sailing and I am happy to report that they used local shore tenders, not ship's tenders at Georgetown. These were nice open aired double decker boats that held about 300 people each, not your typical hot, humid overcrowded mess that you may be thinking. Even with three other ships anchored close by, we consistently had 3 or 4 dedicated to Seaside making constant round trips. The whole process to get to shore took maybe 30 minutes. Returning you just got on the waiting tender and when it was full (or partially full if another was waiting) it departed.

The process was very well organized. If you had an MSC arranged excursion or if you were in the YC you were given priority, but after that it was first come first served. We got up late, had breakfast and then went to the area outside of the Sports Bar to receive a ticket. We were given ticket number 8 (they were calling #4 at that time), so we thought that we could go up and freshen up before we left, but by the time we got to the room they had already called 5 and 6 (this goes over the entire ships speaker system so you can hear the announcement anywhere, even in your room), so we thought we better go to the meeting place to be escorted to the tender. As soon as we got to the lounge it was our turn and we followed the guide to the tender and got on board. The travel time once the tender was loaded was about 5 minutes.

I would actually say that getting to Georgetown took less time than getting to the tourist area at Costa Maya, and you didn't have to walk the half mile!

Oops sorry