Experience with tendering in Grand Cayman

I just saw over on CKRobyn's FOS live report thread that they were turned away from tendering in Grand Cayman because of strong wind and large waves. How often does this happen? What do the conditions have to be like to not tender? Additionally, if the port is skipped, does that mean extra port time in another port of call?

Our experience is 50/50. First trip, no go due to winds/wave direction. Second trip, we got in no problem. We're returning in Dec so we'll see what happens then. I know people that have never had it cancelled and others who have never made it in multiple attempts.

I just saw over on CKRobyn's FOS live report thread that they were turned away from tendering in Grand Cayman because of strong wind and large waves. How often does this happen? What do the conditions have to be like to not tender? Additionally, if the port is skipped, does that mean extra port time in another port of call?

Happened last week too with the Independence.

I was on a cruise that could not tender due to high seas. We were advised the port authorities make the decision, not the Captain.

The next stop was Jamaica and we slowed down a lot to arrive at the regularly scheduled time.

We missed Grand Cayman in January on Independence. I agree, it's usually a 50-50 chance you'll be able to tender.

Generally, if a port is missed, it turns into a sea day. Most often there is no compensation to passengers, except maybe to refund a few $$ in paid port fees.

The staff try to add on board activities

M

We have only missed Grand Cayman one time in all our cruises. Don't know if we are lucky or the timing. Mostly cruise in Dec and Jan. The missed time was in Nov. I believe you get an extra sea day. I think we may have had an extra hour in port, not sure. We were given OBC for the port/tax fees.

The only time we cruised to Grand Cayman we went to the other side of the island and buses were brought in to take us to the regular port. Of course that was years ago so they may not do that anymore. I'll be there on Vision in 3 weeks so we'll see what happens. I'm really hoping we make it since I am in dire need of Tortuga 151 rum! :D

Our experience is 50/50. First trip, no go due to winds/wave direction. Second trip, we got in no problem. We're returning in Dec so we'll see what happens then. I know people that have never had it cancelled and others who have never made it in multiple attempts.

Same situation with us, we're batting .500 on GC - first time had to bypass due to winds and swells, second time it was smooth and we tendered without any issues. We got an extra sea day as a result of the miss and I believe we also got a small refund to our onboard account (port fees I assume).

I guess I have been lucky, never missed Grand Cayman and we generally travel in winter months.

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Been there a lot. Never once a problem. I'd say it would be a low percentage chance you can't tender. Sure it happens but I'm sure it isn't a coin flip scenario.

I just saw over on CKRobyn's FOS live report thread that they were turned away from tendering in Grand Cayman because of strong wind and large waves. How often does this happen? What do the conditions have to be like to not tender? Additionally, if the port is skipped, does that mean extra port time in another port of call?

We have been there many times and only missed once. I'd guess missing is less than 20% of the time.

Our last trip to Grand Cayman we were able to tender in but it was really choppy. All water based excursions were cancelled due to rough seas but land based tours were ok. We just shopped for a bit, went to Margaritaville and went back to the ship.

I'm guessing we've been super lucky. We've been to GC at least a half dozen times and never have missed it because of rough seas preventing us from being tendering in. Were there last month on Navigator and the weather was great and the seas calm.

Once when on one of our earlier cruises the seas were nasty, we were tendered to a small commercial dock in a more protected cove on the south side just east of Georgetown and bussed to the town center. We were on the old Song of Norway I believe and a much larger cruise ship was turned away because that commercial dock could only handle a very limited number of passengers. :)

I guess I have been lucky, never missed Grand Cayman and we generally travel in winter months.

 

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me too! Have never missed a tender stop and I've been to upwards of 50 or so

We will be there on March 4th (Thursday) and hope there are no issues. We want to take the tour to see the sting rays. :cool:

If you travel in the winter when the winds are highest, you're more likely to miss a port due to weather. If you really want to go to a specific port, it's best to go when seas are calm in the summer. Otherwise, just enjoy your cruise wherever you end up.

They have websites that tell you which ships are in port on any given date but it would be nice to have a site that tracked missed ports calls (and reason why) so that you could examine the historical data by port.

Unless a site already exists ???

Has there ever been a situation at Grand Cayman where the seas were calm early in the day and people tendered in, but the seas got rough in the afternoon and people were "stuck" in Grand Cayman? I'm guessing that the condition of the sea is predictable for the hours between going and coming, but could there have been a time where the seas changed very quickly? Just curious.

Has there ever been a situation at Grand Cayman where the seas were calm early in the day and people tendered in, but the seas got rough in the afternoon and people were "stuck" in Grand Cayman? I'm guessing that the condition of the sea is predictable for the hours between going and coming, but could there have been a time where the seas changed very quickly? Just curious.

I'd rather get stuck in Grand Cayman than I would on Coco Cay. ;)

We are 8 for 8 on our trips, rough waves did cancel our Stingray excursion once though

Our port stops in Grand Cayman have almost always been in the Jan/Feb time frame and have missed GC several times.

The missed port became another At Sea day!

No problem! We have no desire to tender there when the Captain feels it isn't safe to do so and/or a storm is approaching.

Many years ago back with our girls were still cruising with us on a Christmas/New Years cruise, we tendered over ... but they had one devil of a time getting us back. :eek:

LuLu

Last week on IOS was the first time I have ever missed the port. Captain said any time winds were westerly it is sure bet they will close.

50/50 for me too. Able to make it during an August sailing but unable to during a late November sailing. Even went to the other side of the island to see if we could tender from there, but still too windy. And speaking of missed ports, saw where MJ missed Key West either today or yesterday due to wind (and I think also Coco Cay). Bummer, the only port made was Nassau (the island I don't want to even get off the ship for). We will have this same itinerary in April on Serenade---sure hope we have better luck!

A long time ago I was with my 13 year old niece returning to the ship at GC after going on the Atlantis Sub. It was one of the last tenders, there was only a few people on it and it was getting a bit choppy.

Of the few people on the ship there were three more than drunk gents who thought they were on a fishing excursion. They were waving, standing up and saying when are we fishing. Then there were two women who pulled out bibles and prayed until we boarded the ship.

Still it didn't put her off, we still cruise together every now and then and she is in her thirties now.

50/50? We have a B2B in November. Different itineraries but each includes a stop at Grand Cayman. Wonder which one we'll miss Grand Cayman :D