Tender question!!!!

Are there any tips to getting on one of the boats first? We are going to Cayman Islands 7am to 4pm....... We have a tour at 8:15am and we will have to walk about 10min to the meeting spot. so is there anything I can do to get one of the first boats out?? I've never tendered before!

Be Platinum or Diamond or purchase FTTF

We have neve had an issue, and tour organizers understand.

Are there any tips to getting on one of the boats first? We are going to Cayman Islands 7am to 4pm....... We have a tour at 8:15am and we will have to walk about 10min to the meeting spot. so is there anything I can do to get one of the first boats out?? I've never tendered before!

Are there any tips to getting on one of the boats first? We are going to Cayman Islands 7am to 4pm....... We have a tour at 8:15am and we will have to walk about 10min to the meeting spot. so is there anything I can do to get one of the first boats out?? I've never tendered before!

Faster to the Fun or get in line for the tender as early as possible.

Thanks everyone! So since we get there at 7am.....hoping for good weather (of course)...do they start promptly or are they always late? I guess I'm asking should I be in line at 6:30 or if I'm there by 7:30 I should be ok??

again, I have never done this so I don't know what to expect

Hi there

The thing is you don't really need to be on "one of the first boats". You will have to get ready early, wait in line, and be patient. You won't be in any different a position than many others on your ship, not to mention the thousand of other ships and people who have done the same thing for many decades before you.

These companies know which ship you are on and when the ship docks and they understand that sometimes there are delays. If you make any reasonable effort to get off early, you will get to your tour on time. There are always crowds, you can't get away from waiting, but you should not worry. As was mentioned, if you have FTTF for instance, you would get preferred tender assignment, but you would still have to get ready early and wait (no difference there). Of course being first off, you would have to wait the longest at your meeting spot as well.

hope this helps

We've seen organized tender ticket distribution and complete chaos. Be sure to sit and observe staff changing, who is arriving (staff and how many passengers), where they are setting up and what you think they will do next...then wish yourself good luck.

We've been nervous a few times but have always gotten where we needed to be at the time (or earlier) than necessary. That's without being Platinum, Diamond or FTTF.

Let's hope it continues this next week. Best wishes!!

Almost every time we've been to a tender port we had to get tickets with numbers for our tender group, then were directed to a waiting area for our number to be called. Get your tender tickets as soon as possible. The lower your number, the sooner you get to go.Normally they will announce when and where you get the tickets.

That being said, the Cayman tenders seem to hold a lot of people so you shouldn't need to worry.

with or without FTTF, they know you are on the ship, when it anchors, when the tenders start operating, in other words, they will wait for you. This is what they do for a living. I always take their phone number and if we are going to be more than a 1/2 hour late we will call them. The people arriving at exactly 8:15 will be waiting half hour to 45 minutes for all guests to arrive, don't worry. We never use CCL's tours and have never missed a tour

Also you can not get tender tickets until everyone in your group is present.

Also you can not get tender tickets until everyone in your group is present.

Yup, completely slipped my mind about that.

Also you can not get tender tickets until everyone in your group is present.

Well there is only 2 of us, so I will be dragging his butt out early!! :D:D

Its for the stingray tour, with aquis (cant remember full name now) and it stated that its a 5-10min walk to where they meet. This is the only thing I really want to do on this cruise so fingers crossed, we will get there on time!!!

Is your excursion through Carnival? If so, they would know you have an early excursion and would probably make contact with you ahead of time to make sure you're off the ship.

Don't worry, you will have plenty of time. The tender ride in Grand Cayman is really short.

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Well there is only 2 of us, so I will be dragging his butt out early!! :D:D

 

Its for the stingray tour, with aquis (cant remember full name now) and it stated that its a 5-10min walk to where they meet. This is the only thing I really want to do on this cruise so fingers crossed, we will get there on time!!!

keep in mind, its a pretty short tender ride in GC, so in our experience the ship empties pretty quick.

Well there is only 2 of us, so I will be dragging his butt out early!! :D:D

 

Its for the stingray tour, with aquis (cant remember full name now) and it stated that its a 5-10min walk to where they meet. This is the only thing I really want to do on this cruise so fingers crossed, we will get there on time!!!

you'll have a great time. Some real killer snorkeling there.

"the only thing I really want to do on this cruise so fingers crossed, we will get there on time!!!"

not sure if you read my post or didn't believe me, they will wait for everyone to show up. Doesn't matter is it's Carnival or private, they are all pretty much the same. The ones that do not contract with Carnival, might contract with NCL or Royal. My son was a Captain and tour operator in St.Thomas. They will wait at least a 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Again, get the tour operators phone number and call them if you are nervous.

Something else to keep in mind is time changes. Grand Cayman is in the Eastern Time Zone but does NOT observe Daylight Savings time. Depending on time of year you cruise, time zone you depart from, etc. Grand Cayman may or may not be on the same time as your cruise.

Another item to keep in mind for Grand Cayman, is during certain times of the year, rough waters around the regular tender area may cause the Ship to move to the other side of the island or cancel the port. Make sure your provider offers contingency plans if the Ship anchors on the other side of the island AND offers refunds if the Ship cancels port at the last minute.

I have been to Grand Cayman many times (mostly during March and October) and have never had a problem. Always have sailed during Daylight Savings Time so Port Time has always been 1 hour behind Ship time.

If you are cruising between March and October, and the Ship anchors at 7:00 a.m., it may only be 6:00 a.m. island time (Florida ports are in Eastern Time Zone WITH DST). If you are cruising during DST from a port in Central Time Zone, you will likely be on the same time as Island Time.

As others have mentioned, the locals know the Ships patterns!!

Also you can not get tender tickets until everyone in your group is present.

That wasn't our experience on at least a couple of cruises we had been on. We had to go to the pool deck to get tender tickets, er stickers. Then to the dining room or perhaps main lounge to wait for our number to be called. I went and got two stickers and then went back to the room and we headed to the lounge.