Plenty of time to make morning stingray/snorkel tour?

We're arriving in GC in Jan on the Sun at 8:00 a.m. and I'm wondering how long it takes to get to the docks from the time we arrive? This will be our first cruise so we're unfamiliar with the time it takes to tender. We want to do the stingray city/snorkel tour and would prefer to do it in the morning so we can have the afternoon to go to 7-mile beach and do a little shopping before our ship leaves at 3 pm. We want to use one of the local tour operators vs doing the ship tour but according to the websites it looks like you have to meet them around 9 or 9:30 in order to do the morning tours...does that allow us plenty of time to get off the ship? From what I've read it looks like the cruiseships let people who are booked through the ship tours tender first.

Hi! if you have a mini-suite or higher suite level cabin (with Concierge) on the Sun you get first off tender tickets (ie no waiting for numbers to be called and we took the first tender boat).

We did an 11 to 1pm snorkel tour with Captain Marvin's last year which required check in around 10:15. This year we are planning to take the half day which requires check-in at 9:15 since we found we had plenty of time with the early tender ticketing.

CMs is a 2 block walk from the tender docking area so it doesn't take long to get to their office for check-in. We had such a fabulous tour (only 12 people on board) and wonderful service so we've booked them again for the longer tour.

Hope this helps with your planning! And hope CM gives a free chocolate rum cake like last year....yum!!! That was a nice surprise at the end of the snorkel back at their shop/office.

I have heard that the shore operators schedules may change come January to reflect what? (more ships? less sunlight?) When would we know?

Su

So what if we aren't in a mini suite or suite on an upper deck...but on a much lower deck....like the second to the lowest.......can we still make a shore excursion that has a meeting time at 9:00 or 9:15 at their office? I guess a better question is: What is the earliest we can safely expect to get on the docks from the ship at Grand Cayman?
We also want to book an excursion (not thru the cruise line...but with Capt. Bryan) but want to be sure we can make the starting time.

We were not in a mini suite and we were off the ship by 8:30. We took a 9 am stringray city tour and it was fabulous. Hope you have a great time.

Hi! that's a tough one to answer definitely. I'm not sure how long it would take for you to get a tender. Many people choose to wait to take a tender until the shops open to take a tender (9ish). If the ship is there for the day, some leave even later.

Some of the snorkel operators hold your reservation but don't charge you until you check in at their office. Others charge if you "no show" using your credit card hold. I would definitely email your planned snorkel tour company regarding how they handle missed tours (any charges if you or the ship doesn't show)

As CruiseKrazy says, it's possible but best to check all your options. And show up for the tender tickets long before they start distributing them so you can get an early tender number.

Hope you can work things out. it's a wonderful trip to take!

Our ship's (Carnival Inspiration) itinerary shows that we are supposed to arrive at GC at 7:00am. If that is true, does anyone know what time the first tender boards from the ship? and how often do they leave?....every 15 minutes? or less? This is only our second cruise and our first time dealing with tendering to shore......our other cruise was on Disney and they just pulled up to docks in the ports.

Our experience on tendering has been with NCL and HAL. If they arrive at 7, they often have to "clear" port customs and usually the tendering started around 7:30 or 7:45.

The ships we were on would fill the first tender (keep in mind some of these tenders are HUGE! so a lot of people can get on them) and then have the second tender waiting behind it.

When we would return from the port, the tenders would be passing each other so they do run "constantly" back and forth during the day. Just be sure you are there on time or even early for the last tender from the port. There have been a lot of stories on these boards about people left at the docks and having to pay for a flight to rejoin the ship at the next port.

Is there a time difference in Grand Cayman? And is the time you are requesting ship time or island time?

serene56:
I believe that when we are there, the time on shore is the same as the time on ship...both Eastern Standard Time. I understand GC does not follow Daylight Savings Time but with us arriving in December, that wouldn't matter anyway.

Nice- thanks for letting me know. We are cruising in February and i want to make reservations. Now i dont have to worry about the time differences.