Tender to Grand Cayman

[Lovedisneycruise]

Our fall cruise includes a stop at Grand Cayman; I have read you have to tender to that island.

 

Could anyone tell me how long you are on the boat (minutes? an hour?), what type of boat you are on, and if it is a difficult ride if one is prone to motion sickness?

 

TIA!

Edited April 1, 2014 by Lovedisneycruise

[1025cruise]

Our fall cruise includes a stop at Grand Cayman; I have read you have to tender to that island.

 

Could anyone tell me how long you are on the boat (minutes? an hour?), what type of boat you are on, and if it is a difficult ride if one is prone to motion sickness?

 

TIA!

 

The tender ride is about 10 minutes. Grand Cayman has their own tenders, more like large ferries.

[BODICERIPPER]

:cool:

There were many cruise ships anchored off Grand Cayman the day we were there, and our ship was the furthest from the tender boat dock. Even so, the tender boat ride was no more than 15 minutes, one way.

 

The water was not really rough that day (maybe a bit "choppy", as they say?), but even so there was a lot of bouncing around during the loading and unloading of passengers. The tender boat banged into the side of the ship a few times too, so it was wise to be prepared for that. I didn't think that the process was at all dangerous, but I could see how, if it did take a long time to load the passengers due to the waves or due to the limited mobility of some of the passengers, that someone prone to sea sickness might begin to feel a tad woozy.

 

Once the tender boat started moving under its own power, the trip became much less bouncy.

 

A sea sickness prone passenger might ask to be the last to be loaded onto the tender boat, and eat some green apples and ginger prior to boarding. :D

 

Have a wonderful time!

[BODICERIPPER]

Forgot to say that the tender boat was about 40 feet long? It was an open-air boat, but there was a "roof" over our heads which might have been a second deck above us, but I can't really recall that detail exactly.

[BODICERIPPER]

:)

Lovedisneycruise - I found photos (not mine) of the tender boats at Grand Cayman. The boats look the way I remember them from my trip in 2013. Just click on photos to enlarge.

 

The photos show one level and two level boats. I think the boat that took us from the ship had two levels, and the one that took us back to the ship only had one level.

 

Hope these are helpful.

.

Edited April 2, 2014 by BODICERIPPER

[moki'smommy]

The tenders hold about 300 people each, so calling them "small" is mis-leading. Yes, compared to the ship they are small, but they aren't the little boats people typically picture. The ride is about 10 minutes.

 

If you are lucky, you will be the first ship to tender that day. We have been, and had a whole fleet of tenders serving the Magic. One would be loading guests, one unloading at the dock, and one on the way back to start loading as soon as the first pulled away. When another ship dropped anchor, one of them pulled away and started servicing the new ship, and eventually the second one dropped off. The process really goes quite quickly; loading is by far the slowest part.

 

I get horribly sea sick, and the tender didn't bother me--it is slow, smooth seas, and relatively large. If the seas aren't smooth, you won't be tendering and will just miss Grand Cayman (and we've had that happen too.)

[BODICERIPPER]

.

Don't see where anyone called the tender boats "small"? :) They were larger than I had imagined they would be when we decided to go to shore that day, so that was a pleasant surprise.

 

I must admit that my friend who doesn't become sea sick easily, did start to feel a bit woozy while we waited on the tender boat until it was fully loaded and ready to go from ship to shore. But we were among the first people to board the tender ship, and there were many folks with limited mobility boarding, so loading did seem to take quite a while. After my friend remembered to not close her eyes, and to look away from the side of the cruise ship (looking at that seemed to intensify her sense of motion) and look out to sea instead, she felt much better. She was totally fine by the time the tender boat started to head for shore, and she was fine on the trip back to the ship as the seas had become calmer by that time. :)

 

moki'smommy is right; they will not use the tender boats if the seas are too rough. I think that they might have not used them the day we visited Grand Cayman if the seas had been much more "choppier" (is that a word? :) ) than they were during our trip to shore.

 

 

 

.

Edited April 2, 2014 by BODICERIPPER

[coldinerie]

Hay, how did the chicken get to Grand Cayman? On a Chicken Tender!! Sorry, just couldn't resist.

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hay, how did the chicken get to Grand Cayman? On a Chicken Tender!! Sorry, just couldn't resist.

 

 

 

 

 

That's fowl / foul.

 

 

Sent from my iPad.

Edited April 2, 2014 by DISNEY FANTASY

[mamawsnest]

I love it-fowl as it was!

:D

[Lovedisneycruise]

Thank you all for this information! I did think these were "small" boats, so happy to hear that isn't the case.

 

I may try these tenders because my daughter wants to do a beach tour at this port--hopefully I will be ok. I will definitely try the suggestions to look away from the side of the ship and out to sea.

 

Strangely, I get severe motion sickness in cars/amusement park rides, etc. but have thankfully been ok so far on Disney's big ships (other than some loss of balance early in the cruise). This will be our first time on the Magic, so I'm hoping I do well on the smaller ship too.

 

Thank you again!

[moki'smommy]

Thank you all for this information! I did think these were "small" boats, so happy to hear that isn't the case.

 

I may try these tenders because my daughter wants to do a beach tour at this port--hopefully I will be ok. I will definitely try the suggestions to look away from the side of the ship and out to sea.

 

Strangely, I get severe motion sickness in cars/amusement park rides, etc. but have thankfully been ok so far on Disney's big ships (other than some loss of balance early in the cruise). This will be our first time on the Magic, so I'm hoping I do well on the smaller ship too.

 

Thank you again!

 

Not strange at all--I also get severe motion sickness in car back seats, small boats, etc. and don't even think about a theme park ride...but no problem at all on the ships. The tenders are +/- with me and sea sickness, but the ride is very short.

 

Beaches at Grand Cayman are EASY, clean, and wonderful. Try Sea Grape, Cemetary, or 7 Mile. ALL beaches are free (no one can own the beach), but you can't walk on private property to get to them. There are small brown signs indicating public access. There is a public bus to the beaches for like $1 each way, or a more convenient taxi at the port. There are plenty of vendors to rent you anything you want on the beach, purchase food, etc...and if there isn't a cab waiting, they'll call one for you.

 

Just pay attention to the last tender time if you plan a long day on shore.