Excursion at GSC

[HMANSION LOVER]

I was just reading a thread which was discussing the fact that if you have an excursion booked when you arrive in your state room there will be an envelope with your excursion documents and tickets for boarding the tender to take you to the beach. My question is how much earlier do you get on the tenders and is it worth it to book a snorkeling package (we were planning on bringing our own snorkeling stuff anyway) just to get an early departure on the tenders. :) Also, my wife just had a really good question. Will the snorkeling eat up the entire time we are at GSC? Will we have any time on the beach?

Edited June 30, 2015 by HMANSION LOVER
adding another question

[mking8288]

If you are going to do the snorkeling at GSC (unless you are bring all your own gears, etc.) it's best to book it so you will be given priority tendering and/or be on the first double decker boat, which typically has a capacity of up to 400 pax & can get you ashore by 9:15 or 9:30 AM vs. 10 AM or later - as it will take at least 15 minutes to load & another 15 to unload all the pax on each run to shore.

 

But, unless I'm mistaken, if you simply book a clamshell - which will fit 2 people with the lounger, you will also be given priority/early tendering ticket - so you will on the island at least an hour earlier than others (and, that can make a big difference if you are on the *AWAY class mega-ships) We are Platinum members so we are given instructions on where to meet & hit the beach/lagoon area before 9:30 AM - along with those in Haven / suites who also get to go early. If you are on the island early, you get easily 6 hours and there should be plenty of time to divide up about doing it all.

 

You get a choice of location, loungers & any remaining/unreserved clam shell for shades - which I highly recommend as protection against the strong midday sun once you are out of the water (there are limited shades next to some of the trees ... with flies & bugs, etc. nearby :eek:)

[roger001]

Usually, if you have an NCL tour booked and a tender is involved, your tour ticket, that you will have waiting for you in your cabin, will have instructions as to where and what time to meet the morning of the tour. Frequently it is the theater. You will then, one tour at a time, be called up as a group and escorted to the tenders. The tour groups do usually board tenders before the tenders are opened for everyone. One thing to keep in mind about GSC is that is is sometimes cancelled because of rough water conditions and the tenders can't safely operate. So, hope for the best but don't be too disappointed if it did happen. You can't control Mother Nature.

[AMommyof2]

I was just reading a thread which was discussing the fact that if you have an excursion booked when you arrive in your state room there will be an envelope with your excursion documents and tickets for boarding the tender to take you to the beach. My question is how much earlier do you get on the tenders and is it worth it to book a snorkeling package (we were planning on bringing our own snorkeling stuff anyway) just to get an early departure on the tenders. :) Also, my wife just had a really good question. Will the snorkeling eat up the entire time we are at GSC? Will we have any time on the beach?

 

Last year we took our personal gear for snorkeling at GSC...no excursion needed. We snorkeled right off of the beach and saw lots of fish. The rock formations are great, too. We were on the far side of the beach past the area where lunch is served, near the peninsula that juts out into the water. Just be super careful...we found out the hard way that the tide can be really strong.