What time do I need to be in the theatre for tendering to Grand Cayman?

[kcfree]

Hi. First time visiting the western Caribbean and we are really excited. We are cruising in February, and we are hoping to jam a lot into our day at Grand Cayman. The boat is expected to be in port from 10:30am - 5:30pm. We would like to try to get off as early as possible so we can squeeze the Turtle Farm in before our 2pm Stingray City Snorkel adventure.

What time do you think we need to plan to be in the theatre? Is 10am too late to try to get on one of the first couple of tenders?

 

[dcassetta]

I think 10 am would be fine. Please be aware that the people on Disney escorted trips will have priority for the tender boarding.

 

[hnthomps]

The exact time will be in the navigators, if I recall correctly, and there may be additional announcements. We found that lining up 10 minutes before the doors to the Walt Disney Theater opened was perfect. We were on the first tender. If I remember correctly, that was a little bit after 10am, but there was a very clear time that the doors would open. They sat us according to some system (I think people with excursions were brought in from wherever they had been corralled, and sat in front of us, and then they called us to the tenders one row at a time)

 

[RedStars]

I think 10 am would be fine. Please be aware that the people on Disney escorted trips will have priority for the tender boarding.

Not true. We were in the theater at 10 and on Grand Cayman by 1050. We were on the 1st tender and didn't have a DCL excursion.

 

[erionm]

On our last cruise that stopped at GC, those with DCL excursions met at a different location from those just wanting to go ashore. They loaded those on excursions first and filled in any remaining space with non-excursion people.

 

[dcassetta]

Not true. We were in the theater at 10 and on Grand Cayman by 1050. We were on the 1st tender and didn't have a DCL excursion.

I did not say you could not be on the first tender just that those with excursions have priority. If 200 people booked a 10 am Disney excursion and that fills the tender, no one without an excursion could get on that one.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Often the tenders for the DCL shore excursions leave from a completely different door of the ship, and the mere mortals who just want to do their own thing won't even see the shore excursion people leaving.

 

[RedStars]

I did not say you could not be on the first tender just that those with excursions have priority. If 200 people booked a 10 am Disney excursion and that fills the tender, no one without an excursion could get on that one.

We were one of the first in the theater too and the tender was empty when he got there. I know they used to give priority for DCL excursions, but this was not my experience.

 

[grangerlady]

We were one of the first in the theater too and the tender was empty when he got there. I know they used to give priority for DCL excursions, but this was not my experience.

We will be in Cayman on the June 2018 Fantasy sailing. I am looking at an excursion to stingray city/barrier reef with Cayman Eco Adventures. We would need to meet the rep on the pier by 11:30. Do you think this is doable? How does the tendering process work? Do you have to get a tender ticket prior to meeting in the theatre? Is 10-15 minutes plenty of time to line up for the tender?
In talking with Cayman Eco Adventures, they say this tour is built for cruise ship passengers and tendering should not take more than 45 minutes if we are in line in early enough. Of course, Disney may say something different.
Any advice you can give me will be most appreciated as I am pretty nervous about booking independently. Thanks in advance

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We will be in Cayman on the June 2018 Fantasy sailing. I am looking at an excursion to stingray city/barrier reef with Cayman Eco Adventures. We would need to meet the rep on the pier by 11:30. Do you think this is doable? How does the tendering process work? Do you have to get a tender ticket prior to meeting in the theatre? Is 10-15 minutes plenty of time to line up for the tender?
In talking with Cayman Eco Adventures, they say this tour is built for cruise ship passengers and tendering should not take more than 45 minutes if we are in line in early enough. Of course, Disney may say something different.
Any advice you can give me will be most appreciated as I am pretty nervous about booking independently. Thanks in advance

45 minutes is a good estimate of what the whole process will take. That's what it took for us. (We had been told it would take 30 minutes.) The only exception is if on your particular sailing more than one tender boat's worth lined up at the same time. It it takes you two boats, it might be a little more than 45 minutes altogether.