Cayman Islands and meeting up after excursions

[goodferry]

We sail a week from Sunday on the Magic. We are a fairly large group (11 of us). For our Cayman Island day most of us are just going to the beach, but my husband and daughter are doing a 2-3 hour excursion together that leaves at 12. My questions are as follows;
1. I can't seem to find any information about what time we arrive in port, but is it possible for my husband and daughter to disembark with us in the morning to go to the beach? Or do they really need to stay on board until the excursion leaves?
2. Is there an easy way to arrange meeting up with them when their excursion is over, I assume cell phones are a no go. I hate to have to spend the better part of our port day apart on Valentine's Day

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We sail a week from Sunday on the Magic. We are a fairly large group (11 of us). For our Cayman Island day most of us are just going to the beach, but my husband and daughter are doing a 2-3 hour excursion together that leaves at 12. My questions are as follows;
1. I can't seem to find any information about what time we arrive in port, but is it possible for my husband and daughter to disembark with us in the morning to go to the beach? Or do they really need to stay on board until the excursion leaves?
2. Is there an easy way to arrange meeting up with them when their excursion is over, I assume cell phones are a no go. I hate to have to spend the better part of our port day apart on Valentine's Day

1. Hard to say. If it's an afternoon excursion, it's quite likely that the meeting place may be onshore. Or it could be on the ship. Where ever it is, if they don't show up to the meeting spot in a timely manner, it's quite likely they will miss the excursion.

2. Most excursions will end back at the tender dock. You could arrange for one (or all) of the beach party to meet them there when the excursion time is up and walk them to the group.

 

[cedricandsophie]

If it's an afternoon departure they could definitely get off in morning. But they need to be at meeting spot,usually one of the lounges, to get on the excursion.

When the excursion is over you are typically brought back to ship. Sometimes the bus will drop you off at a central location. You can certainly use your cell phone if you want especially for texting. I have Verizon and usually get 10 a day package that gives you access to phone, texting and data just like you were home not at international rates.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

I can tell you that unlike most of the other excursions, a trip from Grand Cayman that leaves at 12 will usually meet on the Pier, not the ship, because this is a tender port. This was true for our excursion there, and all the other ones we saw getting ready to leave at around that time. Our ship arrived at 10:30, so we would not have had time to go to a beach before meeting at the pier at Noon. You have to figure in the amount of time it will take to line up for the tender and get to the port too. For us, it was like 45 minutes. Afterwards, you might have time to meet up with them at the port, but a lot of times, these excursions take longer than advertised. Which is nice because it means more time for the excursion you paid for but it means less time for other things. Rather than having you wait around at the port for their tour to return, you might just suggest the two of them stay on their own when they return to the port, or they can choose to head back to the ship early.

 

[Flossbolna]

If you pull up your reservation on the DCL website, you will have the "title" of the cruise on the top, should be something like February 12 Disney Magic Western Caribbean or so. Under this it says "View Details" in blue letters. Click that link and you will see all the ports and all the arrival and departure times for your ports. You can also pull up the cruise through the booking engine and get the details that way. I just checked and it looks like the Magic is due to arrive at 7:30am. So, your DH and DD should be able to head to the beach with you for a little while. Just take into account that it does take some time to get back to the ship.

 

[goodferry]

Thank you all for your help! This is our first cruise, it's so hard keeping everyone on the same page lol

 

[bunnm09]

I can tell you that unlike most of the other excursions, a trip from Grand Cayman that leaves at 12 will usually meet on the Pier, not the ship, because this is a tender port. This was true for our excursion there, and all the other ones we saw getting ready to leave at around that time. Our ship arrived at 10:30, so we would not have had time to go to a beach before meeting at the pier at Noon. You have to figure in the amount of time it will take to line up for the tender and get to the port too. For us, it was like 45 minutes. Afterwards, you might have time to meet up with them at the port, but a lot of times, these excursions take longer than advertised. Which is nice because it means more time for the excursion you paid for but it means less time for other things. Rather than having you wait around at the port for their tour to return, you might just suggest the two of them stay on their own when they return to the port, or they can choose to head back to the ship early.

We are doing this same cruise leaving on the 26th and have an excursion in Grand Cayman at 11:45am. So in your experience this would meet at the pier? Would seem crazy for them to expect us to tender back to the ship just to then turn around and leave again

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We are doing this same cruise leaving on the 26th and have an excursion in Grand Cayman at 11:45am. So in your experience this would meet at the pier? Would seem crazy for them to expect us to tender back to the ship just to then turn around and leave again

I can't say for sure. Maybe others who have cruised on the Magic to Grand Cayman can give their experience. I was on the Fantasy, but I can tell you that for every other port we met on board, and for that one we met on the pier. Maybe the excursions that go first thing in the morning still meet on the ship, but for the midday ones, I think they figure you might already be on the island.