disembarkation for excursions

[MacGyverTDS]

A question for you DCL veterans......

How does Disney handle disembarking for excursions? I'm wondering if we should book our NON-Disney excursion for later rather than earlier in the morning because Disney excursions get preference on disembarking first?
In Grand Cayman we have an option for an 8:30 trip or 10:30.
I'd love to be able to go with the earlier trip so we can spend the rest of the day exploring the island on our own.
Any thoughts will be hugely appreciated!

Judy

 

[Michelle]

Hi Judy! On Grand Cayman DCL does give preference for the tenders to shore for those on their excursions. However you certainly CAN get a tender ticket early if you want; you just have to be in the designated spot to get tender tickets and wait until your number is called. If you want to avoid the early morning rush I would book a later excursion. They switch to "open tenders" around 10:00 or 10:30 and don't require tickets after that point.

If you don't mind going down EARLY and being sure you get an early tender ticket then you can make your own early excursion, even if it's not booked through DCL.

 

[MacGyverTDS]

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your quick reply! So, if we are going to get in line EARLY<g> (emphasis on the captials is not lost on me) for a tender ticket, approximately what time are we looking at? My DH has his heart set on going on this particular trip and hopefully having time left to rent a car. I'd love to be able to make this happen for him!

Judy

 

[Michelle]

They started giving tender tickets at 7:30 am on our 12/7 cruise and asked that everyone had eaten breakfast and all party members were ready to go when you pick up the tender ticket. So as long as you are in the place (all together) by a little before 7:30 you'll be fine. That's EARLY to me on a cruise!

 

[MacGyverTDS]

7:30, great<g>. I guess I can suffer the early wake up for one day. It's not as bad as I had thought though! My DH will be thrilled to hear that it's "only" around 7:30 as he's usually at work for a couple of hours by then!!<g>

Thanks again!



Judy

 

[NejTheLion]

If you go through Disney for an excursion, do you have to worry about getting your own tickets? From what I understand, you'll be told to meet somewhere onboard at a certain time depending on which excursion you're taking. Is that all you have to do?