Tendering

[plutojudy]

Could someone who just returned from the May 11 cruise please tell me everything I need to know about tendering? How does it work, how long does it take, etc. We are cruising March 29 on the Western route, on our last three cruises (two Wonder and one Magic) we did not have to tender. Glad you all had a great cruise. Thanks!

 

[Mjasp]

I only could answer for those who didn't have an excursion thru Disney. We had to go to the Walt Disney theater with the whle family in tow as you get a tender number and they then seat you in the theater. It went quite quickly, we waited about 10 minutes and then proceeded to go to our little boat to take us to the island. It was quick and painless.

We exited I think aft, and our friends exited forward. I may have this backward. But we went from DCL ship right onto tender, but our friends went on stairs of some sort to get to tender.

Maybe someone can elaborate on this, as we had no problem.

 

[plutojudy]

What kind of boats do they use and where do they come from? Someone at our table last month said that they use the lifeboats, but our waiter Andrew said they do not use the lifeboats.

 

[Mjasp]

We were NOT on a lifeboat...The boat we were on had 2 levels, upper and lower, and held 290 people.

 

[gottaluvdisney]

other cruise lines such as RCI use life boats. DCL does not use the life boats while tendering in Grand Cayman.

You may see them using a lifeboat or two when they are doing their weekly drill...but not for tendering.

 

[SQUIGGLE]

We were on the Land & Sea excursion. We met either in Rockin' Bar D or Off Beat. Then were led to the aft tender door in a group. The boats they use at GC were large and I think mjasp is right on the amount of people they held.
A Celebrity cruise ship was there too and I did notice they used a lifeboat. But we had 2 or 3 boats running back & forth just for us.
Ride itself took about 10 or 15 min. Was a nice little ride across the harbor.
DCL had a nice little canopy set up with water and fruit punch you could have while waiting for the tender.
Just DON'T FORGET your KTTW card and ID.They check them even before you get to the tender coming back.
Don't worry, tendering is not a problem.

fran

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

DCL uses a Georgetown-based tender... a nice boat... much nicer than one of the lifeboats. If DCL did carry a tender boat, it'd be up on the racks along with their lifeboats and they would use it as a lifeboat, but that wouldn't be all that visually appealing... I guess that's why thy hire the local tender.

Anyway... here's the note they had in the Navigator during the 5/11 cruise:

Printed in the "Personal Navigator" for 5/14/02

<b>TENDERING INFORMATION</b>

All guests on tours are reminded to meet at your departure locations. Any guests wishing to go ashore this morning who are <b>NOT</b> on a tour are requested to obtain a complimentary tender ticket from the Walt Disney Theatre, Deck 4, Forward. Please do not collect a tender ticket until your entire party is ready to disembark the ship. Tender tickets are available from 7:30am until we go to "open tenders" which will be approximately 10:30am. An announcement will be made informing everyone that tender tickets are no longer required.

<b><i>The last tender from shore to the ship will be at 5:15pm.

All tenders coming back to the ship will depart from the South Terminal Downtown Waterfront Pier. Towels available on Deck 9, Poolside for Guests not on tours.</i></b>