It is not me asking this question although it makes perfect sense (maybe that’s the reason I’m not!)

Cayman Islands Red Sail Sports Operations Manager Rod McDowall asks the question.

“Taking a tender to shore is part of the experience that Cayman now offers to cruise ship passengers,” he said. “They start their adventure by boating across the clear water of the Harbour to shore, and then a lot of them go snorkeling to one of the nearby sites, or they take a glass bottom boat ride to the reef, or a ride on the Atlantis Submarine. What are they going to do if all that is gone?”

McDowall is reported saying this in one of our Front Page stories today “Cruise Ship Association weighs in on Cayman Islands Cruise Ship Dock” sent to us by Cayman Bottom Times.

So will it work? Will the meg cruise ships being built be able to dock as they now do and remove all their passengers via new and bigger tenders?

Has anyone actually looked at this scenario in great detail and see if could actually work?

“The President of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Line Association (FCCA) says they have not seen the Cayman Islands government’s plan to build a $150 million berthing facility in George Town Harbour, and despite people publicly alluding to it, Michelle Paige clarified that the association has had no input in the project designed to accommodate 4 cruise ships at once, including two of the new megaships being built to carry up to 6000 passengers.

“We have not seen anything related to how it’s going to be built,” said Paige during a telephone interview with the Cayman Bottom Times”.

Well that seems strange to me. Surely they will be consulted at some stage? Why not now?

Malcolm Oliver in his Cruise Blog thinks there will be a major problem with cruise ship berthing facilities as they are now let alone the problem with tenders.

He writes:

“How do you get 6000+ plus people on and off a ship without unparallelled grid-lock? Already ports like Southampton UK, which is a city and not a small island, can struggle when three big ships are in port. The existing cruise terminal buildings are no longer big enough for the mega-ships, the number of check-in desks becomes inadequate, the baggage handling staff are overworked, the car parking spaces become insufficient and the roads become inadequate.

“It is hard to imagine how one of the popular Caribbean islands will be able to cope with 6000+ tourists from one ship, let alone when other ships may arrive simultaneously. Even if you built a suitable infrastructure to cope with that many people, would it not spoil these island paradises and turn them into mini-Manhattans? Some people feel this is already happening.

“For those that have not cruised on a mega-ship, it can takes 5 hours or so to fully disembark all of the passengers and about the same time to embark the new compliment . Traditionally if a ship could not dock, possibly due to lack of available berths or large size of the ship, passengers were “tendered” ashore in small boat.

“The biggest of them all, RCI’s ‘Oasis’ class is too big to berth in many of the world’s smaller ports and tendering that many people is simply not practical.”

He, however, concludes:

“Despite the scepticism in some quarters, Oasis. Allure and Epic have proved that it is possible to embark, disembark 6000+ people efficiently, if the supporting infrastructure is in place. This means no tenders, better terminals and adequate roads.

“Although I agree than 30 of buses taking passengers on excursions in not a pretty sight or very environmentally friendly, once again thorough careful planning the negative impact can be minimised.

“So when will the race to build bigger and bigger ships end? Personally I believe that the limiting factor for ships size is not necessarily a technical one, it will be when the cruise markets growth slows and eventually levels out. However all predictions indicate that we have not reached the ‘Pinnacle’ yet and will not do for some years.

“Here’s one final thought; within a few years 555 guests at a time will most likely be able to fly on a giant ‘Airbus A380’ to their giant cruise ship. In the future, it looks like we will never be lonely on a vacation again.”

SOURCE: https://malcolmoliver.wordpress.com/z-industry-comment-are-cruise-ships-getting-too-big/

In England the Port of Falmouth is not receiving the number of cruise ships it used to although the cruise lines have said tendering is not the problem. Even though tendering is the only way passengers can embark.

On the website The Packet there is an article tilted “Tendering seems key for cruise ships”

“For years, this column in particular has highlighted the importance of dredging to allow the mega cruise ships to berth at the docks, as tendering passengers from the bay presents a logistical nightmare to the cruise lines. Time and time again Falmouth pilots and port officials have heard from visiting cruise ship masters and leading company executives in the industry that the larger ships do not like tendering.

“In recent years all of the high profile companies have given the port the cold shoulder when it comes to the 300-metre long 100,000-ton plus ships making cruise calls here.”

The article carries on:

“Tendering however must be an issue, as the major lines are not including Falmouth as a destination for their larger tonnage ships who are circumventing the port. Cornwall has world-class heritage sites, beautiful gardens and stunning scenery comparable to other areas in Europe. The only factor missing is a deep-water channel and berth to accommodate these leviathans of the cruise world.

“Of the 32 new cruise ships on the order books 23 are above 100,000 tons.

“Mega cruise ships are here to stay as the industry gears up to more new buildings. The Carnival Corporation has signed two strategic memorandums of agreement with Italian company Fincantieri and German shipbuilder Meyer Werft that will add a total of nine new behemoth cruise ships to the company’s fleet over a four-year period from 2019 to 2022.”

SOURCE: http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/in_port/12876797.Tendering_seems_key_for_cruise_ships/

Perhaps the answer is to build mega tenders? Mega buses to transport them? Mega roads for them to drive on? And a mega Stingray City so they can play with perhaps mega fish?