Epic - Cannes tender

Hi

Hoping someone will be able to put my mind at rest.

I'm looking at booking a tour (a Segway tour - independent of NCL) and the meeting time is 11.00. Would you say this would give me plenty of time to get off the ship (even if I didn't book a tender slot?). Does it get really busy or is the rush over by this time?

Thanks

You should be OK, but to be safe I'd get a reservation.

It is usually around 10.30 or 11 am that reservations are not required. After that you just turn up.

We have always waited until later than that, so can't comment on what it is actually like at around 10.30. My guess is that the main rush is over by then, and you will probably be able to pretty well walk on a tender. However, what will happen if you are delayed?

If it is likely to be a problem then I would get a reservation. I can't imagine that you have to try too hard to get one at about 10.30 as the people queueing early will most likely be wanting to get off ASAP.

Thanks. I will probably try and book a tender then, just to be on the safe side. I understand the tour meets at the port.

I'd book a tender if I was you. It didn't open up to those of us who hadn't booked till close to noon when I was on board. Although I can't say how strict they were about checking you'd booked, as I was in no rush so just waited.

Hi,

I was on the Epic in July and the tender reservation was very chaotic. You can sign for a letter from A-Z, but they won't tell you which time does it mean. They startet at 6:45 am to call all with letter A-C, but almost the whole ship was still sleeping at this time and they finished with the reservation Z at about 08:00

I went to the tenders at 09:00 and it was no problem to get a place at this time.

So what I want to say, only if you need to ensure that you can leave very early at around 7:00, then sign for letter A. Everything else is a lottery.

Regards

Mafe

Hi. Hoping someone will be able to put my mind at rest. I'm looking at booking a tour (a Segway tour - independent of NCL) and the meeting time is 11.00. Would you say this would give me plenty of time to get off the ship (even if I didn't book a tender slot?). Does it get really busy or is the rush over by this time? Thanks

Always get a reservation.

Understand that a reservation give you the right to "join the line". It is NOT the time you actually board the tender (unless there is no line). The last time we were on the Epic (not Cannes), we got in line and had to wait nearly 45 minutes before we were on a tender.

We are going on Epic in October and have an early private tour booked. Do you book the tenders on board just like the shows and dining? I am assuming you can't book in advance of sailing?

We are going on Epic in October and have an early private tour booked. Do you book the tenders on board just like the shows and dining? I am assuming you can't book in advance of sailing?

You can book your tender through your stateroom TV or via the kiosks that are near the elevators (and maybe some other places). No, you can't book in advance.

OP, thank for starting this thread. As I was reading what people had to say, I realized I may have a problem. Hopefully there will be some folks with experience with this to give some advice...

I'm on the Western Med itinerary but I'm boarding the ship in Rome and not Barcelona. Those who boarded Barcelona will have had several days to book their tender tickets. Does that mean that passengers boarding in Rome will get the leftovers or do they hold some for the earlier times (letter, numbers, whatever...) so that we have a chance to get off the ship early, too?? Now I'm worried. :o

OP, thank for starting this thread. As I was reading what people had to say, I realized I may have a problem. Hopefully there will be some folks with experience with this to give some advice...

 

I'm on the Western Med itinerary but I'm boarding the ship in Rome and not Barcelona. Those who boarded Barcelona will have had several days to book their tender tickets. Does that mean that passengers boarding in Rome will get the leftovers or do they hold some for the earlier times (letter, numbers, whatever...) so that we have a chance to get off the ship early, too?? Now I'm worried. :o

It is rather stressful isn't it! I remember when I was in Rome last year, getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure I was on a shuttle bus out of the port *(after reading how busy it got) so I could make my independent excursion. (Guess that is the price you pay for not doing the ships own tours!).

Sorry I can't answer your question about Rome joiners. Hope you manage to get it sorted though.

It is rather stressful isn't it! I remember when I was in Rome last year, getting up at the crack of dawn to make sure I was on a shuttle bus out of the port *(after reading how busy it got) so I could make my independent excursion. (Guess that is the price you pay for not doing the ships own tours!).

 

Sorry I can't answer your question about Rome joiners. Hope you manage to get it sorted though.

I've taken only one ship's excursion in the last 14 years, so I learned a long time ago that independent guides are very savvy when it comes to a realistic time to get off the ship so I've simply relied on their advice and haven't stressed. But, having to tender adds a layer and then boarding in Rome mid-cruise adds an additional layer. So the first time in a very long time, yes, I'm stressed. For Cannes,I have a rental car reserved so I can explore on my own, but I may need to readjust my plans if they don't hold some tickets back for the Rome boarders. I'm Gold, so I get priority tickets, but that won't matter if they're all gone by the time I get on the ship! :o I may start a new thread since no one answered overnight here. I'm sure there are others on my roll call who will be curious as well.

I can tell you from experience, that you should definitely reserve a tender, and try to get the earliest letter available. As others have mentioned, the letters do not have a time assigned to them, as they cannot predict the conditions of the sea for tendering, and could be a lengthy process.

However, if you have picked an early letter, you can debark even after they've called the letter.

How does the return tender trip work? Do they send tenders back to the ship on set times? What time do the trips back start?

How does the return tender trip work? Do they send tenders back to the ship on set times? What time do the trips back start?

They will run continuously until the posted last tender time, no reservations required.

Ok. Thanks. (y)

We were on the 16th July sailing from Barcelona. I went to the box office at the open times 2 days before Cannes and asked for a tender to go ashore about 10am. Out of all the numbers available up to about no.18, they gave us no.10. However that day the tenders started running early and smoothly. Our tender was actually called before 8.00am - we had a mad panic to finish breakfast and get down to deck 4. To be honest we shouldn't have stressed as the tenders were available every 10-15 minutes all day both ways. Just don't be person who doesn't make it back to the last one - 3 people on our sailing appeared to be missing [emoji15]

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We were on the 16th July sailing from Barcelona. I went to the box office at the open times 2 days before Cannes and asked for a tender to go ashore about 10am. Out of all the numbers available up to about no.18, they gave us no.10. However that day the tenders started running early and smoothly. Our tender was actually called before 8.00am - we had a mad panic to finish breakfast and get down to deck 4. To be honest we shouldn't have stressed as the tenders were available every 10-15 minutes all day both ways. Just don't be person who doesn't make it back to the last one - 3 people on our sailing appeared to be missing [emoji15]

 

 

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Thanks for sharing your experience. I board the ship two days before Cannes, so hopefully it's a non-issue to get an early tender. :D

folks do you pay for the tender or is it included in our price?

Ist's included

We boarded the ship in Rome. Asked for the last tender letter for Cannes as we knew we wouldn't want to be off the ship till late morning. I think all the letters were called before 10! We just headed to the theatre after 11 and we're shown to a seat with no queues. Sat for approx 10 mins maybe more before getting to board the next tender.

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