Need to know tender process, well, want to know

[jmunson]

Posters have mentioned tender tickets. Yes, I will be a first time cruiser in May. Do you always get tickets for tenders or just when you need to be off early? Could someone please explain the process of getting off the ship at ports?

[Arwenmark]

Not all ports are tender ports, but if you have one then you need to get a tender ticket and the lower the number on the ticket the sooner you can get off. If you are on a cruiseline excursion you will not need one you will meet the group and get off together for that, otherwise you want to get down as soon as they announce you can get the tickets, often the evening before a port.

After a certain period of time they open up the tenders to anyone and at that point you don't need a ticket. you do not need any ticket for coming back either, but leave enough time so you don't miss the last one!

 

once they open it up you can come and go as you please all day.

[paul929207]

You only need a tender ticket if you want to get off early and are not on a ship's excursion.

[firefly333]

I have yet to ever need a ticket, so its not all the time. If you are sitting and waiting in the stairwell for the second the door opens, some times they will hand out tickets, but not always even then.

 

I just wait for about 15 minutes after I hear the annoucement ... then I go to where you get off the ship. I let the first mob get off the ship.

[cb at sea]

We don't do many excursions, so at tender ports, we just wait a bit, have leisurely breakfast, and by the time we're done, there are no lines, no waiting....we go when we want!

The tenders hold ALOT of people, so even if you HAVE to be off early, you should be able to do the 2nd tender with no "ticket" and no waiting.

[hancock]

I don't know what ships the others have been on. It has been my experience that on many ships, you definitely need a tender ticket if you want to get off in the first hour or two. The ships excursions get first priority. Depending on how many excursions are going out, that could be up to a thousand people. That means that you would have to wait until 8-10 tenders are loaded and pull away from the ship. The ships don't put out all their lifeboat/tenders, only a few. Occasionally, they will hire a large tender from the port to take passengers ashore. That doesn't happen regularly in my experience.

 

If you need to get off early, talk to guest relations and see if you can get a priority tender pass. Or be up early and be ready to go as soon as they announce that the tender passes are available. Generally, you can't send one person to pick up passes for your entire party. Each person needs to get their own.