Worried about tenders!

[Tipsy252]

I am concerned about the number of tenders available in Belize. The reason for my concern is that there will be 5 ships in port that day and they are scheduled to carry a total of 15635 passengers. Now that's a heck of a lot of people all wanting tendering off their ship :eek: !

Has anyone else experienced this number of ships in port here and how did the tenders work? I am especially concerned about getting back to the ship on time if we don't do a tour through the ship.

Do you think they would use the ship tenders as well or would these be too slow for the 20 - 30 min trip to town?

[Toyz711]

the cruise get there are various times. as we pulled in, we cruised by several ships that were already unloading passengers. each had several tenders lined up. as one got full and took off, another would come up and take it's place. by the time we got to our "spot", we had several tenders waiting for our gangway to drop.

after the ship get the main load of passengers off, the tenders start running at certains times...usually every 15 mins or 30mins intervals.

most of the tenders hold 150 people. even though it take 15 to 20 mins for the tenders to go from ship to port..they do a very good job at it.

they will have signs up as to what time you need to be back..what time the last tender is.

just note when your last tender is and make sure you are back to the tender's dock before that

[wadethegringo]

The tenders are high speed boats. Here is a video that shows the size.

 

There is also an upper deck with more seating.

[mdrobtx]

I understand your worries but put them away.

There are no problems with getting tenders to and from the ship.

There are plenty of them and you will not miss your ship.

[alicam]

Also, remember...not everyone wants to get off the ship

[LHP]

I think the most ships that have been in port with us was 3 (4 total)...and I do not recall an unusually longer wait than when there were only a couple of ships in port.

[wadethegringo]

My company had a meeting in Dangriga yesterday. Here are some pics of four ships in Belize taken from the air.Not very good pictures, but it shows the tenders.

 

More pics here..http://picasaweb.google.com/shagmedi/2010111002?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6rh_Py4Z-GUQ&feat=directlink

 

[Tipsy252]

Thanks to all for the replies. I think that we have decided to do a ship tour to Lamanai ruins, just because it is a long trip and we have had experience of almost missing the ship from an independant tour, after suffering a blow-out at 70 mph :eek:, on the return from Cairo to Port Sokhana in Egypt. We made it that time, 30 minutes before the scheduled departure,however 2 buses were late returning from Luxor and the cruise ship (Thomson Celebration) waited an extra hour for their return.

Due to the number of ships in port and the tender situation we would rather be safe than sorry, even if it means we pay over the odds for the tour, at least we will be sure to catch the ship to the next port.

[Toyz711]

good idea, especially since the NCL excursion (we did) was well ran and had a great guide. you can book it online, but pay for it on your ship's account. our tickets were in our cabin, with directions of where to meet (ship's showroom). we were on the 1st tender, in the bus and heading out of town before the 2nd tender got to shore.