What is a tender?

[legalsec]

I've been seeing this term and I don't know what it means. Can someone please explain?
Thanks

[trish1c]

It's a small boat that transports you from the ship to port. It's like a shuttle or water taxi.

Some ports get crowded & run out of dock space. Others aren't deep enough for the ship that size to come in close to land.

Trish

[springtxbill]

By small they mean a boat that carries anywhere from 150 to about 250 people. A lot of the ships use their life boats for the tendering.

Bill D

RCCL Song of Norway 7/79?
CCL ? 12/84
RCCL Viking Serenade 7/01
RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas 12/01
RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 5/02
RCCL Monarch of the Seas 7/02
RCCL Rhapsody of the Seas 12/02
Princess Grand Princess 6/03
RCCL Voyager of the Seas 12/03
RCCL Vision of the Seas 3/04

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0000ff&cdt=2004;5;30;16;00;00&timezone=GMT-0400[/img] Rhapsody of the Seas 5/30/2004

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=4169e1&cdt=2004;12;20;20;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]  Empress of the Seas 12/20/2004

[Nitemare]

[img]http://www.kabobs.com/foodimages/2005pecanchicken.jpg[/img]

[Orcrone]

Nitemare,

I know that a lot of people thought of that answer. But I applaud you for actually going to the effort to find the picture and post it.

Marc [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America
4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration
10/30/2004 - Maasdam

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0924ff&cdt=2004;10;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0400[/img]
Till sailing on the Maasdam

[Orcrone]

Tenders can be a pain in the a**. It takes a lot more time to get off the ship that way. And you have to allow for more time on the return side to be back to the boat on time.

1/1990 - RCCL Song of America
4/13/2003 - Carnival Inspiration
10/30/2004 - Maasdam

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=0924ff&cdt=2004;10;30;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0400[/img]
Till sailing on the Maasdam

[poppabear]

Although slightly more inconvenient than direct docking, I don't find tenders to be all that much of a hassle.
They're the only way into Grand Cayman and since that is one of my favorite islands i don't mind the tenders at all.
My wife was hesitant the first time. She was picturing a row-boat or something similar. Once she realized the tenders were either the life boats or something similar that holds better than 100 people she was fine with the idea. Once she actually tried it, she has no issues with them at all.
In February we had to tender into Key West for the first time. It was well worth it. Upon returning to the Summitt on the tender, there was a family of 4 dolphin playing outside the tender ramp. No one on shore saw them, including any of the ships that were direct docked.