Tenders to Lhaaina Maui

[OneStrangeGuy]

I will be cruising on the Celebrity Century to Hawaii 11/19/12, and will be visiting Lahaina Maui on 11/26. I read somewhere that the port of Lahaina has several large tenders that each carry several hundred people, although not all cruise ships contract for their use. I suppose as a cruise ship operator it makes sense to use your own tenders. As a passenger the preference would be to get off the ship quickly. I understand that the tendering operation is a rather slow process, and it can literally be hours before all passengers are taken to shore. Does anyone have experience with Celebrity’s tendering operation? I’m booked steerage class, so won’t have a priority pass. How long should I expect to wait to get ashore?

 

To me this is more than just a ‘Buss ride’ to shore. I’m looking forward to the whole experience including the tender ride. I’ve found a neat site http://hosthawaii.org/csto.html that details the rules that the tenders follow to enter the port.

[Kamloops50]

I will be cruising on the Celebrity Century to Hawaii 11/19/12, and will be visiting Lahaina Maui on 11/26. I read somewhere that the port of Lahaina has several large tenders that each carry several hundred people, although not all cruise ships contract for their use. I suppose as a cruise ship operator it makes sense to use your own tenders. As a passenger the preference would be to get off the ship quickly. I understand that the tendering operation is a rather slow process, and it can literally be hours before all passengers are taken to shore. Does anyone have experience with Celebrity’s tendering operation? I’m booked steerage class, so won’t have a priority pass. How long should I expect to wait to get ashore?

 

To me this is more than just a ‘Buss ride’ to shore. I’m looking forward to the whole experience including the tender ride. I’ve found a neat site http://hosthawaii.org/csto.html that details the rules that the tenders follow to enter the port.

 

Never have sailed Celebrity. Princess uses there own tenders. They can get those off very quickly . Each tender from the ship carries about 75 passengers.

[Hawaiidan]

I live in Kona, and we weekly have several cruise ships the same size tender their passenger in.

Here is the general obervation based on the past 10 years.

Ships arrive around 0700 and drop anchor. First tender in is about 0745 and it the ships shore staff and security. the first passengers hit the beach at about 0815 and they are ALL those who sign up for a tour.

This takes till about 0830-0900.

 

Starting at 0830 0900 the first non tour passenger reach the pier. It takes till about 1000 to 1030 for all the non tour folks get there

 

In reverse the ships all sail around 5pm. They specify all passenger not on tours be aboard the 4:30 boat. There are more later but they are reserved for staff and late tours.

 

If you want to get ashore quick buy a cheap tour and throw it away.

[kiwimum]

Century uses their own tenders in Hawaiian ports. We were on the Celebrity in March and used their tenders to dock. Embarking the tenders can be a challenge, plus the trip in can be very rough. Took nearly 45 minutes when we were their due to 2 other ships in port and very limited docking space and local harbor traffic.

[Northern Aurora]

The hubby and I were on the Celebrity Century last November when it cruised from Honolulu to Sydney. The Century stopped for a day at Lahaina and obviously we tendered. Actually, on that cruise the only port we didn't tender was Papeete. In any event, at Lahaina Century used both the ship tenders and large private tenders. I don't know how many passengers the private tenders could carry, but the one we were on was quite large and provided a nice narration as we left the Century and headed toward shore. On the return to the ship we were on a Century tender.

[germanyboy]

we were there 2 days in March on Century, They used their own tenders from both sides of ship, and the larger private tenders. The harbor is tiny, only 3 slots at dock for tenders, and there were waiting lines to get in as they can only have one go down the channel at a time.

[CRUZBUDS]

We've been to Lahaina on four different lines with three on Celebrity, all have been ship tenders. There have also been other ships in port and I never saw large tenders.

 

If you're in line to get tender tickets early, it may not be too bad. The best way to insure an early tender is to book an early excursion, they have first priority.

 

We've been on first tenders before because we were ready. We have gone in with the staff. It could be several hours before they stop calling tender ticket numbers.

 

Good luck, Aloha!

[OneStrangeGuy]

The hubby and I were on the Celebrity Century last November when it cruised from Honolulu to Sydney. The Century stopped for a day at Lahaina and obviously we tendered. Actually, on that cruise the only port we didn't tender was Papeete. In any event, at Lahaina Century used both the ship tenders and large private tenders. I don't know how many passengers the private tenders could carry, but the one we were on was quite large and provided a nice narration as we left the Century and headed toward shore. On the return to the ship we were on a Century tender.

This is really what I was hoping to hear. It would make sense to me for the ship to employ the large private tenders to help get everyone ashore. Once that was completed, it should take only a few trips, I would imagine that passingers would trickle back to the ship and the ships tenders could handle that without a terriffic wait.

[kiwimum]

Century did not use any contract tenders on the March cruise in Maui. The large tenders were for excursions only, whale watching, scuba, etc. Take your time in getting off the ship. Tendering is easier once the rush is over and still allows time for personal travel.

[Lsimon]

It's been 6 years since we sailed to Hawaii on the Summit so things might have changed. I really can't remember the tendering in process but have a suggestion for the return trip. We were warned the return tender lines would be very long, and they were. We relaxed at the Pioneer Inn's open air bar across the street sipping Mai Thais while watching the line until it was reasonably short. It was a suggestion we read about here on cruise critic and one I'd highly recommend if things haven't changed.

[OneStrangeGuy]

It's been 6 years since we sailed to Hawaii on the Summit so things might have changed. I really can't remember the tendering in process but have a suggestion for the return trip. We were warned the return tender lines would be very long, and they were. We relaxed at the Pioneer Inn's open air bar across the street sipping Mai Thais while watching the line until it was reasonably short. It was a suggestion we read about here on cruise critic and one I'd highly recommend if things haven't changed.

My two lady companions are age 7 & 9, so the Mai Thais may not be a good choice.:cool: nevertheless, waiting until the lines lessen sounds like a good idea.;)

[socreader]

I will be cruising on the Celebrity Century to Hawaii 11/19/12, and will be visiting Lahaina Maui on 11/26. I read somewhere that the port of Lahaina has several large tenders that each carry several hundred people, although not all cruise ships contract for their use. I suppose as a cruise ship operator it makes sense to use your own tenders. As a passenger the preference would be to get off the ship quickly. I understand that the tendering operation is a rather slow process, and it can literally be hours before all passengers are taken to shore. Does anyone have experience with Celebrity’s tendering operation? I’m booked steerage class, so won’t have a priority pass. How long should I expect to wait to get ashore?

 

To me this is more than just a ‘Buss ride’ to shore. I’m looking forward to the whole experience including the tender ride. I’ve found a neat site http://hosthawaii.org/csto.html that details the rules that the tenders follow to enter the port.

When we were in Hawaii Celebrity used their own tenders to the pier.

[robtulipe]

Century did not use any contract tenders on the March cruise in Maui. The large tenders were for excursions only, whale watching, scuba, etc. Take your time in getting off the ship. Tendering is easier once the rush is over and still allows time for personal travel.

For our two day Century port stop in Maui last March the Century also used, in addition to their own tenders, a boat from the Pacific Whale Foundation late in the afternoon of the second day just prior to sail off when there were a large number of passengers to be tendered back to ship.

Here is a shot of the top deck of the PWF boat and no I wasn't coming back from a tour.

 

[mprcruiser]

OneStrangeGuy,

I checked CruiseTimetables.com and, according to them, the Century will be the only cruise ship in port that day. We are also on your cruise.

mprcruiser

[OneStrangeGuy]

OneStrangeGuy,

I checked CruiseTimetables.com and, according to them, the Century will be the only cruise ship in port that day. We are also on your cruise.

mprcruiser

Hi MpCruiser, Saw you in roll call.

Yah, I also saw that we were the only ship. One the day before, and one the day after.

We arrive at 8:Am, and my snorkel trip isn't until 1:Pm, so making that shouldn't be an issue (But who knows:)) I was hoping to get off the ship without having to wait 2-3 hours so that i could see a little of the port first. Since we depart at midnight I figured that there should be plenty of time to get back on the ****, so I wasn't worried about that at all.

From the responses it sounds as though sometimes they use the private tenders, and sometimes not. It may be wishful thinking, but I'm hoping that this is based on their availability, and our being the only ship in port may be a good thing.:rolleyes:

[germanyboy]

For our two day Century port stop in Maui last March the Century also used, in addition to their own tenders, a boat from the Pacific Whale Foundation late in the afternoon of the second day just prior to sail off when there were a large number of passengers to be tendered back to ship.

Here is a shot of the top deck of the PWF boat and no I wasn't coming back from a tour.

 

And they used it midmorning the second day to take us over to the port.I remember the crew taking miore water and juice urns over to the dock.

[nijh]

We were also on the Century in March and, like kiwimum, had a really long wait in a tender to get to the dock. Many other tenders from a Princess ship 'jumped the queue' to get down the channel - I was told later that Princess tenders apparently have priority at the Lahaina dock.

 

Mind you I was on a 'queue jumping' tender from the Diamond a few years ago - so can't complain really!