santrah Posted February 21, 2014 #1 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Please could you advise of tendering arrangements for non suite guests on Riviera. Having cruised with Azamara where we found no queues, no tickets just a very civilised arrangements no matter what ever time we arrived at the gangway. Do you have to attend a lounge area, obtain a ticket and then wait for your number to be called? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ronrick1943 Posted February 21, 2014 #2 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Please could you advise of tendering arrangements for non suite guests on Riviera. Having cruised with Azamara where we found no queues, no tickets just a very civilised arrangements no matter what ever time we arrived at the gangway. Do you have to attend a lounge area, obtain a ticket and then wait for your number to be called? Yes you need to go to the lounge and obtain a ticket to get on the tender. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santrah Posted February 21, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Yes you need to go to the lounge and obtain a ticket to get on the tender.Rick Thanks for your quick reply, normally how long before we intend to depart the ship would be need to be in the lounge? I appreciate waiting time will be dependent on numbers. Are there usually queues!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toranut97 Posted February 21, 2014 #4 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Thanks for your quick reply, normally how long before we intend to depart the ship would be need to be in the lounge? I appreciate waiting time will be dependent on numbers. Are there usually queues!? Generally, priority is given to folks departing for ship's tours, and the other guests get worked in among them. Once all the tours are gone, things seem pretty relaxed and tickets aren't needed. Folks had different experiences and approaches as I recall from other threads on the subject. More will chime in here I am sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted February 21, 2014 #5 Share Posted February 21, 2014 Whenever we've tendered, we have sometimes seen lines but they haven't long ones. (At least we never encountered long lines. Maybe 5-6 people in front of you, and it's just a matter of signing in for your tour.) You get your ticket and wait ... usually not for long. As has been said, after a certain point you can just go to the tender. That is fine if you are just going to walk around the port, but not terribly helpful if you've scheduled a private tour. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santrah Posted February 22, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted February 22, 2014 Thanks to all that replied. I was expecting snaking queues etc but it all.sound quite civilised and grown up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypercafe Posted February 22, 2014 #7 Share Posted February 22, 2014 If you have a ships tour you tour ticket will say what time to be in the lounge. Once in the lounge you will change the ticket for a number. If you are just going ashore when you get to the lounge you will get a color. Then wait for your's to be called. In our only tender port we were on a ships tour however when they called us they also called other people too. It was quite sooth and prompt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgee Posted February 22, 2014 #8 Share Posted February 22, 2014 We disembarked Riviera this morning. We had a very slow tendering situation due to some choppiness at out stop in St. Barts. We waited nearly an hour to get on a tender after we picked up our tickets. However we were led to believe that this is rather unusual. When we were last on Riviera about a year ago, the tendering wait times were nearly non existent, so it seems it can depend on conditions at a particular port. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caviargal Posted February 22, 2014 #9 Share Posted February 22, 2014 We had 4 tender ports on our MED cruise and it was anything but organized. It was the biggest negative of our O cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted February 23, 2014 #10 Share Posted February 23, 2014 (edited) We disembarked Riviera this morning. We had a very slow tendering situation due to some choppiness at out stop in St. Barts. We waited nearly an hour to get on a tender after we picked up our tickets. However we were led to believe that this is rather unusual. When we were last on Riviera about a year ago, the tendering wait times were nearly non existent, so it seems it can depend on conditions at a particular port. Sorry to read about your wait. When we tendered into Gustavia. St. Barts on January 20, we walked into the Riviera Lounge around 9:30 AM to pick up a tender ticket but immediately were told to proceed downstairs to board the tender, so we had no wait at all and no ticket was needed. Returning from Gustavia, we waited about three minutes for a tender. Edited February 23, 2014 by CintiPam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vistaman Posted February 24, 2014 #11 Share Posted February 24, 2014 i had to endure the tendering in St Barths as well - only 3 tenders were operating for a full house the staff was very rude - the tour office lady sneared to a lady asking about the next colour to be tendered : go and sit down now! i found a cabin pass on the floor and handed it : what know again? :eek: i was nearly a military exercise . ok -it was choppy but cruise pax are not militarys trainees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted February 24, 2014 #12 Share Posted February 24, 2014 i had to endure the tendering in St Barths as well - only 3 tenders were operating for a full house the staff was very rude - the tour office lady sneared to a lady asking about the next colour to be tendered : go and sit down now! i found a cabin pass on the floor and handed it : what know again? :eek: i was nearly a military exercise . ok -it was choppy but cruise pax are not militarys trainees. LOL, Posts #10 and #11 in this thread, are a brilliant illustration of how variable the Tender situation can be, even in discussing the same Port during the same cruise season. Although we all have the knee jerk reaction that spending the most time ashore is the best way of maximizing our vacation Dollars, there is a school of thought which says that sleeping in a little later in a port like St Barts, and having a leisurely breakfast before a leisurely, unhurried Tender Trip ashore is not the worst way to go. You're on vacation........RELAXE! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vistaman Posted February 24, 2014 #13 Share Posted February 24, 2014 LOL, Posts #10 and #11 in this thread, are a brilliant illustration of how variable the Tender situation can be, even in discussing the same Port during the same cruise season. Although we all have the knee jerk reaction that spending the most time ashore is the best way of maximizing our vacation Dollars, there is a school of thought which says that sleeping in a little later in a port like St Barts, and having a leisurely breakfast before a leisurely, unhurried Tender Trip ashore is not the worst way to go. You're on vacation........RELAXE! :D i was going ashore late around 11.15 am - still not "free" tendering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimandStan Posted February 24, 2014 #14 Share Posted February 24, 2014 i was going ashore late around 11.15 am - still not "free" tendering Fair enough, it sounds like the weather was not great for running small boats during your stay. But be honest, when you finally GOT to the Island, wasn't there already a line of people looking to return to the ship? :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vistaman Posted February 24, 2014 #15 Share Posted February 24, 2014 Fair enough, it sounds like the weather was not great for running small boats during your stay. But be honest, when you finally GOT to the Island, wasn't there already a line of people looking to return to the ship? :rolleyes: there were a few people - some 15-20 waiting when i went back it was with a full tender around 12.30 and afterwards the queue started - in the afternoon it was a lot easier - both ways without lines however - they better started with 4 tenders - of course more staff more fuel more $$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edgee Posted February 24, 2014 #16 Share Posted February 24, 2014 i had to endure the tendering in St Barths as well - only 3 tenders were operating for a full house the staff was very rude - the tour office lady sneared to a lady asking about the next colour to be tendered : go and sit down now! i found a cabin pass on the floor and handed it : what know again? :eek: i was nearly a military exercise . ok -it was choppy but cruise pax are not militarys trainees. Even though we had a one hour wait for a St. Barts tender, at the same moment you were enduring your "military" experience, we found the situation to be much more friendly. While wating we had enjoyable conversation with the cruise director, David and his assistant as well as other passengers. We felt no hostility at all and believe that Oceania handled a difficult situation due to the choppy waters with reasonable courtesy and efficiency. Perhaps because we were in a relaxed mood and only planned to spend a few hours in St. Barts, we felt no tension in the situation, as you apparently did. Our return tender wait at 2 p.m. was less than five minutes. Based on conversations with fellow passengers with more Oceania experience and my own very efficient Riviera tendering experience in Grand Cayman last year, I believe that Wednesday's St. Barts wait times were atypical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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