RBKL Posted March 15, 2014 #1 Share Posted March 15, 2014 When we booked our Alaska Cruise in August 2013 the itinerary said we would be docking in Juneau. We were glad because on that cruise we had tendered and didn't like it. As of last week it still said we were docking however, just checked this morning and saw that it was changed to tendering again. We would have picked different dates if we had known. I realize that happens however, they haven't even notified us. Can't change dates now. Plane tickets are bought and cabins aren't available. Others may want to check their itinerary to see if it changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsf Posted March 15, 2014 #2 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Yep. Mine now says tendering in Juneau, what a big pain in the B*tt. I can't believe that they don't know this when they make port arrangements months ago. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelker Posted March 15, 2014 #3 Share Posted March 15, 2014 What ship and month are you guys talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilMsFoodie Posted March 15, 2014 #4 Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) We are booked on the June 6th sailing of Solstice and it shows docking in Juneau as well as the others. Edited March 15, 2014 by LilMsFoodie mis spelled Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamloops50 Posted March 15, 2014 #5 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Usually NCL will tender in Juneau or Ketchikan. Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lady Arwen Posted March 15, 2014 #6 Share Posted March 15, 2014 We're on the Solstice in May and our itinerary still shows docked. Our fingers are crossed that this doesn't change. It's not a deal breaker for us, just very inconvenient. I don't enjoy the whole tendering process in any port and Juneau is bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
floralscent Posted March 15, 2014 #7 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Tendering is not my favorite but why it is so bad in Juneau? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBKL Posted March 15, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted March 15, 2014 We're on the Aug 8th sailing on the Solstice. We tendered last year when they alternated tendering and docking in Juneau. From my experience and what I have read tendering in Alaska is different than in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean they have larger tenders and get passengers off quickly. On the Solstice we tendered using the life boats. You had to get tender tickets that day and it took hours to get people off the ship that wanted to. The don't fully load the life boats so only 200+ people at a time and they only had 2-4 lifeboats going back and forth. Getting back on wasn't a problem but it takes a long time to get 4000 or so passengers off that way. When you dock you can just walk on/off at any time. Of course their ship excursion passengers get off first so if you want to get out and do things on your own you have to get in line early. Standing in line for an hour for tender tickets while on vacation isn't as much fun as it sounds. As we were getting off the ship we met a couple that didn't realize they needed tender tickets. I imagine it took them hours to get off. I agree they should have known this when we booked. We would have sailed on August 1st instead. Not a deal breaker for us but wanted to let others know about the change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loubelou Posted March 15, 2014 #9 Share Posted March 15, 2014 We are on the Aug. 1st sailing and we have been changed to tendered too. We plan on taking the small boat excursion in Tracy Arm. Will we be required to get back on Solstice to tender in Juneau or will we be able to just walk off the small boat to Juneau? Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loubelou Posted March 15, 2014 #10 Share Posted March 15, 2014 I just logged in to my reservation and it still says docked. I'm not sure which is right because when I just bring up the cruise on the Celebrity site without logging in it says tendered. Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsf Posted March 15, 2014 #11 Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) We are on Aug. 22 sailing of Solstice. Edited March 15, 2014 by jsf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomAndJane Posted March 15, 2014 #12 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Usually NCL will tender in Juneau or Ketchikan. Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Forums mobile app NCL may tender in Ketchikan on a rare occasion but they dock about 1 mile from the city in Juneau. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelker Posted March 15, 2014 #13 Share Posted March 15, 2014 We're on the last Solstice cruise of the season (Sept. 12, 11 nights) and it still says Docked. Suspect it will stay that way because there's only one other ship in port with us so plenty of room. However, looking at the Juneau port schedule for this year, the Solstice's 7 night rotation is in port with two Holland America ships and one Princess ship every week and because Solstice is longer than any of the other ships, I suspect that's why it will be tendering. Of course that's just my best guess. And apparently last year Solstice and Zuiderdam switched off weeks tendering and docking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelker Posted March 15, 2014 #14 Share Posted March 15, 2014 Just ran across this which certainly explains a lot about the docking and tendering situation in Juneau: http://juneauempire.com/state/2013-09-22/panamax-cruise-ship-docks-way#.UySHcLXnapo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasopa Posted March 15, 2014 #15 Share Posted March 15, 2014 (edited) We plan on taking the small boat excursion in Tracy Arm, I hope they let us off on the Dock. The description says to be sure you have your Seapass card. So that sounds like they probably let you off of the excursion onto the dock. Edited March 15, 2014 by Texasopa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowzBtlr Posted March 15, 2014 #16 Share Posted March 15, 2014 FYI for all posters: In ports with limited docking facilities such as Juneau, Celebrity has little or no control over whether their ships will be docked at a pier or anchored in the harbor requiring tendering procedures. Only the local Port Authority has that control. Celebrity and other cruise lines can request (usually up to one year in advance) that a particular ship be docked at a pier and will be given an approval or denial of the request at that time. However, the local Port Authority/Harbor Master can change the approval or denial any time prior to the ship’s scheduled arrival at the harbor’s pilot station. In the OP’s case, it looks like the Port Authority changed its original decision to give Celebrity a chance to properly plan its navigation procedures and notify passengers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBKL Posted March 18, 2014 Author #17 Share Posted March 18, 2014 It appears more sailings have changed to Tendering from Docking. I didn't click on all of them however, all of July and August are now tendering. Last year they alternated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4774Papa Posted March 18, 2014 #18 Share Posted March 18, 2014 We're on the Aug 8th sailing on the Solstice. We tendered last year when they alternated tendering and docking in Juneau. From my experience and what I have read tendering in Alaska is different than in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean they have larger tenders and get passengers off quickly. On the Solstice we tendered using the life boats. You had to get tender tickets that day and it took hours to get people off the ship that wanted to. The don't fully load the life boats so only 200+ people at a time and they only had 2-4 lifeboats going back and forth. Getting back on wasn't a problem but it takes a long time to get 4000 or so passengers off that way. When you dock you can just walk on/off at any time. Of course their ship excursion passengers get off first so if you want to get out and do things on your own you have to get in line early. Standing in line for an hour for tender tickets while on vacation isn't as much fun as it sounds. As we were getting off the ship we met a couple that didn't realize they needed tender tickets. I imagine it took them hours to get off. I agree they should have known this when we booked. We would have sailed on August 1st instead. Not a deal breaker for us but wanted to let others know about the change. Using large tenders can slow the process. We tendered in Bali on the Solstice, using a huge local ship holding over 300 persons. It took about an hour to fill up the tender, move to the dock and unload the huge tender. Other factors, like distance to shore and the choppy seas seriously affect the tendering process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozark74 Posted March 18, 2014 #19 Share Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) We did Solstice last August and we tendered in Juneau. Were told that they docked every other week. Do not know if that is true for 2014. Had a 3:00 tour and were off the ship by 2:30. Just don't wait for the last tender back because of the lines. The only tenders they used were the ships. They hold 120 people. They had 4 tenders running. Edited March 18, 2014 by ozark74 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willieg Posted March 18, 2014 #20 Share Posted March 18, 2014 When Solstice tenders in Juneau which dock does it use--the one in town or the dock that is out of town? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy100 Posted March 18, 2014 #21 Share Posted March 18, 2014 We were on Celebrity Infinity last May and first it said we would be tendered in Juneau and then closer to the cruise it changed to us docking at the pier. It was no big deal. Just hope you get good weather and get into the port rather than complain about docking or having to be tendered. Or...a missing boat or plane.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ship's Wake Posted March 18, 2014 #22 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Just ran across this which certainly explains a lot about the docking and tendering situation in Juneau: http://juneauempire.com/state/2013-09-22/panamax-cruise-ship-docks-way#.UySHcLXnapo Thanks for posting this. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBKL Posted March 21, 2014 Author #23 Share Posted March 21, 2014 When Solstice tenders in Juneau which dock does it use--the one in town or the dock that is out of town? It was on town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingdelt Posted March 21, 2014 #24 Share Posted March 21, 2014 Juneau and Alaska are victims of thier own popularity. The number of ships in Juneau just cannot be accomodated so docking is hit or miss. We have been there twice, Once we docked and the other time we tendered, at first. Later on that day the ship was allowed to dock. The Alaska cruises are great so don't let the tendering spoil what will be a great vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boingy300 Posted March 21, 2014 #25 Share Posted March 21, 2014 The good news is once you reach Juneau's shores Tracy's Crab Shack awaits you. You know it's good when the Captain gets off the ship for some crab legs! I love this place. Enjoy your trip! Karen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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