Tender times...waiting in line in GC

[MamaMicki]

Hello all,

I have been reading these threads for literally months dreaming on my cruise in January. There is something that I have noticed. Sometimes people will talk about waiting to get to their ship in tender boat lines for over an hour. What is that all about. Is it close to lunch or close to the last tender. We are going with our 2 small kids and that is the last thing I need is for us to have to wait in the heat with a 2 and 4 year old for a long period of time. We have been to GC about 3 or 4 times and have never really noticed tender lines to be a problem. I just wanted to check and see if there were any underlying reasons why this would happen. The more aware I am of these types of situations, the more I can prepare..Thanks for your time. Take Care.,

[grvdggr71]

I would imagine it's the line for the last tender that causes these huge lines. This was true at least when we went by the Carnival tender terminal on our Radiance of the Seas cruise a week or so ago. We were wandering downtown and wondered what the huge line was for - it was the line for the Carnival Conquest tender (last tender was at 3pm - yeah right!). The line was very long, stretching almost from the South Terminal to the North Terminal. We didn't seem to have any problems with the tender back to Radiance (got right on the tender), though this was approximately 1 hour prior to the last tender.

[Trainacomin]

The trick to beating the heat and the lines is to go into one of the open air bars or restaurants across the street and watch the lines and tenders from there. Some are on the second floor and you can see everything. When you see your tender coming just cross the street and get in line.

We killed two drinks while waiting for the last tender to finish the long lines.

[sparky3229]

We were on the Victory a couple of weeks ago and there have been a number of posts by a bunch of us compaining about the long wait. We were at Spotts instead of Georgetown, and they really had no organization at all there. The line was a couple of hours long, and although the last tender was supposed to be at 3:30, they were still tendering at 5. We we also waiting in the rain, and not the heat. I had decided I was glad it was rain instead of the heat-there was no shade at all at Spotts, and no food avaialable. I had also read about some long lines at GC, and I know they were talking about Georgetown! So I am guessing it will be at either place! Good luck.

[twinkletoes4445]

I'm wondering if some of the time issues are caused by the number of ships in port at the same time. They only have so many tenders, and with 5-10 ships seeming to be the norm these days, it seems like they are stretching their tender boats pretty thin.

 

The day we were there, there were 2 ships in port, and the lines were long. I can't even imagine what the place is like with 10 ships.

[jcs56]

Good idea to wait in a bar or restaurant...wish I had thought of that last year. Last year we had to wait about an hour in the heat (spring break time). This time we were one of those that tendered at the other pier....if you can even call it that. It was a big pile of dirt and rubble...broken concrete, lumber with rusty nails. I watched lots of kids play in it while their parents just watched. This was a 2 1/2 hr. wait. We got in line at 2:00 (last at 3:30) and didnt get on the ship until 5:30!!!!!!! We were not in the rain as sparky was (she must have been a little earlier than us) We were in the heat after the rain...horrible!!!!! GC can be pretty horrible for tendering.

[kendallison]

We were just there last week. 6 ships were in port that day. Our last tender was supposed to be at 3:30. We walked right on a tender somewhere between 3:00 and 3:15 with no line at all. (We were on the Mariner.) We noticed the other cruise lines did have some lines but they appeared to be moving along pretty well.