How long does the tendering process take at Benoa, Bali?

[sjf]

Hi all

 

We will only be in Bali from 7am to 4pm (from Golden Princess next March) and we have to tender to shore. It's a short day. I wondered what is the earliest we might realistically get ashore to meet a private driver. If anyone has experience of this, I'd be grateful to hear your thoughts.

 

We have never been here before but I've read the traffic can be pretty bad. We want to go to Ubud for the market/shopping, and also to the monkey forest and Palace there. Unfortunately the ship does not offer these two things together as an excursion. If we go independently, I'll be nervous about getting back to the ship in time, so will err on the side of caution.

 

Any thoughts welcome from those who've been to this port. Thanks.

[Tranquility Base]

There are a number of unkown factors here.

 

1. Do you have tender priority with Princess,

2. Whether Indonesian authorities have pre-boarded the ship to help speed up arrival procedures.

3. How many people choose to stay on the ship, at this port that can be quite a few,

4. Whether they use the larger local ferries,

5. Where on the dock they offload

5. Of course the weather.

 

It is a reasonably long actual tender ride ( my guess about 20 -25 mins)

Last time there they used an area at the far left side of the dock to unload.

We had to wait 10mins for another tender to clear before we tied up.

Local larger ferries were on the main dock, but of course these take longer to load & unload.

 

For planning purposes, my guess onshore by 9am and you could count yourself fortunate. 9:30 is quite possible.

 

You already know about the traffic, so I would work on 9:30am, factor in the drive each way, add in your safety factor and you will see how much time you have left for activities.

 

Driver hire is cheap there, so you could still plan your day but I would have a firm plan B of somewhere else to go if you are late ashore.

[Tara Jane]

We were on Rhapsody of the seas a few years ago and were very late getting off the ship. It was 3 and a half hours from arrival to when we actually met up with our driver. It was total chaos. I had pre booked a driver and fortunately he still waited for us. We didnt want to do any shopping we wanted to get out into the countryside however our late arrival meant we saw very little. We decided that we wouldn't get off the ship if we are ever on another ship in Bali. Would much rather have a day on board than experience that situation again, and we aren't stay on ship people normally.

[sjf]

Thanks for all that useful (if depressing!) information. I so wanted to use a local driver.. there seems to be so many of them and at such reasonable prices. And we would be able to tailor the trip to exactly suit out needs.

 

However I am now thinking we'd have a better (or at least, longer) day if we do a ship's tour as we'd get priority getting away early. It will be our first time cruising with Princess so we have no special privileges.

 

Coming from the UK and don't know if we'll ever get back to this part of the world, so definitely want to get out there and see as much as possible.

[zowie57]

Thanks for all that useful (if depressing!) information. I so wanted to use a local driver.. there seems to be so many of them and at such reasonable prices. And we would be able to tailor the trip to exactly suit out needs.

 

However I am now thinking we'd have a better (or at least, longer) day if we do a ship's tour as we'd get priority getting away early. It will be our first time cruising with Princess so we have no special privileges.

 

Coming from the UK and don't know if we'll ever get back to this part of the world, so definitely want to get out there and see as much as possible.

 

You can still use a local driver. There will be dozens of them waiting at the port gates at Benoa. Most speak good English and will tailor the day to your requirements at a price to be negotiated. If you are delayed getting ashore then make sure you have sufficient time to get to all the attractions you want to see and back to the ship by departure time. The driver should be able to provide advice based on the local traffic conditions. In order to maximize your day try to get off the ship on the earliest tender possible.

[Keith1010]

I would do a ships tour.

 

I thought that the area with the drivers was overwhelming our first time there. Thankfully the next time we were docked in another area.

 

I would feel more comfortable on a ships tour.

 

Keith

[golfguyhhi]

I'm looking at the other side of this port stop -- getting from a hotel to the cruise port. Do the taxis take US$ or do I need to convert some currency to local?