Four Star and Tender at Half Moon Cay

[Seavoyage]

Hello Cruisers -

Joined the 4 Star club last cruise.  Hooray. 

Wondering how the 4&5 Star Priority Tendering works for Half Moon Cay given they don't distribute tender passes as they do in some smaller ports...

Will be on the Oosterdam in April and there is a sea day prior to HMC.  Pretty sure it's going to be a mad-house heading to shore...

Thank you in advance for any information.

Happy Sails!

[taxmantoo]

There is really no tender perk at HFC.  You go down and join the end of the line. 

[Seavoyage]

Thanks taxmantoo.  Kind of what we thought - last time on the NA we had a neptune suite (love that gold card access:-) and we were able to get on the first tender....a couple with 4 Star walked up and the "Gangway Guard" told them to get in the regular line...didn't look like priority - LOL  Thought maybe they didn't know any better but guess not...oh well - will just get down there early...thanks again.

[VMax1700]

I wonder does it depend on how many 4/5 star mariners are onboard?  We tendered in Monaco last October and the night before arrival in Monaco there was a note in the cabin which offered priority tender.  We were instructed to go straight to the front of queue and show our room cards.

[Seavoyage]

Hi VMax where they using ship tenders?  HMC has those big tenders - would be nice if they would do that....

[taxmantoo]

Priority tendering simply lets you bypass the process of getting a tender ticket.  Basically, your room key is your tender ticket in that it clearly shows your cabin category (Neptune or Pinnacle Suite) and your Mariner status (4 or 5 star).  So you head directly for the deck where the tenders are loaded, and join the line (at the end) for the next tender.  

There will always be rude and entitled people who feel that their status allows them to go to the front of the line instead of the end of the line.  Can't help you there!

[Krazy Kruizers]

No matter where we are tendering, we are 5 star Mariners and stay mainly in the Pinnacle Suite, we go down to the gangway and get at the end of the line for the tenders.

 

It never takes long to get on a tender.

[VMax1700]

49 minutes ago, Seavoyage said:

Hi VMax where they using ship tenders?  HMC has those big tenders - would be nice if they would do that....

 

Yes, using the ships tenders.  I had forgotten about the big tenders at HMC - they take a lot of cruisers at one go!  We don't go ashore at HMC now, as it is such a short time there.  We prefer to enjoy a nearly empty ship!

 

[GulfShoresCruiser]

So we were at HMC last Saturday on the NS and there was no need for tender tickets and when you got to A deck, you just walked on a waiting tender and an empty one was waiting once that one departed.

 

Returning from HMC was a similar process....the lines moved about as fast as the people could board.

 

I don't know how they do it but we never waited in a line on the NS all week.......The've got it figured out.  

 

(And we are 3 stars and not in a suite or Club Orange)

 

Remain calm and cruise on!

[kazu]

2 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

I wonder does it depend on how many 4/5 star mariners are onboard?  We tendered in Monaco last October and the night before arrival in Monaco there was a note in the cabin which offered priority tender.  We were instructed to go straight to the front of queue and show our room cards.

 

It really does.  Trust me, when half the ship Is 4*, then there is no priority .  5*’s are irrelevant - same rules
 

[Copper10-8]

OP just a heads up; if you're talking Fri 12 Apr, Oosterdam will be alone at HMC, so will get the island tenders. The week prior, Oostie will share HMC with Veendam however, being the bigger ship of the two, she (OSDM) will still get all, or at least the majority, of the three large island tenders (Henry Hudson, Anne Bonney and Stingray) - she might share one of them with Veendam to get the morning rush to the island

[CHOPPERTESTER]

5 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

There is really no tender perk at HFC.  You go down and join the end of the line. 

 

Depends....

Just came off a side to side and both Kdam and NAdam were issuing tender tickets for HMC. If you didn't get a ticket then you had to wait until they called tickets are no longer required. NAdam took two hours to stop calling ticket numbers. So if you were 4 star plus then you could just go down without a tender ticket and get in at the end of the line of the ticket called.

[Colakid]

There is one exception to the rules for HMC. If you rent the Oasis your group prearranged in advance is allowed to go to the head of the line when gathered. You are escorted by a HAL official. You pay almost $1400.00 for the day for your group it is a perk. You also get the Pinnacle Grill chef as your cook for the day. Did this once a couple years ago and had a blast. One of the best days we have ever had anywhere. Been to HMC 6 times now.

[OVgirl]

On 1/24/2019 at 6:54 PM, Copper10-8 said:

OP just a heads up; if you're talking Fri 12 Apr, Oosterdam will be alone at HMC, so will get the island tenders. The week prior, Oostie will share HMC with Veendam however, being the bigger ship of the two, she (OSDM) will still get all, or at least the majority, of the three large island tenders (Henry Hudson, Anne Bonney and Stingray) - she might share one of them with Veendam to get the morning rush to the island

Copper, we're at HMC twice in Februrary on NS. Koningsdam will be with us both times. Any guess regarding island or ship tenders? Sharing them maybe?

Edited January 26, 2019 by OVgirl

[Copper10-8]

11 minutes ago, OVgirl said:

Copper, we're at HMC twice in Februrary on NS. Koningsdam will be with us both times. Any guess regarding island or ship tenders? Sharing them maybe?

 

The rule of thumb is that the bigger ship at the island gets the island tenders and the smaller ship uses her own tenders. Having said that, there is usually an agreement between the two staff captains to, when operationally viable, share one out of the three big tenders to get some of the rush off the smaller ship.

 

Now, K-dam and Nieuw S being sisters, it'll be interesting. There's a fourth tender called "Rookie" that has been used as a backup after "Stingray" joined the HMC scene. They could press her into service by giving each ship one of the sister tenders (Henry Hudson & Anne Bonney) and then one ship gets Stingray and the other Rookie. Let us know what happens please Annemarie and enjoy that cruise!