time in port - getting on/off ships

[canadiangirl77]

i was wondering if once you got off the ship if you could get back on at any time? or are there specific times for tenders etc?

[kitty9]

If the ship is docked, you can come and go as you please. If you're in a tender port, most tenders leave every 15 to 30 minutes. Always leave lots of time to get back to the ship if you're in a tender port, because if you're even one minute late, they don't wait and you have to find your own way back to the next port.

[canadiangirl77]

wow thanks for the tip .. that just made me REALLY nervous!!

[cruisinbuddy]

The reason I like to book my excursions through the cruise line, is so the ship will wait for you cause you're on a bus or catamaran with 20 to 50 other people.They will wait for that. You & DH in a taxi on your own, no waiting unless the ship isn't going far that night. I always make sure I'm back at least an hour before sail time. That way you can go topside and watch the runners, getting back to the ship cause they're cutting it close.

Don't you love leaving the Canadian winter for the Tropics? I do.

[sobore]

What exactly is a tender / tender port? This cruise thing is like a formal education!

[lisiamc]

What exactly is a tender / tender port? This cruise thing is like a formal education!

 

A tender port is a port where the ship rides at anchor rather than tying up to a dock. The passengers come ashore and return to the ship in smallish boats, called tenders.

 

Lisa

[Arwenmark]

if you tender you are anchored off shore and take small boats sometimes the lifeboats into shore and back, the process takes a long time and is not any fun. you need a ticket to get on an early tender or you just have a very long wait.

[sounder]

They told us that we could come down for general tendering (not a booked, early excursion - they go first) at 9:00. When we got down there at around 8:30, we got tender number 4, they were already well underway. As they were giving us our stickers, they were already calling for number 4. The moral of the story is to go down early, you never know...

[celbercrz333]

Once you get off the ship the only thing you need worry about is getting back on before it leaves!!! We did NYC to Bermuda one year and Miami to Nassau (never made it--a hurricane was there) the next year. In Bermuda we got off and on so many times. They just have you go through a security machine each time. Where do you want to go and on which cruise line? It's nicer, I imagine, to be docked at a port because you have much more available time at your destination.

[chasetf]

wow thanks for the tip .. that just made me REALLY nervous!!

The "last tender" times are well publicized.... so you just need to make sure you leave plenty of margin. We have never worried or been in danger of missing the tender. :)

 

Things happen.. but whatever could cause you to miss the last tender (accident / illness / ??) could happen and cause you to miss the ship in port. :eek: