In tender ports do people on shore excursions have priority?

[Bloomin Onion]

One of the stops in our upcoming cruise is Grand Cayman which is completely a tender port. This is going to be our first experience having to be tendered to shore. IS the tendering process usually very time consuming, especially since we are on a large ship, the Norwegian Getaway which has nearly 4000 people? Is it accurate that if we sign up for a shore excursion, we will be among the first tenders departing the ship? 

[kerryincork]

Yes

 

They usually have 2 exits. One for excursions and one for everyone else.
For everyone else you will be told where to collect a numbered ticket. They then call out the numbers for the tenders.

 

There will also be those who have priority, these guests are generally brought to the front of the queue to board the tender.

 

This is all explained in the newsletter you received in your cabin the previous night.

 

 

[Floridiana]

6 hours ago, Bloomin Onion said:

Is it accurate that if we sign up for a shore excursion, we will be among the first tenders departing the ship? 

Not all excursions start at the same time. If you have an early excursion, yes you will be on one of the first tenders.

 

On all ships we have been on, the excursion ticket states when and where to meet. It is usually the theater.  In the designated room, they will call your group, give the participants a numbered and colored sticker and all go to the same exit together. A large ship may have two different exits, smaller ships usually have one.

 

Since shore excursions do not all depart at the same time, people without excursions can leave in between. In most cases, they had to get tender tickets which are also color coded and called with their color/letter/number.

 

I have priority on HAL ships, which means that we did not have to get tender tickets and therefore we did not have to wait for our color to be called. We just joined the end of whatever line there was. If you want specific information how NCL handles it, better ask on their board. Maybe their priority passengers cut into line. We never did.

[sanger727]

Yes, If you have a shore excursion you will meet somewhere on the ship at whatever time they deem is appropriate (may or may not be the first off the ship... if say your excursion starts at 9, and they start tendering at 7, they won't have you meet until 8 or later). You will not have to wait in the general tender line. That being said, in this example, for instance, you might have gotten off sooner in the general tender line. If you want to take a ship shore excursion, then book a ship shore excursion. But we have never booked a shore excursion for a tender port and never felt like it was hard to get off in a timely fashion. You may want to ask the process on the norweigan board for tendering. I don't recall if I have ever tendered off NCL. But many do tickets with specific times so there isn't too much of a line.

Edited December 16, 2019 by sanger727

[LandlockedCruiser01]

I was in a tender port (Catalina) on my last cruise, so I'll add my 2 cents.  

 

If you have a cruise line excursion (independently booked excursions don't count), you get priority on any tenders before your excursion start time.  It might vary from line to line, but on Carnival, I showed my excursion ticket and was allowed to board an early tender.  It filled up pretty quickly, and I made it ashore 45 minutes before my excursion was due to meet, to give myself time to buy a few souvenirs.  One thing to note is that I was on a smaller ship, so the line was pretty short; bigger ships might have a longer line.

[Floridiana]

2 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

It filled up pretty quickly, and I made it ashore 45 minutes before my excursion was due to meet, to give myself time to buy a few souvenirs. 

The excursion met on the pier?  

[LandlockedCruiser01]

8 minutes ago, Floridiana said:

The excursion met on the pier?  

 

No.  It met onshore by the pier.  There was a permanent picnic shelter with benches and tables under it.  That's where excursion tables were all set up.  You went to the one that corresponded to your excursion, then they directed you to your bus, parked right there on the street.  Timing was very strict: if you don't come to your table before the start time, the bus leaves without you.

Edited December 16, 2019 by LandlockedCruiser01

[cb at sea]

EARLY ship's excursions will exit as a group...they generally meet ON the ship and leave "en masse".  But...that's not usually more than 1 tender, if that....so you can still get on the next tender.  

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, sanger727 said:

Yes, If you have a shore excursion you will meet somewhere on the ship at whatever time they deem is appropriate (may or may not be the first off the ship... if say your excursion starts at 9, and they start tendering at 7, they won't have you meet until 8 or later). You will not have to wait in the general tender line. That being said, in this example, for instance, you might have gotten off sooner in the general tender line. If you want to take a ship shore excursion, then book a ship shore excursion. But we have never booked a shore excursion for a tender port and never felt like it was hard to get off in a timely fashion. You may want to ask the process on the norweigan board for tendering. I don't recall if I have ever tendered off NCL. But many do tickets with specific times so there isn't too much of a line.

I will add my 2 cents. 
 

The last time we were at Grand Cayman, our NCL ShoreEx met on the pier. Our ShoreEx ticket gave us priority disembarkation (we could join the BACK of the line without pulling a number). From the time we joined the line to the time we were on the pier took over 45 minutes. 

[OHRiverRats]

We visited Grand Caymen and Belize on the Breakaway last year. On Belize we had a NCL excursion. We met in the dining room and tendered together. Excursions were released to the tenders based on start time of the excursion. On Grand Caymen we had a private excursion. They told us proof of an excursion would serve as a priority tender ticket. We were ready to go as soon as the first tender was called and walked off with no wait at all.  It was actually a lot quicker than with the NCL excursion, but that may have just been lucky timing. 

[bonvoyagie]

We have tendered twice once in Hawaii and the other in Bar Harbor. In Hawaii we were on an NCL excursion and met inside the ship and tendered over as a group - the excursion was small - about 12 people so it was easy to slip us into the line together. In Bar Harbor we were in a suite and were escorted to the head of the line - we landed with more than enough time for our non ship tour.

[zqvol]

On 12/16/2019 at 1:33 AM, Bloomin Onion said:

One of the stops in our upcoming cruise is Grand Cayman which is completely a tender port. This is going to be our first experience having to be tendered to shore. IS the tendering process usually very time consuming, especially since we are on a large ship, the Norwegian Getaway which has nearly 4000 people? Is it accurate that if we sign up for a shore excursion, we will be among the first tenders departing the ship? 

 

When you leave the ship will depend on your excursion time. If you have an early excursion you will likely meet in the theatre and be led to the head of the tender line at the appropriate time. If you have a later excursion, you will probably meet ashore and will have to make your way there on your own.

 

Generally tendering in Grand Cayman is quick, and it doesn't take long for the tender line to disappear.

[mugtech]

On the Jewel at Ko Samui people on private excursions had to get off after the NCL excursions and anyone else who had any other type of priority.  There were private excursions people that waited 90 minutes to get a tender, they were not happy.