What to expect at tender ports?

[CaptainPanda]

Hi, all, I've been cruising before, but my upcoming New England cruise has two tender ports of call (Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME), and I've never been to a tender port before. I'm just curious what to expect when arriving, disembarking, embarking, and departing?

[Flatbush Flyer]

12 minutes ago, CaptainPanda said:

Hi, all, I've been cruising before, but my upcoming New England cruise has two tender ports of call (Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME), and I've never been to a tender port before. I'm just curious what to expect when arriving, disembarking, embarking, and departing?

For heading into port, you board the tender and ride on it until you reach the pier. Then you get off. For the return trip, you repeat the process. 

Crew assist you in stepping on or off in what can be a very easy or extremely difficult transition. The ride is smooth as silk unless it’s not.

[ldubs]

They will announce when the tenders will start.  Same for the last tender of the day back to the ship.  It is important to pay attention to that.  The tenders will run throughout the day.  

 

Typically there are longer lines for the early tenders.   In many cases you will go to a place like the theater to get assigned a tender boarding group.  Then wait for your group to be called.  After the morning rush, they typically do away with that and you just go to the tender boarding area.  Things are much less hectic and you can avoid long lines if you can wait an hour or so to avoid the morning rush. 

 

Sometimes they use the ship tenders and sometimes they use local ferry boats.  We've been to the places you mention a couple of times but I just can't remember which was used.   

 

If the weather is decent, it is nice to sit up on the top open area for nice views of the port and the cruise ship.  

Enjoy! 

 

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by ldubs

[9tee2Sea]

10 minutes ago, CaptainPanda said:

Hi, all, I've been cruising before, but my upcoming New England cruise has two tender ports of call (Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME), and I've never been to a tender port before. I'm just curious what to expect when arriving, disembarking, embarking, and departing?

Confusion, delays, and sometimes rocky tender.  They use the lifeboats to tender into port.  Since seating is limited, there is usually a line to get into the tenders.  Wait until the line goes down, they go back and forth constantly, so you will not miss a tender.  There will be crew there to help people board ( the tenders bob in the the water, so crew will help you steady yourself as you get in.  They do not have wheelchair capacity.  You can get on /off the tenders as many times as you want.  Walk around the sea walk in Bar Harbor to gaze at the many mansions that face the water.  Lobster rolls are expensive and a bit over rated to me.  I don't like the tender into Cabo San Lucas Mexico.  The waters  are always rough ( you feel it way more in the tender boat), and the drunk young ones coming back from partying on land is disgusting

( many buckets were filled).

[hallasm]

Here is a short video from my Bar Harbor tendering

 

[jsn55]

I try to avoid tenders, don't like the waiting around or being stuffed into an airless lifeboat with far too many pax.  The trip between ship and shore is not a problem.  Usually if you book a ship's ShoreEx, you can receive priority tender boarding ... but on my Royal Princess Zodiac experience on Maui, we were instructed to meet on the Pier which made me laugh.  I could have saved a lot of money booking direct; I had the annoying tender experience anyway.  But it's no big deal, half hour out of your day, so just go do it.  

[mammajamma2013]

2 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

 Walk around the sea walk in Bar Harbor to gaze at the many mansions that face the water.  

Captain Panda, we did the Cliff Walk excursion on our own in New Port, Rhode Island this past October. A bus will take you to either end of the walk at no charge and there are several convenient bus stops along the way so that you can return whenever you want. The bus stops are about a block in from the cliffs themselves. The bus stop to start the trip is about a three block walk from the pier. There are several portions that range from easy to hard, this map should help you choose a route if you decide to do it on your own. https://www.google.com/search?q=cliff+walk+newport+ri&rlz=1C1AVFC_enUS1026US1026&oq=cliff+walk&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512l3j46i175i199i512j0i512j46i175i199i512l2j0i512l2.9250j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

We used Enchanted Princess' lifeboat (tender) for this port and a local ferry boat for Bar Harbor. The ferry was much nicer.

Edited January 4, 2023 by mammajamma2013

[lenquixote66]

I was on a Tender once in my life and said never again .

[mom says]

35 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I was on a Tender once in my life and said never again .

Too bad, because you have missed out on some of the most fascinating POC  in the world.

 

OP, not all tenders are in lifeboats, and not all tender rides are rough, although they may be crowded. As you can see in the video.

Edited January 5, 2023 by mom says

[Honolulu Blue]

This isn't in reply to anyone's question, they're just notes about my tendering experiences...

 

I've tendered into Grand Cayman, Princess Cays, Belize, Cabo San Lucas, and Kona.  The longest by far was into Belize; that one took about 20 minutes.  The others were about 5-10 minutes.  Tendering has given me an appreciation for docks and the stability of much bigger cruise ships.

[hallasm]

Just for information, here is a video of the lifeboat tender operation.

 

 

[cruiserking]

It sounds like your doing a Princess cruise based on your itinerary. Typically Princess will hand out tender tickets early in the morning for those eager to get off quickly. The later you wait the less of a line there will be. 

 

As others have noted if you are booked on a shore excursion you will receive priority service. The trips into shore are pretty painless. To both Newport and Bar Harbor the rides are approximately ten to twelve minutes. 

 

The cruise line does a good job of making sure a tender is always available to take you back to the ship. If you return earlier in the day before the peak time the tenders are not so full. Just wear a mask, enjoy the scenery and have a great cruise. 

 

Jonathan

[SbbquilterUT]

Best tender experience was on the Celebrity Apex - the Magic Carpet is used at water level so much easier to board the tender.  Rode it in Ireland and was a lovely day with no waves  smooth ride.

[Hlitner]

Lets cut to the chase about tendering.  With large mass market vessels, tendering is a real hassle (especially for those not on the overpriced overcrowded cruise line excursions).  Each line gives priority to certain groups (such as frequent cruisers and those in large suites).  On most ships you will need to go to some public lounge, get a tender ticket, and then wait (sometimes for hours) until your tender is called.  Coming back it will be a free for all (first come first serve).

 

If you are cruising on small ship luxury lines there will generally be little or no tender lines or waiting.  In fact, on luxury lines (i.e. Seabourn, Silverseas, Regent, etc) there are seldom any lines....period!  Folks that want to cruise on the huge mass market mega ships should understand that tender ports on large ships can be a problem.  

 

Our best tender experience has been on Seabourn.  On that line we simply took the elevator down to the tender area and walked on the tender.  No wait, no tickets, no hassles.  On the larger mass market ships, even when we have priority, the process usually involves waiting, lines etc.

 

There are some tender ports, around the world, that have large land-based tenders and this is very helpful since these vessels can hold large numbers of folks and usually are designed for fast boarding. Cruise ship tenders (which double as life boats) are somewhat smaller and can involve more difficulty in moving folks on and off.  Tender lines only move as fast as the slowest person!

 

Hank

[jsn55]

Thank you for this terrific reality check!  Once you lay it out, it makes so much sense.  Had I realized how awful the process was on a 3500-pax ship like Royal Princess, I probably would have handled it with far less stress.  I'm still laughing at my clever ploy to book a ship's excursion on Maui to avoid waiting 'forever' ... but the excursion met 'at the tender pier'.  It was very hot and humid, so being stuffed into a lifeboat was just awful; I didn't even get off the ship next day at Kailua/Kona.  Didn't help that there was ONE security line to reboard, we stood around forever.  Next time I'll be sure to be able to sit up in the open air.  Even with the sun beating down, it would have been better than the sardine experience below.  Planning future cruises will be much better with your post in the back of my mind.  

Edited January 8, 2023 by jsn55
clarity

[ldubs]

11 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Lets cut to the chase about tendering.  With large mass market vessels, tendering is a real hassle (especially for those not on the overpriced overcrowded cruise line excursions).  Each line gives priority to certain groups (such as frequent cruisers and those in large suites).  On most ships you will need to go to some public lounge, get a tender ticket, and then wait (sometimes for hours) until your tender is called.  Coming back it will be a free for all (first come first serve).

 

If you are cruising on small ship luxury lines there will generally be little or no tender lines or waiting.  In fact, on luxury lines (i.e. Seabourn, Silverseas, Regent, etc) there are seldom any lines....period!  Folks that want to cruise on the huge mass market mega ships should understand that tender ports on large ships can be a problem.  

 

Our best tender experience has been on Seabourn.  On that line we simply took the elevator down to the tender area and walked on the tender.  No wait, no tickets, no hassles.  On the larger mass market ships, even when we have priority, the process usually involves waiting, lines etc.

 

There are some tender ports, around the world, that have large land-based tenders and this is very helpful since these vessels can hold large numbers of folks and usually are designed for fast boarding. Cruise ship tenders (which double as life boats) are somewhat smaller and can involve more difficulty in moving folks on and off.  Tender lines only move as fast as the slowest person!

 

Hank

 

I have no where near the number of cruises as you, but I have a fair amount and all on mass market lines.  I'm not saying it can't happen, but I have never experienced an hour, much less a two hour wait for a tender.   However, we do avoid the early morning tender rush, so our experience is not just luck.   By waiting an hour or so we find the lines become pretty manageable.   

[navybankerteacher]

7 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I have no where near the number of cruises as you, but I have a fair amount and all on mass market lines.  I'm not saying it can't happen, but I have never experienced an hour, much less a two hour wait for a tender.   However, we do avoid the early morning tender rush, so our experience is not just luck.   By waiting an hour or so we find the lines become pretty manageable.   

Agreed -- on a large ship it is best to simply plan a late breakfast when at a tender port.

[CaptainPanda]

Thanks everybody! Follow up question due to a recent development in my life: how do tenders deal with things like wheelchairs or scooters? I assume that they've had a good amount of time to figure that out, but I don't really want to just follow that assumption.

[Hlitner]

47 minutes ago, CaptainPanda said:

Thanks everybody! Follow up question due to a recent development in my life: how do tenders deal with things like wheelchairs or scooters? I assume that they've had a good amount of time to figure that out, but I don't really want to just follow that assumption.

That will vary depending on the ship, cruise line, and sea conditions.  On some cruises, when conditions were favorable, we have seen crew help folks with light weight wheelchairs, onto tenders.  On other ships it will be required that folks be able to physically walk onto a tender.    The reason I mention it all varies is because some ships do not have any way to get to the tender area without walking down steps (which can be narrow).  On other ships it is possible to get down to the tender area on an elevator.  Another issue is the nature of the tender pier ashore.  

 

As to scooters, I do not think one can generalize since there are many types of scooters from relatively lightweight 3 wheeled models to very heavy models (especially electric wheelchairs).  Any device would need to be lifted on and off tenders so you can imagine the difficulty and safety problems.  Having tendered in literally hundreds of ports (over more than 50 years) I can say that there is always some risk of injury, even for folks that are fully mobile.  We have seen folks with lightweight scooters able to walk onto tenders and then the crew will load the scooter (usually the last thing to be put aboard.  

 

Hank

[Honolulu Blue]

On 1/5/2023 at 4:46 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

This isn't in reply to anyone's question, they're just notes about my tendering experiences...

 

I've tendered into Grand Cayman, Princess Cays, Belize, Cabo San Lucas, and Kona.  The longest by far was into Belize; that one took about 20 minutes.  The others were about 5-10 minutes.  Tendering has given me an appreciation for docks and the stability of much bigger cruise ships.

Almost forgot - I tendered into Santa Barbara last year. Nothing else of note to add to my conclusions above.

[jsn55]

I am totally able-bodied, but 'old'.  Two weeks ago, just as I stepped down into the tender at Maui, it sank about 9".  Had the crew member not been lightening quick (and super strong) to grab me, I would have toppled into the tender.  If you're using a light-weight device, you can certainly take the chance if the ship allows it.   I don't think that anyone should take the risk of getting hurt while tendering, so if you can't walk easily, you probably should skip the port. 

[DRS/NC]

I use an electric scooter (rented; placed in cabin) on the ship & have taken it ashore in Alaska & St. Thomas.

 

If there are tender ports on the itinerery, I take my rollator/walker with me.  It folds & can be taken on tenders (I use Princess mostly).  I have also taken it on excursion buses.  I can walk short distances w/it.  The crew loads me, then the folded walker.

 

I'm eager to try a new folding scooter that is now available.

[navybankerteacher]

On 1/4/2023 at 12:17 PM, CaptainPanda said:

Hi, all, I've been cruising before, but my upcoming New England cruise has two tender ports of call (Newport, RI and Bar Harbor, ME), and I've never been to a tender port before. I'm just curious what to expect when arriving, disembarking, embarking, and departing?

You should expect tendering:  which means waiting for space on a tender, getting a ticket - if that is part of the drill;  and getting from a large ship onto a smaller boat - which process may or may not include bringing mobility enhancing equipment.  You will have a ride of anywhere from ten minutes to a half hour or so; you will have to get back to the landing by the assigned time.  You will also have to be flexible, since weather conditions may interrupt tender operations  -- we spent an extra hour on Half Moon Cay once because conditions were too rough to get us back on board Noordam.

 

Briefly put:  you should expect to go with the flow,