Tender Process

[kabookie7]

Hi! I am taking my first NCL cruise to the Mediterranean in June. I was wondering how does one go about getting their tender boarding position. Is it something that is just assigned to us? We are tendering in Santorini. Thanks for the assistance. 

[hallux]

You don't say what ship you're on.  I sailed the Bliss in 2019 with a tender port at Cabo San Lucas.  As soon as I boarded I used one of the touchscreens in the stair lobbies to order my tender tickets.  I was given a list of options for times.  Not all ships have those, you would use the TV in your cabin or maybe there's a table set up on embarkation day as there is for dining.  Some sailings won't let you book the tender tickets until a couple days before the port stop.

[TrumpyNor]

13 hours ago, kabookie7 said:

Hi! I am taking my first NCL cruise to the Mediterranean in June. I was wondering how does one go about getting their tender boarding position. Is it something that is just assigned to us? We are tendering in Santorini. Thanks for the assistance. 

Usually NCL tender tickets are distributed at a "first-come-first-served" from a certain time the evening before arrival at the tender port. The time will be announced both over the "intercom" system and in the Freestyle Daily - but just be aware that some times they leave the tender tickets "up for grabs" even before the scheduled time, so always a good idea to show up early. NCL usually arrive in Santorini after lunch and not in the morning, so the tendertickets may get distributed that same morning instead of the previous evening.

 

If you are in a suite, you will get priority tender service and don't need any tenderticket (your concierge will excort you to the tender using some "behind-the-scene-shortcuts").

 

If you have booked a NCL shore excursion, then you don't need any tenderticket either - you will get access to priority tenders when your tour is called in the theater.

[mapleleaves]

I responded to your question on the Greece Ports forum.

Last yr on the GEM, late Sept, the tender tickets were available the day prior to arriving in Santorini.  I think the line opened at 8am.  We were there at 7am, and got tender #4.  Even with that, we still had a 2 hr wait for the cable car.  If your plan is to explore on your own, book an NCL excursion to Oia in order to avoid the cable cars! 

People who were on later tenders, reached Fira after 5pm.  They were worried about walking on the uneven walkways in the dark, so they took a few photos of the view then returned to the ship.