Tendering in phuket

[nasus2]

We sail on millennium and dock(tender) overnight in Phuket Jan 13th 2024.

can anyone with experience of this port give me advice on tender process, timings of tenders  ( we arrive 7am)

and advice on timing to book independent tours

thanks

sue 

 

[hampshirelad]

We stopped there in Dec 2019. The tendering was operated by the locals not the ships boat and was pretty speedy as they were bigger than tenders.There is a purpose built jetty on I believe the south edge of the town which if you are doing a tour involves a short walk to the bus / coach station. I remember having to cross a  very busy road and i remember  the red light was seen as an invitation as the mopeds went through the middle of the group. Tip - try and find a nun to cross with.

We had ships tours which were not that special , if you have been this way before. One point is that it gets dark early and one tour was totally dark before it finished.

 

Having been there 25 years ago it came across as a bit seedy and run down. If you are there overnight then the Bangla Rd is were it all happens !

[waddle]

Stopped there with Princess. Tender worked well although we seemed to anchor quite a way off shore so took a while

 

Phuket traffic is notoriously very busy and many tours ran late returning guests. As previous post, it gets dark early so it was pitch black by the time we got the tender back but quite the experience

[alyssamma]

On 8/26/2023 at 3:59 AM, nasus2 said:

We sail on millennium and dock(tender) overnight in Phuket Jan 13th 2024.

can anyone with experience of this port give me advice on tender process, timings of tenders  ( we arrive 7am)

and advice on timing to book independent tours

thanks

sue 

 

Old post but hopefully you'll see this...

 

We are on the cruise before you. Celebrity is telling us we are docking and not tendering. But everything I read says in the (US) winter time, you tender and don't dock. Can I ask where you got the tender info?

 

TIA

[Strongbox]

On 8/26/2023 at 8:59 AM, nasus2 said:

We sail on millennium and dock(tender) overnight in Phuket Jan 13th 2024.

can anyone with experience of this port give me advice on tender process, timings of tenders  ( we arrive 7am)

and advice on timing to book independent tours

thanks

sue 

 

We were on Millennium last week. It was a tender port with transfers operated by the locals. Tenders were operating pretty soon after anchoring with those on Celebrity excursions given priority. Seemed to work pretty well with little waiting.

[jelayne]

We have been to Phuket 2x and both times it was tenders.  February and November.

[jwlane]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

Old post but hopefully you'll see this...

Ummm, their cruise has already happened.  You're on the cruise before them?

[NMTraveller]

For our cruise to Phuket it was docked.

[alyssamma]

4 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

For our cruise to Phuket it was docked.

Thanks, what time of year was it?

[alyssamma]

5 hours ago, jelayne said:

We have been to Phuket 2x and both times it was tenders.  February and November.

I'm in Dec, but since that is in the middle I would assume tender also.

 

I don't understand why Celebrity can't give a straight answer about this so I can properly book excursions.

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

Thanks, what time of year was it?

Holiday cruise.  It was the final destination.  Perhaps that makes a difference?

[alyssamma]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Holiday cruise.  It was the final destination.  Perhaps that makes a difference?

Holiday meaning Xmas? Or something else?

[TrixieBel]

On 3/2/2024 at 10:03 AM, alyssamma said:

I'm in Dec, but since that is in the middle I would assume tender also.

 

I don't understand why Celebrity can't give a straight answer about this so I can properly book excursions.

For my sailing it tells us whether each port is a tender port when we go to the option of looking at the daily schedule. Maybe you haven’t found that section to look at online or in the app yet. 

[morfred]

Fond memories. Aw, Phucket

[NMTraveller]

On 3/1/2024 at 4:28 PM, alyssamma said:

Holiday meaning Xmas? Or something else?

Christmas

[Suzi66]

In January this year it was most definitely tender.

 

[alyssamma]

12 hours ago, TrixieBel said:

For my sailing it tells us whether each port is a tender port when we go to the option of looking at the daily schedule. Maybe you haven’t found that section to look at online or in the app yet. 

Found it before I posted the Q, but thanks. There are several ports - this is one - where it doesn't list docked or tender. 

[alyssamma]

So, I've called X five times and finally got a rep who I think knows what they are talking about. The last one told me tender, but said it was at the Depp Sea Port, lol.

 

But it does appear to be tender at Patong.

 

Thanks for the answers.

[desibee]

Never did Celebrity to Phuket but did RC and they probably use the same tender at Patong beach.  As I recall it didn't take too long but we were doing ship excursions so we got off the boat first.

[Suzi66]

I was actually annoyed with Celebrity at Phuket.  I purposely booked shore excursions so that we didn't have to wait for tenders and possibly miss our excursions.

The meeting point was "on shore", so we still had to find our own way via the tenders.  There was also no information via Captains Club so we could get early tenders as Elite, nor as we were in Aqua cabins.  So we just had to go super early and wait around until the meeting time, rather than miss the meeting time.

It was much more organised at Indonesia which offered priority tendering for both Captains Club and excursions