Cunard QE Juneau tender process - how long does it take?

[GMann1373]

Hi everyone! 

I am going on my first cruise on the Cunard QE to Alaska this year in July, and have noticed that Juneau is a tender. 

I'm hoping to book an external shore excursion at 9:30am that Cunard are not offering, but am worried that I won't get off the ship in time, and Cunard can't provide a schedule until I'm on the boat (when it will be too late to cancel my excursion). 

I'm contemplating just also booking the cheapest Juneau excursion through Cunard to guarantee an early spot on the tender, but don't want to waste the money if people usually make it off the boat by 9:30am anyway. 

Has anyone tendered in Juneau before and has some insight as to how long it usually takes? 

Thanks so much!

[3rdGenCunarder]

I was on QE in 2022, and we tendered into Juneau. As is typical of tender days, people with booked excursions met in one place and got priority for tenders. Everyone else went to the Queens Room to get tender tickets. Since I didn't have an excursion, I didn't rush to get my ticket.  They started giving out tickets at noon. I went at 12:45, and they were only calling number 7. I got 18, and it was almost an hour until they called that number. LOTS of very unhappy people waiting and waiting.

 

Other than that, I haven't tendered from a Cunard ship in something like 8 years. I don't ever remember it being that bad on QM2. So maybe my experience in 2022 was because there was something odd going on that day, but consider that a worst-case scenario. 

 

When will you be in Juneau? My cruise itinerary says arrival in Juneau is "early morning." I hate that Cunard doesn't give times! But the Alaska cruise schedule does give times, and for my cruise "early morning" is 7 AM. You can check your itinerary here: 

Cruise Ship Schedule Calendar Combined Ports (claalaska.com)

[GMann1373]

8 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I was on QE in 2022, and we tendered into Juneau. As is typical of tender days, people with booked excursions met in one place and got priority for tenders. Everyone else went to the Queens Room to get tender tickets. Since I didn't have an excursion, I didn't rush to get my ticket.  They started giving out tickets at noon. I went at 12:45, and they were only calling number 7. I got 18, and it was almost an hour until they called that number. LOTS of very unhappy people waiting and waiting.

 

Other than that, I haven't tendered from a Cunard ship in something like 8 years. I don't ever remember it being that bad on QM2. So maybe my experience in 2022 was because there was something odd going on that day, but consider that a worst-case scenario. 

 

When will you be in Juneau? My cruise itinerary says arrival in Juneau is "early morning." I hate that Cunard doesn't give times! But the Alaska cruise schedule does give times, and for my cruise "early morning" is 7 AM. You can check your itinerary here: 

Cruise Ship Schedule Calendar Combined Ports (claalaska.com)

Wow, thank you for that! I’d rather plan for the worst-case scenario and not be caught out, so I think I’ll be purchasing a cheaper Cunard excursion to guarantee a tender spot. 

We’re arriving at 7am on the 17th of July, but with so many excursions in Juneau I suspect it will be busy with everyone trying to get off the boat. 

Thanks again for sharing your experience, really appreciate the insight!

[NE John]

2 hours ago, GMann1373 said:

Hi everyone! 

I am going on my first cruise on the Cunard QE to Alaska this year in July, and have noticed that Juneau is a tender. 

I'm hoping to book an external shore excursion at 9:30am that Cunard are not offering, but am worried that I won't get off the ship in time, and Cunard can't provide a schedule until I'm on the boat (when it will be too late to cancel my excursion). 

I'm contemplating just also booking the cheapest Juneau excursion through Cunard to guarantee an early spot on the tender, but don't want to waste the money if people usually make it off the boat by 9:30am anyway. 

Has anyone tendered in Juneau before and has some insight as to how long it usually takes? 

Thanks so much!

I’ll be on the QE a month before you and stopping in Juneau. Where did you find the info about whether ships tender or dock? Also, don’t forget to join the Roll Call of your specific voyage. 

[GMann1373]

56 minutes ago, NE John said:

I’ll be on the QE a month before you and stopping in Juneau. Where did you find the info about whether ships tender or dock? Also, don’t forget to join the Roll Call of your specific voyage. 

I received an email with my detailed itinerary when I booked, it listed each port arrival and departure time, and which ports had a tender (just Juneau for us). 
I didn’t know about the roll call - thanks for the heads up! 

[NE John]

17 minutes ago, GMann1373 said:

I received an email with my detailed itinerary when I booked, it listed each port arrival and departure time, and which ports had a tender (just Juneau for us). 
I didn’t know about the roll call - thanks for the heads up! 

I see. We’re lucky to be in port that day. Have a great trip. 

[martinmct]

We were on QE’s first 2023 visit to Juneau - pretty much identical experience to 3rdGenCunarder - there were an awful lot of frayed tempers amongst fellow passengers. This is my only experience of tendering to date - agreed we’d never tender again.
We leave Southampton on 11th Jan for her world cruise, some tendering is scheduled….I’m told it’s quite nice staying on board during port days!!! - hardly the point of a world cruise though!

[3rdGenCunarder]

32 minutes ago, martinmct said:

We were on QE’s first 2023 visit to Juneau - pretty much identical experience to 3rdGenCunarder - there were an awful lot of frayed tempers amongst fellow passengers. This is my only experience of tendering to date - agreed we’d never tender again.
We leave Southampton on 11th Jan for her world cruise, some tendering is scheduled….I’m told it’s quite nice staying on board during port days!!! - hardly the point of a world cruise though!

 

If you're taking a ship's excursion and you get to the appointed gathering place on time, they will hold the excursion for your group. An exception might be public transportation, like a train ride. That would leave on schedule. 

 

Don't write off tendering completely. Just give yourself extra time. If there's a port you don't wish to visit, then staying on board can be a nice quiet break. I do that on a Caribbean cruise if there's a stop in St Thomas. Been there, done that more times than I can remember. So I can get a nice lounger by the pool, enjoy an uncrowded spa, etc. On a world cruise, you'll have plenty of sea days to relax, but the feeling of having the ship to yourself is a treat.