Tender?

[LuvTheBoat]

I am not a cruise veteren......so tender means mean what? I saw someone say you have to tender in Grand Cayman. Can anyone explain. Thanks

 

Costa Med. 4/2/06 :confused:

[UCSD]

it is like travel agent that will group you folks together nicely in a small boat before you can hit the ground.

[LinnieNJ]

Tendering means that another (smaller) boat will take you to the port from your ship. For instance, in Cozomel, you will have to tender in because the piers were damaged by the hurricane. HTH

[LuvTheBoat]

So I have heard that tendering is a pin in the @$$. WHere all will I have to tender? Visiting Key West, Cozumel, Ochos Rios and Grand Cayman

[randych]

So I have heard that tendering is a pin in the @$$. WHere all will I have to tender? Visiting Key West, Cozumel, Ochos Rios and Grand Cayman

 

Dock in Key West and Ochos Rios.

Tender in Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

 

Also, it's good to keep in mind that weather/water conditions can impact port visits, especially with tendering. If it's too rough, it becomes dangerous to transfer passengers on and off the ship. It doesn't happen a lot, but it's a possibility.

[joetrizeo]

if you have an excursion ticket you will be given preference to get on a tender boat. if you do not have an excursion ticket for the day and want to get off, you have to wait at the theater (magica) for a ticket to get off. this only applies to the morning rush. after the morning rush they will anounce when tender tickets for non excursion people are no longer needed. no ticket is needed to get back.

[LuvTheBoat]

Thanks for the info.....it's a shame that the storms messed up the piers. I wonder how long it's gonna take to get them fixed.

[snowbear24]

We were on Costa Med 3/5-3/12 .In Cozumel they will use large tenders from Cozumel. We have been there several times before so did not have a shore excursion planned it was after 10 am before we could get off the ship. They will call shore excursion groups as well as numbers so as soon as you are ready to go ashore go to the theater and get a tender ticket #. In Cayman they usually use the ships tenders..(life boats). The pier in Cozumel is gone so much damage..we heard it could be quite a while before the pier was rebuilt..Cozumel is trying to work out a deal with the major cruise lines that dock there to help with some of the expense. In Jamaica you will most likely dock at James Bond pier ...it is not close to anything so you will need to get a taxi to take you any where if you are not on a shore excursion. good luck & happy cruising:) Jodi

[packercruising]

All ships tender in GC because the water is too shallow to dock. Only Cozumel required tenders because of storm damage. The company Costa contracted with did an excellent job. We hadn't signed up for an excursion in GC but we got on a tender right away.

 

Have a great time! :)

[Kaliberknl]

Does anyone know if Tortoloa, Nassau or St. Martin are tender ports? TIA.

Annette

[stillsailing]

I understand that excursions are given priority. Just want to make sure that I understand the process for tender tickets for the Magica Caribbean cruises...so, a few questions:

 

Are tender tickets given out the day before reaching the port? or only on arrival in that port? (i.e. my experience with tickets on other cruises, was that passengers started lining up for tickets at a designated time & place on the day before arrival in the port).

 

If tickets are issued the day of arrival in port,

Do you have any advice for the following? --- the Magica will be tendering in Cozumel on 4/11 and is scheduled to be in Cozumel from 8am - 1pm.

What time do you think they will start issuing the tender tickets?

Do they expect you to proceed directly to the tender once you are given the tickets? (For example, I am wondering if tickets start as early as 7am, my family could eat breakfast, I could get the tickets and then get something to eat before it is time to start boarding the tender.)

 

Must everyone in your party be there to collect their tickets or could I pick up four tickets for my family?

 

I have been obsessing about our 2 tender ports this cruise, (Cozumel and Cayman), because we only have a half day in each port. We just want to make good use of our time and all of your experience and advice will really help us plan?

 

Is there someone out there who has gotten the first or early tender tickets for morning arrival in Cozumel? I'd love to hear from you!:)

[packercruising]

This sounds dumb, but are you dure you have the itinerary right? Our only 1/2 day was Key West. We had full days in Cozumel and GC

[lisascruizin]

Hi Packer Fan,

 

I am also on Magica 4/9 same as still sailing and we have 1/2 days in

grand cayman and cozumel and we also go to montego bay full day not ocho rios and keywest 1/2 day and freeport full day on sat. I was somewhat dissapointed about this different itinerary but cant change now!!

 

Lisa

[LinnieNJ]

But our 1/2 day in Grand Cayman starts at noon, so that's not too bad! I have a feeling I won't feel like getting up really early and eating a fast breakfast to be one of the first in line for Cozumel! It's really a shame, cause when we booked the cruise 9 months ago, the itinerary said a full day in Cozumel and I was really looking forward to it! Oh well......I'll be cruising.....nothin' else matters!

[joetrizeo]

is magica 4/9 a 5 day cruise?

 

from my Today mag.

 

"For thoes guests not on tour, when you are ready to go ashore (after you have had breakfast and your entire family is together), please proceede to the urbino theater (magica) on deck 3 raffaello to pick up a tender ticket from the cruise staff. in order to speed up the process, we can only hand out 1 ticket per person. please wait in the theater for your tender number to be called and a crew staff member will escort you to the tender loading area. there will be continuous tender service throughout the day, with the last tender leaving the peir at *:**(depends on day) Tender tickets are not needed to return too the ship. after the morning rush is over, tender tickets will no longer me necessary, and you can proceede directrly to the tender loading area. an announcement will be made when tender tickets are no longer necessary.

 

by 'tickets' i assume they mean 'number'.

[lisascruizin]

Magica 4/9 is a 8 day/7 night cruise. It says Easter cruise on costa site.

[stillsailing]

joetrizio ---- Thanks for clarifying the process for tender tickets. If that's how it's listed in your "Today" program, most of my questions are answered.

 

This will make it an early morning for most of us who want to get ashore early in Cozumel.

 

I don't know how recent cruisers have found their experience of getting cruise tickets, but my past experience has been that people line up early and it is not a quick process.

 

I am still anxious for others to tell their stories.

 

To lisascruizin and everyone else who is keeping up with all this info for the 4/9 Magica cruise, I think that we are very lucky to have thought out these issues ahead of time!:)

[joetrizeo]

your welcome.....any time.

unfortunetly i cannot comment on waiting for a number/ticket for a tender, i had an excursion ticket at every stop and did not have to wait.

[packercruising]

Allow me youngun :)

 

We did not have an excursion in GC because we were meeting my sister-in-law and our daughter there. So obviously we wanted to get off the ship as soon as possible. We dropped anchor around 8 am. We went down to the theater around 8:30 and were on shore shortly after 9. Magica contracts with a company for tendering so they could fit over 100 people per trip. We were on a tender with people on excursions. This is different from other cruise lines that used there own boats and was a lot more time consuming.

 

Hey Lisa, we kinda like the Steelers too!