How to find out whether tender port or dock

[drdaddy]

Hi. I have done many cruises and I have yet to have found one itinerary that did NOT indicate whether the stop was tenders or docked. We are on Rotterdam in late December. Some ports I know like HMC and this NEW port in the DR are tenders. But I just can't find this on the itinerary. Like Panama Canal (dock?), Cartegena (dock?), Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, and Grand Cayman.

 

Thanks.

 

[asebastian]

Check the list attached - that was current as at Sep 2019.

port-tender-list.pdf

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, drdaddy said:

Some ports I know like HMC and this NEW port in the DR are tenders. But I just can't find this on the itinerary. Like Panama Canal (dock?), Cartegena (dock?), Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, and Grand Cayman.

If it doesn't say, it is docked. Grand Caymon (Georgetown) is a tender port per the itinerary on the website. Cartagena (I have been there) and apparently Puerto Limon are docks. There is no port for "Panama Canal" -- you sail up the Atlantic locks, turn around in Gatun Lake, and back down the locks. If you have a ship's excursion in PC, you will be transferred to a boat in Gatun Lake and meet the ship back in Colon (which is also apparently a docked port). 

[ski ww]

Your itinerary will tell you if it's a tender port.

[ontheweb]

17 minutes ago, ski ww said:

Your itinerary will tell you if it's a tender port.

In 2009 on a HAL ship, we were in Corfu normally a dock port, but there were 3 ships and 2 docks. Our ship was the one that ended up tendering.

 

Last summer on our NCL cruise, Isafjordur was listed as a dock port, but the dock was not finished. Our ship's lifeboats were not certified for tendering. We skipped the port; actually, the port was skipped on every Prima cruise this past season. On the same itinerary, Geiranger was listed as a tender port, but we walked right off the ship.

[terrydtx]

Your invoice from HAL will have your itinerary and list any tender ports. This is what it looks like. This is from our Koningsdam cruise last November The Santa Barbara port was tendered and is indicated as that on the invoice.

 

 

Edited May 21 by terrydtx

[Fouremco]

8 hours ago, asebastian said:

Check the list attached - that was current as at Sep 2019.

port-tender-list.pdf 148.4 kB · 11 downloads

 

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

Your invoice from HAL will have your itinerary and list any tender ports. This is what it looks like. This is from our Koningsdam cruise last November The Santa Barbara port was tendered and is indicated as that on the invoice.

 

 

Unfortunately, the tender port list has been incomplete for years and the itinerary information provided by HAL is not always accurate. For example, we've tendered in Charlottetown, PEI, and in Trondheim, Norway. Neither port appears on the list and our itinerary for cruises including these ports didn't reflect that a tender was required.

 

For a number of years now, for each cruise visiting new destinations, I check with the local port authority.

 

 

[REOVA]

It would be difficult to get a 100% accurate list. You may have a general idea from your booking but there may be a change at the Port due to other ships docking or something else that would make you change to tender. Now finding which pier/dock is even more challenging these days. 

[drdaddy]

Thanks for all the feedback. I did not think to look at the invoice. But iin my HAL account, there is an itinerary tab but it says "IN PORT" for all the stops. Including Half Moon Cay!

[kazu]

6 hours ago, drdaddy said:

Thanks for all the feedback. I did not think to look at the invoice. But iin my HAL account, there is an itinerary tab but it says "IN PORT" for all the stops. Including Half Moon Cay!

That tab either says at sea or in port.  It just references where you are that day.  It has nothing to do with docking or tendering.