Anyone else frustrated with the tendering process?

[tannedfool]

My family and I returned from a Western Caribbean Cruise on the Explorer of the Seas. We had a great time except for tendering! We tendered at 3 of the 4 ports (Belize, Cozumel and Grand Cayman). What chaos! We booked excursions with outside tour companies, so we tried to get on the 1st tender on these days. We spent at least 45 minuntes- 1.5 hours standing in line. It wouldn't have been so bad, but we never got any updates or were told how long it was going to be until they would start tendering. It may have been different for the people on the ship's excursions, but it just seemed to be a frustrating and long process that could be improved upon. I have to say that we never missed any of our shore excursions (also helped that the time was different on ship and at most of the ports), but it was not very relaxing to have to wait in line that long!!! Needless to say, we appreciated our 1 docked day at Costa Maya!!!!

[Trevoli]

Yeah, it's a real pain. A total time-waster. You'd think they'd come up with a better system, as time spent in line is NOT time spent shopping.

 

All that being said, I don't know what the answer is, but that's not my area of expertise. It should be the cruiseline's forte, though.

 

T

[hdawson]

Not frustrating at all. A little understanding goes a very long way. Cozumel lost all their docks in hurricane Wilma last Oct. Grand Cayman does not permit docking to preserve the coral reefs. Belize is a relatively new port and has very limited funds for building port facilities.

 

As for Costa Maya (the port area) it's the most contrived and phony port I've ever seen.

[WhiteSoxFan]

We had no problem at the exact same ports. The only line standing we did was to get tickets for Belize & Cozumel. We were on the early tenders with no waiting at each port.

[zotzer]

I think on heavy tender itineraries, a lot of the frustration with tendering is felt by those with early non-RCI excursions. You don't get tender priority, and you sweat out the wait because you've got a timeline to meet.

 

Save the angst and either book through the ship, or schedule late non-RCI excursions.

 

Tracy

[AdamKnows]

If you don't like tendering I would suggest booking a cruise on a medium to smaller ship. Less people = less waiting.

[PhoenixCruiser]

Imagine what it's going to be like with 1,000+ more people :eek:

 

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[time4u2go]

On the ships I've been on, there's only been one tender boat at a time pulled up to the ship. Has anybody ever seen a situation where they used more than one at a time (obviously more than one opening on the ship opened at a time)?

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

On the ships I've been on, there's only been one tender boat at a time pulled up to the ship. Has anybody ever seen a situation where they used more than one at a time (obviously more than one opening on the ship opened at a time)?

 

I was wondering about this very matter on the super-big ships such as Freedom of teh Seas and the behemoth Genesis. Surely they will have two or more loading ports for tender ships...I hope.

[JenLynn]

We also returned from a recent EOS cruise. I think our expectations were different and so the experience was not frustrating.

 

We did not have any particular schedule to meet and therefor simply tendered off the ship at a bit later time than the biggest crush of people. We never had a wait and were in each port by 10:30am. For each tender situation, there were numberous boats just waiting to pull up to the ship and the crew did quite well with filling the boats and then sending them on the way. The one frustration I had was that I missed a full tender back to the ship in Belize and then had to wait 20 min. for them to fill the tender I was on to get back to the ship. Again, I didn't have a schedule to meet so I chatted with other people on the tender until it was time to go.

 

DH had 2 scuba excursions which he booked through the cruise line so he was the 1st tender off the ship in both circumstances.

 

I prefer docking to tendering, but we were satisfied with the experience.

[shellie100]

We just tendered at Grand Cayman last week. Hubby went to get a ticket at 9:45, when they started giving out numbers, and we were not called until about 11:45. Eek! Fortunately, we spent those two hours reading and relaxing on our balcony (we could hear numbers being called from our room pretty easily). We had a late private excursion, so it was OK, but I would have liked alittle longer time spent there. It worked out OK for us but I can definitely see how it could be very frustrating for someone wanting to spend more time on shore!

[AdamKnows]

On the ships I've been on, there's only been one tender boat at a time pulled up to the ship. Has anybody ever seen a situation where they used more than one at a time (obviously more than one opening on the ship opened at a time)?

 

When I was on the Mariner of the seas they used 2 tender stations on the ship. They used these when we were tendering to Cozumel.

[MGoBlue2]

What chaos! We booked excursions with outside tour companies, so we tried to get on the 1st tender on these days. We spent at least 45 minuntes- 1.5 hours standing in line.

If you would have booked with RCI, they would have made sure you got the right tender ticket- and you would have saved 45 minutes - 1.5 hours standing in line, and much frustration. Something to think about the next time you want to save a couple of bucks on an independent tour.

[cowprintrabbit]

On the ships I've been on, there's only been one tender boat at a time pulled up to the ship. Has anybody ever seen a situation where they used more than one at a time (obviously more than one opening on the ship opened at a time)?

 

I can't remember which port it was (I want to say Belize?), but there were two holes from which to tender on our carnival cruise last year. They told you which one to go to by where your room was in the ship.

[cmich068]

Explorer also used two tender docks in March when we were in Belize and Grand Cayman, not in Cozumel.

[johnjen]

If you don't like tendering I would suggest booking a cruise on a medium to smaller ship. Less people = less waiting.

 

I'd call this the best solution to the problem.

[Cruising89143]

I just stay away from the itineraries that would mean tendering ashore. That is why I like the eastern Caribbean so much more.