Acapulco to Fort Lauderdale: Tender vs Dock?

[CINCY40]

Does anyone know which of these ports require tendering? We are doing ACA to FLL on the CORAL in late November.

 

Thanks.

 

Huatulco, Mexico?

 

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala?

 

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua?

 

Puntarenas, Costa Rica?

 

Cristobal, Panama?

 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica?

[travelingman]

Does anyone know which of these ports require tendering? We are doing ACA to FLL on the CORAL in late November.

 

Thanks.

 

Huatulco, Mexico?

 

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala?

 

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua?

 

Puntarenas, Costa Rica?

 

Cristobal, Panama?

 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica?

 

I have a FLL to ACA cruise which has different ports of call with the following commom ports:

 

Huatulco - Tender

 

Puerto Quetzal - Dock

 

Puntarenas - Dock

 

Go to your cruise personalizer on the Princess Crusie site and the first page that comes up is the Booking Summary. Look on the right hand side and there are 8 selections with the 7th one being Itinerary. If you select Itinerary it will show which ports are "Tender" ports.

[FLACRUISER99]

But its not always right.

[captainron]

Hi,

Contrary to Cincy40s advice, ships enter the port through a narrow entrance, and the dock is a mere 75yds from a beautiful beach and shopping area. While it is not the area of the 5 star resorts, you must remember that Huatulco is one of the newer developing resorts on the Mexican Riviera, and consists of nine intimate little bays with beaches. The dock at Huatulco is not a tender stop unless you're the third ship in port that day. The dock can easily hold Panamax vessels such as the Coral and larger vessels also if you disembark from a fwd gangway. I can't tell you much more for Huatulco, however even next to the ship, the waters at the beach were warm and very clean (watch out for exorbitant costs of margaritas at the palapa bars on the beach (USD$8.50)...rip off!!!).

 

Puntarenas is a dock port as confirmed, and for those who have restricted movement, there is a mini-train (shuttle) to the end of the pier for to meet tour buses although I have seen several lined up on the dock (they recerse the length of the pier). For those doing tours with Charlie Soto, Charlie or his staff will meet you on the pier with the vans/mini-buses waiting to load you. He will have a sign with the name of the tour coordinator. Once loaded you're on your way, and probably quicker than the shore excursions off the ship. There is a fleamarket (tourist trap) at the end of the pier for souvenirs. You must remember that Puntarenas is not a well to do area of Costa Rica, so the economy is dependent on the vessels that do come in. Bargains in CR include these brands of coffee...1812 and Cafe d'Oro.

 

Have a great cruise and hope this has helped, so...

 

Ciao for now!!!

[CINCY40]

CAPTAINRON thank you for the informative reply. Does anyone else know about:

 

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua?

 

Cristobal, Panama?

 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica? (I am assuming that this has a dock since many Caribbean itineraries stop there).

 

One of the things that intrigued us about this cruise was the large number of "off the beaten path" ports that we had never visited.

 

Thanks

[FLACRUISER99]

Cristobal, Panama? Dock

 

Ocho Rios, Jamaica? Dock (James Bond Pier)

[saratoga]

Puerto Corinto, Nicaragua? - In Nov 2007 on Island Princess, we docked.

[CINCY40]

Thank you all!