Question re: Tendered Ports/Private Tours

[tcdtcd]

We will be cruising on X for the first time on an upcoming South American cruise on the Infinity, and are considering non-ship-sponsored excursions in a number of ports.

 

I notice that a number of the SA ports are tendered rather than docked. Does X give priority to their own tour groups to diembark/tender first? I assume they do? If so, how long should we allow beyond arrival time in a port to being able to be ashore to meet a tour guide? 30 min? 1 hour? Appreciate any comments from experienced X cruisers on how Celebrity handles this.

 

Thanks!

[leoandhugh]

Yes they (X) does give priority tendering to the ship's shore excursions (as do all cruise lines we have been on). We found that there was no way to estimate the time required for them to clear and disembark their own tours because of several factors. 1) the number of pax who had booked ship's excursions 2) the distance to tender between the ship and shore and 3) weather conditions (if it is somewhat rough, it takes longer to load and unload tenders). Falkland Islands is notorious for this because rough swells mean long tendering time and often, because of rough seas, the ship will bypass the Falklands completely. If you are booking private excursions with a reputable company, they are usually familiar with how long tendering will take.