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Bar Harbor - tender


chechya
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We are sailing on Royal this July and we've never done a tender port before. Can anyone tell me how early one can expect to be able to tender in to Bar Harbor? Ship gets in at 7. Are the tender boats first come first served or is there a ticketing system? We're on Adventure OTS so not one of Royals huge ships. Any other info re: tendering that's useful to know in advance? Thanks.

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We have tendered at Bar Harbor twice, but on Celebrity ships so can't comment on how Royal handles the tender process. But there are two different locations for the tender docks, and we have tendered at both. Both are right downtown, and public bathrooms are in very close proximity. Both locations are convenient.

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We are sailing on Royal this July and we've never done a tender port before. Can anyone tell me how early one can expect to be able to tender in to Bar Harbor? Ship gets in at 7. Are the tender boats first come first served or is there a ticketing system? We're on Adventure OTS so not one of Royals huge ships. Any other info re: tendering that's useful to know in advance? Thanks.

We were on RCI Anthem (so Adventure will have the same process) this past October and also arrived at 7:00am. The first tender was approx 7:30am. You can get tender tickets the day or two before arrival (it will be in your Cruise Compass where to get these) however we found this to be unnecessary at all as no one asked. We had no problem getting off when we wanted to which was approx 8:45am.If you have booked a shore excursion with RCI (and I hope you didn't) there's no need for a tender ticket....

 

Any reason why you need to be off so early ?..It's a small town and much may not be open that early.

 

We booked a tour with Acadia Nat. Park (online) for 9:30am we had an amazing tour with Heather and would recommend this absolutely...and then had plenty of time to have a great lunch at Testa's and walk around the town.

 

The tender drops you off right at the pier in town and that's where you catch it for your return also.

 

Enjoy Bar Harbor

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We were on RCI Anthem (so Adventure will have the same process) this past October and also arrived at 7:00am. The first tender was approx 7:30am. You can get tender tickets the day or two before arrival (it will be in your Cruise Compass where to get these) however we found this to be unnecessary at all as no one asked. We had no problem getting off when we wanted to which was approx 8:45am.If you have booked a shore excursion with RCI (and I hope you didn't) there's no need for a tender ticket....

 

Any reason why you need to be off so early ?..It's a small town and much may not be open that early.

 

We booked a tour with Acadia Nat. Park (online) for 9:30am we had an amazing tour with Heather and would recommend this absolutely...and then had plenty of time to have a great lunch at Testa's and walk around the town.

 

The tender drops you off right at the pier in town and that's where you catch it for your return also.

 

Enjoy Bar Harbor

 

This is extremely helpful, thanks. I'm interested in walking over the sandbar to Bar Island, or at least a little way out, and low tide is at 8am that morning, hence the idea of getting off right away. Not sure if walking out is worth it or not, but I figured I'd at least even see if it was a possibility with timing since I've read you have 1.5 hours on either end of low tide to do it.

 

We are huge National Parks enthusiasts (lifetime goal to see all of the parks, we've done 14 so far) so we definitely are looking at getting to Acadia and spending most of the day there. Did you book through the NPS or one if its concessioners? Right from the nps Acadia site?

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write a detailed response. Very helpful!

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We have tendered at Bar Harbor twice, but on Celebrity ships so can't comment on how Royal handles the tender process. But there are two different locations for the tender docks, and we have tendered at both. Both are right downtown, and public bathrooms are in very close proximity. Both locations are convenient.

Thanks! Always good to know where the restrooms will be.

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This is extremely helpful, thanks. I'm interested in walking over the sandbar to Bar Island, or at least a little way out, and low tide is at 8am that morning, hence the idea of getting off right away. Not sure if walking out is worth it or not, but I figured I'd at least even see if it was a possibility with timing since I've read you have 1.5 hours on either end of low tide to do it.

 

We are huge National Parks enthusiasts (lifetime goal to see all of the parks, we've done 14 so far) so we definitely are looking at getting to Acadia and spending most of the day there. Did you book through the NPS or one if its concessioners? Right from the nps Acadia site?

 

Thanks again for taking the time to write a detailed response. Very helpful!

We booked directly online with Acadia NPS for their 9:30am tour (first one of the day). We then printed out our confirmation they emailed us and were then told to meet at Testa's Restaurant and checked in. The bus will be across the street...get in line or board the bus as quick as you can as it's a first come first seated option. Luckily we got the first seats opposite the driver....just amazing. After the tour you can get a discount on lunch at Testa's...great food !!

 

FYI...Hopefully you get Heather as your guide...she's amazing...so experienced and has worked at several NP's and is an expert on Acadia.

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chechya: We have not walked over the sandbar to Bar Island as we have never had the time when at Bar Harbor, but the views from the island back toward Bar Harbor must be lovely on a nice day.

 

We used Ollie's Trolley for an excursion into Arcadia National Park. We have been to Bar Harbor on a picture-perfect day and also on a day when it was raining heavily. With Ollie's Trolley we didn't pre-book.

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This is extremely helpful, thanks. I'm interested in walking over the sandbar to Bar Island, or at least a little way out, and low tide is at 8am that morning, hence the idea of getting off right away. Not sure if walking out is worth it or not, but I figured I'd at least even see if it was a possibility with timing since I've read you have 1.5 hours on either end of low tide to do it.....

 

Pic from the sandbar facing south;

enhance

 

Tip: Sometimes clicking on the post number (located in the upper right corner of the post) will give you a larger pic; OR place cursor over the image and right click. From the drop down menu, select View Image.

 

The tender ride is about 10-13 minutes depending on weather conditions, but does not include loading and unloading time for the tender.

 

SBtS

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