Island - San Juan del Sur tender

[cruisinlawn]

I know this is a tender port. Curious as to how difficult is it to board tender off Island? I know some port you basically step right off the ship onto tender. Others you navigate down steps onto tender, some steep some not so steep. Anyone able to fill me in on this? Mom has some mobility issues and we are trying to decide excursions and rather or not she'll be able to navigate tender. Thanks for the input.

[Tina-Ann]

We did the SJDS Tender in December of '09. There were a couple of shallow steps getting onto the tender and then a few steep steps down into the tender to sit. The water was calm and the attendants were attentive, so it was all very easy....however, we have tendered before where the water was rough and choppy and the attendants were not very helpful and we saw an elderly man's leg get caught in between the ship and the tender, he earned a huge gash in his leg and was then helped off the tender, back onto the ship and had to see the ship's doctor. So...don't be afraid to ask for help and lots of it and it should be an easy transition.

[billet]

The San Juan del Sur pontoon has a narrow walkway along the edge that you step onto from the tender. You then walk singlefile about 20' to the steps leading up to the top of the pontoon. I took my 90 year old mother ashore who has mobility issues and there was considerable assistance to help her get safely ashore.

The return to the ship was much more interesting since the weather had worsened and on arrival at the ship the tender was moving about 3' up and 3' down when alongside the ships pontoon. Four of the crew surrounded her and held onto various parts of her anatomy and then they jumped and carried her with them to safety.

[katiepe]

We did this at New Years and I must admit to be a total chicken with tenders.

Luckily the seas were calm and the pier in port is very good and easy to walk on.

Not so for Fuerte Amador. Very rough seas and a bit of a rocky wooden pier.

[sloney]

I know this is a tender port. Curious as to how difficult is it to board tender off Island? I know some port you basically step right off the ship onto tender. Others you navigate down steps onto tender, some steep some not so steep. Anyone able to fill me in on this? Mom has some mobility issues and we are trying to decide excursions and rather or not she'll be able to navigate tender. Thanks for the input.

 

To get off the tender there are a few (3-4) steps on the dock but the step to exit the tender itself is quite deep. The other issue is that it could be fairly bumpy making the climb even more difficult.

 

I was there at Christmas and most of the folks that required canes or walkers stayed on the ship.