Slow tendering into Lahaina

[Underwatr]

Onboard the Queen Victoria off Lahaina currently; we are experiencing extreme delays in tendering, apparently due to the capacity of the small boat harbor and (possibly) lack of docking priority with other tour boats departing from the narbor.

 

Having been on this ship at other tender ports I know that with adequate dockage at the port tender times are not an issue.

 

Is this a typical situation with a moderate-large (2000 passenger) ship at Lahaina? I would think that passengers would not be advised to book independent excursions at Lahaina if this is anything of a common issue...

 

PS: Thankfully we're only waiting to go into town and not booked on any excursion. Just frustrating to be still waiting to go ashore at 11:30 AM.

[Astro Flyer]

Onboard the Queen Victoria off Lahaina currently; we are experiencing extreme delays in tendering, apparently due to the capacity of the small boat harbor and (possibly) lack of docking priority with other tour boats departing from the narbor.

 

Having been on this ship at other tender ports I know that with adequate dockage at the port tender times are not an issue.

 

Is this a typical situation with a moderate-large (2000 passenger) ship at Lahaina? I would think that passengers would not be advised to book independent excursions at Lahaina if this is anything of a common issue...

 

PS: Thankfully we're only waiting to go into town and not booked on any excursion. Just frustrating to be still waiting to go ashore at 11:30 AM.

While those may be the causes of your delays, my experience with delays in Lahaina have been weather related. Once after tendering began, they had to suspend tendering while the ship was repositioned to use the other side of the ship due to wind conditions.

 

That weather related uncertainty is why those considering any indendent tours, particularly those so early in the morning, are warned often on these boards. On Princess, the ship's tours & Elite level passengers get priority on the tenders so that makes the tendering delays even longer.

 

Princess issues tender tickets at a restaurant & has everyone sit there until escorted to the tender by group. Your cruise ship may have some similar situations but it's not a good idea for anyone on an independent tour to plan to be someplace at any particular time & if they cannot cancel it's lost money for them. :(

 

I'm like you & just tender into Lahaina to walk around town to eat at a favorite restaurant & to look in the shops. Having spent a lot of time in Maui that's easy for me to say but not practical for anyone who hasn't been there & wants to see so much that the Valley Isle has to offer! :D

[Underwatr]

Since the delays were so long (averaging 1.5 hours from getting your ticket to boarding the tender) they've begun announcing tender boarding via shipwide announcement (Cunard makes practically no shipwide announcements normally). We can see that two tenders are being made to wait at the harbor entrance while two others are inside the harbor unloading and reloading, so the total time to get ashore may be close to two hours.

 

Another passenger waiting said the same situation existed last year. We've given up (we gave our #18 tickets to her since she had #20) and will have a nice lunch and relaxng afternoon onboard.

 

I predict that tendering back in the afternoon (the announced last tender time is 4:30 for a planned departure of 6:00) will be just as bad and would rather not have the hassle at the end of the day as well.

 

I couldn't find any contact info for the port authority online (just to write and complain...). I did find the phone number for the mayor of Lahaina but not an email address (not that he could do anything, but it occurred to me to drop the mayor a line to mention that I wasn't going to spend any money in Lahaina because of it and isn't that just too bad for both of us).

 

(PS: Just after noon local time and there are probably a couple hundred passengers still waiting to board a tender.)

[Astro Flyer]

Since the delays were so long (averaging 1.5 hours from getting your ticket to boarding the tender) they've begun announcing tender boarding via shipwide announcement (Cunard makes practically no shipwide announcements normally). We can see that two tenders are being made to wait at the harbor entrance while two others are inside the harbor unloading and reloading, so the total time to get ashore may be close to two hours.

 

Another passenger waiting said the same situation existed last year. We've given up (we gave our #18 tickets to her since she had #20) and will have a nice lunch and relaxng afternoon onboard.

 

I predict that tendering back in the afternoon (the announced last tender time is 4:30 for a planned departure of 6:00) will be just as bad and would rather not have the hassle at the end of the day as well.

 

I couldn't find any contact info for the port authority online (just to write and complain...). I did find the phone number for the mayor of Lahaina but not an email address (not that he could do anything, but it occurred to me to drop the mayor a line to mention that I wasn't going to spend any money in Lahaina because of it and isn't that just too bad for both of us).

 

(PS: Just after noon local time and there are probably a couple hundred passengers still waiting to board a tender.)

It appears that your situation is different than mine & that getting to the tender pier may be due congestion at the tender pier. Like Cunard, Princess rarely makes any announcements but I may want to hear one about why it takes nearly 2 hours to get into Lahaina. That type of announcement would notify everyone so the crew doesn't have to explain the reasons over, and over again.

 

Are you the only ship?

 

The last time on the Golden Princess we were informed upon arrival that sailing had been moved up by an hour due to weather delays heading to Ensenada & LA. Although by the time everyone was tendered onboard, I don't think we left any earlier.

 

I think that's a great idea to contact government officials about the lost revenue to Maui due to their inadequate tender pier. Having lived in Maui & still a part-time resident, I know that nothing gets done there quickly. Whenever improvements are proposed, there will be those who strongly speak out against anything, even non-controversial things, which results in nearly endless delays. :eek:

[Northern Aurora]

The Celebrity Century tendered at Lahaina last November. We were the only cruise ship at anchor. Both ship tenders and private tenders were used. If my memory is correct, the Century has slightly less than 1900 passengers, and while we have elite loyalty status on Celebrity we didn't use our elite tender tickets since when we walked down to the tender area at 9:30 am or so, no tickets were needed. Passengers were just boarding the tenders as they walked up.

 

My educated guess is that your delays are indeed weather related. And that is nothing that the mayor has any control over.

[Underwatr]

The reason given by the ship is that the delays are caused by the harbor master and they have been unable to remedy this situation despite the ship's agents having contacted the harbor master to obtain higher priority for the shp's tenders. No more than two tenders are allowed into the harbor at a time and during the morning debarkation two additional tenders would wait at the entrance to the harbor. Even now that the tenders are running open to shore and back I can see one tender is being made to wait at the harbor entrance.

 

I can assure you it's absolutely not weather related. The sea is calm and winds are light.

[CruiserBruce]

Having been to Lahaina many many times, I don't believe there is room at the dock for more than two tenders at a time. If a tender were at the flat end of the pier, it would hamper anybody else using the fairly narrow channel right at a turn at the entrance to the harbor. Probably not safe.

 

One or perhaps two tenders might be able to use the other side of the dock, but that would displace someone who rents that slip.

[Underwatr]

A little time on the balcony with a google map and binoculars and I agree with your observation about space at the dock. There's a small dock/wharf in front of the Best Western that I can see the tenders tying up to. At any time they can fit two tenders on the right side (if you're facing the water from the hotel) and tour boats etc. are using the end of the wharf (and possibly the left side although I haven't seen much traffic there).

 

So if it is in fact an issue of not having capacity to dock more than two tenders at a time how do other ships hande it? Does Pride of America visit Lahaina regularly? are they more efficient at the dock? Do they get more space?

 

I'm not beyond being persuaded that Cunard just hasn't planned adequately for this port visit (they might have about four ship visits a year between Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth) which is why I was wondering if this might be more than a one-time issue.

[CruiserBruce]

POA docks at Kahalui, doesn't stop at Lahaina.

[Underwatr]

Thanks, just found that out. I've found thst Lahaina gets 6 or 7 ships a month, with passenger loads ranging from 700 to 3500 when two ships occasionally come in on the same day. On the other hand, from cruisett it look like Cunard's sister line Princess brings as many passengers per month into Lahaina as Cunard does per year - perhaps there should be some sharing of best practices within the greater corporation...

[Underwatr]

The Captain's announcement before dinnertime indicated that capacity through the channel to the dock was limited, which apparently also limited the tendering pace.

[CruiserBruce]

It is a pretty narrow channel, with very slow speed. Complaining to the Mayor will pit cruise ship pax needs against the

local boat captains who have their needs as well, in a very limited space. Lahaina has a huge tourist base not tied to the cruise industry. Many of the local boats want to get out in that same 7-9am window for optimal snorkeling, or fishing,

or diving, or whale watching, as the tenders want to come in. Saying the 8-10 cruise ships that visit each of maybe 5 months deserve priority is a tough argument.

[Underwatr]

Fine - if the cruise ship visits are not important to Lahaina's economy then the cruise ships should not visit. That's my only point.

 

If on the other hand someone can be reached who might care then they should be informed.

 

I certainly didn't expect anyone to be able to respond favorably on the day.

[PCWalton1]

It is a pretty narrow channel, with very slow speed. Complaining to the Mayor will pit cruise ship pax needs against the

local boat captains who have their needs as well, in a very limited space. Lahaina has a huge tourist base not tied to the cruise industry. Many of the local boats want to get out in that same 7-9am window for optimal snorkeling, or fishing,

or diving, or whale watching, as the tenders want to come in. Saying the 8-10 cruise ships that visit each of maybe 5 months deserve priority is a tough argument.

 

This fall will be our first time going to Lahaina on a cruise ship and I feel slightly guilty because when I have been there on land based vacations I have been known to complain when a cruise ship is in port. Mainly due to the larger than usual crowds and the ship certainly doesn't add to the view. Now I will be part of my own complaint. :o

 

Bill

[sassyredhat]

Wow, we have sailed 2 cruises to Hawaii, both with HAL, and we never saw this ! :eek:

Hopefully, our PCL cruise in April won't have this problem. We aren't booked on any ships tours in Lahaina. Mmmmmm.

Pat

[Astro Flyer]

Wow, we have sailed 2 cruises to Hawaii, both with HAL, and we never saw this ! :eek:

Hopefully, our PCL cruise in April won't have this problem. We aren't booked on any ships tours in Lahaina. Mmmmmm.

Pat

 

The only delays I experienced on the Golden Princess in November 2010 was due to a shift in the wind requiring that tendering be done from the other side of the ship.