Tendering Sydney Nova Scotia

[Mar56]

Hi. We are doing a Maritime cruise on Brilliance of the Seas in October 2012 and will be tendering to the dock. If anyone has done this in this location, about how long does it take to get to the dock from the ship? I am trying to figure out our timeline for a private excursion.

 

Thanks so much in advance.

[maryann ns]

I think you can trust the tour operator to have an idea about this. Are you sure you are tendering?

 

I just did a search and found these threads:

 

boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1230030

 

boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1127185

[Mar56]

Thanks for your response Maryann and yes, ther e is another ship in port and we are showing as being at anchor. Its a royal caribbean cruise and i am hearing from others on rol call thAt ship excursions will go first. So not sure if there are other boats for us or what. Our tour operator said to just get off asap but I have no idea how that works on RC. Sigh. DH wants to book the least expensive ship excursion which starts at 830 am so that we get off and then just tell them we ve changed our minds. I am not sure what to do.

 

Marion

[travelbig]

Thanks for your response Maryann and yes, ther e is another ship in port and we are showing as being at anchor. Its a royal caribbean cruise and i am hearing from others on rol call thAt ship excursions will go first. So not sure if there are other boats for us or what. Our tour operator said to just get off asap but I have no idea how that works on RC. Sigh. DH wants to book the least expensive ship excursion which starts at 830 am so that we get off and then just tell them we ve changed our minds. I am not sure what to do.

 

Marion

 

Usually the cruise line wants 24 hr. notice to cancel a ship tour (unless weather conditions prohibit running the tour). If you wait to cancel that morning, you will be charged for it.

 

Your tour guide knows you have to tender and that it will take time. It takes 20-30 min. for the ship to be cleared by authorities and then the tender process starts. So, just do what he said, get off as soon as you can, and he will be there waiting for you holding a sign with your name on it. It won't matter if you are a little late.

 

We just got off a RCI cruise, and no mention was made of shore excursion people going first. We tendered in Grand Cayman.

[Mar56]

Usually the cruise line wants 24 hr. notice to cancel a ship tour (unless weather conditions prohibit running the tour). If you wait to cancel that morning, you will be charged for it.

 

Your tour guide knows you have to tender and that it will take time. It takes 20-30 min. for the ship to be cleared by authorities and then the tender process starts. So, just do what he said, get off as soon as you can, and he will be there waiting for you holding a sign with your name on it. It won't matter if you are a little late.

 

We just got off a RCI cruise, and no mention was made of shore excursion people going first. We tendered in Grand Cayman.

 

 

Thanks for your response Travelbig. Yeah, we knew that we couldn't expect a refund on the ship excursion, but I worry about everything and I wasn't sure how long it would take us to get off the ship. If we paid for the tour we wouldn't actually go on, we'd at least be off the ship early and able to go on the private excursion that we want to do. sigh. So there was no priority tendering in Grand Cayman??? wow.

 

I'm hearing diffferent things on my roll call, including that even if we are docked, we won't be able to get off until the ship excursion people are off, which makes no sense to me as we are just walking out the door of the ship - I know there's a bit of a time lag due to scanning our ship cards but really??

 

Thanks again.

 

Marion

[maryann ns]

If you are going on a personal private excursion then there will be no problem. You will still save time over a ship's tour because you will not have the delays for shopping and bathroom breaks.

[travelbig]

Do not worry. Your guide will wait for you. Just get off as soon as you can. I know what other people are saying about ship tours getting off first, but I haven't run into that situation in a long time. You know, if this is really bothering you, just fall in line with an excursion and get on the tender with them. No one checks for tickets when you get on the tender.

[Mar56]

Do not worry. Your guide will wait for you. Just get off as soon as you can. I know what other people are saying about ship tours getting off first, but I haven't run into that situation in a long time. You know, if this is really bothering you, just fall in line with an excursion and get on the tender with them. No one checks for tickets when you get on the tender.

 

Had to laugh at underlined part - that's exactly what the tour operator said to do. We'll try and see what happens. Thanks again.

 

Marion

[travelbig]

Too funny! Have a great time. These ports are beautiful.

[lizusatravel]

Hi. We are doing a Maritime cruise on Brilliance of the Seas in October 2012 and will be tendering to the dock. If anyone has done this in this location, about how long does it take to get to the dock from the ship? I am trying to figure out our timeline for a private excursion.

 

Thanks so much in advance.

can you please tell me who your using in sydney we are looking for some one there also.

[maryann ns]

These threads have reviews of some tour or taxi operators:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1450281

 

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154967-i326-k4847897-Tours_from_Cruise_Ships_at_Sydney_Port-Nova_Scotia.html#36180250

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=828325&page=4