Tendering questions...

[dl13]

Although we have been on 3 Celebrity cruises, we have never been tendered to shore. We are sailing to the Med/Greek Isles on the Solstice in June and there are 2 tender ports (Mykonos and Santorini).

 

I have just read someone's post on the "solstice concierge service" thread and they seem to indicate that Concierge can use the priority lines for embarkation/disembarkation and priorty tendering. Unfortunately I don't see anything listed on the Celebrity site with regards to priority tendering for Concierge or Aqua Class...only priority embarkation and disembarkation.

 

We have booked an AQ cabin which is listed as getting all of the benefits of a Concierge cabin plus a few others.

 

 

Can someone please educate me on exactly how tendering works?

 

 

1. Are tender tickets secured the night before or do we have to queue in the morning?
   
2. If we have to queue in the morning, how early do we need to get into line to be off the ship on one of the first few tenders?
   
3. Is there any priority given to anyone other than Suite passengers or those with higher Captain's Club status?
   

Thanks for any help you can provide!

:)

[Denny01]

We were Concierge on the Infinity and got priority tender tickets, but that was 2 years ago. I assume (dangerous word) that it is still the same.By the way, the tendering we experienced was so fast, by the time we went down (late morning about 9ish), there wasn't any real lines and no need for priority tickets.

 

For Mykonos, we signed up for ship's tour and had separate tendering. We had the tour of the other island and the ferry picked us up at the ship. It was great. And there is a pier on Mykonos so it depends on if your ship gets the pier or has to tender. Personally, I thought the tendering worked better because it took you into town instead of the pier where you had to get off and take shuttles into town.

 

On Santorini, again we signed up for a ship tour, and they had a separate ferry take us to a different pier with the buses waiting for us at the base of the cliff. We didn't have to wait in line for the tenders or use the funicular (sp?) to go up the side of the cliff face....takes a bit of time when you are unloading thousands. We did our tour and then dropped back into the main town and caught the funicular (again Sp?) to the base of the cliff and back aboard.

 

Worked very nice in both cases. enjoy...fantastic cruise and ports.

 

Den

[Gonzo70]

The first few tenders are reserved for those booked on excursions through the cruise ship, those staying in suites, and those high up in Captain's Club. If you are not in one of these three categories you will not be able to secure tender tickets in advance, so you would have to wait a while (the time varies) if you show up early trying to board a tender.

[Gonzo70]

We were Concierge on the Infinity and got priority tender tickets, but that was 2 years ago. I assume (dangerous word) that it is still the same.By the way, the tendering we experienced was so fast, by the time we went down (late morning about 9ish), there wasn't any real lines and no need for priority tickets.

 

Den

 

 

Denny, were you Elite with Captain's Club at the time? I do not recall this ever being a perk for Concierge Class.

[CathyCruises]

The only time I got priority tender tickets was when I was in a suite.

 

On our cruise to Mykonos, it said we were going to tender but we ended up docking and catching the free shuttle into town. . .

[ghstudio]

I believe this was one of the concierge class perks that disappeared about the same time as the butlers did.

 

Priority tendering is now a function of captain's club level...and perhaps suites. Concierge class still gets "priority embarcation and disembarcation" but not priority tendering.

[dl13]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies!

 

I didn't think we would get priority tendering.

 

We're not doing any ship tours so I guess we will just have to line up early and hope for the best!

 

:)

[Gonzo70]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies!

 

I didn't think we would get priority tendering.

 

We're not doing any ship tours so I guess we will just have to line up early and hope for the best!

 

:)

 

If you do not need to be off right away I recommend heading there about half an hour after they start the tenders; at that point there will be little or no wait. If you need to be off ASAP, then I guess you have no choice but to arrive early. Sometimes the wait is short, but other times it can be a while.

[cruise kitty]

Denny, were you Elite with Captain's Club at the time? I do not recall this ever being a perk for Concierge Class.

 

When Concierge class first came out, the priority tender tickets were one of the perks, a few years ago, they took away this benefit, I think it may have been when they revamped the Captain's Club perks.