Dock/Tender logistics

[harborchick]

Hello,

 

I am a total newbie to cruising and have a rather basic question. If the itinerary for my ship (the Windspirit) says we will be in port at “8:00 am”, does that mean I can book a book an outside shore excursion that meets on dock at 8:00 am? Having never cruised before, I am unsure of the logistics and time involved in getting off the ship. For this particular question, the port is non-tendered.

 

I am also curious how it works for a tendered port. If the itinerary says “8:00 am”, what’s a safe time to meet a private shore excursion? Also, do tenders run back and forth all day? Do they wait for a big group of people to accumulate either on the ship or on shore before running them?

 

Thanks so much!

[lovecruisingtoo]

To answer one of your questions, Windstar runs the tenders all day long when in port. Believe they run every 30 minutes if I recall correctly.

 

Getting off the ship in port is no problem. Takes just a couple of minutes. Most shore excursion companies are completely familiar with the ships process and timing. They will know when to meet you at the ship.

 

As for getting off in a tendered port, that is no real issue compared to the large ships. Windstar will put a couple of tenders in the water and just about everyone will be able to get off within a short time. They will typically give priority to people on their shore excursions so you might need to wait for the second tender.

[stcruise]

Our experience with docking/tendering on the Wind Spirit has been similar to what lovecruisingtoo describes. Yes, the tour companies are very familiar with the various cruise ship schedules and make their plans accordingly.

[ducklite]

We just got off a B2B with 11 port days (including our changeover day) and I think we tendered at all but Venice and the second half of our first visit to Kotor.

 

There were a couple of days that it took longer than expected to clear the ship, I think Hvar was the one that was most delayed, that one was almost an hour behind.

 

Once the ship was cleared the people with a shore excursion booked through the ship were allowed off first, and then it was first come, first served. I don't recall every having to wait for a tender for more than a few minutes--we knew that those on a ship excursion would be given priority, so on the days we hadn't booked one we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before going ashore.

 

The tenders ran back and forth more or less on demand and there were almost always two running. I don't think we ever waited more than 5-10 minutes, often there was a tender waiting when we arrived at the pier.

 

Also be careful about the port being "non-tendered." We had at least once where we were supposed to dock and ended up having to tender, and our port actually changed in Venice from San Basilio to the main port.

 

Your tour guide will understand all of this and plan accordingly. Bottom line, if the schedule shows you dock at 8:00, you probably won't be allowed off until closer to 8:30 unless there is room on a tender that is taking people to shore excursions. They stagger the shore excursion tenders so they leave at 15 minute intervals, but I don't think most of them left full, and I know we often had people on the tender with us who weren't on the shore excursion.

 

The one day we got off first was in Venice. It was a very short turnaround day and we wanted to maximize our time. We were waiting at the gangplank for probably 15-20 minutes before the ship cleared, and because we weren't claiming luggage they had no problem with us getting off as soon as the ship cleared. Be aware that just because we were cleared and let off, it didn't mean that Venice was ready for us, and we ended up having to wait around the terminal building for about 20 minutes while they got their act together. (The Italians, not the ship.)

[harborchick]

Lovecruising, stcruise and Ducklite--

 

thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions. The information is exactly what I was looking for. And Ducklite, your detailed experiences on the Med were so helpful--lots of things I hadn't considered. Thanks to everyone for the help and not making me feel stupid for asking:)

[stcruise]

harborchick - I know you will enjoy your cruise on the Wind Spirit. Are you doing the Greek Isles & Turkish Delights itinerary? I've only cruised with Windstar (Wind Spirit both times) in the caribbean. Won't get to experience Turkey and Greece with them until next year. I'll be very interested in your experiences on this itinerary (or anyone else's who might be reading this).

[harborchick]

Hi, stcruise—

Yes, my husband and I are sailing the Athens to Istanbul itinerary this summer. This will be our first trip to Greece/Turkey and our first cruise. It’s been alternately fun and overwhelming to plan this trip, as so many sights, sounds and tastes will be completely new. I’ve never even eaten a gyro or been on a boat larger than a ferry. I will definitely report back after the trip. It looks like you’ve traveled to many beautiful places!

[Divegal]

I've just returned from the WindSpirit Istanbul to Athens cruise and had a wonderful time. If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to try to answer them.