How long is the tender to St. Malo?

[kazu]

I posted this on the St. Malo thread on dock location - but probably better as a separate thread? I couldn't find anything on searches so if the question has been asked, apologies:p

 

We have a private transfer booked in St. Malo and I am trying to determine how long the tender takes (just the trip time).

 

We want to allow enough time to meet our guide.

 

if anyone can advise it would be so helpful. thank you:)

[Hlitner]

This will not answer your question, but tender time (just the journey) will vary based on where the pilot (and Captain) decide to anchor the ship. Anchorages do vary depending on sea conditions, prevailing winds, tides, and any other ships that might be anchored in the area. So not knowing exactly where you will be anchored one would not know the distance (which affects times). In addition, sea conditions are a huge factor. If there are waves or swells it can really slow down the tender as can head winds. And do not forget that you are dealing with France which means the very bureaucratic French authorities which will have to first clear the ship. So when you sum it up there is no way to accurately predict when you will get ashore. France is always full of surprises. On a cruise we took last year that docked in Bordeaux, many of our fellow passengers had made tour arrangements based on docking time. Once we docked it took about 1 1/2 hours to get the gangplank in place because the French stopped the simple process to wait for the appropriate union workers needed to remove 2 bolts (this is a true story). They even had the local police intervene to stop one of our crew members (who had a wrench) from removing the offending bolts.

 

Hank

[kazu]

This will not answer your question, but tender time (just the journey) will vary based on where the pilot (and Captain) decide to anchor the ship. Anchorages do vary depending on sea conditions, prevailing winds, tides, and any other ships that might be anchored in the area. So not knowing exactly where you will be anchored one would not know the distance (which affects times). In addition, sea conditions are a huge factor. If there are waves or swells it can really slow down the tender as can head winds. And do not forget that you are dealing with France which means the very bureaucratic French authorities which will have to first clear the ship. So when you sum it up there is no way to accurately predict when you will get ashore. France is always full of surprises. On a cruise we took last year that docked in Bordeaux, many of our fellow passengers had made tour arrangements based on docking time. Once we docked it took about 1 1/2 hours to get the gangplank in place because the French stopped the simple process to wait for the appropriate union workers needed to remove 2 bolts (this is a true story). They even had the local police intervene to stop one of our crew members (who had a wrench) from removing the offending bolts.

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank - I know the tenders depend upon seas and stuff but I was really hoping to get an indication. I have a group going to Mont St. Michel. The Prinsendam arrives at 8 am (theoreticallly) and it is a TR port.

 

We do want time to see St. Malo - so, how about putting it this way, if you were me, what time would you have the transfers set for at St. Malo to go to Mont Saint Michel? I was thinking 9 am (pretty sure I can make arrangement for the group) - is that too early?

 

Your best guess would be so appreciated:)

 

Of course, with all my luck and all this planning, we may not well be able to tender:eek:

[Hlitner]

Thanks Hank - I know the tenders depend upon seas and stuff but I was really hoping to get an indication. I have a group going to Mont St. Michel. The Prinsendam arrives at 8 am (theoreticallly) and it is a TR port.

 

We do want time to see St. Malo - so, how about putting it this way, if you were me, what time would you have the transfers set for at St. Malo to go to Mont Saint Michel? I was thinking 9 am (pretty sure I can make arrangement for the group) - is that too early?

 

Your best guess would be so appreciated:)

 

Of course, with all my luck and all this planning, we may not well be able to tender:eek:

 

Ahhh, so its the Prinsendam which happens to be one of our favorite old ships (we just did a 62 day cruise on her this spring). This does matter since that ship has relatively small tenders but also has fewer then 800 passengers (only 560 on our cruise). If your party are all 4 Star Mariners we might thing that 9 is reasonable. Otherwise, you are aware that the cruise line excursions will get priority and a majority of the passengers will use the excursions. If not 4 star we would probably suggest 9:15 for the tour company with the thinking that if we were 15 min late they would live with it :). All the good tour companies and guides are familiar with tender operations and they will wait for you (at your expense).

 

Mont St Michel is an interesting place and you should have a nice time. Just keep in mind that there is quite a lot of walking when seeing Mt St Michel. We drove there when they were still using the old parking lot (we hear they have built a new parking area) which was on lower ground that would flood with the tides. You had to be really careful to check the time in order to move your car before the water flooded the lot :)

 

Hank

[kazu]

Ahhh, so its the Prinsendam which happens to be one of our favorite old ships (we just did a 62 day cruise on her this spring). This does matter since that ship has relatively small tenders but also has fewer then 800 passengers (only 560 on our cruise). If your party are all 4 Star Mariners we might thing that 9 is reasonable. Otherwise, you are aware that the cruise line excursions will get priority and a majority of the passengers will use the excursions. If not 4 star we would probably suggest 9:15 for the tour company with the thinking that if we were 15 min late they would live with it :). All the good tour companies and guides are familiar with tender operations and they will wait for you (at your expense).

 

Mont St Michel is an interesting place and you should have a nice time. Just keep in mind that there is quite a lot of walking when seeing Mt St Michel. We drove there when they were still using the old parking lot (we hear they have built a new parking area) which was on lower ground that would flood with the tides. You had to be really careful to check the time in order to move your car before the water flooded the lot :)

 

Hank

 

Thank you VERY much Hank. We're using a transfer to get there (so we won't be worrying about the car) - the group knows what they are facing - some will climb a smidge and some a lot more. It's basically a taxi transfer (which is quite reasonable) round trip and we are on our own in MSM.

 

this is our only tender port on the 31 days - but of course this is one place where most of us really want to go - to see it and experience it:)

 

thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it.:D

 

by the way, as part of her two week dry dock, I hear the Prinsendam is getting new tenders - might be helpful;)

[Hlitner]

Thank you VERY much Hank. We're using a transfer to get there (so we won't be worrying about the car) - the group knows what they are facing - some will climb a smidge and some a lot more. It's basically a taxi transfer (which is quite reasonable) round trip and we are on our own in MSM.

 

this is our only tender port on the 31 days - but of course this is one place where most of us really want to go - to see it and experience it:)

 

thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it.:D

 

by the way, as part of her two week dry dock, I hear the Prinsendam is getting new tenders - might be helpful;)

 

She can certainly use new tenders but we give kudos to the crew for keeping most of those old tenders running on our cruises (never more then 1 out of servicee at a time). The Prinsendam is aging and unfortunately it really shows. We are among the many fans of this classic ship and many of us have not been pleased at the deteriorating condition of the vessel. We did previously mention that the awning over the Lido Terrace was held in place by nylon straps during our recent cruise (they were concerned parts of it would blow off in a heavy wind) which the crew conveniently removed the day before we arrived at Ft Lauderdale (of course an upcoming Coast Guard inspection had nothing to do with that).

 

That part of the ship is being totally rennovated in drydock and the Terrace will be glassed-in which sounds like a good thing. But the ship is in need of more then a few fixes and we hope that HA decides that the ship is worth further investment (some folks have concerns that HA wants to get rid of the ship). We would settle for simply things like both Lido ice machines working at the same time, electric doors that all work at the same time, a real ventilation system in the Crows Nest that would suck out the cigarette smoke (HA still allows smoking here), etc

 

We spent more then 100 days on the vessel in a recent 12 month period and enjoyed every day despite some problems like falling down closet doors, lights falling off our wall, broken elevators, failed plumbing, A/C failiures, etc etc. I guess the fast that we are also aging with our own share of defects makes us comrades with this ship :)

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Thank you VERY much Hank. We're using a transfer to get there (so we won't be worrying about the car) - the group knows what they are facing - some will climb a smidge and some a lot more. It's basically a taxi transfer (which is quite reasonable) round trip and we are on our own in MSM.

 

this is our only tender port on the 31 days - but of course this is one place where most of us really want to go - to see it and experience it:)

 

thanks for the advice - I really appreciate it.:D

 

by the way, as part of her two week dry dock, I hear the Prinsendam is getting new tenders - might be helpful;)

 

She can certainly use new tenders but we give kudos to the crew for keeping most of those old tenders running on our cruises (never more then 1 out of servicee at a time). The Prinsendam is aging and unfortunately it really shows. We are among the many fans of this classic ship and many of us have not been pleased at the deteriorating condition of the vessel. We did previously mention that the awning over the Lido Terrace was held in place by nylon straps during our recent cruise (they were concerned parts of it would blow off in a heavy wind) which the crew conveniently removed the day before we arrived at Ft Lauderdale (of course an upcoming Coast Guard inspection had nothing to do with that).

 

That part of the ship is being totally rennovated in drydock and the Terrace will be glassed-in which sounds like a good thing. But the ship is in need of more then a few fixes and we hope that HA decides that the ship is worth further investment (some folks have concerns that HA wants to get rid of the ship). We would settle for simply things like both Lido ice machines working at the same time, electric doors that all work at the same time, a real ventilation system in the Crows Nest that would suck out the cigarette smoke (HA still allows smoking here), etc

 

We spent more then 100 days on the vessel in a recent 12 month period and enjoyed every day despite some problems like falling down closet doors, lights falling off our wall, broken elevators, failed plumbing, A/C failiures, etc etc. I guess the fast that we are also aging with our own share of defects makes us comrades with this ship :)

 

By the way, we do think the Prinsendam does always seem to have the best crew at sea. When you get on the ship, if Pedr is back as the beverage manager please tell him Hank says hello. And also ask Pedr if he has cans of Guinness onboard (he will get the joke).

 

Hank

[kazu]

She can certainly use new tenders but we give kudos to the crew for keeping most of those old tenders running on our cruises (never more then 1 out of servicee at a time). The Prinsendam is aging and unfortunately it really shows. We are among the many fans of this classic ship and many of us have not been pleased at the deteriorating condition of the vessel. We did previously mention that the awning over the Lido Terrace was held in place by nylon straps during our recent cruise (they were concerned parts of it would blow off in a heavy wind) which the crew conveniently removed the day before we arrived at Ft Lauderdale (of course an upcoming Coast Guard inspection had nothing to do with that).

 

That part of the ship is being totally rennovated in drydock and the Terrace will be glassed-in which sounds like a good thing. But the ship is in need of more then a few fixes and we hope that HA decides that the ship is worth further investment (some folks have concerns that HA wants to get rid of the ship). We would settle for simply things like both Lido ice machines working at the same time, electric doors that all work at the same time, a real ventilation system in the Crows Nest that would suck out the cigarette smoke (HA still allows smoking here), etc

 

We spent more then 100 days on the vessel in a recent 12 month period and enjoyed every day despite some problems like falling down closet doors, lights falling off our wall, broken elevators, failed plumbing, A/C failiures, etc etc. I guess the fast that we are also aging with our own share of defects makes us comrades with this ship :)

 

By the way, we do think the Prinsendam does always seem to have the best crew at sea. When you get on the ship, if Pedr is back as the beverage manager please tell him Hank says hello. And also ask Pedr if he has cans of Guinness onboard (he will get the joke).

 

Hank

 

I will certainly say hi to Pedr for you - he was the beverage manager on our last cruise:) Funny, there was no smoking in the Crow's nest on our last cruise - don't know if it was the people we had or if they chose not to allow it.

 

I don't think HAL plans on selling the ship;) at least - I sure hope not. Was told by a couple of senior officers that there was going to be significant dollars invested in her at the drydock.

 

She is a successful ship in the HAL fleet - it is my understanding that she is very profitable and they plan to keep her as long as possible:)

 

And I totally agree with you on the crew on this ship - they were incredible - a few things a step up from the other ships which we really enjoyed.

 

Thanks again for your help - from another Prinsendam fan.

[Hlitner]

The smoking issue in the Crow's Nest is a strange issue. The Senior Officers onboard understand its a big problem but do not get any backing from the home office to officially ban smoking. What they have done is subtly limit the smoking by doing things such as removing all the ashtrays. If a smoker comes into the lounge, asks for an ashtray, and sits over on the port side they are allowed to smoke. But they will not see anything on the ship telling them that its permitted (unless they ask). On the cruise that went to the South America late last winter (right before our cruise) then nearly had a riot in the Crow's Nest when they were cruising through some very scenic areas in bad weather. The Crows Nest was packed (standing room only) when a group of smokers lit up on the Port Side. The smokers were simply following the rules as dictated by HAs home office. The room quickly filled with smoke and the non-smokers (95%) get angry at the smokers. Some of the crew had to quickly intervene and they did politely ask the smokers to please go elsewhere and the issue was defused. But it forced the crew to go against HA policy to avoid a bigger problem. The problem is that there is really nowhere for smokers to go on the ship where it does not bother non-smokers...and HA refuses to adopt a policy similar to Celebrity that simply bans smoking in any indoor area.

 

For us, the answer is quite simple. As much as we love HA, we now have a personal policy of avoiding any HA cruise unless they are doing an itinerary we find so compelling that its worth putting up with the pollution. Our primary cruise line's of choice are now Celebrity (love this line) and Princess as well as some of the smaller lines (we love Azamara). Rather then spending most of our 100 days a year of cruising on HA we try to do it elsewhere and currently have no plans to go on any HA ship in the next year. We are not alone! In fact, on our 62 day Prinsendam Cruise there was seldom more then 600 on the ship (25% empty) despite the fact that HA finally started selling it as 12 different segments (and this was on a Grand Cruise). We had drinks late one evening with Captain Gundersen (he was drinking non-alcholoic stuff) in the Crows Nest and discussed this issue. He basically shrugged his shoulders and said that the smoking policies were dictated by the home office and, although it was the primary complaint issue on his ship, he was powerless to modify the policy. After a few of us started laughing he smiled and said we all needed to raise the issue with his Hotel Manager (who of course understood the issue better then anyone onboard).

Hank

 

P.S. Since we buried this post in the St Malo topic....we hope the smokers do not notice :)

[kazu]

The smoking issue in the Crow's Nest is a strange issue. The Senior Officers onboard understand its a big problem but do not get any backing from the home office to officially ban smoking. What they have done is subtly limit the smoking by doing things such as removing all the ashtrays. If a smoker comes into the lounge, asks for an ashtray, and sits over on the port side they are allowed to smoke. But they will not see anything on the ship telling them that its permitted (unless they ask). On the cruise that went to the South America late last winter (right before our cruise) then nearly had a riot in the Crow's Nest when they were cruising through some very scenic areas in bad weather. The Crows Nest was packed (standing room only) when a group of smokers lit up on the Port Side. The smokers were simply following the rules as dictated by HAs home office. The room quickly filled with smoke and the non-smokers (95%) get angry at the smokers. Some of the crew had to quickly intervene and they did politely ask the smokers to please go elsewhere and the issue was defused. But it forced the crew to go against HA policy to avoid a bigger problem. The problem is that there is really nowhere for smokers to go on the ship where it does not bother non-smokers...and HA refuses to adopt a policy similar to Celebrity that simply bans smoking in any indoor area.

 

For us, the answer is quite simple. As much as we love HA, we now have a personal policy of avoiding any HA cruise unless they are doing an itinerary we find so compelling that its worth putting up with the pollution. Our primary cruise line's of choice are now Celebrity (love this line) and Princess as well as some of the smaller lines (we love Azamara). Rather then spending most of our 100 days a year of cruising on HA we try to do it elsewhere and currently have no plans to go on any HA ship in the next year. We are not alone! In fact, on our 62 day Prinsendam Cruise there was seldom more then 600 on the ship (25% empty) despite the fact that HA finally started selling it as 12 different segments (and this was on a Grand Cruise). We had drinks late one evening with Captain Gundersen (he was drinking non-alcholoic stuff) in the Crows Nest and discussed this issue. He basically shrugged his shoulders and said that the smoking policies were dictated by the home office and, although it was the primary complaint issue on his ship, he was powerless to modify the policy. After a few of us started laughing he smiled and said we all needed to raise the issue with his Hotel Manager (who of course understood the issue better then anyone onboard).

Hank

 

P.S. Since we buried this post in the St Malo topic....we hope the smokers do not notice :)

 

have to laugh at the PS. All I need is a St. Malo thread turned into a smoking thread;)

 

We haven't tried Azamara yet nor Oceania - contemplating - my last Princess cruise was a disaster so for now, I'll stick with HAL's smaller, older ships. The Prinsendam is my favourite. It will be really interesting to see how she is after the dry dock:) I'm hoping they just improve her and don't do anything else other than that (translation - no more cabins).

 

If DH isn't happy then we will definitely be looking at other options - somehow, I think he will be happy. He loved this ship in less than 20 minutes. It usually doesn't faze him what ship we go on - but when I told him the itinerary and the ship - his first response - that's the ship we were just on in November - yes, book it. Mind you everything was working well when we were on. Doors, lights and we absolutely adored the crow's nest.

 

Perhaps that's why we saw no smoking in the Crow's Nest (no ashtrays) but I had the feeling it wasn't permitted. Someone (a P'dam regular) said it depended on the Captain - but we did have Captain Gundersen.

 

Thanks again for your help with the St. Malo tender. It's hard to plan when you don't know;)

 

I'll probably do a live thread - so feel free to look in if you are interested in how she's changed. Crossing fingers:)

 

btw - if you want to see a nice itinerary - check out my signature 31 day TA and Baltic Collectors cruise on May 17th! Might not be for everyone, but I find it marvelous. Thanks again!