How to sign up for Priority Tender on Celebrity Cruise

[Dancingqueen17]

We have 3 couples taking a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and at Santorini would like to get Priority Tender status in order to maximize our time on shore. How do I do this? Can I do it before we depart? Thanks. We have cruised before but never tendered. :)

[4cats4me]

We have 3 couples taking a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and at Santorini would like to get Priority Tender status in order to maximize our time on shore. How do I do this? Can I do it before we depart? Thanks. We have cruised before but never tendered. :)

 

 

On every ship and cruise line I've been on, priority tendering has been afforded to those who have shown loyalty to the cruise line, then regular boarding of the tender boats commences, much like the airlines and how frequent flyers get to board first.

 

However, if you book an excursion through Celebrity, you also get priority

If you book an excursion not with celebrity or are touring on your own, you will have to wait until the tour groups and other groups who have priority

Disembark

 

Upon return TO the ship from a port of call, there is no priority except for the highest traveled tier, which is Zenith.

Edited February 18, 2014 by 4cats4me

[skibyrd]

Or book a suite.....

[alcpa1]

Passengers booked on X excursions have first priority.

Suite passengers are next BUT......

For your stop at Santorini the X excursions go to a different area to board busses etc.

Your best bet, if you are not in a suite, is to line up for the tender tickets early. Instructions on when where and how will be in your daily. Your tender will take you to the base of the mountain and you will have the option of the tram, a donkey ride, or a hike up the donkey path. The trams are quite large but I don't think they will hold the same number as a tender...it's been a few years. You should just be patient. Your reward will come as you exit in Fira!

[kitty9]

We have 3 couples taking a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and at Santorini would like to get Priority Tender status in order to maximize our time on shore. How do I do this? Can I do it before we depart? Thanks. We have cruised before but never tendered. :)

 

You can't just "get" priority tender tickets, and you cannot arrange for priority tendering. Here's how it works:

 

1. Those on ship tours.

 

2. Those in the big suites.

 

3. Those who are Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith in Celebrity's Captains Club.

 

4. Those with numbered tender tickets.

 

You need to report to the assigned area where they are giving out the tickets. You wait to hear the numbers being called, and then go down to the tender area.

[Mustang1971]

Seriously, all we did was get to the station where they were going to hand out tender tkts when it opened! There was NO line; in fact, they just waived us on toward the tender point where we waited maybe 15 minutes until the first tender was full. That's it! We walked straight to the cable cars, then to the bus station, and after a 15 minute wait there, were on our way to Oia.

[Little Nell]

When you get off the tender if you take the cable car the queues look long but they go down very quickly.

 

I would not recommend either walking up or down the donkey path. We walked down a couple of years ago and it took about 45 minutes on a very slippery, smelly path where there is nowhere to safely get out of the way of the animals.

 

I would never go on the donkeys, poor things.

[KirkNC]

Seriously, all we did was get to the station where they were going to hand out tender tkts when it opened! There was NO line; in fact, they just waived us on toward the tender point where we waited maybe 15 minutes until the first tender was full. That's it! We walked straight to the cable cars, then to the bus station, and after a 15 minute wait there, were on our way to Oia.

 

You were incredibly lucky. Our experience in Santorini is not good, long, slow moving lines.

[Mustang1971]

You were incredibly lucky. Our experience in Santorini is not good, long, slow moving lines.

 

I!ll settle for lucky, but it was comments like yours that made us get up and after it .....and for us, at least, it paid off. We came back to the ship about 3:00 on the cable cars after about a 10 minute wait.

[spookwife]

We have 3 couples taking a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and at Santorini would like to get Priority Tender status in order to maximize our time on shore. How do I do this? Can I do it before we depart? Thanks. We have cruised before but never tendered. :)

 

be in a suite

book through the cruise line

be a frequent cruiser with a high enough status that offers Priority tendering

 

you cannot otherwise guarantee getting on first or skipping the line

[Clydesmom7865]

We have 3 couples taking a cruise on Celebrity Silhouette and at Santorini would like to get Priority Tender status in order to maximize our time on shore. How do I do this? Can I do it before we depart? Thanks. We have cruised before but never tendered. :)

 

When we were tendered in the Caymans I had a private snorkeling excursion booked. I was up EARLY and had breakfast in the buffet and brought my backpack with stuff for the day and fins with me. I was third in line and suddenly the cruise director asked who was ready to leave now. I and about 15-20 people raised our hands and we were shuttled down to the tender and allowed on the one taking off duty crew to the island. It left not even full. I ended up being 90 minutes early for my tour. At least 100 people in line were disappointed because they had to gather their party, get their stuff from the cabins, or eat breakfast and could not get tickets for that tender leaving in the next five minutes nor would they hold it for them.

 

If you are READY to go when in line for tender tickets you could find yourself on one leaving immediately if there is space.

[Phamer55]

So how does it work for Elite folks and priority tender tickets? Do you just show up somewhere, show your room key, and go to the front? Or are you given actual physical priority tickets in your stateroom?

[grandgeezer]

The Priority tickets are delivered to your stateroom the night before. Go to the tenders whenever you like, give the person the ticket, and hop on.

[bigbenboys]

The Priority tickets are delivered to your stateroom the night before. Go to the tenders whenever you like, give the person the ticket, and hop on.

 

We have gotten Priority Tickets in our room, then we had to go to Michaels Club to get the real ticket. Richard