Tender question

[Lulubelle45]

I'm going on my first Alaska cruise. I see that when in Icy Point strait we use tenders. I've never experienced this. How long does it take to get off the ship? How often to they run? Do you need to book that your planning on using them?, still haven't decided if I'm doing an excursion there or not

 

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[varoo]

I'm going on my first Alaska cruise. I see that when in Icy Point strait we use tenders. I've never experienced this. How long does it take to get off the ship? How often to they run? Do you need to book that your planning on using them?, still haven't decided if I'm doing an excursion there or not

The procedure can vary somewhat from one ship to another, but usually there are some categories of passengers who receive priority tender tickets, which gives them the option of being among the early passengers off without needing to wait in line for tender tickets.

 

For those without priority, you are usually told when and where to go to pick up your tender tickets.

 

 

If you book one of the ship's early morning excursions, you don't need to get tender tickets because they usually have everyone who is going on the tour meet together on the ship and then they escort you all down to your tender as a group.

 

There is no need to tell them anything in advance, other than to purchase your excursion ticket if you plan to go on one of the ship's excursions.

 

Passengers who take the ship's tours get priority over passengers who are going ashore independently or taking private tours, so some passengers will book a ship's tour just to be one of the first off.

 

Ticket numbers, or group numbers are assigned for the first tenders going from ship to shore just to maintain some semblance of order, so they don't have a thousand people all trying to get on the first tender.

 

Nobody will care whether or not you actually use your tender ticket.

 

There are no tender tickets for returning to the ship.

Whenever you decide you want to go back to the ship, you just get on line at the tender dock and board the next available tender.

You can go back and forth as many times as you want.

Keep an eye open for wildlife because you may see seals or eagles or even whales from the tender.

 

The tender ride takes about 10 minutes each way.

Initially, they usually keep a number of tenders running back and forth continuously until everyone with a ticket has gone ashore.

 

Then after the mad rush is over, they typically go to open tendering, where tickets are no longer required.

You just go down to the tender dock and board the next available tender whenever you want to go ashore.

 

 

Once they go to open tendering, they usually slow down and have a tender leaving every 10 or 15 minutes instead of running continuously, or you may have to wait until the next tender fills up before it leaves.

 

 

One thing to know is that the "last tender" time is not the time you need to be back on the ship, but the latest time to be back at the tender dock, ready to board a tender to return to the ship.

 

New cruise passengers sometimes start to panic when they see a long line for the last tender, but there is no need for concern as they will not leave you behind. They will keep running tenders back and forth as long as necessary until they have picked up everyone who was waiting.

 

 

Edited April 3, 2014 by varoo