I had forgot about this. ...

[MzMelissa26]

Ok so when we were in the Caymans on our cruise the other week, I swear the was a cruise that was tendering their passengers over on what appeared to be the life boats. I can't remember the ship....One I had never heard of but I found it odd when the other folks were coming on the big tenders. Has anyone else seen this?

[bigman01]

In about 1996, I sailed on the old Tropicale, southern Caribbean itinerary, one of the ports (don't remember for sure but it may have been Grand Cayman), we used the lifeboats to tender back and forth. It was definitely interesting - the one we used supposedly held 150 people, but if they get that many in it, they're packed like sardines.

[sjcruiser]

Could it have been Royal Caribbean? I have cruised with them but never used the lifeboats on my cruise, but I have seen where they did it when I was on a Carnival ship, and they were also at port that day.

[pammycakes]

I have seen it, cant remember which cruise line it was but they were using their life boats to tender.

[put me on a ship]

We were on NCL Sun in December, and one of our stops was St Maarten. There were a lot of ships there that day, and we had to tender. We used the lifeboats.

[thinfool]

Very common. Carnival does it. Princess does it. It is unlikely that there are enough private tenders to offload passengers efficiently on days with several ships.

 

Usually it is a combination of both ship tenders and private tenders.

[dominichunter]

In Cabo years ago Carnival used the ships life boats. Can't remember if it was before Cabo got their own or didn't have enough for all the ships there.

[SeagoingMom]

HAL uses its lifeboats as tenders.

[txcruzer53]

It's also good practice for the crew in launching/using the lifeboats.

[SadieN]

Not uncommon at all.

 

Only a few ports on the West coast have their own tenders.

Only one I can think of is Catalina Island.

 

Sitka, Cabo, Loreto all use ship's tenders.

Edited April 14, 2014 by SadieN

[Shmoo here]

Ok so when we were in the Caymans on our cruise the other week, I swear the was a cruise that was tendering their passengers over on what appeared to be the life boats. I can't remember the ship....One I had never heard of but I found it odd when the other folks were coming on the big tenders. Has anyone else seen this?

 

We were in Grand Cayman last Oct. On Holland America (Veendam). The ship used both port tenders as well as lifeboats for tendering:

 

 

We've also seen Celebrity using her lifeboats for tendering in Cabo San Lucas.

 

It's not that unusual. It allows the crew to practice lowering the boats and maneuvering them. As well as augmenting how quickly more people can get onshore.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Shmoo here

[dreamer976]

At Grand Cayman, the large tender boats are operated by the port authority, or government, if you will.

 

That being said, last December I do remember seeing one of the ships (I do believe it was Holland America but can't remember positively) using their life boats for tendering. I can only assume that it has something to do with how many ships are in port on any particular day.

[welldone60]

Not uncommon at all.

 

Only a few ports on the West coast have their own tenders.

Only one I can think of is Catalina Island.

 

Sitka, Cabo, Loreto all use ship's tenders.

 

 

Cabo has their own tenders, but some ships do use their lifeboats when there are to many ships for them to handle.

[Disconnections]

We have used the lifeboats on Princess each time we had to tender to Princess Cays. We'll be tendering in Grand Cayman this weekend, so I'm not sure if Princess will use their own or an operating participant.

 

Edit: The Ruby Princess will also be the only ship in port.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Disconnections

[MzMelissa26]

Ok I thought maybe the cruise line was just being cheap lol. The boats has the name of the ship.... Something with a C. But they were packed in there, standing up with their heads and shoulders sticking out the top

[LMaxwell]

Some ships carry tenders that are not technically lifeboats but designed for tendering (I mean they COULD obviously be used as lifeboats in an emergency...). This is a fairly common practice in underdeveloped ports where the local govts don't have tenders to get guests onshore.

 

Do you remember the date you were in port? Maybe a site like cruisett.com would be helpful here by showing you what other ships were in port with you on that date.

[TravelE]

It was the Princess ship that was in port that day. I was happy that Carnival was using the larger tenders!

 

 

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[fishtaco]

Some ships carry tenders that are not technically lifeboats but designed for tendering (I mean they COULD obviously be used as lifeboats in an emergency...). This is a fairly common practice in underdeveloped ports where the local govts don't have tenders to get guests onshore.

 

Do you remember the date you were in port? Maybe a site like cruisett.com would be helpful here by showing you what other ships were in port with you on that date.

 

Most cruise ships have purpose made tenders that double as lifeboats if needed,they are tenders though.

 

I have only ever used ships tenders and never been in a private tender.

 

On all but one of my 9 cruises the ship has lowered their tenders as soon as anchor is dropped,one cruise we only had docked ports.

 

These are the same boats they use for drill man overboard and real man over boards, each tender has a skipper and two junior officers:)

[fishtaco]

We were in Grand Cayman last Oct. On Holland America (Veendam). The ship used both port tenders as well as lifeboats for tendering:

 

 

We've also seen Celebrity using her lifeboats for tendering in Cabo San Lucas.

 

It's not that unusual. It allows the crew to practice lowering the boats and maneuvering them. As well as augmenting how quickly more people can get onshore.

 

They are not lifeboats they are ships tenders, lifeboats are not nearly as well equip as the tenders in the pic:)

[chengkp75]

They are not lifeboats they are ships tenders, lifeboats are not nearly as well equip as the tenders in the pic:)

 

They are indeed lifeboats, classified as lifeboat/tender boat. Most will be marked with a capacity figure like "150 person lifeboat, 125 person tender". Some utilize the boat's cover for an upper deck while tendering, but this is not allowed for lifeboat seating. The crew reconfigure the seating and fill the aisles for lifeboat capacity, because comfort is no longer a concern. These lifeboat/tenders have the same emergency equipment and rations as the "regular" lifeboats. These boats are differently certified from the "normal" lifeboats as capable of being used as passenger vessels, which is what tender boats are, and they have different requirements from lifeboats. These combination lifeboat/tender boats must meet both requirements.

 

It will depend on the contracts the cruise lines have with the tender operators in any port as to whether or not ship's boats are used. Sometimes its simply a matter of who gets to port first, as the number of shore based tenders is limited, and the later ships do not want to delay getting the passengers ashore.

Edited April 14, 2014 by chengkp75

[sail7seas]

Ok I thought maybe the cruise line was just being cheap lol. The boats has the name of the ship.... Something with a C. But they were packed in there, standing up with their heads and shoulders sticking out the top

 

 

If there were any heads/shoulders sticking out the top, it more than likely was a sailor/crew person. All passengers are required to be seated and remain so until the tender is safely secured at the dock.

 

[NMLady]

They are not lifeboats they are ships tenders, lifeboats are not nearly as well equip as the tenders in the pic:)

 

Those orange boats are indeed lifeboats. We have been on many cruises where some of the lifeboats assigned at muster drill are used as tenders at some ports.

Edited April 14, 2014 by NMLady

[LHT28]

Most ships use their life boats for tendering ashore

I have not seen private tenders in GC but maybe with all the cruise ships there now they have them

 

The only stops we have used private tenders is in Belize & Santorini

 

Sometime the shore excursions for diving will pick up the passenger in their boat from the ships to save time

[LHT28]

They are not lifeboats they are ships tenders, lifeboats are not nearly as well equip as the tenders in the pic:)

 

If that is the case then be sure not to get into the tender in an emergency situation :rolleyes:

 

They ARE life boats ..most ships do not fill to capacity when using them as tenders

They hold about 150 PAX but usually they only put 100 on when tendering ...you will notice one crerw member standing on the platform with a clicker counting the passengers as they board

[boogs]

They ARE life boats ..most ships do not fill to capacity when using them as tenders

They hold about 150 PAX but usually they only put 100 on when tendering ...you will notice one crerw member standing on the platform with a clicker counting the passengers as they board

 

Exactly. If you look at the lifeboats on many cruise ships, a few will be different than the majority. These are the dual purpose tender/lifeboats. They are typically larger and have windows. They have the same safety equipment required on all lifeboats.

 

 

Norwegian Getaway lifeboats - tender/lifeboat at right:

 

 

Celebrity Equinox tender/lifeboat in use:

 

 

Caribbean Princess tender/lifeboat in use:

 

Edited April 14, 2014 by boogs