NCL Tenders... Getting to shore early

[Maine_bill]

Never used a tender on a cruise ....

We have arranged a private excursion in Belize. They have asked us to get the earliest tender "possible" leaving the ship. I have been told that NCL will offer the "first" trips to guest that have booked excursions through NCL, and other guests will be transported later.

 

Looking for any help as to how to secure an early trip to shore??? Don't know how it works, do I reserve a place, so any help,is appreciated.

Thanks

Maine_bill

[crewsweeper]

Hopefully someone with NXL experience will respond. But usually crusie ships allow ship excursion passengers and what ever level of VIP they offer to cruisers off on first wave. They should have some means of tender sign up for others. Once on board, pay close attention to when, where and what earliest time you can sign up are. Ask at the Excursion desk or Guest Services when you board. Be there at least 10-15 minutes prior to the sign up time. If they tell you it's first come first served, get there 30-45 minutes in advance. Rotate people holding your spot so all can eat breakfast, grab a coffee or go "down the hall" before boarding.

 

Once they begin loading tenders, there'll be one after another. You shouldn't be waiting for a single tender to head to Belize and come back. These are usually large craft holding 200-400 people.

 

And finally, all vendors ask their clients to grab an early tender. But they will wait for paying clients. Probably as much as an hour, depending on the distance they have to go to the excursion site.

[zqvol]

Tenders run as quickly as possible. Guests with NCL tours are put on first and then any extra space is filled with other passengers. A lot of NCL tours don't go to town but directly to their destination, soo the lines move faster than you think.

 

The problem is that it is about a 30 minute tender ride each way, so getting ashore in Belize can take some time, and unfortunately unless you are in a suite or standing in line really early there is not much you can do to speed up the process.

[mitsugirly]

I'm not sure what excursion you have booked with a private person, but we have booked twice with .bz for cavetubing and they have always told us "be the first on the tender to get here" and of course that's not possible. But we get off as soon as we can and never had an issue. They are always waiting for us and usually have several buses there waiting so when one gets full and can leave, another is waiting for the rest of the groups coming in by tender as well.

 

With NCL, they usually tell you when and where to go to get your "tender ticket number". I have usually seen it on the pool deck and also in the atrium depending on the ship. You get in line and get your ticket and that holds your spot.

 

Yes, they allow all the people that are VIP to go first and the people with excursions booked WITH THEM off first. But also, there are A LOT of excursions with the ship that go at a much later time as well too and wont be getting off first thing.

 

They usually call several numbers at the same time because these tenders are big and they hold A LOT of people. Then once you think it's full, they'll pile in some more until no seats are left. ;) They will get you off that ship.

 

Don't forget when one leaves the ship, another is pulling up to fill more passengers. This process continues all day back and forth. It's not like you are waiting for them to take those passengers over to Belize City and then to come back for you.

 

Don't stress about it too much and enjoy your time in Belize. :)