Tendering from Brilliance in Villefranche

[Adventures ahead]

We're scheduled to be in port from 9am-7pm in September.

This is the only port where we will be doing a ship's tour, 1pm-5:30pm.

 

We're wondering if we'll be able to tender into Villefranche asap in the morning to walk around the town and, possibly, catch the ship's tour dockside without having to tender back to the ship first. Depending on the seas and weather, we'll probably need to wait until the day to know for sure.

 

Has anyone managed to go ashore in the morning on their own and join in with their afternoon tour, either back on the ship or dockside?

[cb at sea]

You will be informed when and where to meet your tour. There should be ample time to leave the ship and return, if needed.

[grapau27]

We're scheduled to be in port from 9am-7pm in September.

This is the only port where we will be doing a ship's tour, 1pm-5:30pm.

 

We're wondering if we'll be able to tender into Villefranche asap in the morning to walk around the town and, possibly, catch the ship's tour dockside without having to tender back to the ship first. Depending on the seas and weather, we'll probably need to wait until the day to know for sure.

 

Has anyone managed to go ashore in the morning on their own and join in with their afternoon tour, either back on the ship or dockside?

Villefrance is tiny and you can see everything in about an hour so you will have plenty of time to get there and back to ship.

[crosby99]

1st time we went to Villerfrance(not RCCL) when we got back from our trip to Cannes the ship had gone :eek:

Long story....

Big swells and had to move.

Whole ship had to be transported over several hours on a Road/Noddy Train to next port.

We were then literally thrown on the ship from the tender....happy days :D

[shirazcruiser]

1st time we went to Villerfrance(not RCCL) when we got back from our trip to Cannes the ship had gone :eek:

Long story....

Big swells and had to move.

Whole ship had to be transported over several hours on a Road/Noddy Train to next port.

We were then literally thrown on the ship from the tender....happy days :D

 

Were you on the May 3, 2010 - 12 night Med cruise with Villefranche being the first port? If not, we experienced the same thing returning from our Eze, Monaco & Nice tour. We were bused to Toulon port to join the ship at about 3:00 AM.

[Saps at Sea]

Many of the ship tours stage and leave from the main tourist facility as you come off the tenders. The little town is very walkable before a tour with several shops and restaurants. The tender takes maybe 15-20mins from the ship. Give yourself some extra time to board the tender, as the lines can be long at peak times. Have to agree that the ride back on the tenders can be a bit rough.

[grapau27]

Many of the ship tours stage and leave from the main tourist facility as you come off the tenders. The little town is very walkable before a tour with several shops and restaurants. The tender takes maybe 15-20mins from the ship. Give yourself some extra time to board the tender, as the lines can be long at peak times. Have to agree that the ride back on the tenders can be a bit rough.

We have always in 7 visits found the tender ride smooth.

The worst experience was at St Petersport Guernsey where tenders are often cancelled.

I remember an occasion when the tender when tied to a P&O ship actually went up and down about 5 feet and we had to get off the tender 1 at a time when the tender got to the height of the landing platform.

[Norwich Cruiser]

Luckily in six or seven visits never had a problem with the tenders either way in Villefranche from memory about a ten minute ride.

[Adventures ahead]

Many of the ship tours stage and leave from the main tourist facility as you come off the tenders. The little town is very walkable before a tour with several shops and restaurants. The tender takes maybe 15-20mins from the ship. Give yourself some extra time to board the tender, as the lines can be long at peak times. Have to agree that the ride back on the tenders can be a bit rough.

Thanks, this is what I was hoping to hear, in case we actually get to tender! :) (We didn't in Cannes last time.) We'll also check with the excursion desk.

 

If we were in port a little longer, and because it's a tender port, and we would need to get to Nice on our own (easy), then hook up with a bus schedule on a Saturday to St Paul de Vence (not as easy)... then all in reverse, it's easier for us to get to St Paul de Vence as a half-day tour with door-to-door delivery. We also got the ship's tour on sale. The plan is to also wander around Villefrance in the morning and catch our tour at the dock.

[crosby99]

Were you on the May 3, 2010 - 12 night Med cruise with Villefranche being the first port? If not, we experienced the same thing returning from our Eze, Monaco & Nice tour. We were bused to Toulon port to join the ship at about 3:00 AM.

 

No it was in about 2001 with Thomson Cruises.

It was a really small ship, Topaz.

Not exactly sure where they took it but it was a really small town several miles away. The only transport they could get was this really, really slow tourist road train. They transported the whole ship over about 5 hours.

Villerfrance is a beautiful place and the weather was gorgeous...the was a lot worse places to be stranded :D

Once we were eventually, literally, thrown off the tender we pretty much landed in the restaurant for dinner....not quite the same set up as Harmony

[nelblu]

When you get off in the AM, follow your nose up a little hill and you will find a nice French bakery. I was amazed to see bread being places in newspapers instead of bags.

 

Our worst experience was when they used to tender in St Thomas. We were sailing on the Leonardo Da Vinci and trying to get into/out of the ship's tender was a nightmare. I remember a Pax had a bit to drink ashore and the staff was having a terrible time getting him on board. They finally grabbed him by his belt an literally lifted him on board. The crew was all Italian and the verbiage coming out of their mouth was quite colorful.