Forced to hire tender boats in Bar Harbor, ME?

[fstuff1]

 

as you can see from the pic (taken 12:30pm), Celebrity is using both 3rd party tender boats and it's own life boats as tenders.

but why?

i only count two 3rd party tender boats.

surely Celebrity is capable of operating 2 additional lifeboats?

 

[mahdnc]

24 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

 

as you can see from the pic (taken 12:30pm), Celebrity is using both 3rd party tender boats and it's own life boats as tenders.

but why?

i only count two 3rd party tender boats.

surely Celebrity is capable of operating 2 additional lifeboats?

 

 

We saw this as well last year when we cruised the Great Barrier Reef on Solstice.  On that sailing, the 3rd party tenders were much bigger, faster, and more comfortable than the ship's own lifeboats and thus they were more efficient in getting passengers to shore and back.

Solstice, Jan 7 2018, Great Barrier Reef (near Cairns)

Edited June 24, 2019 by mahdnc

[bEwAbG]

The ship tender might not be used for passengers.  The place to ask would be on the ship.

[Baron Barracuda]

X  also uses hired tenders in Grand Cayman.  They have greater capacity and load / unload much faster.  Also can better handle walkers, wheelchairs and strollers.

[Denny01]

We've had 3rd party tenders on a few ports on Celebrity and other Lines. What’s your concern?

 

Den

 

[Northern Aurora]

We have also seen third party tenders in the South Pacific, Cabo San Lucas, Bar Harbor, Lahaina, Bali and in few other locations.  I also wonder what our OP is concerned about.  Those larger third party tenders are certainly faster to load, and some have not only restrooms but are also air-conditioned!   

[mom says]

I think it's common practice to use these larger tenders in many places around the world.  They were using them in Phuket on our last cruise. If they can load and travel faster, and are easier for passengers with mobility problems, why wouldn't they use them?

[Fogfog]

@fstuff1

 

Are you on the ship? Ask

[twincheryl]

We are also in Bar Harbor today on RC... definitely miss Celebrity and after one more booked RC cruise we won’t do this again. 

 

We used the 3rd party tenders today and it made the process very smooth and comfortable, although it takes quite awhile to load and unload that many passengers.

 

 

[Wine-O]

If you have a large pax ship, you need to use commercial tenders to get everyone ashore in a time manner.  🍷

[philpcruiser]

2 hours ago, Denny01 said:

We've had 3rd party tenders on a few ports on Celebrity and other Lines. What’s your concern?

 

Den

 

I'm curious too.  What is the concern?????

[keesar]

This reminds me of a couple that complained on our cruise out of Florida.  Originally, we were supposed to leave port at 4:30 pm but left at 4:00 pm.    Couple was upset we left port early.  My comment to them was that what is your concern as you are on the ship --and maybe we get to San Juan earlier.  Some just like to complain...

[Denny01]

OP, you are a regular poster so I’ll assume this isn’t some post trying to rile others up and all that. You appeared to have a concern. Can you share it please?

 

Always nice for an OP to come back to other posters who have taken the time to read and respond to your thread and have asked a question. 

 

Den

 

[DENIE]

As others have said, they use 3rd party tender at Grand Cayman.  It was a good, efficient, fast experience.  I little more comfortable ride, with more breeze.  Definitely more passengers at a time.

[Michidoeme]

In some ports cruise ships have to use the local tenders, eg Santorini.  Ports can impose this to protect local providers and/or can be union issue.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Michidoeme

[Northern Aurora]

1 hour ago, Denny01 said:

OP, you are a regular poster so I’ll assume this isn’t some post trying to rile others up and all that. You appeared to have a concern. Can you share it please?

 

Always nice for an OP to come back to other posters who have taken the time to read and respond to your thread and have asked a question. 

 

Den

 

 

 

I also wish our OP would respond.

[PhoenixCruiser]

We hate it when the ships use their life boats for tenders, we would gladly wait for a 3rd party true tender boat.

[upwarduk]

OP would have been concerned if they had been on Eclipse in Split with us in Oct 2010. ONLY SHIPS TENDERS were used and it took us 3 hours to get to shore. The explanation was that Split didn’t provide the promised tenders. Also that the jetty was small, so only one tender could dock at a time.

When I complained I was told:

a)book a ship’s tour, as they have priority

b) Elite and above C.C passengers also have priority ( we were only Select at the time)

[fstuff1]

16 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

The ship tender might not be used for passengers.  The place to ask would be on the ship.

 

i was on the 3rd party tender leaving the ship in the morning.

thought it was just for morning rush to shore and afternoon last tender rush back to ship.

but i saw the 3rd party tender being used when i was coming back to the ship a little after 12pm.

 

so my theory went out the window.

 

16 hours ago, Fogfog said:

@fstuff1

 

Are you on the ship? Ask

 

yes

[fstuff1]

11 hours ago, Denny01 said:

OP, you are a regular poster so I’ll assume this isn’t some post trying to rile others up and all that. You appeared to have a concern. Can you share it please?

 

Always nice for an OP to come back to other posters who have taken the time to read and respond to your thread and have asked a question. 

 

Den

 

 

in cabo, mexico ships are forced to use 3rd party tenders so i understand that.

but here in bar harbor, celebrity can use their own lifeboats.

so why use 3rd party?

 

more of a curiosity of why spend extra $ on 3rd party tenders?

 

as for the reasons given, the 3rd party tender i was on leaving the ship didnt seem bigger. (3rd party tender was just 1 level, celebrity's lifeboats had 2 levels for passengers.)
it might be faster but i did not pay attention to the speed on either the 3rd party or celebrity's lifeboat.

 

and the dock handled 2 tenders at a time so there wasnt a bottleneck

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by fstuff1

[mahdnc]

15 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

 

in cabo, mexico ships are forced to use 3rd party tenders so i understand that.

but here in bar harbor, celebrity can use their own lifeboats.

so why use 3rd party?

 

more of a curiosity of why spend extra $ on 3rd party tenders?

the dock handled 2 tenders at a time.

 

as for the reasons given, the 3rd party tender i was on leaving the ship didnt seem bigger.
it might be faster but i did not pay attention to the speed on either the 3rd party or celebrity's lifeboat

 

 

Were those non-Celebrity boats actually tenders or is it possible they were for shore excursions?  I only saw this on our Great Barrier Reef cruise--for convenience and time efficiency, some of the Celebrity sponsored shore excursion boats actually picked up the passengers from our anchored ship (and they dropped them off there at its conclusion).  This easily saved 3 hours of tendering time.

Jan 7 2018, near Cairns. Boats lining up in the morning to come along side Solstice to take on pa$$engers for Great Barrier Reef shore excursions.

Edited June 25, 2019 by mahdnc

[fstuff1]

11 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Were those non-Celebrity boats actually tenders or is it possible they were for shore excursions?  I only saw this on our Great Barrier Reef cruise--for convenience and time efficiency, some of the Celebrity sponsored shore excursion boats actually picked up the passengers from our anchored ship (and they dropped them off there at its conclusion).  This easily saved 3 hours of tendering time.

Jan 7 2018, near Cairns. Boats lining up in the morning to come along side Solstice to take on pa$$engers for Great Barrier Reef shore excursions.

 

nope, i was on a 3rd party tender and was NOT on a shore excursion.

i wouldnt have started this thread if that was the case. it would make sense.

 

wish celebrity had a senior Officer's Q&A session like some other cruise line's have.

i would definitely ask them about the 3rd party tenders.

 

[blueboro]

Don't care what is used...just be efficient and get me off the ship the quickest and safest way possible.

Edited June 25, 2019 by blueboro

[Wine-O]

Not sure what the issue is.  I love 3rd party tenders -- gets people off the ship quicker.  Every time I had to use ship's tenders, cruise ship excursions got to go first, and we were left waiting.  🍷

[cruisestitch]

hang out at Café Al Bacio in the morning and you will usually see officers  there. They are very approachable. You can ask any of them about your concerns, and if they don’t know the answer they will take your name and stateroom number and have someone get back to you

Edited June 25, 2019 by cruisestitch