Princess Tender Procedures

[Cruisen Elf]

What is Princess Cruises' tender policy?  I've read that their excursions receive priority, as well as Elite status cruisers.  We are organizing an independent tour, and do not have Elite status.  Can I secure tickets for everyone on the tour, or does each person have to show up at the same time to get their own individual ticket?  If there are any Elite cruisers on the tour, can they get more than 1 ticket per person, and secure tickets for our entire group?  The port in question is Guernsey, UK, and the ship is Crown Princess, if that makes a difference.  Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

[cr8tiv1]

Disclaimer:  I have not been to Guernsey, UK but have tendered many times.  The Crown Princess is a large ship.  Sometimes they do have 2 platforms open for tendering.  Priority goes to Princess Excursions and/or Elite Passengers.  

 

You will need to all be present to get a ticket (one ticket/one person)

 

Elite member and cabin mate will have priority but not the rest of your group.

 

How many in your tour?  I would recommend that you meet ashore rather than trying to be on the same launch.  If someone is late, only they will miss the tour.  Give yourself an hour to get the tour started.  

[Colo Cruiser]

Entire group has to be present.

Only Elite (present) or those that qualify (Suites/Elite) can get a priority tender ticket.

Yes the Princess excursions get priority.

[wheezedr]

As noted only suite/elite people get priority tickets and they cannot get additional tickets for others.  In addition it is also true that Princess will prioritize the tendering of its ships tour groups, especially those leaving on early tours.

Each individual must get their own ticket.

Given the frequency that Guernsey is missed you should establish clear guidelines as to where and exactly when your group will meet.  You should also have a clear understanding with the tour company as to where you will meet ashore and when they must leave by to optimize your tour.

[muggo11]

Twice now I have been in ports on Princess (Na Trang and Juneau) where people with independent tours were unable to meet them on time due to tender prioritization and/or too few tenders. And I missed one in Ushuaia when the person who organized the tour left me off the email list and we didn’t know the gathering time and place.    They left without us. 😥

 

And agree with all the guidance you received above. 

 

I must admit, even though I am elite, I will go with a Princess tour in tender ports for the peace of mind. 

[Steelers36]

We have taken private tours in several ports with tenders.  We just make sure we are ready to go early based on tender start time and have never had an issue.  If we don't have a tour, then can relax a bit, although we still like to try and get off early. 

[satxdiver]

A line will form outside the MDR (usually on deck 5) maybe a half hour before it opens to hand out tender tickets. As stated above everyone has to get their own ticket.  The tickets are numbered so when a tender becomes available they will take perhaps numbers 50 to 80 as an example.  Therefore if your group does not show up at the same time to get tender tickets, they may get split up on the tenders.  

 

Elite and suite pax will go to a different meeting point (explorer lounge sometimes) to get their tender tickets and wait until their number is called.  The wait is shorter than the regular pax of course.  Princess tours get the first tender seats but it is staggered.  Each tender will have perhaps Princess tour, elite/suite and a few regular pax.  They do try to blend the three groups into each tender.

 

There usually are two platforms available to board the tenders.  You must be able to walk down a flight of stairs and climb aboard a tender that probably will be moving up and down in relation to the ship.  

 

It is good advice to keep in mind sometimes a port is missed because it would be too dangerous to board the tenders.  This can be due to high winds, inclement weather or high seas.  Keep this in mind that tender ports are passed up.  What we have done in the past was to meet on the ship like Vines and go as a group to get our tender tickets.  Usually the leader will have a cell phone to contact the tour on shore to let them know what is happening.

 

I have been to Guernsey.  What happened was that perhaps half the ship returned to the tender pier in the last half hour resulting in a very long line.  The last tender left the port almost an hour late due to the long line.  Guernsey is a very nice port so hope the OP is able to go ashore.  

[NavyVeteran]

2 hours ago, satxdiver said:

There usually are two platforms available to board the tenders.  You must be able to walk down a flight of stairs and climb aboard a tender that probably will be moving up and down in relation to the ship.  

Correction. You do not need to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the tender platform if you have difficulty doing so. There is a lift available for those who are mobility impaired.

 

You do need to be able to climb aboard the tender. The crew will provide assistance, but you have to be able to walk that short distance.

 

You can take a manual wheelchair or a walker. on a tender if you want. On a Princess tender, they will load the wheelchair or walker last and unload it first, so it will be available as soon as you leave the tender. When you are using a port tender instead of a ship's tender, they don't always do as good a job of taking care of wheelchairs and walkers.

[Kingofcool1947]

5 hours ago, Cruisen Elf said:

What is Princess Cruises' tender policy?  I've read that their excursions receive priority, as well as Elite status cruisers.  We are organizing an independent tour, and do not have Elite status.  Can I secure tickets for everyone on the tour, or does each person have to show up at the same time to get their own individual ticket?  If there are any Elite cruisers on the tour, can they get more than 1 ticket per person, and secure tickets for our entire group?  The port in question is Guernsey, UK, and the ship is Crown Princess, if that makes a difference.  Thanks in advance for any info you can provide.

 

I have seen handicap PAXs get to go to the front of the queue when tendering off ship, if that makes a difference.   If on a ship’s shore excursion , you must show your shore excursion ticket to get the tender ticket. Usually in the Princess Theater.  Then wait until your tour group number is called and queue in line with other PAXs.   PAXs with ship shore excursions have priority to debark to tenders.  

Otherwise,  if just going out on your own, get your tender numbered ticket and wait until your number is called to debark to the tender.  Usually in the MDR.   Join the queue when your number is called.  You cannot get all the tender tickets for your group.  Each one must get their own numbered tender ticket.   If you are doing a 3rd party shore excursion, get your tender ticket early and wait until your number is called.  You will have to queue with others.

Good luck.

Edited August 5, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[skynight]

Satxdiver gave excellent information. I want to emphasize:

-Each person requires their own tender ticket. All wanting to go ashore together have to show up together at the tender ticket location, usually one of the DR's. No person is given more than one tender ticket. Example, a husband shows up 10 minutes after his wife. They could be on different tenders.

- There will be instructions in the Princess Patter delivered to your cabin the evening before.

- Those on Princess organized tours report to their own ship location, usually the theater, and are escorted to the tenders according to the timing of their tours.

- Elite and Full Suite passengers receive priority tender consideration. These passengers may report to the same location as everyone else or they may have their own location. I have seen it both ways.

- At some point usually a few hours after tendering has begun there will be an announcement that tender tickets are no longer necessary, just report directly to the pontoon.

- There is no priority on the return to the ship. Everyone just gets in line.

 

 

[gkkapp]

From my own experience organizing private tours......  Arrange a meeting place (Vines or by the "white piano etc") and a time based on when your tour time is.  Allow time to tender and time to walk to a meeting location if needed.  Wait on the ship until everyone in your group shows up.  I have had people run back to their cabin because they forgot something or make one more "pit stop".  Once everyone is at the meeting place and only then go to the assigned place to get tender tickets.  That way you will be together and no one gets left behind.  Do not expect people in your group to tender and meet you on shore at a specific location.  Had a bad experience with that and won't do it again. 

<<<Karen>>> 

 

 

[lladage]

It is POSSIBLE to make arrangements with Passenger Services to tender as a group.  On our Norwegian Fjords cruise, there were 3 separate private excursions set up for 1 particular port that required tenders.  We politely asked the Passenger Services representative who showed up at our Meet & Greet if there was any way for us to tender as a group.  He asked how many people we were talking about, which was close to 70 when all 3 tours were added together.  He made arrangements for us to meet in the casino, and he came to the casino to get us when he could work us in.  We beat almost everyone else off the ship that day.

 

Lynn

[skynight]

23 minutes ago, lladage said:

It is POSSIBLE to make arrangements with Passenger Services to tender as a group.  On our Norwegian Fjords cruise, there were 3 separate private excursions set up for 1 particular port that required tenders.  We politely asked the Passenger Services representative who showed up at our Meet & Greet if there was any way for us to tender as a group.  He asked how many people we were talking about, which was close to 70 when all 3 tours were added together.  He made arrangements for us to meet in the casino, and he came to the casino to get us when he could work us in.  We beat almost everyone else off the ship that day.

 

Lynn

It does not hurt to ask, but in over 40 Princess cruises I have never seen or heard of this happening. Tender tickets are individual and handed out in order of arrival at the tender ticket location.

Edited August 5, 2019 by skynight

[pms4104]

2 minutes ago, skynight said:

It does not hurt to ask, but in over 40 Princess cruises I have never seen or heard of this happening. Tender tickets are individual and handed out in order of arrival at the tender ticket location.

And a possible exception for 3 or 4 pax is way different than moving 70 pax up the food chain

[lladage]

6 minutes ago, skynight said:

It does not hurt to ask, but in over 40 Princess cruises I have never seen or heard of this happening. Tender tickets are individual and handed out in order of arrival at the tender ticket location.

 

Just now, pms4104 said:

And a possible exception for 3 or 4 pax is way different than moving 70 pax up the food chain

 

I would have never even thought to ask, had I not experienced the same thing on our British Isles cruise.  That was just 1 group of about 25 people.

 

And I totally agree that it is not a reasonable option for a small group.  Whenever I have organized a private excursion for a tender port, I have asked everyone to meet in the Future Cruise area so that we could all go together for tender tickets.  On our Norway cruise, I had already given those exact directions to everyone in my group.  But when we all realized just how many people we had between the 3 groups, we decided to ask.

 

I'm just saying....it is POSSIBLE, especially if you have a large group. 

[pms4104]

13 minutes ago, lladage said:

 

 

I would have never even thought to ask, had I not experienced the same thing on our British Isles cruise.  That was just 1 group of about 25 people.

 

And I totally agree that it is not a reasonable option for a small group.  Whenever I have organized a private excursion for a tender port, I have asked everyone to meet in the Future Cruise area so that we could all go together for tender tickets.  On our Norway cruise, I had already given those exact directions to everyone in my group.  But when we all realized just how many people we had between the 3 groups, we decided to ask.

 

I'm just saying....it is POSSIBLE, especially if you have a large group. 

I would think a smaller rather tban a larger group would be a lesser imposition on tbe kindness of staff and strangers

[Cruisen Elf]

Thanks, everyone, for all the useful information and ideas!  I will arrange a meeting place on board early in the morning so we can secure our tender tickets as a group and meet our tour guide in a timely fashion.   Fingers crossed that the sea will cooperate!

[satxdiver]

20 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Correction. You do not need to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the tender platform if you have difficulty doing so. There is a lift available for those who are mobility impaired...

 

Obviously I am quite able to use the stairs.  The midship elevators that the pax can access only go down to deck 4 and the tenders are one deck lower.  I and my fellow pax use the stairs to go down to the tenders.  I imagine there is a crew elevator that will go down since that is the main hallway through the center of the ship sometimes called I90 the main interstate along the US east coast.  

[NavyVeteran]

39 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

 

Obviously I am quite able to use the stairs.  The midship elevators that the pax can access only go down to deck 4 and the tenders are one deck lower.  I and my fellow pax use the stairs to go down to the tenders.  I imagine there is a crew elevator that will go down since that is the main hallway through the center of the ship sometimes called I90 the main interstate along the US east coast.  

I provided the correction for the benefit of any passengers who would have difficulty using a flight of stairs. DW uses either a cane or walker and has difficulty with stairs. For the past few years, she has always taken the lift down to the tender. Often the crew will see that she has walking difficulties and will direct us to the lift. However, sometimes they won't and we will have to go to the lift ourselves. The statement that "You must be able to walk down a flight of stairs" is not correct and might keep some people with walking difficulties from using the tender to go ashore.

 

There is a lift that goes down to the tender area. It is located after you exit through security just before you get to the stairs. Even though there are two sets of stairs down to different tender loading platforms, there is only one lift, so you may have to go through a hall to the stairs to the other platform to find the lift. When returning to the ship, you may have to go through a hall to the other tender loading platform to get to the lift.

 

[Steelers36]

I think the path, steps and process vary somewhat depending on the ship.  As I recall, the setup for Royal-class ships is different than Grand/Crown-class. 

 

SAXT:  It's I-95.

[Papa Yoda]

 

Usually it's called M-1 - deck 4 crew "highway" - been there a few times on ships tour including the Royal.

 

We also had a private tour get Passenger Services group tender treatment - group size was about 30.

[skynight]

There is a lift. Just ask a crew member and they will escort you down.

[tempus137]

13 hours ago, satxdiver said:

 

 I imagine there is a crew elevator that will go down since that is the main hallway through the center of the ship sometimes called I90 the main interstate along the US east coast.  

 

The east coast highway is I95. Odd number interstates run north & south, even numbers run east & west.