how can you tell what ports are tender?

[rjm11]

We are sailing on the Star this summer to Le Havre, Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Geiranger Norway, Akureryi Iceland, Reykjavik Iceland, Belfast, and Dublin.  Is there some way to know which of these ports require a tender?  It's not listed on the itinerary as far as I can see, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot?

[Paul Bogle]

Take a look at the PDF you received via email confirming your booking. Down toward the bottom you will find you itinerary and it should say dock or tender.

[rjm11]

18 minutes ago, Paul Bogle said:

Take a look at the PDF you received via email confirming your booking. Down toward the bottom you will find you itinerary and it should say dock or tender.

Thanks- I booked with a travel agent; the confirmation I got from them does include a PDF with an itinerary, but tenders aren't listed on it.  Is there somewhere on MyNCL that this is indicated?

[Paul Bogle]

I wish I could provide you with a comprehensive list. I know NCL has one but the search feature on their website is frankly less than useless in my opinion. You can go here: https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call

Scroll down to the Northern European ports tab, then click on each individual port call. Under Need to Know it lists whether you dock, anchor or possibly both.

[julig22]

Maybe find the roll call for your cruise and ask?  Your TA should also be able to send it to you but you can also do a mock booking for the cruise - when it asks for payment, choose the option to hold your reservation.  They will send you a confirmation that has the dock/tender information.  You'll get a few emails reminding you to finish booking but you can just ignore them and they will eventually go away.

Edited January 25, 2020 by julig22

[rjm11]

15 minutes ago, Paul Bogle said:

I wish I could provide you with a comprehensive list. I know NCL has one but the search feature on their website is frankly less than useless in my opinion. You can go here: https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call

Scroll down to the Northern European ports tab, then click on each individual port call. Under Need to Know it lists whether you dock, anchor or possibly both.

Oh that works!  Not the easiest way to do things but I'll take it!  Thank you!

[shof515]

2020-2021 Tender Ports

The following are tender ports:

Africa

• Bozcaada, Turkey
• Mossel Bay, South Africa
• Nosy Be/Nosy Komba, Madagascar

Alaska, Canada, U.S. Pacific Coast & New England

• Bar Harbor, Maine
• Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island*
• GaspÈsie, Quebec
• Icy Strait Point, Alaska*
• Martha's Vineyard, Newport, Rhode Island
• Newport, Rhode Island
• Saguenay (La Baie), Quebec*
• Sitka, Alaska*
• Sydney, Nova Scotia*

Caribbean, Mexico & Panama Canal

• Basseterre St. Kitts*
• Belize City, Belize
• Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• Castries, St. Lucia*
• Cozumel, Mexico*
• George Town, Grand Cayman
• Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
• Harvest Caye, Belize*
• Panama Canal/Gatun Lake, Panama
• Punta Cana (Cap Cana), Dominican Republic
• Road Town (Tortola), British Virgin Islands*
• Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras*
• San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
• Santa Barbara, California
• Zihuatanejo, Mexico

Hawaii & French Polynesia

• Bora Bora, French Polynesia
• Kona, Hawaii
• Lahaina (Maui), Hawaii
• Moorea, French Polynesia
• Nuku Hiva (Marquesas), French Polynesia

South America

• Ilhabela, Brazil
• Puerto Chacabuco, Chile*
• Punta del Este, Uruguay
• Puerto Montt, Chile*
• Stanley, Falkland Islands
• Punta Arenas, Chile*

Europe

• Andalsnes, Norway*
• Bar, Montenegro*
• Chania, Crete, Greece*
• Cannes, France
• Cork (Cobh), Ireland*
• Dartmouth, United Kingdom
• Dublin (Dun Laoghaire), Ireland
• Dubrovnik, Croatia*
• Edinburgh (Newhaven), Scotland
• Eidfjord, Norway*
• Flam, Norway*
• Guernsey, Channel Islands, United Kingdom
• Geiranger, Norway*
• Hellesylt, Norway
• Honningsvaag, Norway*
• Invergordon, United Kingdom*
• Kotor, Montenegro*
• Leknes, Lofoten Islands, Norway
• Molde, Norway*
• Monte Carlo, Monaco*
• Mykonos, Greece*
• Mytilini (Lesbos), Greece*
• Portimao, Portugal
• Nordfjordeid, Norway
• Santorini, Greece
• Sorrento, Italy
• South Queensferry, United Kingdom
• Split, Croatia*
• Stockholm (Nynäshamn), Sweden*
• Stornoway, United Kingdom
• Villefranche, France
• Visby, Sweden*

Asia

• Bali (Benoa), Indonesia
• Celukan Bawang (Bali), Indonesia
• Hanoi (Ha Long Bay), Vietnam
• Hirara (Miyakojima), Japan
• Ishigaki, Japan*
• Ko Samui, Thailand
• Komodo, Indonesia
• Lifou, New Caledonia
• Nha Trang, Vietnam
• Phuket, Thailand
• Sabang, Indonesia
• Sihanoukville, Cambodia*

Australia, New Zealand & South Pacific

• Airlie Beach, Australia
• Akaroa, New Zealand
• Bay of Islands, New Zealand
• Dravuni, Fiji
• Eden, Australia
• Gisborne, New Zealand
• Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
• Luganville (Espirito Santo), Vanuatu
• Male, Maldives
• Mare, New Caledonia
• Mystery Island, Vanuatu
• Whangarei, New Zealand

* Indicates a port where ship can dock or anchor, varies by call.

 

 

source:

https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising

 

[esm54687]

54 minutes ago, rjm11 said:

We are sailing on the Star this summer to Le Havre, Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Geiranger Norway, Akureryi Iceland, Reykjavik Iceland, Belfast, and Dublin.  Is there some way to know which of these ports require a tender?  It's not listed on the itinerary as far as I can see, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot?

Google search "NCL Tender Ports" had this as it's first return. ☺  

 

https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising

 

Go there and then scroll to bottom

[SeaShark]

I'm confused...since they are being paid to take care of you and your reservation, is there a reason why your travel agent isn't providing this information? I mean, what good are they really if you have to rely on Internet forums to get basic information about your cruise? At some point, they should have to earn their money.

[TYTY]

I'm on the Star going to the same ports, what is your sail date?

[rjm11]

17 minutes ago, TYTY said:

I'm on the Star going to the same ports, what is your sail date?

We are on the July 26 sailing.

[TYTY]

17 minutes ago, rjm11 said:

We are on the July 26 sailing.

 

So are we.....tender ports are Edinburgh, Hellesylt and Dublin. We have a roll call with some good info in it, please join.

[LindySD]

Go on cruisemapper.com. It will let you know how many ships are in your port on a certain day and also has a bit of information about the port itself. Very useful website.

[KeithJenner]

Edinburgh is a definite tender port.

 

Le Havre, Akureryi, Reykjavik and Belfast are definite docking ports.

 

I've never been to Geiranger, but I believe that is one where you may not find out until the day before. Dublin depends on the port. Dun Laughaire is a tender port, but I believe that NCL sometimes use the other port which you dock at. Does it have any more information than just Dublin on your confirmation?

[flwinejunkie]

Thanks for the tip on determining if a port is tender or not!  

 

I'm going on a Mediterranean cruise of Greece and Italy on the Getaway next year.  Several of the ports can be either tender or port.  When and how do you find out that it will actually be a tender port instead of dociking?

 

How do you get a tender ticket if you don't take a NCL exursion?  Is it something that can be done on the website at some point before the cruise?  Or do you need to wait until actually boarding the ship or a day before? 

 

As long as I'm asking questions, here are a couple more.

• When can I make reservations for a specialty restaurant?
• When can I make reservations for entertainment?

Appreciate your help!  CC is a great source of information! 

[KeithJenner]

8 minutes ago, flwinejunkie said:

Thanks for the tip on determining if a port is tender or not!  

 

I'm going on a Mediterranean cruise of Greece and Italy on the Getaway next year.  Several of the ports can be either tender or port.  When and how do you find out that it will actually be a tender port instead of dociking?

 

How do you get a tender ticket if you don't take a NCL exursion?  Is it something that can be done on the website at some point before the cruise?  Or do you need to wait until actually boarding the ship or a day before? 

 

As long as I'm asking questions, here are a couple more.

• When can I make reservations for a specialty restaurant?
• When can I make reservations for entertainment?

Appreciate your help!  CC is a great source of information! 

Unfortunately, there are no definite answers to your questions about tendering.

 

It can change from port to port and cruise to cruise. In my experience, with ports that may be docking or tendering I have usually found out a day or two before. Often I don't think that the ship themselves know until quite late. All you can do is just keep an eye out, especially on the freestyle daily.

 

For getting tender tickets, again keep an eye out for news. For ports where you don't find out until late then obviously that is quite likely to be done quite close to the time, very often on the day itself.

 

Whatever you do, don't rely on any comments you get here giving definite details of what happened on individual cruises. I have done the exact same itinerary multiple times, with different arrangements for getting tender tickets each time. All you can do is wait and find out once onboard.

 

As for restaurant and show reservations, they are available 120 days out, or 130 if you are in a suite.

Edited February 8, 2020 by KeithJenner

[ggTexasGal]

NCL does have information regarding ports of call (you just need to select each one separately and scroll down to read needed info.  https://www.ncl.com/port-of-call#       However, be aware that things might change daily while on the ship!!!

 

Reservations for Dining and (some) Entertainment will become available at either 130 days prior for Suites(NOT mini-suites) and The Haven.  At 120 days prior, all other categories  (mini-suites, balcony, and all others).

[julig22]

19 minutes ago, flwinejunkie said:

Thanks for the tip on determining if a port is tender or not!  

 

I'm going on a Mediterranean cruise of Greece and Italy on the Getaway next year.  Several of the ports can be either tender or port.  When and how do you find out that it will actually be a tender port instead of dociking?

 

How do you get a tender ticket if you don't take a NCL exursion?  Is it something that can be done on the website at some point before the cruise?  Or do you need to wait until actually boarding the ship or a day before? 

 

As long as I'm asking questions, here are a couple more.

• When can I make reservations for a specialty restaurant?
• When can I make reservations for entertainment?

Appreciate your help!  CC is a great source of information! 

Your Freestyle Daily will give you details on when/where to get your tender tickets.  If you are gold or above status, or have priority access from some other source, you don't need a ticket. But it's not something you do in advance, you do it that day, when you are ready to go ashore.  One person from your group can get tickets for everyone.

 

To get a handle on whether or not you will tender, you can google the port authority for the port in question - most will have a schedule, although that can change at anytime, even at the last minute.  Sometimes a ship will be in port that isn't scheduled and it could bump another ship out.

[flwinejunkie]

Thank you KeithJenner, GGTexasGal and julig22 for your insight into tendering!    Unfortunately we don't have any status on NCL so won't receive any tendering preference.  Does anyone know where to go to pick up the tender tickets? We'll definitely need them for Santorini.  We'll be on the Getaway if that makes a difference.   

 

I'm a planner, so not knowing anything for sure will be a challenge.  I prefer taking smaller private excursions so I'm concerned about planning a pick up time at the port if I don't know when I'll be able to be get on shore.  I assume the private excursion companies have experience with this issue and will be able to provide guidance about times.   But I know I'll still be stressing out over it once on board.

 

At least I'll be able to plan my dinner and entertainment plans in advance!

 

Thanks again for your help!  

[yearsofcruising]

Last cruise up the canadian / bar harbor route , no one had the correct answers..Up until the day before we hit Portland !!!!

Tender..Tender..Tender..due to time in port , we made no plans for the short hrs there.

Bingo ,that morning , there was the pier.

Got off for donut n coffee.

[NutsAboutGolf]

Previous roll call is your best bet.