Tender Ports - Western Caribbean

[BoozinCroozin]

I just reviewed our itinerary. There are 4 port stops and 3 are listed as Tender Ports (Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel). I saw they have Priority Access for $179 for the cabin. I figure with priority embarkation, priority tender boarding at 3 ports, it may be worth the small investment. Roatan and Cozumel we would want to get off fairly quickly. In Roatan we want to get to West Bay so we can snorkel as much as we want. We will have a snorkel excursion in Cozumel that we will want to be off early for as well. 

 

I am just trying to get information ahead of time as we make decisions in the next 4-5 months.

[ClevelandCruisin]

I doubt you'll tender at any. Someone else mentioned that on here awhile back, and I think it's a glitch.

 

[Bartfast]

I was just on that itinerary on the Gem. None of those were tender ports. Our only tender port was Belize City. This  might depend on whether there are other cruise ships ahead of us at the same port, though, so I guess YMMV.

Also, we purchased priority access, but Norwegian cancelled it and refunded us before the cruise as they decided not to offer it. In part, that might have to do with the way they are scheduling embarkation at Port of Miami, but am not sure. 

[Laszlo]

14 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

I just reviewed our itinerary. There are 4 port stops and 3 are listed as Tender Ports (Belize, Roatan, and Cozumel). I saw they have Priority Access for $179 for the cabin. I figure with priority embarkation, priority tender boarding at 3 ports, it may be worth the small investment. Roatan and Cozumel we would want to get off fairly quickly. In Roatan we want to get to West Bay so we can snorkel as much as we want. We will have a snorkel excursion in Cozumel that we will want to be off early for as well. 

 

I am just trying to get information ahead of time as we make decisions in the next 4-5 months.

Very doubtful you will tender any of them. They might have put that in there just in case the ship did not have a reservation to dock at a pier when NCL put that cruise together. 

 

Instead of going to the West End beach to snorkel I would take a look at Maya Key. I've done both, the reef at Maya Key is excellent and a much much shorter trip. Its literally a 5 minute boat ride from the pier you dock

 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Maya+Key/@16.3113595,-86.54122,1393m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x8f69e886d07b1137:0x6d31f3f5ebab35e1!8m2!3d16.3111444!4d-86.5372269

 

 

https://www.mayakey.com

 

 

.

Edited September 1, 2021 by Laszlo

[BoozinCroozin]

58 minutes ago, Laszlo said:

Instead of going to the West End beach to snorkel I would take a look at Maya Key. I've done both, the reef at Maya Key is excellent and a much much shorter trip. Its literally a 5 minute boat ride from the pier you dock.

Thanks for the information on Maya Key. We are pretty set on going to West Bay. That is one of the biggest reefs I have seen and it is mostly protected from waves. Plus it is about half the price as the cruise line excursions. We plan to do it private where our driver stays with us at the beach.

[darkNstormy14]

Just got off this itinerary on the Gem today (sad face).  We docked, not tendered, at all of the ports. 

 

Here's a basic overview of what we experienced: 

 

Roatan - relatively short pier!  I think they demolished the old one. 

Harvest Caye - The covered pier was mostly useless in the morning due to the position of the sun and the pier is pretty long.  We used the free golf carts trolly.

Costa Maya - Longer dock with free trolly. If another ship is in port with you (Independence of the Seas backed up into our balcony view), then everyone can use the same trolly.  

Cozumel - L shaped dock.  Did not need/notice any trollies because we hopped the ferry to the mainland which is halfway down the 2nd half of the L. 

[PelicanBill]

Yes it was I who posted about the "tender" status of these ports on many of NCL's itineraries. I called and the agent's system did NOT show them as tendering and he was going to put in a report about the issue but that was 2 months ago.  

 

Anyone who calls - ask them and ask them to get it fixed. It has been over a year these ports are showing this and people are going to skip booking these because of it!

 

 

[BoozinCroozin]

Thanks for all the information. Since there is no tender at these ports, I don't think it is worth the extra money. My only hope is that it is not difficult to schedule our 2 free specialty dinners once onboard.