Tender photos please

[roadtripper]

Hi all--

We just off the Norwegian Pearl last week, and had a marvelous time. One of the not marvelous parts of the trip was the uncertainty surrounding the tender at Bar Harbor. We were told that it was a "few steps" to get into the tender, so we got up early to investigate. Here is a picture of the Bar Harbor tender. Needless to say, we were unable to get our 100 lb son and his 80 lb wheelchair off the ship. He was upset, his older sister was crying, and we didn't go into port. We were also unable to access the Haven sun deck, but that's a story for another post...

 

I searched for tender photo pictures here, but there doesn't seem to be a central location for them. If you have photos of tenders in various ports, would you please post them below, along with the name of the ship and the port? Hopefully others can benefit from this information. Thanks.

[FOPMan]

Part of the issue with Bar Harbor is that the tides are pretty big. There’s a substantive difference between low tide and high tide and the ramp angle changes with the tide.

 

The same issue can occur at other ports, including ones where the cruise ship is at dock. Some of the gangway ramps can be pretty steep either when disembarking or when coming back aboard.

[roadtripper]

Understood. I have been vacationing in Maine for 50 years. But whether high or low tide, there is not a chance that this tender was going to be "a few steps." I am hoping that people will show their pics of other tenders so that people with mobility issues can make informed decisions re: whether an itinerary with tenders will work for them.

[1025cruise]

Well, technically it's a few steps to get on the tender. Just ignore the steps to get to the tender 🙂

The other issue would be the other end. There's a staircase there as well to get to or from the dock.

 

[FOPMan]

4 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Well, technically it's a few steps to get on the tender. Just ignore the steps to get to the tender 🙂

The other issue would be the other end. There's a staircase there as well to get to or from the dock.

 

I’m wheel-dependent.

 

As far as getting on to the tender at the ship in the above picture, there is lan elevator on the cruise ship that goes to sea level “dock.” I’ve used it before. A member of the ship’s crew had to escort us, but it wasn’t a problem. I don’t remember if I asked or the crew took it under their own initiative to direct/escort us.

 

Of course, one also has to be ready for shoreside issues, which can be a whole different matter, such as (not using tenders) inaccessible shuttle busses to get you out of the port area.

 

As a wheel user, I view  ports with tenders as bonus ports. If it works, it’s a bonus. I wouldn’t want to go on a cruise where a featured destination required a tender.

 

Geraingerfjord (I think) has a floating dock and tenders. It’s unclear to me which ship gets the dock (we’ve asked). Get the floating dock, wheelchairs and scooters work. Don’t get the dock and you’re using ship-based launches which are generally.not power wheelchair friendly.

 

 

 

 

[Tonsoffun44]

Only tenders we've had so far sailing many different lines to many different Caribbean ports were the ships lifeboats. 

[FOPMan]

Half Moon Cay, Holland America’s private island (sometimes used by Carnival and other Carnival-owned lines) has line-owned, but island-based ferries. At least on the Pinnacle Class ships, and the larger ferry, one uses the second deck at the ship and the first deck at the island for entrance/exit. The large ferry has a ramp that is a little tight but can accommodate a power wheelchair or ecv/scooter. It’s captain’s discretion as to whether to allow wheels to leave the ship. Waves are a consideration- there’s been once where transfers were a bit iffy due to ship motion. 

[FOPMan]

Roatan may use shore-homed ferries as well, as I recall. 

[Bloodgem]

14 hours ago, FOPMan said:

Geraingerfjord (I think) has a floating dock and tenders. It’s unclear to me which ship gets the dock (we’ve asked). Get the floating dock, wheelchairs and scooters work. Don’t get the dock and you’re using ship-based launches which are generally.not power wheelchair friendly.

We were told that cruise lines that contributed towards the cost of Geirangerfjord floating dock get use the dock.

[middlehaitch]

This is the Celebrity E class ships.

Of course conditions could make this less than ideal if there are steps etc at the dock.

Sorry I have no personal experience, just thought it would be worth showing you an option.

 

 

Here is a link highlighting the ship's accessibility.

https://spintheglobe.net/dir/2019/01/24/wheelchair-accessible-celebrity-edge/ 

 

Cheers, h.

[Pie]

On 7/29/2022 at 4:27 PM, roadtripper said:

Hi all--

We just off the Norwegian Pearl last week, and had a marvelous time. One of the not marvelous parts of the trip was the uncertainty surrounding the tender at Bar Harbor. We were told that it was a "few steps" to get into the tender, so we got up early to investigate. Here is a picture of the Bar Harbor tender. Needless to say, we were unable to get our 100 lb son and his 80 lb wheelchair off the ship. He was upset, his older sister was crying, and we didn't go into port. We were also unable to access the Haven sun deck, but that's a story for another post...

 

I searched for tender photo pictures here, but there doesn't seem to be a central location for them. If you have photos of tenders in various ports, would you please post them below, along with the name of the ship and the port? Hopefully others can benefit from this information. Thanks.

Thank you so much for posting this pic.  We are cruising next month and I have been wondering/nervous about whether or not the tenders for Newport and Bar Harbor would be doable with my smartscoot and what to expect as far as steps/stairs go