Tendering on New England/Canada cruise

[Augustsunshine]

I am seriously looking at a September cruise to Quebec City on the Pearl. I notice that 3 of the five ports are tender ports. This seems concerning. Has anyone done this 1 week cruise on the Pearl or other small ships. As many ships are sailing well over 100% capacity it seems like it could be a nightmare.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, Augustsunshine said:

I am seriously looking at a September cruise to Quebec City on the Pearl. I notice that 3 of the five ports are tender ports. This seems concerning. Has anyone done this 1 week cruise on the Pearl or other small ships. As many ships are sailing well over 100% capacity it seems like it could be a nightmare.

We have done this cruise a couple of times.  I would recommend booking an shore excursion tour through NCL at each of the tender ports to ensure priority boarding on the tenders. 

[Augustsunshine]

I had thought of that. It also eliminates the scramble for tender tickets, which since the itinerary is so port intensive, seems like it would mean standing in line for tickets every night after being ashore all day. 😵‍💫 

[luv2kroooz]

Tenders can be a pain, but it means you are getting into a small port...very scenic. A New England/Canada cruise is a nice change from the Caribbean. And we really enjoyed Quebec City. The 11 day run is a really nice cruise. I recommending spending at least 1 extra night post cruise. enjoy.

[genealogyfan]

3 hours ago, Augustsunshine said:

I am seriously looking at a September cruise to Quebec City on the Pearl. I notice that 3 of the five ports are tender ports. This seems concerning. Has anyone done this 1 week cruise on the Pearl or other small ships. As many ships are sailing well over 100% capacity it seems like it could be a nightmare.

My friend and I did this ship and itinerary this past September. We never had an issue with tender tickets or lines to get off/on. Even when our excursion through the ship was in the late afternoon we got off pretty early without a problem. We used our excursion tickets as tender tickets. If you book a cruise ship excursion, that's your tender ticket.  In fact on one port (not a tender), my friend and I happened to be the first ones off the ship. We just happened to be standing in an area and when they gathered people to get lined out to get off, we were first. Our stop in Charlottetown wasn't a tender port though. 

 

It was a fun and interesting cruise.