Tendering process on Princess

[mgcharleston]

Hi cruisers! 

I am a first time cruiser on Princess sailing next month on the Regal. I am hoping someone can enlighten me on what Princess tendering process looks like. We are doing all our own excursions, so we will not be in the priority groups for the ships excursions. I would like to figure out the process though so we can get off sooner than later  🙂

For example, on NCL you sign up for a tender group ahead of time and you are just assigned to that tender group for that day. But if you don't know to sign up  on the first day of the cruise and you wait, you can be stuck in a high numbered group, thus waiting a couple of hours to disembark. Other cruises I have done, you simply to go to a designated location and get in the queue ahead of time. Although I have seen some lines start forming  WAY too early...

 

I would appreciate any insight on how to make it off the boat in a timely fashion!

[Steelers36]

It's FCFS on Princess.  You show up at a designated location and are handed numbered tickets.  If Elite member level, you get priority tickets and move along faster.  They call X number tickets for each run of the tender(s).

[snoozecrooze]

Adding onto the above answer, they used to just call people up by their ticket numbers but lately they're doing fun names nowadays, so like your tickets might be named after cities or animals, etc. Whatever the case may be, you and your party have to assemble together as a group because they take that seriously (from my experience).

 

You'll also have to wait in a public area because you won't be able to hear the announcements for your group otherwise and well, you'll want to make your directed pontoon on time.

 

You will get instructions on your nightly paper newsletter from the night before your tender day, and don't be afraid to ask guest services for a rundown if anything still worries you about the process.

[lennythenose]

Do suites get priority also or just Elite and ship excursions?

[marden1970]

13 minutes ago, lennythenose said:

Do suites get priority also or just Elite and ship excursions?

Yes, suites get priority tendering to embark, but not on return to ship.

[Yehootu]

Check the daily patter. On our last cruise, they were  giving out tender tickets the night before. Ours were all ocean creatures names.

[tjcox9]

So, do tours on tender ports meet onboard and tender off together or are you on your own to meet ashore? 

[Expat Cruise]

OK, I'm going to throw a monkey wench in this. Yes, you get a ticket and then go down when called and board tender. But most of the time Princess does not check your ticket, you could just get in line with the moving group and get on. And when I have seen them check tickets with confused guests at the water platform, they seem to just board them anyways. 

 

Let's face a simple fact here, the tendering system with Princess is not the best and causes lots of issues. But until Princess takes the time and effort to fix, not much we as guests can do about it. Even with Priority Tendering, we really do not like the system.

[travelin.sisters]

46 minutes ago, tjcox9 said:

So, do tours on tender ports meet onboard and tender off together or are you on your own to meet ashore? 

it depends, you excursion ticket will tell you where to meet...in my experience, if it is shortly after you get to port then you will meet onboard, but if it is several hours later, then not always as people may want to go ashore before their excursion 

[MissP22]

9 hours ago, Yehootu said:

Check the daily patter. On our last cruise, they were  giving out tender tickets the night before. Ours were all ocean creatures names.

That's a new method I haven't experienced before.

How did it work out? 

What ship?

[puggymom]

Currently on Enchanted and they are handing out numbers near O’Malleys and asking you to stay in the piazza and wait for your number to be called

[Guest ldtr]

9 hours ago, Yehootu said:

Check the daily patter. On our last cruise, they were  giving out tender tickets the night before. Ours were all ocean creatures names.

What ship was that?

 

I have never seen that on a Princess cruise. Especially since to geothermal tender tickets you need to have your party together and ready to go ashore.

[Rick&Jeannie]

13 hours ago, snoozecrooze said:

Adding onto the above answer, they used to just call people up by their ticket numbers but lately they're doing fun names nowadays, so like your tickets might be named after cities or animals, etc. 

Currently on the Sky they are using the names of cities in the UK.

[Rick&Jeannie]

9 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

But most of the time Princess does not check your ticket, you could just get in line with the moving group and get on.

Not the case on the Sky right now...you can't get down the stairs to the gangway deck without giving the correct ticket. 

[mgcharleston]

Many thanks for all the replies! I had wondered if it was this set up but I am glad to confirm it. Now I know the early bird gets the worm and I can mentally prepare for the chaos 😝

[Rick&Jeannie]

19 minutes ago, mgcharleston said:

 Now I know the early bird gets the worm....

Definitely!

[Yehootu]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

That's a new method I haven't experienced before.

How did it work out? 

What ship?

 

2 hours ago, ldtr said:

What ship was that?

 

I have never seen that on a Princess cruise. Especially since to geothermal tender tickets you need to have your party together and ready to go ashore.

This was on the Crown for our stop in Moorea in April. They were giving them out beginning at 6:30 at the Captains Circle desk.You DID NOT have to have your whole party there to get tickets.I'd say by the time they started giving them out there were about 100 people waiting to get them, I was #1😀, I got Abalone.

[capriccio]

11 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

OK, I'm going to throw a monkey wench in this. Yes, you get a ticket and then go down when called and board tender. But most of the time Princess does not check your ticket, you could just get in line with the moving group and get on. And when I have seen them check tickets with confused guests at the water platform, they seem to just board them anyways. 

 

Let's face a simple fact here, the tendering system with Princess is not the best and causes lots of issues. But until Princess takes the time and effort to fix, not much we as guests can do about it. Even with Priority Tendering, we really do not like the system.

Neither issues you mention were evident on the Coral Princess in Australia last month.  Those with priority tendering were led to the disembarkation security checkpoint and the tender platform before the others.  The tender tickets were checked and returned to staff before the security checkpoint.

[Expat Cruise]

2 hours ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

Not the case on the Sky right now...you can't get down the stairs to the gangway deck without giving the correct ticket. 

Ways around almost everything if guests want to try. Use the elevator that takes you directly to the tender deck. 

 

38 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Neither issues you mention were evident on the Coral Princess in Australia last month.  Those with priority tendering were led to the disembarkation security checkpoint and the tender platform before the others.  The tender tickets were checked and returned to staff before the security checkpoint.

Not the same on all the ships in the fleet and even if true, most of the time once someone is at the tender platform they just load them. Have seen it happen many times. Happy to have priority tendering, but still it always seems to be a mess to deal with. 

[capriccio]

6 minutes ago, Expat Cruise said:

Ways around almost everything if guests want to try. Use the elevator that takes you directly to the tender deck. 

 

Not the same on all the ships in the fleet and even if true, most of the time once someone is at the tender platform they just load them. Have seen it happen many times. Happy to have priority tendering, but still it always seems to be a mess to deal with. 

In my experience you do not get to the tender platform without first existing through security since they need to track who has left the ship.  The staff member collecting the tender tickets is standing between the elevators and the security checkpoint. 

[Roberto256]

14 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

OK, I'm going to throw a monkey wench in this. Yes, you get a ticket and then go down when called and board tender. But most of the time Princess does not check your ticket, you could just get in line with the moving group and get on. And when I have seen them check tickets with confused guests at the water platform, they seem to just board them anyways. 

That's not a monkey wrench.

That's simply how to cheat.

By you cheating, you are stealing time from people who are following the rules.

 

On Princess, you would probably just get some dirty looks.  On some other cruise lines,

you might well enjoy a fist fight.

This is one area where princess can learn from other cruise lines.

 

And with regard to your other comment ... just take the elevator.

Often there is an officer on the tender deck checking people coming out of the elevator to bust the self-important cheaters.

 

Some one needs to resurrect the thread:

 

"What kind of people will I meet on a princess cruise?"

 

... as this is a good example.

 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Roberto256

[Guest ldtr]

Also keep in mind that the purpose of tender tickets is to manage flow and make the tender process as efficient as possible. So they know how many have been sent down to a given tender. To make sure that the tenders get filled quickly, as well as to name sure people are not kept waiting in the tender departure area.

[Steelers36]

Several of the above posts have reminded me that the numbered tickets have been replaced with group name tickets and PA announcements as to the next group.  Most of us here will recall the meetings in DR and waiting for number range group to be called.  We did not have many tenders on our trip last Fall.  Anyway, it seems to work quite efficiently IMO.

[JimmyVWine]

OP:  The process has been described in earlier posts in correct detail, but be aware that if there isn't a rush to get off the ship, it is possible to go to collect a ticket with an aquatic creature's name on it (at the Photo Gallery on Deck 6) and be told that the ticket system isn't being used at that time and to just proceed to Deck 4 whenever you are ready to disembark.  We had two tender ports on the Regal earlier this month (Guernsey and Holyhead) and neither time did we require a ticket to get off and we were trying to get off at what I would have thought were the "prime" hours (8:00-9:00).  

[mgcharleston]

8 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

OP:  The process has been described in earlier posts in correct detail, but be aware that if there isn't a rush to get off the ship, it is possible to go to collect a ticket with an aquatic creature's name on it (at the Photo Gallery on Deck 6) and be told that the ticket system isn't being used at that time and to just proceed to Deck 4 whenever you are ready to disembark.  We had two tender ports on the Regal earlier this month (Guernsey and Holyhead) and neither time did we require a ticket to get off and we were trying to get off at what I would have thought were the "prime" hours (8:00-9:00).  

That is great to know! Those are two of the ports I am concerned about. I appreciate the insight that tickets can be collected at the Photo Gallery (random spot!) and that's where I can go to check on them. Every line and, it appears most ships within the line, have different procedures so thank you for the heads up!