Wow! Easiest tendering boarding ever😀

[Clay Clayton]

Just tendered for the first time from a Viking ship so didn't know what to expect. Thought I'd share for others who worry about it. We are on Saturn but presume the experience is the same on all.
 

The steps appear to be built into the hull and at least here in Svalbard with relatively smooth seas it was a completely level walk from the ship over a small threashold onto the level deck of the tender.  
 

easypeasy!

 

Getting off at the dock in town was a little bit more of a challenge but very little😂

[CDNPolar]

Our experience very similar - very easy.

[molymoo]

Sometimes it is a little "trickier"!  Remember watching for "just the right moment" for a jump into the tender as the seas rocked the small boat up and down.  All good fun, though, and the crew are wonderfully helpful!

 

[Murt22]

For us newbies, thanks. I think we tender most if not all of the Alaska ports and I had no idea how it worked. I guess the wait to tender and time to do it would be the worst part - besides jumping across, of course!

[CILCIANRQTS]

Same experience on the Orion.

in the past, they would just lift up my wife and pass her to the tender crew!

[TayanaLorna]

5 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Just tendered for the first time from a Viking ship so didn't know what to expect. Thought I'd share for others who worry about it. We are on Saturn but presume the experience is the same on all.
 

The steps appear to be built into the hull and at least here in Svalbard with relatively smooth seas it was a completely level walk from the ship over a small threashold onto the level deck of the tender.  
 

easypeasy!

 

Getting off at the dock in town was a little bit more of a challenge but very little😂

Lucky you guys.  Every time we tendered it was a watch the up/down movement between ship and tender and time your step accordingly.  Always helping hands from crew.  The Panomax video this Monday is spectacular and when overlaying location it looks like ship is in a very protected bay.

[TayanaLorna]

22 minutes ago, Murt22 said:

For us newbies, thanks. I think we tender most if not all of the Alaska ports and I had no idea how it worked. I guess the wait to tender and time to do it would be the worst part - besides jumping across, of course!

You don't jump across.  They keep the tender right up against the ship.  Its the timing and stepping when both tender and ship are level.  If it is too rough to tender, the Captain may cancel the stop.

[Clay Clayton]

I just like you don't have to scramble down an aluminum stair sortakinda attached to the side of the ship but instead there is a large platform that is part of the hull of the Viking ships. 

[downsmead]

On 7/24/2023 at 2:42 PM, Clay Clayton said:

I just like you don't have to scramble down an aluminum stair sortakinda attached to the side of the ship but instead there is a large platform that is part of the hull of the Viking ships. 

Not sure which ships have that contraption 🤷‍♀️, I have only ever been on ones that have a similar set up to Viking

[Peregrina651]

On 7/24/2023 at 7:34 AM, molymoo said:

Sometimes it is a little "trickier"!  Remember watching for "just the right moment" for a jump into the tender as the seas rocked the small boat up and down.  All good fun, though, and the crew are wonderfully helpful!

 

 

Me, too!  Rough seas in Edinburgh stand out in my mind, going from tender to ship. Not great on the knees. Being short and not very nimble did not help.

[Heidi13]

53 minutes ago, downsmead said:

Not sure which ships have that contraption 🤷‍♀️, I have only ever been on ones that have a similar set up to Viking

 

Most of the ships I worked and sailed as pax had similar tendering arrangements, with a floating platform (older ships) or one that folded out from the hull. The platforms were accessed via similar external stairs.

 

This was the case with all P&O and Princess ships from the 60's until at least the Royal Class.

 

Viking are the only cruise line we have sailed that tenders directly from a shell door.

 

Am interested which other ships you have sailed on that also tender directly through a shell door.

[FetaCheese]

Venus

[Clay Clayton]

18 hours ago, downsmead said:

Not sure which ships have that contraption 🤷‍♀️, I have only ever been on ones that have a similar set up to Viking

That was a Google find and said it was a Disney ship. We have done those steps on NCL.  

[Haqdeluxe]

23 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

That was a Google find and said it was a Disney ship. We have done those steps on NCL.  

Maybe it was just me but... the paint scheme screamed Disney. 😃

[WanderingBrit]

QE2 had a small ladder and platform too, no direct door

[downsmead]

On 7/25/2023 at 8:55 PM, Heidi13 said:

 

 

Am interested which other ships you have sailed on that also tender directly through a shell door.

Not a shell door but On Celebrity E class ships you step directly off the Magic Carpet onto the tender, no steps down to the tender.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, downsmead said:

Not a shell door but On Celebrity E class ships you step directly off the Magic Carpet onto the tender, no steps down to the tender.

 

Thanks.

 

Unless you exit the ship from the Prom Deck and descend to the waterline, you have to exit the ship by a Shell Door. Most tendering operations used a floating platform, or platform that swings out from the ship, which is used for the tenders to dock alongside.

 

Viking and I assume the new Celebrity ships, the tenders berth directly alongside the ship's hull, or shell plating.

 

With external platforms, you exit through a Shell Door and descend stairs to the platform. With Viking and based on your post, also with Celebrity, you exit a Shell Door and step directly into a tender.

[Jim Avery]

On 7/26/2023 at 4:59 AM, WanderingBrit said:

QE2 had a small ladder and platform too, no direct door

Best passenger ship ever built...  RIP QE2...🍸

[Selion]

On 7/25/2023 at 3:55 PM, Heidi13 said:

This was the case with all P&O and Princess ships from the 60's until at least the Royal Class.

We were on the Regal Princess in 2017.  Tendered at Cayman Islands and the tender/lifeboat was right up against the hull.  The seas were not ideal for tendering.  The tender boat was swaying up & down at least 3 to 4 feet, using Regal's deck as a reference.  One of our more exciting tendering experience.  LOL!

[millybess]

On 7/28/2023 at 3:08 PM, Selion said:

We were on the Regal Princess in 2017.  Tendered at Cayman Islands and the tender/lifeboat was right up against the hull.  The seas were not ideal for tendering.  The tender boat was swaying up & down at least 3 to 4 feet, using Regal's deck as a reference.  One of our more exciting tendering experience.  LOL!

This "exciting" tendering experience happened to us in Monaco in May. We were on the first tender out.  Things like this never bother DH, but I decided I won't take the first tender out again.  I'll be watching to see how things go with the early ones.  😉