Typical tendering process time

[lyndarra]

On 12/18/2023 at 9:02 PM, Gallivanter'sGal said:

Currently on the Westerdam and we had a big problem at Komodo Island where 4 and 5 state Mariners were not given any priority and HAL ended up not allowing most of the independent tour participants off the ship at all!  It was a disaster. We have a cruise booked on the Oosterdam next September with 4 tender ports with only 6-8 hours in port which I think we will end up canceling.

Sorry you had problems. That was not my experience at Komodo, off Westerdam, last January. Tendering was a smooth process.  I (2* at the time) was on a private tour and landed with plenty of time to spare. All immigration was sorted prior to arrival as it was first port of call for Indonesia. A previous stop there, off Volendam, was also smooth.

[Vineyard View]

Interesting concepton the May 3, May 4 options. I wonder how that will affect the itinerary with one day apart boarding. Not sure how I feel about that but I suppose these trials will tell the story.
I briefly looked at flights from SFO to RTM. It wasn’t pretty. Seemed like going into Brussels early for a couple nights then taking the train might be a good plan. Dover, not much easier and either LHR or Gatwixk, with LHR having many more options. 
‘those with experience, what are your recommendations please?

[oakridger]

2 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

briefly looked at flights from SFO to RTM.

 

Lufthansa and KLM both have nonstops from SFO to AMS. Amsterdam to Rotterdam is a pretty easy land transfer.  I'm taking KLM from AMS to SFO in July 2024 on my return from Norway.

 

Oh jeez, I just Google Flights from SFO to RTM and all of the flights are 17+ hours!!   😮        Yeah, just go to Amsterdam nonstop!!  Similar price even.

 

~Nancy

Edited December 20, 2023 by oakridger

[oakridger]

Sorry, OP, I just realized this thread is supposed to be about tendering! 🫢

 

We do get sidetracked a lot here on Cruise Critic! 

 

Now, about that tendering process time.............................

 

~Nancy

[VMax1700]

As @oakridger says, fly to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) and then either train (station is underneath the airport terminal) with a journey time of 30 minutes, or book a private transfer with staxi.nl who I have used several times.

 

We are having a bit of thread drift here so suggest you read (or start a new thread) in the British Isles forum on cruise critic.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

[Vineyard View]

Thank you all. I own the thread drift!  It just morphed when I saw the two same two itineraries one day apart from different ports. 
So the tendering issues on this itinerary may be worth Club Orange….. Appears there are 2 ports with less than ideal tendering locations, and one port with less than ideal docking location.  That is all really good information. 

[OlsSalt]

Less than ideal tendering and less than ideal docking are not really deal breakers - they are nuisances but temporary.  Plus the vagaries of both and last minute changes means even the most meticulous pre-planning can go awry anyway.  

 

We have all had to adapt to last minute changes or even lost ports from time to time. Just can't make this ruin the rest of the cruise by later second guessing. No matter which one you finally pick.

 

Worst one for us was coming into the dock in Nome Alaska, on the first tender. We could reach out and touch the dock, but could not disembark. Got word from the ship the shifting  ocean currents were such that re-boarding the ship from the tenders was going to  become unsafe, so they sent us all back to the ship without being able to actually get on land.

 

So did I go to Nome or not? Time to haul out that trusty old expression - ship happens. Part of cruising.

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

Less than ideal tendering and less than ideal docking are not really deal breakers - they are nuisances but temporary

Yes,....

and No!  Less than ideal tendering situations do come into play when planning,  certainly with the reduced port times now prevalent.  8am to 5pm port time seems adequate until you factor in a one hour or so wait for the tender ticket followed by a 30 minute tender journey and a 15 minute walk to the meeting place for the 7 hour private tour you have booked.  Then it can become a deal breaker.

[OlsSalt]

26 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

Yes,....

and No!  Less than ideal tendering situations do come into play when planning,  certainly with the reduced port times now prevalent.  8am to 5pm port time seems adequate until you factor in a one hour or so wait for the tender ticket followed by a 30 minute tender journey and a 15 minute walk to the meeting place for the 7 hour private tour you have booked.  Then it can become a deal breaker.

 

If it is a private tour, one might assume they will wait for you and adjust the itinerary to match the time  you have available. Or else, you might want to explore the ship excursions and reduce the stress. 

[Vineyard View]

We’ve sailed and traveled enough to have experienced ship happens a number of times. Being surrounded by people with guns in Cairo has not left my memory, that is for sure…..but a lot of bumps and detours along the way will always happen, and have happened - by sea and by land. 
 

For some, ship excursions are less stressful. For others, just the opposite. We simply do not enjoy them for a number of reasons. We’ve done them multiple times in various locations, and there are commonalities on most we prefer not to do. That’s us. 
 

So that leads me back to my reason for starting this thread. Tendered ports can greatly influence your time available in any given port. Size of ship greatly impacts tender experience. Where a ship is positioned for certain ports is a big influence. I realize that no matter how much one plans, things don’t always go that way, but I like to try my best to have a reasonable expectation going in. 
 

I’ve learned a lot from this thread, and I sincerely appreciate all the experienced input