LIMPIT Posted July 4 #1 Share Posted July 4 We are experienced cruisers but are travelling and looking forward to our first experience of travelling with NCL aboard the Sun in October and visiting Hawaii and French Polynesian Islands. My issue is that I normally do not subscribe to overpriced and overcrowded ship organised tours and prefer to book privately. However after reading a number of reviews I am concerned about two booked excursions and if we will be able to get off the ship in time to meet the excursion at port side. Raiatea - Tender - Due to arrive in Port 7am, Excursion booked 8am. Bora Bora - Tender - Ship is overnight in port, Excursion booked 9am, no idea what time tender process will commence after an overnight stop ? Both excursions have free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and both look fantastic, so I ideally want to keep them but these are the only times the excursions run, other NCL guests have advised on FB that taking into consideration the disembarkation time for booked ship excursions and loyalty program guests, we will struggle to achieve the excursion start times. I would really appreciate any advice especially if previous experience of this issue ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrumpyNor Posted July 4 #2 Share Posted July 4 As you are a first time NCL cruiser, you have no priority on the tenders, so I think you are cutting it very short at the Raiatea port.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIMPIT Posted July 4 Author #3 Share Posted July 4 1 hour ago, TrumpyNor said: As you are a first time NCL cruiser, you have no priority on the tenders, so I think you are cutting it very short at the Raiatea port.... Do you think Bora Bora will be ok for 9am, not sure what time the tender process will start after the overnight ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrumpyNor Posted July 4 #4 Share Posted July 4 1 hour ago, LIMPIT said: Do you think Bora Bora will be ok for 9am, not sure what time the tender process will start after the overnight ? I have no idea, but my unqualified guess is that they will start the tendering early... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KforKitty Posted July 4 #5 Share Posted July 4 You’re very unlikely to make the first excursion without any status or priority - I’d not risk it. The Bora Bora one might be doable as tendering is likely to start quite early if anchored overnight. Maybe 6.30 or 7am start. If they are issuing tender tickets the evening before, get into the queue early for early tickets. Catherine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 4 #6 Share Posted July 4 4 hours ago, LIMPIT said: Do you think Bora Bora will be ok for 9am, not sure what time the tender process will start after the overnight ? I expect the tenders to run constantly during your stay, including over night. They won’t be as frequent during night time hours but that should not be an issue. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted July 4 #7 Share Posted July 4 9 hours ago, LIMPIT said: We are experienced cruisers but are travelling and looking forward to our first experience of travelling with NCL aboard the Sun in October and visiting Hawaii and French Polynesian Islands. My issue is that I normally do not subscribe to overpriced and overcrowded ship organised tours and prefer to book privately. However after reading a number of reviews I am concerned about two booked excursions and if we will be able to get off the ship in time to meet the excursion at port side. Raiatea - Tender - Due to arrive in Port 7am, Excursion booked 8am. Bora Bora - Tender - Ship is overnight in port, Excursion booked 9am, no idea what time tender process will commence after an overnight stop ? Both excursions have free cancellation up to 24 hours before, and both look fantastic, so I ideally want to keep them but these are the only times the excursions run, other NCL guests have advised on FB that taking into consideration the disembarkation time for booked ship excursions and loyalty program guests, we will struggle to achieve the excursion start times. I would really appreciate any advice especially if previous experience of this issue ? First and foremost, the tour companies know the ship's schedule and won't schedule a tour that is unachievable. Therefore, all of your times are achievable. But it is incumbent on you to take action to make the tour times (i.e., don't have a leisurely breakfast and think you can be ashore in 10 minutes). Pay attention to the tendering process on the Sun (I have not tendered on that ship in a dozen years, so I can't tell you what they will do in your ports) and secure your space on an early tender. From an identical current thread on Cruise Critic: Some NCL ShoreEx meet on the ship in which case they are escorted to tenders. Some NCL ShoreEx meet on shore in which case guests are on their own to catch a tender. In terms of priority, on some ships, you pull tender group tickets and go to the tenders when your group is called (this will be your situation with a private tour). Again, check what they are doing on the Sun when you embark. Priority? Suites guests will be escorted to the front of the tender line. The ship has a set of guests that they will escort to the front of the line (General Manager's Group). Anyone with a NCL ShoreEx ticket join the back of tender line at any time (without a group number). Top tier Latitudes members either can join the back of the tender line at any time and, on some ships at some ports, will have a special escort before general tendering starts. Again, as a private excursion, you will join the back of the tender line with your tender group. Most tendering is fast and efficient. The line moves quickly. You get ashore quickly. But, our worst experience was spending an hour in line from the time we joined the back of the line until we were seated on a tender. Then another 30 minutes to fill the tender and get ashore. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakcruiser Posted July 4 #8 Share Posted July 4 You might make your Raiatea excursion because a lot of people don't like to get up early and the 7;00AM tenders might not be crowded. If they issue tender tickets make sure and get in line very early. I have done a couple overnight tender stops, and your Bora Bora excursion should not be a problem. They have run limited tenders through the night and passengers seem to be more spread out the second day. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanger727 Posted July 4 #9 Share Posted July 4 I'm confused on whether these are NCL tours or private tours. If you are on a NCL tour you will meet on the ship and take the tender in together. No issues. If private, yeah, that first one is cutting it pretty close. If they advertise primarily to cruises, they may wait. but if they primarily have land tourists, you'll be out of luck. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catchum Posted July 4 #10 Share Posted July 4 Communicate with your tour provider, they may have based timings on what usually happens. If you promise to be on the first possible tender and they are happy with that go for it. In my experience the early tenders are not so busy and announcements are made that tender tickets are not needed if you and your party are ready now. Can you check to see what time the ships excursions are listed as departing? They don't often leave that early. It also depends on how long the tender ride is. If stressing about the excursions is going to spoil your holiday, cancel and find an alternative which might be less memorable but you won't lose sleep over. My greatest tender achievement was to book a time slot to see the book of Kells, one tender, the Dart train, a walk through Dublin and up the steps at Trinity College and exactly the right moment. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urban trekker Posted July 5 #11 Share Posted July 5 Just because your ship - the Sun arrives in port at 7 AM doesn't mean that tendering will start right away. The ship will likely have to be cleared by local authorities who may or may not be along side the boat when it drops anchor. So I would say that the 8 AM excursion would likely be a hit or miss BUT the local operators as someone mentioned usually know the routine of these ship especially if it a frequent port of call. If however, the tender port is a one off all bets would be off. Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LIMPIT Posted July 5 Author #12 Share Posted July 5 13 hours ago, sanger727 said: I'm confused on whether these are NCL tours or private tours. If you are on a NCL tour you will meet on the ship and take the tender in together. No issues. If private, yeah, that first one is cutting it pretty close. If they advertise primarily to cruises, they may wait. but if they primarily have land tourists, you'll be out of luck. Yes they are all private booked tours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Son Posted July 5 #13 Share Posted July 5 11 hours ago, LIMPIT said: Yes they are all private booked tours So what do they say about the issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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