How do tenders WORK?

[melkara]

I was wondering how you board a tender boat.....

This one has me kind of perplexed...is it just a straight walk from the **** to the tender boat..or do you climb a ladder...or climb a rail...lol..I know it might sound silly but to someone who has never been on a cruise before this has been on my mind lately....

 

melkara :o

[melkara]

lol...i typed the word SHIP and it blocked it out...did it think i was referring to something bad?

[ASM]

Maybe you hit the wrong button!

To board a tender you usually meet in a show lounge, etc. and get a number. When yours is called you walk to the gangway door usually used when docking and a nice steward helps you step up or down a step into a covered motorized lifeboat. When its filled it takes you to the actual dock and you get off. Very simple really but be one of the first if you want to get onshore quickly. To return, just board a waiting tender (for your ship of course). If you take the last one back be sure to be there early also. Hope this helps.

[Boo's Mom]

Melkara...... The Tender boat will actually be one of the many lifeboats that belongs to your ship!

 

It's fun! ;)

[trish1c]

I'm not the most sure footed person when it comes to transferring between 2 moving / rocking vessels. There are metal handrails on the gangway & people on both sides to help steady you. It's a fairly easy process.

[springtxbill]

The tenders actually can take wheelchairs aboard.:)

[Cruiseador]

Do you have to book an excursion (with the ship) in order to tender to the island? We're tendering in Belize.

 

How many people do the tender boats hold? Does it take a long time to tender everyone that's going on land?

[trish1c]

anyone can tender. If you booked an early excursion through the cruise you get priority tender & get off first.

 

I think they hold about 200-250 people but remember there are 10x that many plus crew on your ship.

 

The tenders run steadily throughout the day.

[Cruiseador]

One last thing....how long in general does it take to tender from the ship into the port.

[springtxbill]

The tender in Belize is about a 20 minute ride (plus loading and unloading time) if I remember correctly. The ship must stay well offshore due to the reef. Most other tender runs are probably about 5 minutes of run time.

[serene56]

The only port i have been to that tendered is Grand Cayman and the ships do not use their own lifeboats. Cayman uses their own tender boats. (they are like large ferries.

 

I dont know what kind of tender Belize offers.

[DeckCadet]

Some ships use the tender lifeboats (usually twin propeller design, slightly smaller capacity) some use independent boats (up to 300-400 if full) or both. Lifeboats of normal capacity on the carnival Fantasy class hold 150 people including up to 7 crew, but tenders hold only 145 (138 pax 7 crew in emergency situations)

It is usually a step across, a bit up or a bit down. You might have to take stairs to the top deck of a non-ship's tender of a two level type.

[Boo's Mom]

...and as someone mentioned a bit earlier.... the crew is right there to help everyone onto the tender. And I bet that if you needed two crew members to help you...they would be glad to do that.

 

I am sure that a large part of their "safety training"...is for no passenger to be injured while boarding this tender!

 

Don't worry. The crew will be there to aid you. ;)

[imsulin]

On my Holland America cruises to Grand Cayman, the ship used its lifeboats for tendering every time. FYI.

[smudge's mom]

Tendering isn't a big deal unless you have time constraints. If you book you own excursion, make sure you book it later in the morning - in case of any tendering problems.

 

If you are not doing anything specific in port, just have a nice relaxing breakfast and let those who have excursions get off first - after that, there is no need for a tender ticket because tenders run all day.

 

Getting off and on can be a little tedious, but there are strong arms on both sides of the plant who will just about lift you onto the tender if need be.

 

Don't worry.