Tendering?

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I've never heard of tendering before- but through reading trip reports and websites- I've gathered it means riding a smaller boat to dock when the ship doesn't go right up to a dock (correct me if I'm wrong?) at ports of call.

What's the deal with getting tender tickets? And then later it's "open tendering" or something like that where tickets aren't needed?

Do tender tickets cost? Does tendering cost at all- regardless of with ticket or open tendering? And why are tickets needed at all- early on but then later open tendering? Is it just to have a specific time to get on the boat to get to the dock/shore or what?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

 

[kcashner]

First of all, the plans are that the Magic docks at the various ports. Tenders are used only when for some reason, the Magic can't get in to the various ports on the Eastern cruise. Tenders are smaller boats used to take passengers from the Magic to the land.

Tender tickets are free. They are used early on just to control the numbers of people trying to get off the Magic and get everyone to their scheduled activities on time. If you have booked a shore excursion thru Disney, you will have a tender ticket (time) in order to make your excursion.

After the people with early excursions are off the ship, no tickets are required. This is because there are no crowds that need to be managed. Tender tickets are just a form or crowd control. Return tickets are open at all times.

IF tenders are needed, there is a PA announcement with all the details. Don't worry about it until/unless it happens. It is also possible that a port will be cancelled due to weather, inability to dock, waves too big for the tenders, etc. This happens. If you read the small print on the cruise contract, you are agreeing to alternative ports of call, cancelled ports, changed itineries, etc at the discretion of the captain and DCL. Some people get very upset about these sorts of changes. For the captain and DCL, safety is of first importance. They are sensitive to your plans, and would like to do the cruise exactly as scheduled. However, as the captain said on one of our cruises, only a fool would steer a ship into a hurricane. We had Grand Cayman cancelled due to inability to tender....as a compensation, the captain got us into Cozumel about 12 hours early so those who wanted a night of partying ashore could have it.

If your ports of call are cancelled/changed, any excursions booked thru Disney are fully refunded. If alternative ports are used, the staff really hustles to arrange alternative shore excursions and get them booked for you.

Since you are sailing in February, it is unlikely that these things will happen...but they can. Don't worry so much!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I wasn't worrying- I was just asking to understand what this "tendering" was all about- and checking to see if I was understanding what tender meant correctly.

Since we're doing the Eastern cruise- I'm not concerned about itinerary changes/etc either. On the Western cruise I originally planned I was all set to do all sorts of excursions/etc- but with Eastern we're doing it more relaxed and it won't really bother me much at all if we miss ports of call- except that I can't say I was "here and there"- just on a ship.. But not a big deal to me/us.

Now I understand the need for tender tickets early on- but not later. I also see the need to go through Disney excursions if we plan any- so we can have tender tickets (if needed) for appropriate times to make those excursions on time AND refunded if we're unable to go there. Thanks for your informative post!

 

[jrabbit]

Grand Cayman on the Western cruise is the only port with regularly scheduled tendering (all ships have to tender in). Very infrequently the passengers on the Magic will have to tender in at St. Thomas (only 1 or 2 times per year) and those are scheduled (because of the number of ships in port that day).