Tender for Akaroa

Please can anyone tell me whether it is often unable for the tender to dock I want to book a private tour but do not want to pay ahead if it may be impossible to tender any day It would be December time:)

Hi Windsor26,

We have only been there once, and we had no problems. The ship anchors in a protected bay area, but like any tender port, I am sure there is always the possibility the ship won't stop.

Akaroa is a lovely port though. We just walked the main street, had some lunch, then walked back to the light house and had a look there, then back on the ship. Doesn't sound very exciting but it was most enjoyable.

Hope this helps.

Russell.

There was a discussion about this earlier this year. It explains when and why a cruise ship will not be able to tender and discusses planning shore excursions. Hope it helps. We had a wind free day for our visit in April 2012.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1782458

...there was also another occasion where a ship made it in OK but then a weather bomb blew in such a storm , that all those who had tendered ashore could not get back . They had to be put up overnight in school halls etc and the ship rode out the storm in the bay and resumed tendering at noon the next day.

I stopped at Akaroa four times in Dec/Jan just gone, and tendering was fine each time. Yes, weather comes in, but I would say you'd have to be unlucky for that to happen. It can happen, of course, but from seeing other people's experiences and mine, it's not a common occurrence. It's a cute port, and just beautiful on a sunny day.

Thank you all I will ask the tour operator of the harbour cruise if we get a refund if we cannot dock/.

Thank you all I will ask the tour operator of the harbour cruise if we get a refund if we cannot dock/.

Let us know what they say. We would do a cruise independent of the ship in Bay of Islands, New Zealand, but are being told after 6:00pm the night before the fare in non-refundable.

We had no problems tendering in March last year. I would never book a tour that does not refund deposits.

BTW I notice from the 2014/15 Royal itineraries that they will only visit NZ a couple of times in that season. I wonder if that is because Celebrity will predominantly do NZ cruises.

We booked a nature harbour cruise, and I asked before I booked if they would refund if we were unable to tender. They said no problem, we would receive a full refund if that was the case.

As it turned out the weather was beautiful, and the nature cruise was fantastic.

We booked a nature harbour cruise, and I asked before I booked if they would refund if we were unable to tender. They said no problem, we would receive a full refund if that was the case.

As it turned out the weather was beautiful, and the nature cruise was fantastic.

Thank you my company actually only said they would need the CC details to book the cruise They did not say they would take any money before so now I am waiting for a reply about this detail I am looking forward to seeing the miniature dolphins and although Princess do the same tour you do not get the choice of times (and be sure they will stick to it) and it is $15 more per person without the refreshments and of course I do prefer a smaller group

We saw Hectors dolphins, fur seals and yellow eyed penguins. There were people on our trip that had booked through HAL, but it was cheaper to book directly with the nature cruise company.

We saw Hectors dolphins, fur seals and yellow eyed penguins. There were people on our trip that had booked through HAL, but it was cheaper to book directly with the nature cruise company.

Makes me envious but my time is coming:):);)

We had no trouble tendering in ....diferent story coming back....but having said that....the tender process was very slow as all those on Princess tours were off first and public was the last and very slow and dribbled out....it made me think twice if I was ever to do a private tour there.... We got up real early to get tickets....we were number 4 and waited for at least 1.15 mins....they didn't seem to have many tenders down...

I heard recently of someone not getting off till 1pm....(I would also make sure that you take any medication you might need incase you dont come back on....it happened to our ship here and 700 passengers and staff didn't and couldn't get back....it was scary and freaky and a rough night even on board for us in the harbour....

We had no trouble tendering in ....diferent story coming back....but having said that....the tender process was very slow as all those on Princess tours were off first and public was the last and very slow and dribbled out....it made me think twice if I was ever to do a private tour there.... We got up real early to get tickets....we were number 4 and waited for at least 1.15 mins....they didn't seem to have many tenders down...

I heard recently of someone not getting off till 1pm....(I would also make sure that you take any medication you might need incase you dont come back on....it happened to our ship here and 700 passengers and staff didn't and couldn't get back....it was scary and freaky and a rough night even on board for us in the harbour....

Ouch hopefully we shall be there at a good time of year for the weather.