Tendering in Lahaina

It was posted on the Cunard board, that there was trouble tendering in Lahaina because the harbor master would only allow one tender at a time in and they got very backed up. If you were not on a cruise sponsored excursion there was a many hour wait.

For those who have been to Lahaina and not on a ship sponsored excursion, would you please share your experiences?

Thanks!

It was posted on the Cunard board, that there was trouble tendering in Lahaina because the harbor master would only allow one tender at a time in and they got very backed up. If you were not on a cruise sponsored excursion there was a many hour wait.

 

For those who have been to Lahaina and not on a ship sponsored excursion, would you please share your experiences?

 

Thanks!

I've never been at Lahaina when there were multiple ships which I've read may cause delays due to the limited harbor pier space. I've never had any delays due to the harbor facilities but have been delayed by weather.

I don't know when you're sailing but found this cruise ship schedule & you can check to see if you're the only ship in port.

http://ports.cruisett.com/schedule/Hawaii_USA/373-Lahaina_Maui/April_2013/

The tendering area might be able to handle 3 tenders total, at the most. Two is more likely. So if there are two ships in, there would definitely be a traffic jam at the pier.

We tendered in Lahaina last October with no issues. We were on the Celebrity Millennium and it was the only ship in the harbor, but several tenders were being docked at a time and getting on & off Maui was pretty easy.

Have a nice time!

It was posted on the Cunard board, that there was trouble tendering in Lahaina because the harbor master would only allow one tender at a time in and they got very backed up. If you were not on a cruise sponsored excursion there was a many hour wait.

 

For those who have been to Lahaina and not on a ship sponsored excursion, would you please share your experiences?

 

Thanks!

We have sailed RT from LA to Hawaii 4 times, 3 times on Princess and 1 time on the Queen Victoria with a Lahaina port stop on each trip As has been noted, Lahaina is indeed a tender port with limited access and only space for two tender boats at a time at the boat dock. Even though a cruise ship may anchor at 8:00 AM, if local tour boats are using the Lahaina dock, then the Harbormaster has control to restrict cruise ship tenders from docking. You can see how small it is in this Google map.

On the 4 visits to Lahaina, only two went smoothly. On one visit, gusting winds and heavy sporratic rain made the tender trip from ship to shore very dificult. If fact, when the weather got bad, passengers with limited access were not allowed on the tenders.

When we visited Lahaina on the QV in Feb 2012, we anchored at 8:00 AM and first tenders were in the water shortly thereafter. The first tender broke down half way to shore, and Cunard sent a second tender to tow it to shore. A shore boat then assisted. They did not get to shore until after 10:30 AM, and Cunard did not send any more tenders out until around 11:00 AM. Weather was clear and water was calm. See the photos below.

By the time we departed Lahaina around 6:30 PM a storm was coming in and there were heavy waves.

Probably not a good idea to book any private tours unless you will not pay if you are unable to get to shore.

Celebrity contracted one of the local touring (party) boats on our cruise last April. It appeared to carry twice the passengers of the ship tenders. The line going back to the ship can get long at the end of the day, so a lot of passengers relax with a beer at the bar next to the dock.

Burt

We've tendered at Lahaina 4 times and never had an issue.

Two tenders can and do fit on the side of the pier shown in the photo and one more on the edge of the pier as the photo shows.

Towards the end of the day Princess launches a couple more tenders to deal with the crowd. The know how many folks have gone in to Lahaina, and how many have returned so they know how many are left to bring back. It is in their interest to get all back on board as quickly as possible to meet the departure time.

It was a little slow, but with a little patience everything will be fine. You're on vacation after all.

Will be over nighting in Maui and am planning on attending the Lahaina luau the first night. If the weather is okay do the tenders run late into the night? Thanks for any info.:)

Will be over nighting in Maui and am planning on attending the Lahaina luau the first night. If the weather is okay do the tenders run late into the night? Thanks for any info.:)

That is a cruise line policy - their cutoff time for tendering at night. Best to ask on the cruise line board. It is quite likely there will be a cutoff, perhaps around midnight.

Without knowing the ship involved, no one can answer here. I can see your signature line indicating Carnival September 2014, but not everyone can. People regularly turn that feature off. Again, best to ask on the Carnival board, as that is a cruise line policy.

Thank you, will ask on the Carnival site or my roll call.:)

We tendered in Lahaina last October with no issues. We were on the Celebrity Millennium and it was the only ship in the harbor, but several tenders were being docked at a time and getting on & off Maui was pretty easy.

Have a nice time!

I think the Golden was the only ship in port on Christmas Day last year, but I did see a few tenders going back and forth at the same time at the very least. I don't remember a couple of years ago when we were there and about five years before we were on a ship's excursion so we were among the first off the ship.

When I was there last October, at times you would spend 10-15 minutes bobbing in the waves while you waited for the slots to be available. I overheard our tender driver on the radio as apparently there were a few issues with the harbormaster. That being said, it never took all that long to tender in. Getting back to the ship was another story, especially after the Luau we attended. Long lines. Of course as another poster mentioned, just grab a frosty beverage from one of the bars close by until the lines died down. No problem!