Any tips for getting off?

My wife and I care going to be on Carnival Legend Sept 5. I have read that on the tender ports its hard to get off the ship quickly. We have excursions planned but they are NOT with the cruiseline. We will need to get off the boat pretty fast, we dont have to be first but we cannot wait for two hours that is for sure. We have some once in a lifetime things planned and if we miss them we may never get another chance.:confused:

What should we do to ensure we get off the boat quickly at tender ports? Where do you exit the boat from? Should we wait there an hour or so before they let us get off?:D Should we tell somone we have excursions? Any help is appreciated.

My wife and I care going to be on Carnival Legend Sept 5. I have read that on the tender ports its hard to get off the ship quickly. We have excursions planned but they are NOT with the cruiseline. We will need to get off the boat pretty fast, we dont have to be first but we cannot wait for two hours that is for sure. We have some once in a lifetime things planned and if we miss them we may never get another chance.:confused:

 

What should we do to ensure we get off the boat quickly at tender ports? Where do you exit the boat from? Should we wait there an hour or so before they let us get off?:D Should we tell somone we have excursions? Any help is appreciated.

Typically the ship debarks passengers booked on tours with the cruise line first. Just make sure to be up early and try to get a low tender number so you can be among the first to go ashore.

You will be informed which deck to proceed to in your daily program. This is the onboard magazine that will be delivered to your cabin each night. In addition to listing all of the ship's special events it will detail which deck to obtain tender vouchers and where to go to board the tenders, generally it the lowest deck aboard.

Are all of your ports tender ports? If you are docked at any ports you will have no worries. Perhaps make sure your tours are scheduled for 10:am this way you will be off of the ship without having to worry you will miss your excursion.

Jonathan

I don't know about Carnival, but Princess gives numbered tickets to people who are not on ships tours and do not have priority for the tenders. These people are then accommodated on the tenders as space allows. To get off early, you need to get a ticket early.

My wife and I care going to be on Carnival Legend Sept 5. I have read that on the tender ports its hard to get off the ship quickly. We have excursions planned but they are NOT with the cruiseline. We will need to get off the boat pretty fast, we dont have to be first but we cannot wait for two hours that is for sure. We have some once in a lifetime things planned and if we miss them we may never get another chance.:confused:

 

What should we do to ensure we get off the boat quickly at tender ports? Where do you exit the boat from? Should we wait there an hour or so before they let us get off?:D Should we tell somone we have excursions? Any help is appreciated.

As others have posted, if not on a ship's excursion, you'll need to be given a numbered tender ticket - first come first served. They're not given out on the tender deck, they'll be given out in a public room - the theatre or a bar. When you know where to be & what time to be there, get there mebbe 1/2 hr early - and you still won't be there first :D

You can't con the tender staff that you're on ship's excursion, you dont have an excursion ticket. But what I did once (different cruise line) was to get a tender ticket, but to then go down to the tender deck when the excursionists went down, & blag my way onto the back of a less-than-full excursion tender.

Requires luck, pleading & charm :cool:

John Bull

Not true to any of the posts above. On the morning of your tour, you will proceed directly to the lounge (it's usually the big show lounge) where the ships tours meet. If you are on an independent tour, all you have to do is tell them. Not only are they very accommodating, they are exceedingly polite. They know that not all of the passengers will book ships tours. The earlier you get there, the earlier you can disembark. We did this just a few months ago and we were on shore in plenty of time to meet our independent tour.

If you do not know the answer for the specific line, please do not give wrong information to a poster. Every line is different.

We were also on the Legend and we also went cave tubing :)

Julieanne, what the posters above your post said is true for many lines. I've been on many cruises (64), and for most of them, if you don't have a ship's tour, you will not be allowed on the first tenders. Those are for persons who hold tickets for the ship's tours. Different tours meet in different locations on the ship. There's no way on the huge ships that they can squeeze every single person who's taking a ship's tour into one room/location. And yes, the cruise lines do care about those on ships tours before those doing independent tours---those are the passengers who are making money for the ship and cruise line so of course they're going to be taken care of first. And BTW, those who are in the biggest suites get priority tender tickets and get tenders before any of the numbered tickets. On our Carnival cruises, we had to meet in a specific lounge, one not associated with the ship's tours and they gave out tender tickets. So, I guess even on the same line and even on the same ship, the can do things differently, week to week and cruise to cruise.

The persons who advised the OP to arrive in the room where the tender tickets are being given out had the best, and most consistent advice. The morning before you arrive at a port, you will receive notice in the daily where and when to pick up numbered tender tickets. Get to that room 20 minutes early to get the number one tickets. That way, once all the tours are gone, you'll be on that very first tender.

OP, the cruise line doesn't really care who has independent excursions. They realize that many people do go off on their own, but they take care of their revenue producing passengers first. Your tour company knows what's going on and they realize that they will have to wait a bit longer for passengers who book private tours. Don't worry, it'll be fine. You don't have to tell anyone that you're on a private tour----like I said, just report to the appointed gathering room early and get the "number one" tender tickets. When your tender ticket is announced, they will take you down to the tender station on deck 1 and load the tender. Those babies can carry upwards of 150 passengers, and they tend to run 4 to 6 tenders at a time.

Well I have only been on one Carnival cruise (2nd in June).We booked excursions through the ship.They did not give out numbered tickets and we did not meet in any room.They just announced when we could diembark and we did,now there was quite a backup on the stairs.If at all possible I would delay getting off until the crowd thins down.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

Our tender ports are grand cay and cozumel. In Cozumel we ARE doing the ships excursion BUT in Grand Cayman we are doing the swim with Horses not through the boat. So I think we only need to worry about Grand Cayman because Roatan and Belize are docks, correct?

I guess we can arrive way early for our tickets then for Grand Cayman. We dont mind waiting, at Magic Kingdom we arrived 2 hours early adn were the first to get inside so we are used to waiting for the good stuff. lol

Well I have only been on one Carnival cruise (2nd in June).We booked excursions through the ship.They did not give out numbered tickets and we did not meet in any room.They just announced when we could diembark and we did,now there was quite a backup on the stairs.If at all possible I would delay getting off until the crowd thins down.

Hi, Number 4,

The thread is all about tender ports - where the ship anchors off-shore and passengers are ferried ashore by the ship's tender boats.

Every ship I've been on has given priority on tenders to those on ship's excursions, followed by the rest who've collected numbered or lettered tickets. And Julieanne, that includes Carnival :p. Which shows that every cruise is different

Its a slow process, I've known it take 3 hours between the first person off & the last :eek:

So you can understand the desire to get an early ticket.

Usually not such a big deal when the ship is docked quayside, which I guess was the case with your cruise. Usually everyone can get off in 20 mins or less so no need for priority, numbered tickets etc.

I said "usually" cos sometimes there's long slow lines to get passports/visas checked.

And some folk exploring independently may be concerned that if they're last off they'll miss their train or there'll be no taxis left. So it does depend on circumstances.

But yes, with your excursion booked there's no need to join the herd, you can let the rump die down.:)

Regards

John Bull

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

Our tender ports are grand cay and cozumel. In Cozumel we ARE doing the ships excursion BUT in Grand Cayman we are doing the swim with Horses not through the boat. So I think we only need to worry about Grand Cayman because Roatan and Belize are docks, correct?

 

I guess we can arrive way early for our tickets then for Grand Cayman. We dont mind waiting, at Magic Kingdom we arrived 2 hours early adn were the first to get inside so we are used to waiting for the good stuff. lol

You do not dock in Belize it is a tender port (I think they're in the process of building a pier). Also The times we've been in Cozumel, we docked, although I understand sometimes there may be more ships in port than docking spaces, so some ships might be required to tender.

Oh, ok, thanks, Then we have to worry about Belise also then.

Hi...You might want to consider changing the title of your thread to disembarking----I was suspended for 3 days for using the letter eff as a word...Maureen

Hi...You might want to consider changing the title of your thread to disembarking----I was suspended for 3 days for using the letter eff as a word...Maureen

Took me a minute and then I see what you mean. I guess if you have a dirty mind. lol

Sorry, Kitty, I didn't know we were counting as I am at 42 and since I just came off the Legend and actually DID this, I guess it doesn't count as fact?

Since the OP is on the Legend and since I did this same itinerary as well as the same tour, I know for a fact that they did this as we were with many passengers who had independent tours. I am well aware of the tendering process of RCCL, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess. I asked the cruise staff when we boarded about our independent tour in Belize and darned if they didn't direct me to the lounge with the ships tours! We were on the tender with the 2nd group and made it to the pier at around 9:15.

Sorry, Kitty, I didn't know we were counting as I am at 42 and since I just came off the Legend and actually DID this, I guess it doesn't count as fact?

Since the OP is on the Legend and since I did this same itinerary as well as the same tour, I know for a fact that they did this as we were with many passengers who had independent tours. I am well aware of the tendering process of RCCL, NCL, Carnival, Celebrity and Princess. I asked the cruise staff when we boarded about our independent tour in Belize and darned if they didn't direct me to the lounge with the ships tours! We were on the tender with the 2nd group and made it to the pier at around 9:15.

Thank you

As suite passengers on NCL, we were escorted by the concierge onto the first tender at each tender port.