Boarding a tender

Have been told by someone on a P and O cruise last year that a 'board' (their word not mine) was placed to cover the gap between the ship and the tender to aid boarding and exiting the tender. Is anyone with current experience able to confirm that this is now the case?

Have been told by someone on a P and O cruise last year that a 'board' (their word not mine) was placed to cover the gap between the ship and the tender to aid boarding and exiting the tender. Is anyone with current experience able to confirm that this is now the case?

No, that would be impossible with the tender moving.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

No, there is no board. You step over the gap. It is worth noting that P&O insist that anyone boarding a tender is able to step across a gap of a set distance (18 inches I think) unaided. As a result, those with mobility issues and unable to achieve this ‘step test’ unaided are not allowed to leave the ship in tender ports.

The "board" idea you mention sounds a bit dangerous bearing in mind that the tender will be moving up and down.

The crew supervising the transition from ship to tender and vice versa are very experienced in the management of a safe transfer. They control the number of people actually on the tender platform attached to the side of the ship and they watch out for people who might become a problem. This would include elderly passengers, people with mobility problems, children and their ages and anyone's equipment such as prams and wheelchairs where the passenger can competently step across the gap.There is always one crew member watching as well as a couple marshalling.

The key is if you are a newcomer to listen to instructions given by the crew. The plan is you are either on the platform or quayside OR the tender. Having one foot on each is a recipe for disaster. Accidents have escalated from this mistake on some cruise lines it is very important not to have a foot in each area. A crew member will feed the passengers across the gap at the correct rate no rushing, just safe transition pace. There is always a crew member on the tender ready to receive you, which would include catching people if they stumble or just manually assisting vulnerable people into the craft.

Once on board find a seat, if you get sea sick it is probably best to go upstairs to the top deck, if there is one, in the fresh air or sit near an open window. It can get a bit stuffy when the tender is stationary and some parts have no opening windows. The life jackets are under the seats and no drill is required as you did this at the start of the cruise. You must remain seated until crew instruct otherwise and they decide who should disembark and in what order to keep the craft stable. If wheelchairs or prams are on board these are usually disembarked first as they are a trip hazard near the exit.

It runs very smoothly if people follow instructions and they invariably do though some need to be told by the crew.

Regards John

When we boarded a tender on Aurora in February we had to to the 'step'test before we were allowed to proceed to the tender. We were actually at the bottom of the stairs leading to the tender point when there was a painted gap on the floor which we had to show we could step over before going a few yards further to the tender. This was when we were at the Falklands and the sea was very choppy. We were practically lifted on board the tender by the two crewmen either side of the entrance. Whether this test at the before boarding the tender is now the norm on all ships I don't know.

OP asked the question first in the Cunard forum as they are sailing on Queen Victoria: https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2622746. Post 10 refers to Cunard using some sort of gangway, although the step test appears to still be in use. Presumably there's a limit on the use of the gangway below the threshold at which tendering is possible. There weren't any tender ports on my cruise in December so I can't confirm either way.

The official guide to tendering from P&O shows exactly how it works. Clearly under the circumstances they show a "board" system would work. Anyone who has done tendering would know that the near millpond conditions shown are often significantly different to reality.

Always choose a sensible seat on the tender. Note the sea is a bit rougher than the P&O version of what happens.

Regards John

Our recent Transatlantic on Britannia required tenders at Ponta Delgada due to a dockworkers strike,as has been said the step rule was mentioned in the captains announcement the previous day,if you are one of the first on board you can be on a surprisingly long time as the tenders just seem to 'swallow' people,even when it looked full they still kept piling on,160+ people apparently.

Our return ended in a rather surprising fashion with the tender hitting Britannia very hard 3 times before berthing,well it was a daft place to leave a ship!!!

We have used a gangway style board to disembark from Celebrity Eclipse, which also uses a lift platform running down one of the sets of stairs to the tender platform. This enabled my wife to disembark at Villefranche, although it was a shore based tender which was used.

The gangway was raised at each end and was on runners of some sort to dampen the movement, and the tender crew wheeled my wife aboard. So it is possible if the cruise line is willing to use shore tenders.

No, that would be impossible with the tender moving.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Looks like you are wrong as this method has been used on both Cunard and Celebrity as other replies have advised.

Looks like you are wrong as this method has been used on both Cunard and Celebrity as other replies have advised.

Not at all. You clearly have never used a tender if you think this is possible.

I have tendered on many occasions and have never seen anything used.

I have seen them used on the Vaporetos in Venice to get scooters and wheelchairs off and from the dock to a land based boat used in Toulon.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Not at all. You clearly have never used a tender if you think this is possible.

 

I have tendered on many occasions and have never seen anything used.

 

I have seen them used on the Vaporetos in Venice to get scooters and wheelchairs off and from the dock to a land based boat used in Toulon.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Sorry to disappoint you but have tendered many, many times on various lines and have always felt that it could be made so much easier if such a device was used, glad to see that it now is being used by some lines. Just admit you rattled off your first reply without having the knowledge of whether they were being used or not rather just your ill informed opinion.

Sorry to disappoint you but have tendered many, many times on various lines and have always felt that it could be made so much easier if such a device was used, glad to see that it now is being used by some lines. Just admit you rattled off your first reply without having the knowledge of whether they were being used or not rather just your ill informed opinion.

I repeat I Cruise rather a lot and I have never seen them used by P&O. My opinion is well informed.

As I said above I looked at the Cunard Thread and have an idea now of what was being asked about and I have seen these used as I mentioned above. But only on Boat to land not ship to Boat. And again not on P&O.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Have been told by someone on a P and O cruise last year that a 'board' (their word not mine) was placed to cover the gap between the ship and the tender to aid boarding and exiting the tender. Is anyone with current experience able to confirm that this is now the case?

Looking at your first post again.

1. no a board would not work a silly suggestion.

2. I can confirm that in my experience P&O has never used a board.

So clearly I was correct.

On reading further I found you meant a curved metal gangway.

Again not been used by P&O with tenders.

However I have seen them as mentioned above.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I repeat I Cruise rather a lot and I have never seen them used by P&O. My opinion is well informed.

 

As I said above I looked at the Cunard Thread and have an idea now of what was being asked about and I have seen these used as I mentioned above. But only on Boat to land not ship to Boat. And again not on P&O.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Dai, your opinions are limited primarily to P&O but, whilst I accept this is a P&O thread, that should not prohibit forum members from posting about their experiences with other cruise lines.

The experience I had on Celebrity was not a figment of my imagination, it did occur, I do agree that I have also never seen P&O use a gangway to board a tender, however on Emerald Princess, a sister ship to Ventura/Azura I have seen them use a gangway to load a shore side tender at Guernsey. Unfortunately I do not believe that the Grand Princess class ships posses a lift system for wheelchairs to access the tender platform, so unless wheelchair passengers are mobile enough to use the stairs, they would be unable to use a tender.

Dai, your opinions are limited primarily to P&O but, whilst I accept this is a P&O thread, that should not prohibit forum members from posting about their experiences with other cruise lines.

 

The experience I had on Celebrity was not a figment of my imagination, it did occur, I do agree that I have also never seen P&O use a gangway to board a tender, however on Emerald Princess, a sister ship to Ventura/Azura I have seen them use a gangway to load a shore side tender at Guernsey. Unfortunately I do not believe that the Grand Princess class ships posses a lift system for wheelchairs to access the tender platform, so unless wheelchair passengers are mobile enough to use the stairs, they would be unable to use a tender.

Yes John this is a P&O site and the question was about P&O so I think that qualifies me to answer.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

If you look at the video clips on #7, clearly the official P&O one illustrates that a board system would work with the millpond sea conditions which they show.

The second video shows much more choppy seas and if you have been to Guernsey this would be regarded as fairly calm there as it can get a lot worse with the tender bobbing about like a cork. A board system would only work in Guernsey a few days a year. In this respect if P&O advertised that at tender ports they use a board across the gap I should think failure to anchor and start tendering operations would increase enormously. The majority of people can step across a gap where there is a lot of vertical movement, so they use that system. Mobility challenged people will only be thwarted some of the time.

Regards John

Yes, the same OP as the same question on the Cunard board, as I answered it. Wouldn't tendering be pretty much similar on all ships...

Yes John this is a P&O site and the question was about P&O so I think that qualifies me to answer.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I guess it probably qualifies you to talk about staying on board at tender ports Dai.;)

I guess it probably qualifies you to talk about staying on board at tender ports Dai.;)

Why John as I always go ashore on tenders. Why would I not. They do take scooters.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Why John as I always go ashore on tenders. Why would I not. They do take scooters.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Who carries it onto the tender?

Who carries it onto the tender?

The staff/sailors. I have done this for years.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

The staff/sailors. I have done this for years.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

I have always read that they will help you up to 50 pounds, so I would guess your scooter fits that criteria

I have always read that they will help you up to 50 pounds, so I would guess your scooter fits that criteria

Most scooters will dismantle into smaller, lighter sections so you can put them into a car boot. You need to be a bit capable to do this but if you are mob handed you are ok.

Regards John

Most scooters will dismantle into smaller, lighter sections so you can put them into a car boot. You need to be a bit capable to do this but if you are mob handed you are ok.

 

Regards John

They lift mine whole.

Sent from my iPad using Forums