"Tender to shore"

OK, Thomsons clearly think everyone is supposed to know what "tender to shore" means..............I don't :confused: Whatever it is, we seem to be doing it in Mykonos!

Can someone explain please :p

It means that for some reason the ship can't dock (where you just walk off on a gangway) and you have to be taken in by tender. A tender can either be one of the (usually fancier) lifeboats, or can be contracted out to a local company where they hire someone to take you to shore in a boat. They offload from the side of the ship by a small gangway and there are personelle from the ship who help you board, as sometimes it's a bit harder, as the boat and gangway can be moving a bit. From my experience, have your hands and arms clear of things (use a small backpack) and trust the crew members helping you, as they know what they are doing. I've seen people resist and it makes it hard on everyone. They will not tender if they don't feel it is safe, so tendering ports have more possibility of being cancelled if the seas are rough.

hi not 100% sure but think it means that you take a small boat from the ship to the shore as the ship cant berth? :confused: close enough.......have a great time :cool:

Good grief - no wonder Thomsons don't explain it.

Thanks for quick response, sounds a bit like walking the plank, can't wait to tell hubby - he can't swim and this cruise was all his idea!! This is SO giving me something to look forward to because I'm brave but he's not so I'll keep my camera ready.

It's not that bad, I just warned you in case because it can be a bit disconcerting if you are not used to it. Like I said, put your trust in the crew members and try to have your hands free. I have foldaway backpacks that can be used for things bought in port. They are a lightweight material and have found them handy more than once when I need my hands free, tendering and sometimes on shore excursions (grabbing handrails for stairs, etc.) That being said, make sure if you are ashore that, if you do have any kind of backpack, it is secure from pickpockets.

The tendering can be fun, as I have been on a few that gave a nice view of the ride into the port that would have been missed otherwise. It is usually a short ride and usually you it gives you the chance to get a great picture of the cruise ship once you reach shore. There are several reasons that they do it, one being that the ship is too large to berth in that particular port, or as in Alaska, where the berths are already taken up.

In my experience in the med. it was the smoothest cruise that I have ever been on. It was like sailing on glass. The water color is well worth the voyage, be sure to take a picture and shoot straight down at it. I had seen paintings before of it and thought the colors weren't real. They were. The only other place that the water surprised me so much was on the way to the equator in the Pacific. Absolute deep midnight blue because it is soooo deep. I have lived near the Pacific, so it the difference really surprised me. Have a wonderful voyage, I'm sure you will!

Don't worry you'll be fine:), I've been on tenders in various weather both in the Carribean and in European countries, just another cruising experience, you'll probably be asked to gather in the show lounge where you'll be given a tender ticket and number, cruisers going on pre-paid trips usually go off first then its queing for tickets, you may have to wait 30 mins or so to get a ticket and slightly longer for a boat they issues tickets for tenders 1, 2 etc (could be as many as 20+ tenders going across throughout the stopover, many people may want to go later in the day!!) and as said above great time to get pictures of the cruise ship as you pull away. The cruise company usually lay on water at the waiting stop in port in most countries and have crew on hand for you to ask questions etc.

I sometimes think this as its cheaper than docking properly! or as stated above the depth of the water etc.

They will ask you to return in good time for your return journey to the cruise ship and I would recommend you don't leave it until the last tender to go back as there may be loads of people coming back on that last trip.

You just turn up and get on any tender coming back. Regards Charlotte

it is really nothing to worry about and i would endorse everything that has been said about keeping your arms free...I usually have a 'bum-bag' with the essentials in and my partner takes the small rucksack. We have got some really good photos of the ship looking up. I always think it's a good way of them testing the lifeboats!! and we know what it feels like to sail in one!!!

Another point to make is that if the ships only went in ports that were deep enough we would miss some of the lovely places e.g. Monte Carlo and Santorini were two that we have done by tender.