Tendering

I'm curious how Viking runs their tendering operation for people not going on their excursions. The Viking daily paper for a tender port in April mentions the need to get a tender ticket. At least one other person (forget who) says they weren't needed, or at least the person wasn't turned away at the tender boat.

If you weren't on an excursion and went ashore in early morning, were tender tickets required? Was Viking able to get you on a tender boat fairly early or did you have to wait very long? Was the tendering procedure (getting tickets, not getting tickets, open tendering after, say, 10:30 AM, or whatever) announced in the daily paper?

I know there aren't that many RECENT cruisers on the boards these days, but I'd really love to hear from them if they are, as procedures can change quickly on a new cruise line.

You cannot tender until the ship is prepared to allow it.

Once ready, Viking gives priority to those on their excursions. As space allows independent travelers can tender. There were "tender tickets" issued, but the method varied. Much of the procedures were loosey goosey as Viking was learning. Do not assume you can just go to the tender boarding point and get off the ship. And then there are ship's tenders or port tenders depending on the port. Weather and sea conditions also play a big part in location and times. Hope this helps.

Agree with sitraveler - keep in mind for Viking Homelands cruises (all those after the Maiden cruise) there's been no tendering. So only those on the Maiden have had experience with tendering. London and Santorini do not use the ship's tenders - they are port tenders. Pula was Viking tenders. So Viking will not have had any more experience tendering than they did in the first 50 days. In general independent travelers can get off whenever the ship is cleared, but they have more difficulty getting off first when tendering - early Viking tours seem to get priority then.

Thank you both for the info. I guess I'll just wait until early September, and ask again. In the mean time, I'll assume Viking does their tendering like the other cruise lines I've used (i.e., with tickets, and hopefully able to squeeze on some independent travelers first thing in the morning.)

Yes, I know some special situations change the game. Santorini is always a challenge for cruisers, although I heard in April that it wasn't bad at all on Viking.

Did you actually anchor in London? I didn't realize ocean cruise ships actually did that. Last year on another line we docked at Southampton, with quite a trek into the city.

Docked in London at Greenwich - but on a floating barge in the river so had to be tendered from the barge to the bank. But very close to London proper. We were on a Viking tour there but did not get off until 2 1/2 hours later than we were supposed to. In this case though, the independent travelers got off much, much earlier. So it varies as to who gets off when. The Viking excursion groups were generally large and there seemed to be a hold up as groups of Press Corps and corporate VIPs were boarding. Independents seemed to be able to slip through much earlier than the tour groups. Just goes to show how unpredictable tendering can be!

We were independent in London, and as Elizabeth said, had no problem getting on the tender once it was cleared to do so. We were not aware of needing any tickets, and did not have any to board. I didn't notice any being collected.

Because of the currents and size of the ship, it did take a long time to be anchored and cleared. I do not know if that will be typical in this port (we were largest cruise ship to do this), however our 'neighbor' was retired Navy and explained that it was understNdable that it took a longer time to secure in the Thames situation.

We then walked to the public water taxi (on the same small pier) and easily took it into London proper and back in very little time. It was very efficient and quick - not to mention pretty beautiful sailing under the London Bridge and getting off at London Tower. Wonderful.