P&O Azura does it dock or tender at Monte Carlo/ Monaco

[hyacinth1]

Hi we are cruising on Azura in September and one of our ports is Monte Carlo.  I know its very hilly and was thinking of getting the hop on hop off bus, so we can have an easy look round. But I am unsure whether Azura docks or tenders in this port.  And where this happens.  I know the hoho bus goes to the old port. Does the tender drop off at the old port?  If Azura docks does it dock at old port or out of town and if out of town does the shuttle drop us into the old port? 

Lastly to ensure we don't have timing issues. Has anyone bought the hoho bus tickets on arrival rather than in advance.  

thanks in advance for any replies 

 

[emam]

It's a tender port, but I can't answer the rest of your questions. When we went we couldn't get in. It wasn't so much the sea conditions as the sea hitting of the harbour wall and bouncing back. The first tender went out and then the captain said they were checking the conditions. He deemed it not good for disembarkation. We spent the day on a slow cruise to our next destination.

[hyacinth1]

oh, fair enough Emam. Thanks for the response. So, maybe wait to buy tickets till we are on dry land. Thanks you have made up my mind to wait.

 

[daiB]

2 hours ago, hyacinth1 said:

Hi we are cruising on Azura in September and one of our ports is Monte Carlo.  I know its very hilly and was thinking of getting the hop on hop off bus, so we can have an easy look round. But I am unsure whether Azura docks or tenders in this port.  And where this happens.  I know the hoho bus goes to the old port. Does the tender drop off at the old port?  If Azura docks does it dock at old port or out of town and if out of town does the shuttle drop us into the old port? 

Lastly to ensure we don't have timing issues. Has anyone bought the hoho bus tickets on arrival rather than in advance.  

thanks in advance for any replies 

 

The answer to your question is yes, it is a tender port and it is port to berth in. :).

 

For some reason they don’t use the berth often but I have seen a photo of Azura or Ventura berthed. The berth and tender point are close together. As you look at the main harbour from the sea it is on the left or western pier. From here it is about 10 minutes into the centre. Just 5 minute away along the pier and a coastal path you can access a lift in a car park to take you up to the old town.

Edited May 9, 2019 by daiB

[BrianI]

We have docked in Monaco before on Azura right in the harbour. It depends what other ships are in on the day as there is only room for one large ship in so some may have to tender.

Brian

[Hols4]

Hols4

We were lucky to dock right in the harbour on Oceana,we wanted to go to casino square and caught the frequent town service bus which is only a couple Euros.

[catperson02]

We tendered in, the hop on hop off bus stop was just by the drop off point. To be honest my daughters said that they felt that the hop on hop off bus was one of the poorest that we have ever done. There was a bit of a queue and we had to wait for the next bus (about 20 minutes). The bus was one of the priciest that we have ever done and was absolutely packed, mind you this was in August with three ships in port. When we stopped at the palace we took one look at the crowds waiting to get back on and decided to stay on the bus! The driver, trying to be helpful announced at each stop the name of the stop and said "shopping" which was great but meant that we missed the recorded commentary as it cut over it. With hindsight we wished that we had done a ships tour which is something that we rarely do.

[CCFC]

We docked last time we were there.

[hyacinth1]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I now feel confident to wait til we are there to decide on the hoho bus.  May just take a lift and walk a bit

 

[happy v]

7 hours ago, hyacinth1 said:

Thanks everyone for your responses. I now feel confident to wait til we are there to decide on the hoho bus.  May just take a lift and walk a bit

 

Did you know there were escalators to get up? You can use them to go from sea level right up to the top.