Reliability of Tender Ports

[tring]

We are poised to book a September cruise to this region with 14 port days there, three being tender ports.  The tender ports are Bar Harbor, Newport on Rhode Island and Iles de la Madelaine which are in the Gulf of St Lawrence.  Sydney NS is also a possible tender port.

 

Can I ask if these tenders are run in fairly protected waters or is there a strong chance they could be cancelled.  We are regular cruisers and are aware of this possibility with any tender port, but I know some are more risky then others, but have very little knowledge of North American ports.  All ports will be visited on the 14th September or after that.

 

I wish to thank anyone who may reply in advance, as we go away in a couple of days, and will have limited internet access.

[princeton123211]

7 hours ago, tring said:

Bar Harbor, Newport on Rhode Island and Iles de la Madelaine which are in the Gulf of St Lawrence. 

Bar Harbor and Newport are  sheltered, Newport very much so-- you shouldn't have many issues with either. I cant speak personally on Iles de la Madelaine as I've never been there. 

[Turtles06]

We were on a Canada/NE cruise last month, and were able to tender in Bar Harbor.  Sydney was also a tender port for us (a larger ship was docked), and we were able to tender there as well. But weather, wind, seas, and fog are all unpredictable . . .  

 

Good luck!  

[tring]

Thanks for the replies.

[olemissreb]

We were in Bar Harbor on 10/4 and the tender to town was nice and smooth, but the tender back at 3:30pm was rough.  There were waves that we hit that broke over the top of the tender and water came in through some holes.  The people that were sitting up front got so wet.  It took almost 30 minutes to get from the pier back to the ship because of the rough water.  I was so thankful I had taken my Bonine or things could have gotten really ugly.

[tring]

On 10/16/2019 at 7:02 PM, olemissreb said:

We were in Bar Harbor on 10/4 and the tender to town was nice and smooth, but the tender back at 3:30pm was rough.  There were waves that we hit that broke over the top of the tender and water came in through some holes.  The people that were sitting up front got so wet.  It took almost 30 minutes to get from the pier back to the ship because of the rough water.  I was so thankful I had taken my Bonine or things could have gotten really ugly.

 

Thanks for the reply, we have been away , so have only just picked it up.  Experiences like that can be very worrying and makes me think I would have preferred not to go ashore, but seas can never be totally predicted.  Glad to hear you got back to the ship OK, but sorry to hear it was a very uncomfortable/worrying crossing.  I expect you will be thinking carefully before getting on a tender again.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Bar harbor was cancelled on our cruise ☹️ Due to a big Storm that passed through the night before.  Had no issues with Newport. Sydney has a nice dock right in town, but I think there is only room for one ship at a time. 

[tring]

On 10/28/2019 at 7:04 PM, sunsetbeachgal said:

Bar harbor was cancelled on our cruise ☹️ Due to a big Storm that passed through the night before.  Had no issues with Newport. Sydney has a nice dock right in town, but I think there is only room for one ship at a time. 

 

Sorry to hear about your missed call at Bar Harbour.  It certainly sounds a bit iffy, so will not hold out too much expectation, then will not be disappointed if we do not get there.  We have now booked the cruise, which sounds a good one anyway as there are 14 days in port altogether on a 30 night round trip from the UK.

 

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your cruise,

 

Barbara 

[Turtles06]

23 hours ago, tring said:

We have now booked the cruise, which sounds a good one anyway as there are 14 days in port altogether on a 30 night round trip from the UK.

 

Round trip from the UK?  That sounds wonderful.   May I ask what cruise line? 

[tring]

17 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Round trip from the UK?  That sounds wonderful.   May I ask what cruise line? 

 

P&O.  We have booked the one for September 2021 as the P&O prices tend to be best at launch, which was last week.  The prices for our grade of cabin (GB) have already gone up £100 pp but are still good.  More than half the cabins have been booked on the deck/section of ship that we have booked though.  The prices shown on the P&O website already have 5% discount as currently available to everyone.  Peninsular club members get an extra 5% discount off the full price at present.

 

There is an almost identical cruise for September 2020, but prices are higher and it is well booked, so not much choice of cabin.

Edited November 1, 2019 by tring

[Turtles06]

4 hours ago, tring said:

P&O. 

 

What a great cruise!    RT from Southampton, no flights across the pond either way!   Wow.

 

We're Americans.  I would love to have something like that from NY to the UK and back, with a bunch of ports before the return.  (Not speaking of the Cunard crossing, obviously.)

 

BTW, our cruise in September visited a number of ports that you'll be visiting as well.  In case it might be of any help to you, my detailed comments on our cruise (with photos) are at the link below.  And, of course, if you have any questions about New York, the East Coast Departures forum is a great place to ask them and to get info.

 

 

 

[tring]

19 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

What a great cruise!    RT from Southampton, no flights across the pond either way!   Wow.

 

We're Americans.  I would love to have something like that from NY to the UK and back, with a bunch of ports before the return.  (Not speaking of the Cunard crossing, obviously.)

 

BTW, our cruise in September visited a number of ports that you'll be visiting as well.  In case it might be of any help to you, my detailed comments on our cruise (with photos) are at the link below.  And, of course, if you have any questions about New York, the East Coast Departures forum is a great place to ask them and to get info.

 

 

 

 

Thanks that is great, I will look at your link when I have more time.

 

There are always some cruises going from the UK as round trips to places like the Caribbean etc., though this sort of itinerary tends to be a once a year.  It is the UK based cruise lines that do it (P&O, Fred Olsen and CMV).  They are lengthy cruises though, but are mainly taken up by retired people looking to spend some time away (usually in winter in better climes).  All companies send one or two ships off on world cruises as well, or around S America for instance.  I am surprised similar are not offered to you.  

 

 

 

 

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

We're Americans.  I would love to have something like that from NY to the UK and back, with a bunch of ports before the return.  (Not speaking of the Cunard crossing, obviously.)

Cunard does offer this very thing on QM2. They have some great Norwegian extended voyages round trip from New York-- essentially tacking two transats onto a 9 day Norway itinerary. 21 days round trip from New York in total. 

[Turtles06]

23 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Cunard does offer this very thing on QM2. They have some great Norwegian extended voyages round trip from New York-- essentially tacking two transats onto a 9 day Norway itinerary. 21 days round trip from New York in total. 

 

Thank you for that information.

 

So tempting.  We would love to sail a Cunard ship, but until there's a substantial change in the dress code, I'm afraid it's just not for us.

[princeton123211]

1 minute ago, Turtles06 said:

We would love to sail a Cunard ship, but until there's a substantial change in the dress code, I'm afraid it's just not for us.

Its much more relaxed than it used to be 10-15 years ago. Back in the day they wouldn't even look at you to serve you if you didn't have a tie on after 6pm and most everyone wore black tie. 

 

These days it's much more of a mix and the rules aren't enforced to the letter of the law like they used to be. You'll still find a bunch in tuxes but by no means is that a requirement-- dark suit works just fine and you can also take your meals in the Kings Court on the formal nights. 

[Turtles06]

17 minutes ago, princeton123211 said:

Its much more relaxed than it used to be 10-15 years ago. Back in the day they wouldn't even look at you to serve you if you didn't have a tie on after 6pm and most everyone wore black tie. 

 

These days it's much more of a mix and the rules aren't enforced to the letter of the law like they used to be. You'll still find a bunch in tuxes but by no means is that a requirement-- dark suit works just fine and you can also take your meals in the Kings Court on the formal nights. 

 

I appreciate that, thanks.  We have friends who love to cruise also; they took their first Cunard cruise a year ago.  They are "into" dressing up much more than we are, and even they said they felt very restricted on the ship.  I realize the situation is more "relaxed" than it used to be, but the baseline for comparison was pretty restrictive to start with. 😉

 

Maybe one day.  What Celebrity and HAL now call "evening chic" and "gala nights," respectively, are about as dressed up as we are going to get on a cruise ship.   🤣