Looking for a list of Walk-Off Ports, no shuttles, etc.

[kessdarln]

Is there a list anywhere that lists cruise ports that one can walk right off the ship into town without a shuttle?

These would be ports like Barcelona, NYC, Halifax, etc.  

 

[Ashland]

That would be a very long list indeed.

[Flatbush Flyer]

44 minutes ago, Ashland said:

That would be a very long list indeed.

And changeable on a moment’s notice. Op

 

OP would be better served to make a list of where s/he wants to visit and the Google each Port Authority to look at the berthing info on any accompanying map. 

[John Bull]

4 hours ago, kessdarln said:

Is there a list anywhere that lists cruise ports that one can walk right off the ship into town without a shuttle?

These would be ports like Barcelona, NYC, Halifax, etc.  

 

 

There are well over a thousand ports in the world that are are visited by cruise ships, and as per the Flyer's post any list would very quickly be out-of-date.

 

Some ports are secure, and provide a free shuttle to & from the port gate.

In some ports the berths are deep in the docks and walking isn't permitted, in others walking out would be a time-consuming chore - Barcelona for instance.

Some ports it's easy to walk out of the port gate but there's literally nothing  close by, so you'd need transportation into town or wherever - sometimes free, sometimes payable.

 

Being able to walk off the ship and into town without at least a shuttle isn't a matter that most folk would consider when choosing a cruise - do you have a particular reason for asking the question?

 

JB 🙂

[CruiserBruce]

And then we would have further define the list to tender ports, with listing for tendering into town, or not into town, with shuttle, etc.

[ontheweb]

And even then a list might not be totally accurate. Corfu is not a tender port normally, but when we were there on a HAL Eastern Mediterranean cruise, there were 3 ships and 2 docks. Our ship ended up being the ship that had to tender.

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

And then we would have further define the list to tender ports, with listing for tendering into town, or not into town, with shuttle, etc.

 

Yes, tendered rather than berthed ports are a concern

- for those with severe mobility issues, particularly getting from ship to tender & vice-versa.

- and for everyone some tendered ports are unreliable, because tenders will not operate in difficult seas such as high swells.

 

JB 🙂

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

And even then a list might not be totally accurate. Corfu is not a tender port normally, but when we were there on a HAL Eastern Mediterranean cruise, there were 3 ships and 2 docks. Our ship ended up being the ship that had to tender.

ANY port can become a tender port simply by having more ships visiting than docks available. Juneau now tenders frequently when there is a 5th ship visiting. 

[LHT28]

I would choose an area  that you want to cruise  like the Med  or New England/Canada   then check  the ports in those areas

We have been on some cruises where we  had NO tendered ports  & some had several

 

Pick the cruise area  & work from there

Whatsinport site has some good info   once you decide on an area

JMO

[Hlitner]

So I will ask a question of the OP?  How far are you willing to walk?  ROFL.  DW and I enjoy long walks so a couple of miles into town is no biggie.  For us, a port like Barcelona is a walk off port because we enjoy the stroll over the long bridge into town.  But a large majority of cruisers do not even like to walk from one end of the ship to the other and you will see them waiting a long time for a shuttle bus at that port.  It is the same for a port like Malaga where it is a relatively easy 30 min stroll from the pier to the heart of town.  

 

If you post an itinerary, some folks can easily tell you which ones are walkable and even the distance.  But asking for a list of ports is somewhat nutz since there are probably a couple of  hundred around the world where we would (and do) walk from the ship.

 

Hank

[bonsai3s]

We highly recommend:

 

Your cruise guide to 1200 cruise ports of call

https://www.whatsinport.com

 

 

[donaldsc]

15 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

We highly recommend:

 

Your cruise guide to 1200 cruise ports of call

https://www.whatsinport.com

 

 

 

That is an awesome site.  Port information.  Maps, Weather and climate data.  An extreemely useful site.  Thanks

 

DON

[DarrenM]

On 6/7/2022 at 12:32 PM, ontheweb said:

And even then a list might not be totally accurate. Corfu is not a tender port normally, but when we were there on a HAL Eastern Mediterranean cruise, there were 3 ships and 2 docks. Our ship ended up being the ship that had to tender.

we docked in corfu last month.

 

And we just walked to the old town.

[DarrenM]

tendered at kotor, but when you get off, the old town is right on front of you.

 

Spectacular.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, DarrenM said:

we docked in corfu last month.

 

And we just walked to the old town.

Yes, it is not normally a tender port. Reread my post you quoted and you will see that we only tendered because there was one more ships in port than docks and we were the unlucky one to tender.

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, DarrenM said:

tendered at kotor, but when you get off, the old town is right on front of you.

 

Spectacular.

Although you tendered, Kotor does have a cruise ship pier that can handle one or two ships (depending on the size).  Tendering happens when the pier cannot handle the number of ships that are in the port on a given day.  But what is important to the OP is whether you tender or are docked makes little difference in terms of being able to walk.    Just like in Corfu and Kotor there are many European ports that can become tender ports simply because the pier is full on a particular day.  Another interesting example is Mykonos where some ships dock and other ships tender (because the pier is full).  From our perspective it is actually more convenient to tender since the tender pier is located right in town whereas the pier is outside of town (a substantial walk or shuttle bus from town).

 

Another issue regarding tendering is the size of your ship.  When we cruise on smaller luxury vessels (such as with Seabourn) we really do not concern ourselves with tendering since there is seldom a queue.  On that line, when we want to go ashore we simply head to the tender area and are boarded.  But if you are on a mega ship tendering can mean waiting hours!  In fact, when we were on the Caribbean Princess and tendered into two ports at Greenland the tender wait was so long (over 3 hours for some folks) that quite a few gave up and never got ashore.   On the other hand, there are some tender ports such as Santorini that have their own large tenders and do a pretty good job with the mega ships. 

 

I am very biased in that when cruising in Europe we really prefer a smaller ship.  Most European cruises are port intensive (few sea days) and the priority is generally on the itinerary and ports.  Having to wait in lounges and long queues is just not fun.  On the other hand, some folks love those Megaships when in the Caribbean where the ship is as much or more of the destination rather than the port.  DW tells the story how we once cruised on a large Celebrity ship (in the Caribbean) for 14 days.  That cruise had 9 ports and we did not bother to get off the ship in the first 8 ports :).

 

Hank

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Although you tendered, Kotor does have a cruise ship pier that can handle one or two ships (depending on the size).  Tendering happens when the pier cannot handle the number of ships that are in the port on a given day.  But what is important to the OP is whether you tender or are docked makes little difference in terms of being able to walk.    Just like in Corfu and Kotor there are many European ports that can become tender ports simply because the pier is full on a particular day.  Another interesting example is Mykonos where some ships dock a

 

I am very biased in that when cruising in Europe we really prefer a smaller ship.  Most European cruises are port intensive (few sea days) and the priority is generally on the itinerary and ports.  Having to wait in lounges and long queues is just not fun.  On the other hand, some folks love those Megaships when in the Caribbean where the ship is as much or more of the destination rather than the port.  DW tells the story how we once cruised on a large Celebrity ship (in the Caribbean) for 14 days.  That cruise had 9 ports and we did not bother to get off the ship in the first 8 ports :).

 

Hank

What was so special about that one port out of 9 that made the 2 of you get off the ship? 😃

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

What was so special about that one port out of 9 that made the 2 of you get off the ship? 😃

 

By then Hank had probably drunk dry the ship's stocks of Guinness.🤣

 

JB 🙂

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

What was so special about that one port out of 9 that made the 2 of you get off the ship? 😃

So here is the ugly truth.  It was a wonderful, relaxing Caribbean cruise on a Solstice Class ship where we had a drink package.  DW and I have been to the Caribbean dozens of times and know most of the islands, our favorite beaches, etc.  But on that cruise were just too darn lazy to get off the ship, and many experienced cruisers understand that port days can be the most delightful days on deck (nothing is crowded).  But the last port was St Maarten and my cognac supply (at home) needed replenishment.  So we went ashore to check-out the latest booze prices :).  I think we were ashore for about an hour!  

 

Hank

[puppycanducruise]

21 hours ago, DarrenM said:

tendered at kotor, but when you get off, the old town is right on front of you.

 

Spectacular.

We docked in Kotor.

[Essiesmom]

We docked in Kotor on Nieuw Amsterdam in 2012, only large ship there.  In 2013 on Silhouette we tendered.  EM

Edited June 9, 2022 by Essiesmom

[DarrenM]

there were three ships when we were in Kotor, all tendered.

[DarrenM]

Actually looking at this maybe one was docked. My memory is shocking

 

 

[kessdarln]

Wow, thank you everyone for your response.  I plan to pick a few ships for the ships and might not get off at all, but if I do, I want to just get off and not be in the shipping area.  

 

Thanks for the list and suggestions, i'm checking them all out. 

[ldubs]

On 6/7/2022 at 7:48 AM, Hlitner said:

So I will ask a question of the OP?  How far are you willing to walk?  ROFL.  DW and I enjoy long walks so a couple of miles into town is no biggie.  For us, a port like Barcelona is a walk off port because we enjoy the stroll over the long bridge into town.  But a large majority of cruisers do not even like to walk from one end of the ship to the other and you will see them waiting a long time for a shuttle bus at that port.  It is the same for a port like Malaga where it is a relatively easy 30 min stroll from the pier to the heart of town.  

 

If you post an itinerary, some folks can easily tell you which ones are walkable and even the distance.  But asking for a list of ports is somewhat nutz since there are probably a couple of  hundred around the world where we would (and do) walk from the ship.

 

Hank

 

"If you post an itinerary, some folks can easily tell you which ones are walkable and even the distance."

 

X2, post the general regions you are interested in and you will likely get a lot of good info.