I think I probably got misinformation when calling NCL.

[ontheweb]

We are booked on the Prima this summer whose itinerary includes a few small ports in both Norway and Iceland. I was on the phone with the excursion people, and after finding out that an excursion that DW was interested in (but we can probably do for less money anyway privately) was sold out, asked what if any of the ports was a tender port. The immediate answer was only Geiranger.

 

I have been in contact with a local tour operator in Isafjordur, Iceland, and one of my questions was where do you meet the tour. I was told at the dock where the tenders come in. Now this seems to contradict what I was told on the phone by NCL.

 

So, as always, google is your friend. I found that smaller ships do not need to tender, but larger ships do. Now the Prima is not Epic sized, but still 3000+ is not a smaller ship. My take from this is that it will need tenders.

[SpacemanSpiff]

I would agree with you.  The ship is a shade short of a thousand feet long, which I would think is a "big ship."

[davencl]

50 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

We are booked on the Prima this summer whose itinerary includes a few small ports in both Norway and Iceland. I was on the phone with the excursion people, and after finding out that an excursion that DW was interested in (but we can probably do for less money anyway privately) was sold out, asked what if any of the ports was a tender port. The immediate answer was only Geiranger.

 

I have been in contact with a local tour operator in Isafjordur, Iceland, and one of my questions was where do you meet the tour. I was told at the dock where the tenders come in. Now this seems to contradict what I was told on the phone by NCL.

 

So, as always, google is your friend. I found that smaller ships do not need to tender, but larger ships do. Now the Prima is not Epic sized, but still 3000+ is not a smaller ship. My take from this is that it will need tenders.

I would suggest going to the local port authorities web site and check the schedule.

[julig22]

It was a tender port with the Star.

[kitkat343]

I'm no NCL fan (we pulled 3 kids out of school for a cruise because of 2 ports, and NCL cancelled 1 and the morning of the other after final payment to help the environment, and refused to let us switch to another cruise which made it impossible to do the two excursions my kids would have loved) but in all fairness, none of the phone reps on any of the cruise lines I've sailed have been particularly well trained. If you need answers as to which are tender ports, please go to the Northern Europe cruisecritic board and post your date of sailing and itinerary and they might be able to help you (there are some ports in which there are only a few docking berths so if too many ships are in port on the same day, some ships dock and others tender so they might not know for certain, but should be able to let you know which ports are possibly or likely to be tenders.)  Please also let them know which tour is sold out - we booked all independent tours in Norway, which went really well.

Edited April 15, 2023 by kitkat343

[Cruiseandgamble]

Look at the itinerary section of your cruise confirmation - it'll have whether you're docking or tendering for each port (though that could always change based on weather conditions, harbor traffic, sustainability needs 🙂, etc.)

[bluesea777]

We were on the Star last July and went to 4 ports in Norway and docked at each one of them: Bergen, Olden, Alesund, Trondheim. As we also went to 2 ports in Iceland: Akureyri (docked) and Isafjordur (tender). Tendering in Isafjordur was easy since the ship anchored in the fjord.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by bluesea777

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, davencl said:

I would suggest going to the local port authorities web site and check the schedule.

I'm not sure that would help as it is not more than one port, just a small port that can handle small ships without needing to use tenders, but cannot do the same for larger ships.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Cruiseandgamble said:

Look at the itinerary section of your cruise confirmation - it'll have whether you're docking or tendering for each port (though that could always change based on weather conditions, harbor traffic, sustainability needs 🙂, etc.)

I looked and do not see on my itinerary the dock/tender feature.

[bluesea777]

4 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I looked and do not see on my itinerary the dock/tender feature.

It’s in the cruise confirmation email that you receive from NCL when you booked the cruise. 
 

Not showing on MyNCL. 
 

 

[ontheweb]

7 minutes ago, bluesea777 said:

It’s in the cruise confirmation email that you receive from NCL when you booked the cruise. 
 

Not showing on MyNCL. 
 

 

I booked through a TA. Instead of that form what he sends is a PDF of the invoice.

 

I think I shall e-mail him to see if he has that information.

[Georgia_Peaches]

My interpretation of this would be that the person was just telling you where to meet.  The meeting location is where the tenders dock...not necessarily that your ship is a tender. 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

I looked and do not see on my itinerary the dock/tender feature.

It would be on your Guest Confirmation sent at time of booking. You can have NCL email you a new copy if you don’t have it. 
 

Oops. Missed that you are booking through a TA. NCL won’t talk to you. You need to get that information from your TA

Edited April 15, 2023 by BirdTravels

[ontheweb]

46 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

My interpretation of this would be that the person was just telling you where to meet.  The meeting location is where the tenders dock...not necessarily that your ship is a tender. 

That could be true, but I have to wonder if the Prima is a "small" ship.

[ontheweb]

26 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

It would be on your Guest Confirmation sent at time of booking. You can have NCL email you a new copy if you don’t have it. 
 

Oops. Missed that you are booking through a TA. NCL won’t talk to you. You need to get that information from your TA

I already e-mailed him. And they will talk to you if you use a TA, just not about changing things or anything financial except buying excursions or other extras.

[hoopslover]

I am on the Prima in July and I just looked and it says tender only for Geiranger. I am always prepared to be tendered in different parts of the world.  Isafjordur is listed as dock not tender but it could probably change.

[bluesea777]

1 minute ago, hoopslover said:

I am on the Prima in July and I just looked and it says tender only for Geiranger. I am always prepared to be tendered in different parts of the world.  Isafjordur is listed as dock not tender but it could probably change.

It’s (Isafjordur) always a tender port unless it’s smaller than any of the current NCL ships. 
 

 

[DMP609]

I am also on a Prima sailing this summer and it does not say we are tendering in Isafjordur. Looking at Celebrity's (I know they are different than NCL, but they also have larger ships visiting) website, they say: "On cruises to Isafjordur, your ship will dock in the port of Isafjordur, which is located within a natural harbor in the Westfjords region."

 

I also found this article: https://www.cruiseeurope.com/news/news-isafjordur-1613379438/ so hopefully it means they can now accommodate larger ships.

[AstoriaPreppy]

13 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

It’s (Isafjordur) always a tender port unless it’s smaller than any of the current NCL ships. 
 

 

 

We went to Isafjordur last year. It's absolutely a tender port, unless you're on a 50,000 gt ship or smaller. 

[davencl]

The Isafjordur port authorities website for may indicates Prima will be docked at the Sundabakki 2 pier.

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
	1	2	P: 114 / 😄 72 3   VESSEL Sea Spirit   L: 90.6 m B: 15.3 m P: 114 😄 72 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Suðureyri   ARRIVAL 23:00 DEPARTURE 00:00	P: 114 / 😄 72 4   VESSEL Sea Spirit   L: 90.6 m B: 15.3 m P: 114 😄 72 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Suðureyri   ARRIVAL 00:00 DEPARTURE 06:00	5	P: 2050 / 😄 646 6   VESSEL AIDAbella   L: 251.89 m B: 37.6 m P: 2,050 😄 646 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 1 2005   ARRIVAL 02:00 DEPARTURE 11:00
7	8	9	P: 530 / 😄 150 10   VESSEL Fridtjof Nansen   L: 140 m B: 23.95 m P: 530 😄 150 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Suðureyri   ARRIVAL 01:00 DEPARTURE 13:00	11	12	13
14	15	P: 835 / 😄 443 16   VESSEL Amera   L: 204 m B: 32.32 m P: 835 😄 443 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 1 2005   ARRIVAL 01:00 DEPARTURE 11:00	17	18	P: 160 / 😄 74 19   VESSEL Ocean Explorer   L: 104.4 m B: 18.4 m P: 160 😄 74 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Mávagarður   ARRIVAL 23:00 DEPARTURE 00:00	P: 2210 / 😄 720 20   VESSEL Ocean Explorer   L: 104.4 m B: 18.4 m P: 160 😄 74 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Mávagarður   ARRIVAL 00:00 DEPARTURE 09:00 VESSEL AIDAbella   L: 251.89 m B: 37.6 m P: 2,050 😄 646 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 1 2005   ARRIVAL 02:00 DEPARTURE 11:00
P: 5610 / 😄 1992 21   VESSEL Sky Princess   L: 330 m B: 44 m P: 3,560 😄 1,346 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 2 2022   ARRIVAL 02:00 DEPARTURE 12:00 VESSEL AIDAluna   L: 251.89 m B: 37.6 m P: 2,050 😄 646 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 1 2005   ARRIVAL 03:00 DEPARTURE 10:00	22	P: 3215 / 😄 1506 23   VESSEL Norwegian Prima   L: 294 m B: 44 m P: 3,215 😄 1,506 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 2 2022   ARRIVAL 01:00 DEPARTURE 11:00	24	25	P: 3215 / 😄 1506 26   VESSEL Norwegian Prima   L: 294 m B: 44 m P: 3,215 😄 1,506 PORT Ísafjörður PIER Sundabakki 2 2022   ARRIVAL 01:00 DEPARTURE 11:00	27

[RocketMan275]

16 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

It would be on your Guest Confirmation sent at time of booking. You can have NCL email you a new copy if you don’t have it. 
 

Oops. Missed that you are booking through a TA. NCL won’t talk to you. You need to get that information from your TA

I get a copy of my guest confirmation from NCL even if I book through a TA.

I get a copy also from my TA.

[ontheweb]

21 hours ago, hoopslover said:

I am on the Prima in July and I just looked and it says tender only for Geiranger. I am always prepared to be tendered in different parts of the world.  Isafjordur is listed as dock not tender but it could probably change.

I got a similar reply when I posted on our cruise's roll call and asked for anyone to have that NCL confirmation to give the information on it. Also said dock, but the poster was skeptical, as am I.

 

Perhaps when you return from your July cruise, you can post the definitve answer whether the Prima can dock there or has to use tenders because it is not small enough to dock.

Edited April 16, 2023 by ontheweb
added second paragraph

[BirdTravels]

28 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I got a similar reply when I posted on our cruise's roll call and asked for anyone to have that NCL confirmation to give the information on it. Also said dock, but the poster was skeptical, as am I.

Why does it matter??? Tour operators will not schedule you on an excursion that you can't make. 

[Huntingdon1701]

On 4/15/2023 at 6:36 PM, julig22 said:

It was a tender port with the Star.

 

Not on the Star's Greenland cruise last year - we docked. It may vary depending on if other ships are in. 

 

The dock was big enough to take a larger ship than the Star so I would think Prima would just fit in. My documents for this August say we dock in Isafjordur, as the Star did. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Huntingdon1701 said:

 

Not on the Star's Greenland cruise last year - we docked. It may vary depending on if other ships are in. 

 

The dock was big enough to take a larger ship than the Star so I would think Prima would just fit in. My documents for this August say we dock in Isafjordur, as the Star did. 

Isafjordur, Greenland is NOT Isafjordur, Iceland.