Ncl Star 5/31 cruise: Disorganized returning and leaving ship!

[fstuff1]

Port 1 (Edinburgh): last tender 4pm

At 3:30 pm when I arrived, there are about 300 already waiting for a tender and more coming.

Then the tenders stopped.

We stood there for 20 min then a big boat came.

 

Why didn't ncl continue with the smaller tenders?

There were using 2piers for tenders.

 

The big boat only took about 1/2 the line.

Then a smaller tender docked at the 2nd pier while we almost finished loading.

 

Port2 (Kirkwall):

We're docked.

Usually when we leave, there are 2 exits.

 

Today, it's just mid-ship exit.

At 10:20 am when I was leaving, there were about 100 on line in front of me.

Exit was deck 5. We were queuing on deck 6. 

 

Why was there a line to LEAVE?

why didn't they open a 2nd exit when they saw the long line? (and hopefully make an announcement for the 2nd exit).

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by fstuff1

[insidecabin]

EDI.(tender into newhaven)

They stop the ship tenders as they need to get them secured that takes time to haul them back into the davit.

 

When they have the local support vessel they can let that pick up the stragglers and start the securing process to avoid delays. 

 

I see you left on time around 5pm,  using the ship tenders could have delayed that.

 

Kirkwall

100 is not many and should clear quickly just a few mins.

ship was along side at 6:30 probably cleared by 7am  why leave it so late to get off?

 

[debenson0723]

If you are on the ship, why don't you ask an Officer there, rather than random people on the internet who have no idea? 

[fstuff1]

4 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Kirkwall

100 is not many and should clear quickly just a few mins.

ship was along side at 6:30 probably cleared by 7am  why leave it so late to get off?

 

my tour starts at 1045am.

meeting point at pier

[fstuff1]

1 hour ago, debenson0723 said:

If you are on the ship, why don't you ask an Officer there, rather than random people on the internet who have no idea? 

i did.

i asked a 2 stripe officer about the tendering.

he gave a canned response.

 

i guess i'm writing to vent my frustrations and even more hoping that some officer from the ship reads this thread so more information is provided to the passengers in the future about WHY there are delays.

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by fstuff1

[ColeThornton]

6 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

i guess i'm writing to vent my frustrations and even more hoping that some officer from the ship reads this thread so more information is provided to the passengers about WHY there are delays.

 

 

Yea, that's not gonna happen.

[insidecabin]

49 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

my tour starts at 1045am.

meeting point at pier

Sounds like you turned up with the other ~100 on the tour.

 

How long from joining the line to stepping on the pier?

Edited June 3, 2023 by insidecabin

[insidecabin]

Was on the ship for the Ireland trip plenty of tender experience.

 

When they have local support vessel they pack the ship tenders away and let the local ship do the last run(s)

(It's usually quicker as well)

 

Then it is shut the doors and leave.

Not 30mins lifting the tenders out of the water.

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, debenson0723 said:

If you are on the ship, why don't you ask an Officer there, rather than random people on the internet who have no idea? 

The ship has recent history of being very  economic with the truth.

[MeHeartCruising]

It's not at all uncommon to only have one gangway open when docked.  Happens all the time.  Usually when the pier is on the short side.

 

I would guess that the 100 people in line when you went to leave the ship were also going to their meeting point for their 10:45 tours.  There could have been a number of people in line who needed assistance getting down the ramp.  There could have been a delay due to a computer problem with the security system.  Any number of things that sometimes happen.

 

Everything noted by the OP is pretty common.  

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, MeHeartCruising said:

It's not at all uncommon to only have one gangway open when docked.  Happens all the time.  Usually when the pier is on the short side.  Everything noted by the OP is pretty common.  

The Star carries about 2000 passengers.  We have been on a couple of the 4000+ passenger ships when only one gangway was available.  Now that is a bottleneck!

[dhanakorn]

Not trying to make an excuse for NCL but here is what I observed. 
 

For Edinburgh tender, we had one big boat from the local vendor carrying about 200 passengers and two ship’s tender boats carrying about 100-150 passengers. Each trip took about 25 minutes — it’s quite a long ride from the ship to the pier. So one round-trip will take almost an hour to bring passengers from pier to the ship and return from the ship back to the pier.
 

3pm is the peak time where everyone wants to return back to the ship. If 1,000 passengers are waiting, it’ll take about 2 hours to bring all the passengers back with 3 tender boats. And this’s what happened. I was on the last tender boat leaving the pier around 5pm. Rather than standing in the very long line, I took a seat at a table nearby. We had amazing weather in Edinburgh so I just enjoyed the day sipping my drink while waiting for tender boat. Time flies fast when you have a good time. Pretty soon the line cleared up and I was back on the ship around 5:30pm. So the main issue is that it’s a long ride from the ship to the pier and we don’t have enough tender boats to accommodate a thousand passengers who want to go back to the ship at the same time. 
 

For Kirkwall, I got off early morning in order to catch a public bus to Skara Brae so I didn’t experience a long line. But the main problem is the ramp is a little steep and it’s hard to walk down on the ramp so everyone is moving very slowly. Later the day I think they open another gangway exit by the front of the ship. 
 

 

[YVRteacher]

We went to Edinburgh in 2017 on the NCL Jade. We were on an NCL Edinburgh on Your Own excursion and arrived at the tender point about an hour before all aboard time.  The line for tenders snaked down the pier and around the bend and did not move for over an hour.  A tender boat came and Omar, our concierge on that cruise, came and got us from the back of the line and escorted us to the front to get on that tender. Best thing a concierge has ever done for us! We didn’t leave on time, the casino didn’t open til late and I’ll never forget standing and waiting in that long unmoving line.

 

Edinburgh should send reps to Cabo to see how an efficient tender system works with a fleet of boats. People are investing in the economy when they visit a cruise ship port yet Scotland/Edinburgh isn’t putting out the funds needed to make the cruise ship passenger experience better.

 

P.S.: my dad won thousands on a slot machine jackpot later that night, I was the seasickest I’ve ever been even though the waters were smooth and Taylor Kundolf was the pianist/singer on that cruise.  I think he retired but I would love to cruise with him again.

[david_sobe]

From my experience, waiting 20 minutes for a tender is typical and not unusual.  Taking small water craft to and from the ship always takes patience.  I always found it more chaotic leaving the ship than getting back. 

[fstuff1]

10 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

From my experience, waiting 20 minutes for a tender is typical and not unusual.  Taking small water craft to and from the ship always takes patience.  I always found it more chaotic leaving the ship than getting back. 

no, we didnt move for 20min because the tenders stopped.

we waited for like an hr total. 

[fruitmachine]

7 hours ago, YVRteacher said:

Edinburgh should send reps to Cabo to see how an efficient tender system works with a fleet of boats. People are investing in the economy when they visit a cruise ship port yet Scotland/Edinburgh isn’t putting out the funds needed to make the cruise ship passenger experience better.

It's entirely up to the ship how many of their own tenders they put in the water and how many local boats they engage.  They are the customer, and they choose how much to spend on tenders. 

Other ships/cruiselines engage either one or two local boats with much higher capacity than a lifeboat tender.

The transfer time also significantly depends on where in the anchorage box the pilot and captain decide to drop anchor.  That, in turn, will depend on the draft of the ship and the expected tides, as the box has water at different depths.  The last thing you want him or her to do is get grounded at low tide!

Edited June 4, 2023 by fruitmachine

[BirdTravels]

Port 1 sounded kinda like normally tendering operations. Secure the life boats while hiring a larger local tender take care of the rush of those who wait until the last minute. Unless we are on a shore ex, we try to avoid the last minute rush. 
 

Port 2, won’t okay 20-questions with you. It’s the ship’s decision based on dock facilities. Again, there are always people in a rush to get off and those who wait until the last minute to return. You don’t necessarily optimize for those conditions. 
 

 

[insidecabin]

 

Which local support Vessel  did they use?

 

SQ Hawes pier we have always had Maid of the forth licensed for 225

 

On our Star we were told tender loading was 80pax.

 

Where no local support Star was deploying 6 tenders on some of the Ireland ports

 

Not done Newhaven harbour so not that  familiar but do know there is a pub where you go sit till the queue is gone(that was the procedure at SQ Hawes pier)

 

No need to stand in line for tenders when their is a pub.

 

Dawn was there earlier this year and the line was round the building, can happen when the tour bus come back at the same time.

 

Looking at leaving Edi ship started moving around 5pm and started the river turn around 5:20