Docking questions the Star and the British Isles and Iceland Cruises ?

[JCMass.]

We are taking the Star next spring to Ireland, Norway, and Scotland.  We are supposed to only have one tender port in Edinburgh.  All the rest including the Faroe Islands and Shetland are docked.  I keep hearing on Cruise Critic that people get letters right before the cruise telling them there are many more tenderports, as many as 5.  We choose this cruise because they docked almost all the time.  Has anyone docked in the Faroe Islands and Shetland on the Star ?   What about in Iceland in some of the smaller ports ?  

[2bc cruisers]

https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising-tender-ports

 

im cruising 9/9-23/2023, I’ll be happy to give an updated list of our stops dock/tender after we return.
 

[JCMass.]

1 hour ago, 2bc cruisers said:

https://www.ncl.com/about/accessible-cruising-tender-ports

 

im cruising 9/9-23/2023, I’ll be happy to give an updated list of our stops dock/tender after we return.
 

Thank you.  I have seen it a few times posted here where many ports were changed to tender ports at the last minute.  It makes you wonder if they know about it in advance. 

 

We did an Icelandic cruise last year, and there were changes at a couple of ports, but we were not very far from shore, it took minutes.  Taking a tender can take quite a bit of time off the time ashore, we try to avoid it if we can.  

[TrumpyNor]

It is the port authorities in each port who decides if a ship can dock or need to anchor with tender, and sometimes this information is released to the cruise lines rather late (it all depends on size of the pier, size of the ship, how many ships the same day, etc). I am booked on a cruise from Southampton to Iceland on the Star next month, and we have a total of 5 tender ports on our itinerary and Lerwick in the Shetland is actually one of them. The other 4 are very small ports in Iceland where (allthough only confirmed as tender ports 3 weeks before sailing) in my opinion it should have been expected that a large cruise ship would not be able to dock in those specific ports.

 

Edited July 17, 2023 by TrumpyNor
Adding information.

[JCMass.]

14 hours ago, TrumpyNor said:

It is the port authorities in each port who decides if a ship can dock or need to anchor with tender, and sometimes this information is released to the cruise lines rather late (it all depends on size of the pier, size of the ship, how many ships the same day, etc). I am booked on a cruise from Southampton to Iceland on the Star next month, and we have a total of 5 tender ports on our itinerary and Lerwick in the Shetland is actually one of them. The other 4 are very small ports in Iceland where (allthough only confirmed as tender ports 3 weeks before sailing) in my opinion it should have been expected that a large cruise ship would not be able to dock in those specific ports.

 

Sounds like the same cruise we are taking in 2024.  Right now the Itinerary is saying there is only one tender port in Scotland.   The Star is one of the smaller ships that go to these ports, so it made sense they would most likely dock.  We have been to some of the smaller ports in Iceland on a larger ship, the Nieuw Stantendam.   We were told at the last minute we were tendering in,  we could see the dock in Isafjordur but was told it was too small so we had to tender in, a very quick trip but that was it.  

[insidecabin]

On 7/16/2023 at 11:46 PM, JCMass. said:

We are taking the Star next spring to Ireland, Norway, and Scotland.  We are supposed to only have one tender port in Edinburgh.  All the rest including the Faroe Islands and Shetland are docked.  I keep hearing on Cruise Critic that people get letters right before the cruise telling them there are many more tenderports, as many as 5.  We choose this cruise because they docked almost all the time.  Has anyone docked in the Faroe Islands and Shetland on the Star ?   What about in Iceland in some of the smaller ports ?  

 

Which Ireland ports on your trip?

 

Dun Laoghaire is tender no berth there.

 

 

 

[JCMass.]

4 hours ago, insidecabin said:

 

Which Ireland ports on your trip?

 

Dun Laoghaire is tender no berth there.

 

 

 

No ports in Ireland.  England, Scotland, Norway, and Iceland. 

[insidecabin]

1 minute ago, JCMass. said:

No ports in Ireland.  England, Scotland, Norway, and Iceland. 

That's not what you said

 

We are taking the Star next spring to Ireland, Norway, and Scotland.

[JCMass.]

17 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

That's not what you said

 

We are taking the Star next spring to Ireland, Norway, and Scotland.

Sorry, I just looked at the itinerary.  Years ago we took a transatlantic that took us to Ireland, England and Iceland.  We didn't tender at all that trip.