Prima - tender at Gerainger

[Sussexboy]

Hi all, new to NCL. We are on the Iceland/Norway trip from Southampton on Prima in September. I see that Gerainger is a tender port. How long does it take to get off the ship normally in such a situation? I want to book a RIB trip but need to know any potential delays in going ashore first. What do you think the chances of not getting into port are? I see some cruise lines struggling with this location.

[SakeDad]

It says tender but it's not. There is a great floating dock that has been built. FYI Prima doesn't have any tender boats so will never tender in port. Their boats are all enclosed lifeboats not suitable for tendering. You will love Prima. We just did that itinerary July 16 and loved it.

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, SakeDad said:

It says tender but it's not. There is a great floating dock that has been built. FYI Prima doesn't have any tender boats so will never tender in port. Their boats are all enclosed lifeboats not suitable for tendering. You will love Prima. We just did that itinerary July 16 and loved it.

Some additional info for folks on cruises calling at Geiranger. There is indeed a floating dock called the sea walk. It accommodates only one ship (which pays for the privilege). The link below is to the official port schedule, which shows the scheduled in-port position of each ship.  If you see 4B/SW, that’s the sea walk. It does appear that the NCL Prima in August and September will be at the sea walk. No tendering. 

 

https://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls/

 

 

[Sussexboy]

That is good news, thank you very much for the information.

[McGarrett5oh]

On 8/8/2023 at 7:04 PM, Turtles06 said:

Some additional info for folks on cruises calling at Geiranger. There is indeed a floating dock called the sea walk. It accommodates only one ship (which pays for the privilege). The link below is to the official port schedule, which shows the scheduled in-port position of each ship.  If you see 4B/SW, that’s the sea walk. It does appear that the NCL Prima in August and September will be at the sea walk. No tendering. 

 

https://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls/

 

 

Excellent resource!   Thanks

[JustAllie]

I went to Norway a few years ago and our ship used the "SeaWalk" floating dock in Geiranger. It was very cool to watch it connect to the ship. I'd recommend taking some time in the morning to not just watch the scenery while entering the fjord, but also watch the docking process with the floating pier. Once it's fully connected, the disembarkation process is pretty smooth. 

[baobaodarcy]

Tagging onto this comment for people that have taken the Norwegian Prima.  It's scheduled to arrive at 11 am, and I booked an outside bus tour at 11:45 am that is right off the port.  Is that cutting it too close?  😬

[JandC_Cruising]

3 hours ago, baobaodarcy said:

Tagging onto this comment for people that have taken the Norwegian Prima.  It's scheduled to arrive at 11 am, and I booked an outside bus tour at 11:45 am that is right off the port.  Is that cutting it too close?  😬

I would contact the company you booked with and inquire if they are waiting for the guests to disembark.  Gerainger is not big town.  It is likely that the bus tour is expecting most/if not all of their guests to come off the ship.  In that case, you would be fine.   No sense for the bus to leave if nobody has gotten off the ship yet.  

[McGarrett5oh]

All the tours leave steps from the end of the "SeaWalk", which is the floating dock that comes out to meet the ship.  You should be fine if you can be on time to disembark.  The tour company will be waiting for all their Bus Tour passengers so you won't be alone. 

 

The only wild card is if there are two ships in port that day as one has to tender since the floating dock can only accomodate one ship.  Prima likely will get priority.  You can check the Geiranger port schedule here:  https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/geiranger-port-547

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, McGarrett5oh said:

You can check the Geiranger port schedule here:  https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/geiranger-port-547

 

And for those who want to consult the official port web site (which, as discussed above, has the added benefit of showing whether a ship will be using the SeaWalk or tendering):

 

https://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls/

[ontheweb]

For our Prima cruise this summer, the website was showing tender for Geiranger and dock for Isafjordur. Not once did the Prima dock in Isafjordur (nor tender), but we did just walk off at Geiranger. I guess if tendering was required, we would just have had another skipped port. 😒

[The Traveling Man]

On 8/8/2023 at 4:47 PM, SakeDad said:

It says tender but it's not. There is a great floating dock that has been built. FYI Prima doesn't have any tender boats so will never tender in port. Their boats are all enclosed lifeboats not suitable for tendering. You will love Prima. We just did that itinerary July 16 and loved it.

While it's true that the Pr1ma's lifeboats are not suitable for use as tenders, there are several ports that have their own tenders.  Some ports even insist that ships use the local boats instead of the ship's tenders.  It's possible, then, that the Pr1ma could visit a tender port if they use the local port's tender boats.

[Levanah]

Looking forward to Southampton to Reykjavik on May 12 on the Prima.  Last I communicated with the Isafjordur tourism office a a few weeks ago, they say the dredging project in the port should be ready for the 2024 season, but no firm promises.  I am hoping we are able to port in Isafjordur and that it doesn’t turn out to be a sea day.  Anyone have any information on the dredging port project?

 

Seems odd that the ship did not build with boats that can both tender and serve as lifeboats.

 

I can’t wait to see how the sea walk works in Geiranger!

[baobaodarcy]

Thank you so much for all of your responses! This is super helpful!

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Levanah said:

Looking forward to Southampton to Reykjavik on May 12 on the Prima.  Last I communicated with the Isafjordur tourism office a a few weeks ago, they say the dredging project in the port should be ready for the 2024 season, but no firm promises.  I am hoping we are able to port in Isafjordur and that it doesn’t turn out to be a sea day.  Anyone have any information on the dredging port project?

 

Seems odd that the ship did not build with boats that can both tender and serve as lifeboats.

 

I can’t wait to see how the sea walk works in Geiranger!

It was supposed to be ready for 2023. That obviously did not work out. 😒

 

It does seem odd that the older NCL ship could tender there. Maybe part of it is the size of the ship. On my cruise the captain said there were too many passengers to tender.

[McGarrett5oh]

13 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

It does seem odd that the older NCL ship could tender there. Maybe part of it is the size of the ship. On my cruise the captain said there were too many passengers to tender.

We were on the Prima last fall and had to skip Isafjordur since the harbor was still under construction and, as the captain explained,  the Prima’s lifeboats are only that - lifeboats.  They cannot be used as tenders so the Prima must dock or use the port’s tenders if they have them.  I would assume the same is true for Viva.  
 

Another design shortfall on this new class of NCL ship IMO.  

[Levanah]

I agree that the lack of tenders on this class of ship is a significant design shortfall.  In addition, itineraries include Isafjordur when being able to port is doubtful.

[baobaodarcy]

I had a tangential question -- I am considering doing the Geiranger sightseeing boat cruise, and also the Bergen Mostraumen boat cruise.  Is it somewhat redundant to do both in that it will be a similar experience?  If yes, which one do you recommend more?  Right now, based on what I'm reading, it seems the Geiranger boat cruise is not to be missed. It seems like there is a good amount of things to do right in the Bergen center / do you have any recommendations for other excursions that you've enjoyed in Bergen? Thank you so much!

[kitkat343]

41 minutes ago, baobaodarcy said:

I had a tangential question -- I am considering doing the Geiranger sightseeing boat cruise, and also the Bergen Mostraumen boat cruise.  Is it somewhat redundant to do both in that it will be a similar experience?  If yes, which one do you recommend more?  Right now, based on what I'm reading, it seems the Geiranger boat cruise is not to be missed. It seems like there is a good amount of things to do right in the Bergen center / do you have any recommendations for other excursions that you've enjoyed in Bergen? Thank you so much!

The Geiranger bus that takes you around the highlights of the Geiranger lasts 3 hours, so depending on the length of your day in port you might be able to do both that and the boat cruise in Geiranger (when calculating the timing please check recent reviews of your ship, since some NCL ships have a lot of reviews noting difficulties with disembarkment that cut down on their time in port so please allocate a lot of time for both activities if you choose to do both).  The sail in/sail out on your cruise ship to Geiranger is spectacular (we did this cruise on Cunard, and they took the kids out of the kids clubs to let them see the waterfalls on the sail out).   

 

Please also note that the road to the Skywalk in Geiranger is seasonal, and opens between mid-May and early June after the big annual avalanche.  They will substitute a beautiful lake if you are too early for the skywalk.

Edited April 20 by kitkat343

[kitkat343]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

It was supposed to be ready for 2023. That obviously did not work out. 😒

 

It does seem odd that the older NCL ship could tender there. Maybe part of it is the size of the ship. On my cruise the captain said there were too many passengers to tender.

People on this forum have stated that the Prima was able to tender successfully in Grand Cayman.  Grand Cayman provides tender ships, so NCL uses those to get the passengers off the Prima.  I don't have personal experience but I believe tendering on the Prima  is possible if outside tender ships are available.  

Edited April 20 by kitkat343

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, kitkat343 said:

People on this forum have stated that the Prima was able to tender successfully in Grand Cayman.  Grand Cayman provides tender ships, so NCL uses those to get the passengers off the Prima.  I don't have personal experience but I believe tendering on the Prima  is possible if outside tender ships are available.  

Right, only if outside tenders are available. The question is why they did not equip these ships with their own useable tenders.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, McGarrett5oh said:

We were on the Prima last fall and had to skip Isafjordur since the harbor was still under construction and, as the captain explained,  the Prima’s lifeboats are only that - lifeboats.  They cannot be used as tenders so the Prima must dock or use the port’s tenders if they have them.  I would assume the same is true for Viva.  
 

Another design shortfall on this new class of NCL ship IMO.  

They kept selling excursions as if they expected to be able to dock there. We were there in August, and I see from your post the problem had not been fixed by the fall. I am not surprised. 

[yakcruiser]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Right, only if outside tenders are available. The question is why they did not equip these ships with their own useable tenders.

$$$!

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

$$$!

Foolish, over the long haul how many excursions would they not be able to sell because the ship was unable to disembark passengers? For instance, every single Prima cruise that had Isafjordur as a port this past year had to cancel the port.