American Cruise Line New England

[Ski Mom]

Hello! I’m in the early stages of planning a New England cruise with ACL. I’m looking at the Grand New England or the Cape Codder. My question is do you know what ports in New England require a tender? I have looked through all the itineraries on the east coast and none of them state that a tender is required but I have heard that several ports up near Maine require them. I would really like to visit Martha’s Vineyard and Acadia national park. I have MS and travel with a wheelchair and require assistance disembarking. This is my second cruise with ACL. My first one was on the Columbia Snake River and it was fantastic and the crew were very helpful with my needs but none of the ports we visited required tenders. I guess my question is do they allow wheelchairs on tenders? If not I guess I should look at itineraries that don’t require them but like I said from what I’ve read it’s not clear which ports require them. If I am posting on the wrong board I apologize in advance and will post on the persons with disabilities forum. Thank you! 

[jebhoward3]

While I have not been on those specific cruises, I have been on one that was along the east coast that ended in Florida.  We had a tender port on that cruise and we had to go down 3 or 4 steps to get into the tender.  There was a person who went that required a w/c, but they were, with assistance, able to navigate on foot the steps.  The w/c was folded up and went along with us.  If you are unable to walk, even with assistance, I would not recommend using the tender.  

You can phone ACL and ask if the cruises you are interested in have any ports that require a tender.  I have always found the people who answer the phone to be very friendly and helpful, and if that person does not have an answer to the question, they find someone who does.

[Ski Mom]

40 minutes ago, jebhoward3 said:

While I have not been on those specific cruises, I have been on one that was along the east coast that ended in Florida.  We had a tender port on that cruise and we had to go down 3 or 4 steps to get into the tender.  There was a person who went that required a w/c, but they were, with assistance, able to navigate on foot the steps.  The w/c was folded up and went along with us.  If you are unable to walk, even with assistance, I would not recommend using the tender.  

You can phone ACL and ask if the cruises you are interested in have any ports that require a tender.  I have always found the people who answer the phone to be very friendly and helpful, and if that person does not have an answer to the question, they find someone who does.

Thank you so much for your response! I did read the itinerary and did not see any tender ports but when I called the representative said that the first itinerary I chose did require three tenders but when I called back I didn’t talk to the same representative and she told me that it depends on the ship and then put me on hold and came back to say that most of the ports required tenders and that they lift the wheelchair. I can definitely walk a few steps to board the tender but I’m not really comfortable going on a cruise that has more than one tender port. Until I can get a little more information I think I might look into another cruise destination. I was just hoping someone had taken this cruise and could give me some information. Thanks again!

[DaveinCharlotte]

On the Grand New England cruise, I remember just two ports that required tenders:  Bar Harbor and Boothbay Harbor.  There were no ports requiring tenders on our Cape Codder cruise.  (Nantucket does require a tender, but only the New England Islands cruise goes there.)

[sb44]

Go  to the  ACL Cruisers page on FB and ask the question. Lots of good info and people to answer this question.

[DaveinCharlotte]

On 5/13/2024 at 5:07 PM, sb44 said:

Go  to the  ACL Cruisers page on FB and ask the question. Lots of good info and people to answer this question.

Went on my FB account and searched for "ACL Cruisers" but nothing came up.  You sure this is the right name?

[BaumD]

American Cruise Lines Cruisers

[Ski Mom]

On 5/15/2024 at 7:44 AM, DaveinCharlotte said:

Went on my FB account and searched for "ACL Cruisers" but nothing came up.  You sure this is the right name?

Thank you for your response. It’s actually American Cruise Lines. I just abbreviated the name and tried to edit it but it was too late.