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New Cruisers Tip #8: Docking vs. Tenders
By Dave | June 28, 2008
Because I didn’t make yesterday’s post an actual tip, I felt I should make up for it today by giving another tip for new cruisers. Today’s tip concerns the way your ship will stop at a port. There are basically two ways this can happen. You may have heard of the different methods, so I will clarify any confusion now.
Docking
This is pretty self-explanatory. This is when the ship docks against a pier. When you step off the ship, you will step off onto the pier, which is usually attached to the land. No interim vehicles here. This is how, probably, most ports are.
Tendering
This is where the confusion might come in. You’re probably thinking, “if the ship doesn’t dock at a pier, where will it dock?” The answer to that question is: at sea. Not far out, of course. But sometimes, for whatever reason, the ship will not be able to dock at a pier. 
Whether it be space/size constraints, no piers available, or whatever reason, sometimes the ships will have to drop anchor a bit out to sea. When this happens, you have to take a “tender” to shore. A tender is basically a small boat used to transport people from ship-to-shore and/or shore-to-ship.
Tendering can be a pain. Unfortunately, it’s necessary sometimes. First of all, the lines to disembark the ship are typically longer and slower when tendering, because only a limited number of people can get off the ship at a time. When a ship is docked at a pier, the line will move continuously. Since only a relatively small number of people can fit into a tender (as compared to the ship as a whole), and there is not always a tender immediately available, the line can move kind of slowly. This depends on the ship’s size, the number of tenders, the popularity of the port, etc. Another problem with tender is the fact that the ride can be rough. Because they’re small boats, they will bounce a lot in the water. Also, when you’re docked (either on land or on the ship) waiting for the tender to be filled, it will often smell like diesel fuel on the tender.
Trip times on a tender usually are only a few minutes. I’d probably guess they’re between 1-10 minutes on average. I’ve never actually timed the rides, so this just a complete guess. The point I’m trying to make here, is that the ship doesn’t dock way out at sea. In case you were under that impression, hopefully this timeframe cleared this up.
Another tip with tendering: be sure you plan to be back onboard the ship with plenty of time to spare, as the tenders will stop running a little while before the ship leaves. So if you’re running late, you can’t necessarily run down the pier and ask them to hold the ramp for you.
Anyway, that’s my tip for today. I don’t want to put any fears in anyone about tendering. It’s really not that bad. I was just explaining the difference, and that tendering can be a bit of a hassle.
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Topics: Tips for New Cruisers | 148 Comments »