Hi,
We went on a Baltic cruise on Fred Olsen's Braemar and used the tender at Karlskrona in Sweden. It was one of the ship's lifeboats. You had to climb down some steps and into the boat. Don't worry as you have about five crew members helping each passenger. They are determined that you transfer safely even if you are not the steadiest person on your feet. Actual travel time was about 10-15 minutes. They usually have 2or3 boats in use to minimise the waiting time.

Most tenders are in fact the ship lifeboats moored alongside one of the lower deck exit points. Depending on the sea conditions your boarding can vary from a short, comfortable step across onto the tender, assisted by 3 or 4 crew members, to waiting until the tender rises on the swell and then quickly stepping across. Passengers are **never** allowed to board the tender unless the crew are absolutely confident it is safe.

Thanks to you both for the replies. I was quite worried after reading the Cruise Review from Thomas Cully who travelled on the Celebration in September 2005.
Quite like the idea of being assisted by 3 or 4 crew members but would prefer not to be dangling between the ship and the tender whovever is holding my arms!!

Hi there

I always travel on the Thomson Emerald and can confirm that apart from Santorini, the ship uses its own life boats.

Santorini can only be accessed by tender and they have their own boats that are usually used.

On some of the smaller ships a small door way is opened near the water level (the one that disabled people usually use in port) and the boat brought alongside.

There will then be several crew helping passengers in and out the boat. The whole proceedure is practiced many many times and the company would rather cancel a mooring than risk passengers safety. This means that really rough seas usually cause the tenders to be cancelled.

I've even seen the crew carry someone on board who was less able to prevent her having any problems.

Andy

Thanks Andy,

Had you read the posting I referred to? I just hope that was an isolated incident!
Other people seem to think there is nothing to be concerned about and as I don't have a mobility problem I probably will manage the same as everyone else does (Hopefully)!

Twirly.

No

I'd not read the posting.

I've been on the Emerald lots of times and I don't particularily like the tender ports, as I like to do my own thing and the paid excursion people get first dibs on the tenders, when I am up nice and early and ready to run as soon as we dock.

I also don't like the older peoples attitude of we are old so we should be first even if we ignore all the advice about single file on stairs and not to push (sorry to all older people, its not true of the majority but like the kids, it only takes a few to give a bad name).

I've been out on the tenders in rough seas (we were ashore and had to get back to the boat, and i've always felt safe. I have been many times with my wife, but in recent years have taken both my mother (60's) and my mother in law (70's) and my sister and her friend and none of us have ever had problems.

The way to look at it is, if it was not safe they would not do it. If it was any way dodgy they would not be allowed and also people would not use them ever again. Well I've booked 9 cruises with Thomson and other members of my family have used the other Thomson boats and no-one has had a bad time.

Hope you do feel better reading this. I have another little bit of advice. When loading into the lifeboat, there are a number of places to sit. If you feel confident enough, try to get to the far side from the loading point at the opposite doorway and sit on the foot plate. (each seat position is usually marked by a black spot or similar). From this point you will get an unrivalled view of either the ship or the port you are being tendered into. If the sea has a little swell, you also get a little spray which is lovely, especially in the hot weather.

Finally, so i don't bore you. If you worry about having to wait on shore for each tender, the ships usually provide a small umbrella'd area with a cold water tank for you to rest and have a drink. Again this is based onThomson but the bigger companies will almost certainly do this too.

Andy

Thanks again Andy. Have decided not to even think about the tender and can't wait until May!

Twirly.

Good for you.

Hopefully there will be a review from you after the cruise, why not add a little bit on there about what you had heard and how it panned out.

Would be a nice case study for anyone else who felt unsure about what they sometimes read.

Andy

Will do. Probably better than boring friends and family! Thrilled to bits that I've managed to post on a forum for the first time

Its good to welcome another contributer.

You never know, now you have started!!!

We're travelling on the NOTS Five day Med cruise next June, and the first stop is Cannes, which is tendered.

We may try the train to Monte Carlo, or we may just hit the beach for an hour, stroll around the town and then head back to the ship. We don't want to spend our first cruise running around and trying to do everything, relaxation is one of our reasons for choosing a cruise in the first place!.

The question is how frequently do tenders return to the ship?

Do they run intermittently throughout the day, or are there windows during which you have to leave or return?

Sorry if this has ben addressed before, but I can't find any reference to it by searching.

Merged with a similar topic.

In my experience the tenders return to the ship at regular intervals throughout the day, about every 30 mins. I think the bigger the more often they run.

luci

hi.....donalk.........luci .is spot on with that info........and they will inform you of the time of the last transfer from shore to the ship..........p.s......enjoy your first cruise....... ..
regards .john-doe.......