So, I keep seeing on various posts about tendering at the various ports during the cruise and you need to get a ticket/number to get off the boat. Could someone please explain this to me? What if you book a shore excursion through a third party? Thanks!

A tender is a smaller boat that loads passengers onto it and tenders then to shore.  Some ports do not have docks so this is the only way to get to shore.  If you book a third party shore excursion this can be risky anytime there is a tender involved and it is unusual to miss the ports with the docks but if the winds are high and the seas are rough they may not be able to use the tender boats and you would have to miss that stop.  Out of all the cruises this does not happen all the time but we have had it happen to us quite a few times.  Their policy is safety first.

If you do book the third party excursion make sure you don't do one that starts as soon as the ships is supposed to get there as people that book the early Carnival excursions get priority.

The boats hold quite a few people and they usually have a few so it moves along but it is still a process.

Chowder_17:

So, I keep seeing on various posts about tendering at the various ports during the cruise and you need to get a ticket/number to get off the boat. Could someone please explain this to me? What if you book a shore excursion through a third party? Thanks!

Tendering means, a port is too shallow for a Conquest Class, Spirit Class, Destiny Class, or Splendor Class Fun Ship to dock at a pier due to their tremendous weight placing them LOW in the water, so the ship anchors a half mile or so from shore. I can't speak for the other classes of Fun Ships, but these classes I'm sure use tenders at some ports of call. A tender is a small boat holding around 100 or so guests (sometimes they use the lifeboats as tenders) that ferries guests from the Fun Ship to shore and then back to the ship later in the day.

Hi! Tenders are small boats (about 100 or so passengers) that take you from a Fun Ship to the shore and back in ports with shallow harbors. Conquest Class, Destiny Class, Spirit Class, and Splendor Class Fun Ships are very heavy and thus ride very low in the water, so they have to anchor offshore in shallow ports and use commercial tenders (or sometimes lifeboats) to tender guests to shore and back. I have never been tendered on a Triumph Class or Fantasy Class Fun Ship, but that doesn't mean it never happens to those classes. The little boat with the orange awning in the foreground is a tender in front of the Conquest. You can get some great photos of your Fun Ship from a tender. Have a great cruise!

Because some ports do not have docks because the water is too shallow,or too many ships in dock. The cruise ships have to drop anchor about a mile or two from the Island. Once the ship is anchored several small boats (called Tenders) that will carry 20-30 passengers at a time to the island. There are usually 8 to 10 of these small tenders. (they travel very fast and look like a cigarette boat) They go back and forth to the island like taxi cabs but there is no charge. These boats charge carnival per customer so the number is just for a head count of how many they tendered to the island. As far as third party excursion, they are less expensive and some are very good, the only drawback is that lets say you take a third party trip to the mountains and their bus breaks down and you don't get back to ship by the sailing time. your on your on. Carnival will not be responsible if you miss ship sailing.  Hope this helps.

Thanks for the information, you have been very helpful! Where I can find where which ports are tendered? For ports that are not tendered do I need to do anything special? Thanks again!

Where are you going and I can try to help you. 

you can find out at carnival.com check for your cruise info it is listed with your reservations which ports use a tender

tracyanns:

Where are you going and I can try to help you. 

Western Caribbean on the Legend: Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Mexico, Belize, Rotan.

Chowder_17:

tracyanns:

Where are you going and I can try to help you. 

Western Caribbean on the Legend: Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Mexico, Belize, Rotan.

I believe we tendered in both Grand Cayman and Belize recently. We docked in Cozumel and Roatan. The only other thing might be, how many ships dock in a port on a certain day. On our cruise in November on the Holiday, there's at least one other Carnival Fun Ship arriving in Cozumel several hours before we get there. There is a possiblity, that a cruise ship arriving later in the day might have to tender if all spots at the docks are filled when the later ship arrives. Tendering is actually fun, but I wouldn't book a third party shore excursion on a day we were tendering.

By the way, certain shore excursions while docked in Cozumel require taking a ferry to Playa del Carmen on the mainland (the Mayan Ruins at Tulum for instance) of around 45 minutes or so each way. Plan on leaving the ship in time to do this ferryboat trip if needed to get to your shore excursion. I would once again be very careful about booking from a third party if the shore excursion is on the mainland while your ship is docked in Cozumel. VA_Cruiser may be able to tell you more on this subject. She knows more about the most intricate details than I do. I'm a veteran cruiser, but she has helped me out several times this past year.

Smitty

belize and Grand cayman are both tender ports

Grand Cayman and Belize should be tenders and Cozumel should be a dock...not sure about Roatan as I have not been there yet.

You are on the Legend...r us going to go to the steakhouse?

tracyanns:

Grand Cayman and Belize should be tenders and Cozumel should be a dock...not sure about Roatan as I have not been there yet.

You are on the Legend...r us going to go to the steakhouse?

Yes, we are! :)

tracyanns:

If you do book the third party excursion make sure you don't do one that starts as soon as the ships is supposed to get there as people that book the early Carnival excursions get priority.