NCL cruise tender process (you need a ticket)

Hi there!

If you have a tender port during your NCL cruise, then it’s very important that you pay attention to the tender instructions that are given the night before.

That is, if you don’t have priority status or a shore excursion booked through NCL. Then you can bypass the reason that it’s very important… which is the tender ticket.

Having a tender port means that the cruise ship doesn’t dock right alongside land for you to walk right off from cruise ship to land. Instead, the cruise ship anchors offshore, and then you need to take a small boat (which is a lifeboat) to get from the cruise ship to land.

If the tender process didn’t take so much time, I would actually say it’s fun to take a tender boat to shore! It’s a fun little experience to step directly from the cruise ship onto a small boat, and see the views sailing away from the big cruise ship!

But well, when there are tender boats involved, it takes time. At least it does if you want to get off the cruise ship as soon as it arrives in port. So it’s best to mentally prepare for the additional wait time.

When I had a tender port in Alaska while on an NCL cruise ship, I saw someone at the guest services desk who was quite frustrated at the tender process. It seemed like he probably didn’t know about the process of getting the tender ticket so as a result he was quite late to get one.

In order to get off the cruise ship, you need to get a tender ticket which will tell you what group number you are, and then you need to wait for your group number to be called.

I had gotten in line for a ticket around the given time, but it still took me awhile to get off… which is how I saw the guy at guest services.

You’ll find the tender instructions in the Freestyle Daily, NCL’s daily activity schedule, which is delivered to your cabin the evening before. You can also see the Freestyle Daily on the NCL app. The instructions will tell you where you need to go in the morning to get a tender ticket. The earlier you’re in line for that, the sooner you’ll get off the ship!

I was on the Norwegian Sun, anchored off the port of Sitka in Alaska. This cruise ship’s passenger capacity is around 1,900 passengers, and it was an end-of-season cruise so I don’t think it was a full ship. Even being a smaller NCL cruise ship and following the instructions, it took me about an hour to get off the cruise ship from the time it arrived in port.

Information provided by NCL in the Freestyle Daily about the tender process:

• For crowd control purposes, tender tickets will be used to go ashore.
• Guests who would like to go ashore during the initial hours will need a tender ticket.
• Remain in the public areas and wait for your tender ticket group number to be called
• Announcements can be heard in all public area and on TV.
• If you are on an organized NCL shore excursion, check your shore excursion ticket for the meeting time and location.
• Latitude members who are gold and above, priority access, and NCL shore excursions don’t need a tender ticket.

The official arrival time to the port was scheduled for 11:45am, and it was listed in the Freestyle Daily that you could get tender tickets starting at 9:30am at the casino.

So that’s right around the time I went to the designated location, and there was already a long line. I was standing in line for about 10 minutes in order to get my ticket, and I ended up with a ticket in group 6.

And then from there, it was waiting for group 6 to be called. I waited around in the public areas, took in the views outside, and also got to a spot where I could see the tender boats (aka lifeboats) leaving from the cruise ship.

Once my group number was called, I followed the signs to the exit, and then stepped onto the tender boat at 12:43pm. There were stairs down to get to the boarding platform at sea level, and you walk onto the lifeboat from the cruise ship.

My boat ride was 10-15 minutes to get to shore. Look back to see yourself getting further away from the cruise ship! You can also see the boarding platform that you were just on.

And then arrival to land! After getting off the boat, there was a ramp.

Make note of the last tender back to the cruise ship. This is also in the Freestyle Daily. My cruise ship had an official departure time of 5:30pm, and the last tender was listed as 4:45pm, so it was 45 minutes before the departure.

It’s never too early to start planning for your next cruise! Visit the homepage of the blog for the guide to planning your first Alaska cruise!