Eric Chao Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 hi friends i'm a newbie cruiser and planning to bring my family for a HAWAII trip next year. On one of our PORT STOPS - MAUI, i plan to join an excursion for a SUNSET & DINNER TOUR. But it starts at 2 pm, and will last up to 8 pm my concerns are: 1. what time does the TENDER return to the ship? is there a set time for it? how can we get aboard the tender ship IF WE HAPPEN TO RETURN later than their set time? 2. will RCL accomodate us even if we take the excursion trip NOT thru RCL website? 3. has it ever happened that guests were left at the shore overnight to fend for themselves? pls kindly enlighten me MAHALO!!! Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melski94 Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 What are the scheduled times to be in Maui? All aboard tends to be about 30 minutes before the ship is scheduled to depart. Most of us recommend being back at least 2 hours before all aboard especially if doing a 3rd party excursion. They will wait or get you to the next port if it is a RC excursion but RC will NOT help you with 3rd party excursions or wait for you if you miss the ship (except to maybe get your passport if its in the safe). It is YOUR responsibility to be back on time. Guest are left all the time, just look for the videos on you tube. If your excursion is even remotely cutting it close to the all aboard time, I'd suggest you look at another. MO & LO on the go!, ChessE4 and Neesa 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MO & LO on the go! Posted November 9, 2019 Report Share Posted November 9, 2019 3 hours ago, Eric Chao said: hi friends i'm a newbie cruiser and planning to bring my family for a HAWAII trip next year. On one of our PORT STOPS - MAUI, i plan to join an excursion for a SUNSET & DINNER TOUR. But it starts at 2 pm, and will last up to 8 pm my concerns are: 1. what time does the TENDER return to the ship? is there a set time for it? how can we get aboard the tender ship IF WE HAPPEN TO RETURN later than their set time? This will be posted the day before on the Cruise Compass and as you exit the ship. But usually all aboard is 30 minutes prior to the ship leaving so depends on tender ride length of time (If tender is 30 minute ride then it's probably 1 hour before ship leaves). If you miss the last tender you will get a chance to find a nice hotel and flight home from Maui.....so don't miss the last tender. I would make sure you don't cut it close at all!!! Not worth it! Or book something through RCCL. Then the ship will wait for you or make sure you get back onboard even if you are late. 2. will RCL accomodate us even if we take the excursion trip NOT thru RCL website? Not at all! You are on your own! 3. has it ever happened that guests were left at the shore overnight to fend for themselves? All the time! As stated by @melski94 you can watch lots of youtube videos of people yelling and crying at the boat while they stand on the pier and the boat is pulling away. pls kindly enlighten me MAHALO!!! Eric Neesa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Chao Posted November 10, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 hi friends i apologize for not making it clear. Actually in LAHAINA - MAUI, RCL - OVATION of the seas is scheduled to be there OVERNIGHT. We arrive on 9/25/20 at 7 am and depart of 9/26/20 - at 6 pm that's why im considering to take a 7 to 9 hour EXCURSION up the mountain for the sunset views and dinner. but the tour operator said we will be back at port between 10 to 11 pm so im just worried on how we can get back to the ship if we arrive at that time? the ship won't be leaving until the next day... my concern is i dont want to sleep on the port... hope you can enlighten me much thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted November 10, 2019 Report Share Posted November 10, 2019 The tenders don't have set times. They do not publish a schedule that says "Tender will leave ship at 15 minutes past the hour and return at 45 minutes past the hour". Rather they operate tenders as they fill up. If a tender boat reaches capacity they send it. When another tender boat reaches the ship, they send the one currently filling up to make room to receive the incoming tender boat. At times during high demand they fill up quickly and there could 3 tenders heading towards shore at the same time. At slower times they'll pull some boats out of the rotation and use fewer tender boats. It's a dynamic process without set times. Overnight in Maui is unique for tendering. What they did this past September was to use the ship's tender boats until 10pm. The crew had been on duty for a long day by this point. At that point they hired a local boat to operate the overnight tendering service so that crew could rest. The local boat operator used one boat all night long. It would go to shore, drop guests, pick up any incoming guests and return to the ship. The ride and process of moving guests off and on that boat takes roughly one hour to execute one round trip. This can vary slightly since a full boat takes longer for passengers to move off or on, an empty tender at 3am would run slightly faster times. So the one hour loop time is not cast in stone, it could be as long as 70 minutes or it could be as short as 50 minutes. It's dynamic. mapleleafmonkey and USCG Teacher 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Chao Posted November 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2019 thanks for this very informative reply, will duly consider this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.