pier, wharf, quay?

English translation: dock

15:13 Jun 28, 2005

English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Marketing - Tourism & Travel

English term or phrase: pier, wharf, quay?

Hi folks.
I am translating an itinerary where the people are transferred to Seebäderkaje in Bremerhaven to go aboard a ship. Now I have found that this Seebäderkaje is a place where ships have passengers embark and disembark. To explain it to the English speakers, it is a pier, or a wharf or a quay.

To my ears, a wharf sounds more like where they load cargo, not people.

I am leaning toward pier, but may go with quay.

What is the opinion of the assembled masses of native English speakers? The Applause-O-Meter will give us the winner. I am looking for the "high-falutin" word, the one that has the most class.

Pier
Wharf
Quay

Thanks for any thoughts.

jccantrell KudoZ activity Questions: 193 (none open) (14 closed without grading) Answers: 5057 United States
Local time: 08:18

Selected answer:dock

Explanation:
Here is another term to add to the confusion!

Dock

In American English dock is technically synonymous with pier or wharf; any human-made structure intended for people to be on.

http://www.answers.com/dock

Selected response from:

Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 20:48

Grading comment

Well, folks, I used 'dock' finally. Terminal said building to me, and there isn't one. Quay was too esoteric. Pictures of the place from the web just show a spit of land with a concrete surface, so jetty, wharf and pier seemed inappropriate.
Thank you all VERY much.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED

4 +7

terminal

George Rabel

4 +4

pier (U.S.)

RHELLER

4 +3

Depends...

David Copeland

3 +1

dock

Balasubramaniam L.

terminal

Tony M

embarkation pier

Nick Lingris

Avoid them all

David Moore (X)

Discussion entries: 1

Answers

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +3

Depends...

Explanation:
I personally, in this instance would probably say pier. Wharf to me sounds like a place covered in shops and restaurants. Finally quay is fine, but if you are adressing an American audience the meaning of the word is very apt to be lost.

David Copeland
Native speaker of:

English

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Refugio: Yes, and just pier, not embarkation pier. To me a quay and a wharf both sound more like loading docks for cargo.

8 mins

-> Thanks Ruth!

agree

TonyTK: or "quay" - as a Brit I'd want my pier to have toffee apples, fruit machines, fat birds in mini-skirts ...

14 mins

-> Mmmm, toffee apples...Thanks Tony!

neutral

jrb: again, as I said to Ruth, pier is quite different in Britain

47 mins

agree

silfilla: pier (that's where all the cruise ships dock in NYC ;-) )

7 hrs

agree

gtreyger (X): For the US audience, I'd pick PIER hands down.

10 hrs

disagree

Michael Lyman: The asker wants the classy/highbrow term- which would be wharf- as a quay is simply a wharf that is alongside a waterway or 'dock' in British English, and pier is th egeneral term for all three terms but it is not classy and reminds Americans of fishing-

12 hrs

-> Hmmmm, not this American. Wharf to me is people loading ships in the industrial area of the city.

21 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

dock

Balasubramaniam L.
India
Local time: 20:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Hindi
PRO pts in category: 4

Grading comment

19 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +4

pier (U.S.)

Explanation:
Cruise Ships - Long Beach, CA - Los Angeles Harbor -
All Carnival Cruise Line Ships and some ships of the cruise lines owned by Carnival'... 1-1/2 blocks from the San Francisco Cruise Ship Terminal at Pier 35. ...
www.sanpedro.com/spcom/crusshp2.htm

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 31 mins (2005-06-28 15:44:43 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

the berth is the specific parking spot at the pier

Berth: There are several definitions: the dock or pier where you embark or debark from the ship; sufficient space for a ship to manoeuvre; the bed in which you sleep onboard the ship

the following is for cargo ships-they do not mention passenger boarding
but there are plenty of glossaries available on google

wharf: The place at which ships tie up to unload and load cargo. The wharf typically has front and rear loading docks (aprons), a transit shed, open (unshedded) storage areas, truck bays, and rail tracks.
Pier: A structure which juts out into a waterway from the shore, for mooring vessels and cargo handling. Sometimes called a finger pier.

quay: A wharf, which parallels the waterline.

http://www.aapa-ports.org/industryinfo/glossary.html

RHELLER
United States
Local time: 09:18
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 16

33 mins confidence:

terminal

Explanation:
Just to expand on what the others have already said. Given that the words (as Rita says) are not merely interchangeable, and in addition, that they have very different connotations between US and UK English, unless you are sure of your target readership, you might be well advised to steer clear of any one of them.

To my UK ears, they have the following connotations:

quay, quayside is the most neutral, would be OK for your needs at a push, if acceptable to US readers?

wharf suggests (probably small) industrial quay where goods are loaded, perhaps fishing boats etc. But cf. Canary Wharf in London -- very hifalutin', that, but NOT for embarking passengers!

dock suggests (probably larger) industrial quay, with large cranes, warehouses etc. Note that it really originally referred to the piece of water where the boats lie, and is only 'dockside' by extension. But cf. redeveloped East India Dock in London.

pier suggests a kind of jetty, a structure that sticks out into the sea (may well NOT be the case in your context...), or of course, the very British 19th century idea of a 'pleasure pier', all cast-ironwork and toffee apples, with a theatre on the end, etc. cf. Brighton Pier

Note that the big liners leave from what is called the Ocean Terminal in Southampton; although this does really refer to the land-based facilities, in practice the term is used more loosely to apply equally to the general quayside area

Tony M
France
Local time: 17:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 44

8 mins confidence:

embarkation pier

Explanation:
:-}

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 0 min (2005-06-28 16:13:49 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

What you actually seem to have at Seebäderkaje is a \"pontoon pier\", which is the boarding point.
Sorry, just a cache link
[http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:2WwM-RCKlNYJ:www.bafg.de...]

Nick Lingris
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Greek
PRO pts in category: 12

1 hr confidence:

Avoid them all

Explanation:
if you possibly can; I'll admit I've never been on a cruise, but I've seen enough brochures and newspaper and magazine ads to convince me that only the really expensive cruises use terminals. I'm not trying to denigrate Bremerhaven, but when my sister cruised from there in the 1980s (as a member of the crew), the passengers were transferred to the ship's side and went straight aboard - no question of using a terminal. If the itinerary is clear on this point, it may make sense to say: "transfer by luxury coach direct to the ship lying at the Seebäderkaje in Bremerhaven, and go on board". Or something like that.

David Moore (X)
Local time: 17:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

4 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +7

terminal

Explanation:
an alternative to yours, and one that it is widely used in the cruise industry. The word "terminal" does not refer to the pier itself, but to the facilities built on land to handle the passengers.

Cruise Ship Service Provided By PRIME TIME SHUTTLE
Carnivals state-of-the-art Cruise Ship terminal is located immediately adjacent
to the Queen Mary, ... CARNIVAL CRUISE SHIP TERMINAL CRUISE LINES ...
www.primetimeshuttle.com/cruise_ship_service.htm - 11k

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 mins (2005-06-28 15:18:47 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

CruiseReport.com - Cruise review for Royal Caribbean, Adventure of ...
The cab took us to the new Royal Caribbean terminal, which we are told is the largest and newest cruise terminal in the world. ...
www.cruisereport.com/ report.asp?sr_id=101&pita=678&menubar=off - 88k

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 46 mins (2005-06-28 16:59:10 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

TERMINAL

bremenports GmbH & Co. KG
... in Bremerhaven which has made it the most modern cruise terminal in Europe,
... Senator for Ports Perschau: \"Terminal at Bremerhaven again succeeds ...
www.bremenports.de/engl/presse.aspx - 20k - Cached - Similar pages

bremenports GmbH & Co. KG
... in Bremerhaven which has made it the most modern cruise terminal in Europe,
... With 20 cruise liners handled at the terminal, the figure was consistent ...
www.bremenports.de/engl/presse_ view.aspx?ID=427&TITEL=News - 9k

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 48 mins (2005-06-28 17:01:31 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Forget about quays, piers, or wharves. This is a TERMINAL:

Press Release
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
... Last weekend saw the first trial of Bremerhaven Cruise Terminal\'s new glass passenger
bridges after approval had been granted by local technical inspectors. ...
www.cruiseport.de/deutsch/resources/ images/download/presse26.06.02eng.pdf - Supplemental Result - Similar pages

Norwegian Sky Feature Review - Raoul Fiebig
... It almost sounds unbelievable even to myself! So when I approached the maitre d\'s
table at the Bremerhaven cruise terminal I asked for Neil D\'Souza. ...
www.cruisereviews.com/ncl/NorwegianSky8.htm - 25k - Supplemental Result

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr 51 mins (2005-06-28 17:04:37 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

You can see a picture of Bremerhaven´s \"Kreuzfahrtterminal\" here:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hs-bremerh...

George Rabel
Local time: 11:18
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Spanish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Klaus Herrmann: Must be an obvious choice for non-native speakers :)

2 mins

-> Thank you, Klaus

neutral

Refugio: However, it doesn't give the nautical flavor and certainly doesn't sound particularly highfalutin. Makes me think of a bus terminal.

13 mins

-> Well, the others are not particularly highfalutin either, just general terms

agree

Tony M: I agree with George; in UK English, 'quay' or 'quayside' would be OK, but the different connotations of pier (suggests special type of jetty) and dock / wharf (= cargo) would render those unsuitable...

20 mins

-> Thank you, Dusty

agree

jrb: this does avoid the dilemma

55 mins

-> Thank you Jessica

neutral

David Moore (X): Yes, but IS there one??

1 hr

-> We don`t know, but if there isn`t one, and the passengers have to leave and enter the ship directly through the gangway, then it would no be very highfallutin at all, would it?// But there IS one, please see added references.

agree

Carmen Schultz: also heard dock and pier but terminal sounds much more to the point!

2 hrs

-> Thank you, Carmen

agree

Robert Donahue (X): I'd pick this since it seems to satisfy (or least displease) the majority. : )

5 hrs

-> Thank you, Robert, and in this case it happens to be a terminal, whatever you call the structure over which the terminal is built.

agree

tappi_k: this seems to me the safest and most obvious

1 day 7 hrs

-> thank you

agree

Alp Berker

1 day 15 hrs

-> thank you

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English translation: dock

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