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Regatta - Reboarding times on port days


Waterway
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Hi, all

Help is needed. I'm trying to plan excursions on port days. For Alaskan cruises on Regatta, when do you have to reboard the ship? For example, if the ship is in port from 7 am to 4 pm, what time would people be expected to be back on board (assuming one is not on an oceania excursion).

Thanks!

Waterway

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I would never cut it that close. If you are booking private tours I suggest returning At least 1.5 hours before departure. Stuff happens

 

 

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Two additional points to the above rule of thumb (which is a good one) for both private tours and on your own tours:

 

1. Private tour operators are fully aware that their reputation depends on not missing the boat. One bad CC or TripAdvisor review indicating they missed the boat would hurt them badly. They are aware of local traffic conditions and alternative routing in the event of accidents. This is a good argument for using local private guides.

2. Private guide or on your own, always consider the itinerary of your excursion and try to go to the most distant points first and work your way back so that as you approach the end of your tour you are close® to the ship. This gives you the flexibility to curtail or even extend your time depending on how things are going. An alternative strategy is to go to the must see sight first, see it thoroughly, and then adjust from there.

 

An example - on a private tour in Mexico our driver was in cell phone and radio communication with other drivers. When a highway accident was reported he detoured to side roads. A bit later another van from the same company broke down. We stopped to pick up some of their passengers and another van from another company picked up the remainder. We got back to the ship about an hour before scheduled departure. As it turned out two ship tour busses got caught in the traffic jam and were an hour late so we actually sailed well over an hour later than scheduled. Note that I had specified that I wished to return to the ship one and a half hours before scheduled departure. "Stuff" does happen. Good guides and good tour companies are prepared to deal with it.

 

Robbie

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Be aware that schedule changes can alter the arrival and departure times, sometimes by hours and sometimes leading to a skipped port. We arrived several hours late in one Alaska port and then were able to stay several hours longer. On a cruise that went to Greenland, we skipped one port entirely because of ice.

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That is true, but it doesn't really affect the "be back on board" time. Passengers are due back half an hour before scheduled departure, crew is due back an hour before departure.

 

We've had a couple of close calls. On NCL in Jan '02 we were on a BA-Valpo cruise. We took a ship's tour where the bus broke down. It took an hour and a half to get a replacement bus. Fortunately for us we were at a coffee house that just kept on serving wine and hors d'oeuvres. Of course the ship waited. When we got to the tender to return to the ship we saw fellow shipmates who'd just been walking around town so given our delay, they had more time. I assume that Oceania would have done the same given that it was a ship's tour that had the problem. (One reason we did ship's tours on this cruise was that ports tended to be two days' sails away and we booked too late to join private tours.)

 

On a Renaissance stop in Oslo we weren't far from the ship but the buses stopped running, no cabs came by, and so we technically were late. As we ran up to the ship the crew was hauling in the gangway. Fortunately they let us back on board! (We had to pass up the last bus that we saw because DH suddenly need a bathroom break, and once he returned to the bus stop ... no buses.)

 

In Cadiz one time (this was on O) our driver went to get the car to return us to the ship but ran into terrible traffic. So he was quite late, and we were stewing by the time he arrived. We literally flew on the autostrada, I think he was doing about 100mph. We got there 15 minutes before departure. Our names were being called. But we weren't late!

 

These experiences have led us to do as has been suggested ... don't cut it so close that you literally only will return 30 minutes before departure! We were lucky ... And these three experiences were when we were on our own in Oslo, on a ship's tour in Puerto Chacabuco, Chile, and on a private tour in Cadiz that took us to Jerez. Each time there was one of those unintended consequences... The last time this happened was in 2005 so I guess we learned our lesson.

 

Another comment: we did a cruise in the spring of 1974 on the old Bergen Lines (the NORDIC PRINCE, I think, in the Caribbean). Just a 7 day cruise. In Nassau passengers were informed that they should not take the glass bottomed boat trip because it would get back too late and the ship would leave without them. One couple did so anyway and indeed were left behind. They had to hire a private plane to get to the next port. Rather than admitting guilt, they threatened to sue because of their expenses. The ship caved, and we thought it should not have. But it may have been one of those cases where it was cheaper to reimburse these idiots than it was to actually litigate the matter.

 

Mura

 

 

Mura

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On a few of our cruises they have left port early if everyone is onboard, and the pilot boat is available. This will often lead to last returnees being paged even though they are not late according to the schedule. Twice that was us.....[emoji57]

 

Mo

 

 

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Nobody has mentioned tenders, but in tender ports, usually the last tender is also a half hour before the ship is due to depart. The "on board" time is posted in the daily paper.

 

I agree with others that you should plan to arrive back early, however, I feel that an hour before the ship departs is reasonable in most cases.

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My recollection is that the dock has a sign informing you when the last tender departs. Assuming it's the same as the boarding time might risky ... I agree, plan on an hour ahead to be safe. Besides, that gives you a cushion in case of problems ... like when we were not far from the port in Oslo once upon a time but suddenly there were no buses or taxis and we were too far away to walk.

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