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zoryana
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Does everyone get off the ship once it is at a port? And does everyone do excursions?

For example: I was thinking, at saint Thomas to just go to a beach and then come back a few hours later.

 

 

Zoryana ❤️

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Hi Zoryana, I'm enjoying your million questions :-)

 

At some ports, your ship will dock right at the pier. Those offer the most flexibility for just getting on and off the ship whenever you like. You might even decide to go out in the morning, head back to the ship for lunch, and then wander around the port some more.

 

Other ports will require that your ship anchor off-shore a bit, and you will take "tender" boats in. Those are obviously less flexible and take more time. Perhaps a bit of planning as well. What I noticed is that folks on the early morning ship excursions will have priority: there will likely be an announcement about which excursions will tender first, and then a time by which the tenders are open for anyone to use. There will also be clear indications as to when the last tender leaves port for the ship before sailing off to the next location.

 

With both scenarios, you are free to stay on the ship or head out into town, as others have suggested. You might choose the tender ports as your "sea days" so that you can experience the quiet of having the ship all to yourselves :-)

 

Congratulations on your upcoming honeymoon!

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Hi Zoryana, I'm enjoying your million questions :-)

 

 

 

At some ports, your ship will dock right at the pier. Those offer the most flexibility for just getting on and off the ship whenever you like. You might even decide to go out in the morning, head back to the ship for lunch, and then wander around the port some more.

 

 

 

Other ports will require that your ship anchor off-shore a bit, and you will take "tender" boats in. Those are obviously less flexible and take more time. Perhaps a bit of planning as well. What I noticed is that folks on the early morning ship excursions will have priority: there will likely be an announcement about which excursions will tender first, and then a time by which the tenders are open for anyone to use. There will also be clear indications as to when the last tender leaves port for the ship before sailing off to the next location.

 

 

 

With both scenarios, you are free to stay on the ship or head out into town, as others have suggested. You might choose the tender ports as your "sea days" so that you can experience the quiet of having the ship all to yourselves :-)

 

 

 

Congratulations on your upcoming honeymoon!

 

 

 

Haha!! I seriously have millions of questions. But thank you so much for the answers!!!!!!’

 

 

Zoryana ❤️

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Just remember to be back onboard in plenty of time because the ship will not wait for late comers. They will sail without you!!

 

Never use your cellphone as a clock because it will revert to local time, which may or may not be the same as “ship time”. Ship time is the only thing you go by!!

 

St. Thomas is a beautiful island!! Have a wonderful cruise!!

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Does everyone get off the ship once it is at a port? And does everyone do excursions?

For example: I was thinking, at saint Thomas to just go to a beach and then come back a few hours later.

 

 

Zoryana ❤️

 

You've gotten good answers so far. I've found that when I'm headed to an unfamiliar port, google is a great resource. I've used it to look for private excursions (e.g. "shore excursions Cozumel"). Even if you don't book any of them, it's a great way to see what some of the most commonly available activities are. We usually do a private tour, just my wife and I, but it can be pricey. There are often group tours available where you book your spot, and other folks may book other spots, so you end up on a bus or van with folks from your cruise...often doing something similar to what the cruise line bus tours are offering...but inevitably for a lot less money. And all of the operators, wherever we've been in the world, are SUPER, HYPER sensitive to getting you back to your ship ON TIME. I know that's often the biggest thing that holds people up from booking private...fear of not making it back. While weird things certainly can happen...we've never had a problem. There's nothing quite like getting of the ship, seeing a friendly stranger holding a sign with your name, and then you hop in their vehicle and off you go...while in the back window you can see others from the ship just trying to figure out what bus they're supposed to line up by. (We've done a couple of ship excursions too...so I'm not trying to knock it, per se. But we always find that we squeeze in SO much more.)

 

Google is great for finding maps of islands and trying to get your bears IN ADVANCE. And Googling things like "Best Beaches in St. Maarten" or "best places to Eat in..." is SO nice.

 

Usually, excursions end up being so much easier than you even think they should be. But you certainly can go on your own with a little planning too. A quick taxi ride here or maybe a quick Uber there, and it's cheap, easy and fun. Just research a little.

 

(The only time we almost had issues getting back to the ship was when we did DIY in Athens. While there, they closed down the subway station we were going to use for repairs AFTER we arrived. So in the afternoon, we got back to the station we had arrived in, only to find it shut down. And the next one was a long ways off and we weren't 100% sure how to get there. So we hailed a cab and we found the one guy who literally was the most difficult person we've ever tried to communicate with. We finally had to show him photos of cruise ships from google so he got the idea of where we were trying to get. And after the minor panic, taking a cab was so fast, we actually got back to the ship with 40 minutes to spare.)

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Just remember to be back onboard in plenty of time because the ship will not wait for late comers. They will sail without you!!

 

Never use your cellphone as a clock because it will revert to local time, which may or may not be the same as “ship time”. Ship time is the only thing you go by!!

What? And not be featured on the Pier Runners YouTube channel? :D

 

I don't own a watch, and do not plan on acquiring a watch on my cruise. What you can do is go into your phone settings and turn off "Automatic date and time" on your phone, then adjust your time zone to correspond to ship time. (For my S8 Android phone, it's Settings -> General Management -> Date and Time). Then, set the alarm for about one hour prior to when you actually have to be on the boat, which is usually 30 minutes prior to sailaway time.

 

One thing that you should do prior to leaving on your cruise is download the maps of each port to your smartphone so that it can be used in Google Maps in offline mode. Another suggestion is to use the Parking feature of Google Maps. While it's intended to help you locate your car after you have parked, who says you can't use it when you get off the ship to set where your ship has parked, especially when multiple ships are in port that day?

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Since St Thomas is considered US property, your cellphone will work just fine with no roaming charges. It will be a chance to catch up on email, call friends/family, send photos home, and answer text messages that you could not do while aboard ship.

 

Although US territory, the drivers are on the wrong side of the street, so beware.

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Does everyone get off the ship once it is at a port? And does everyone do excursions?

For example: I was thinking, at saint Thomas to just go to a beach and then come back a few hours later.

 

 

Zoryana ❤️

 

On our first cruise it was all about the boat, for us. We never went ashore between embarking and disembarking. That certainly wouldn't be a lot of folk's cup of tea, but that is the great thing about cruising. There are a lot of ways to do it, but none of them is Right or Wrong. Do what you like and don't worry about want other people are doing.

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  • 2 months later...
What? And not be featured on the Pier Runners YouTube channel? :D

 

I don't own a watch' date=' and do not plan on acquiring a watch on my cruise. What you can do is go into your phone settings and turn off "Automatic date and time" on your phone, then adjust your time zone to correspond to ship time. (For my S8 Android phone, it's Settings -> General Management -> Date and Time). Then, set the alarm for about one hour prior to when you actually have to be on the boat, which is usually 30 minutes prior to sailaway time.

 

One thing that you should do prior to leaving on your cruise is download the maps of each port to your smartphone so that it can be used in Google Maps in offline mode. Another suggestion is to use the Parking feature of Google Maps. While it's intended to help you locate your car after you have parked, who says you can't use it when you get off the ship to set where your ship has parked, especially when multiple ships are in port that day?

 

"Offline Maps" and "Where the heck did I 'park' that cruise ship" Will come in very handy.

 

 

Thank you for excellent these tips!

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Does everyone get off the ship once it is at a port? And does everyone do excursions?

For example: I was thinking, at saint Thomas to just go to a beach and then come back a few hours later.

 

 

Zoryana ❤️

I know you mentioned St. Thomas just as an example. I will reply using them as an example...

 

First, note that St. Thomas or pretty much any often-visited port of call is discussed extensively in the Ports of Call section of this site.

 

Second, as others have said, there is no common answer and no right answer. Different people, different strokes. Some stay aboard, some go ashore for a while, some do organized excursions... There is no right answer. Do what seems interesting to you. On your 2nd and 3rd cruises, maybe you'll choose something different.

 

Third, as an example, our experience our last time on St Thomas. Last December. I had spent time there on a land-based vacation, my wife and I had had several cruise stops here. So we took our time, leisurely went ashore, took the ship's shuttle to the downtown area. Walked The Main street, there are many interesting shops. And the alleyways to the side are fun also. The shuttle had dropped us off near the open-air crafts market. Guy was there selling tickets for a noon excursion up to the high ground for an overlook of the harbor and a shopping stop. We had done something similar a few years ago, signed up for this one. Did our wander downtown, then back to the open-air bus trip. Good excursion, good views along the way. Back to the start point. Some more walking, a lunch stop at a bar/restaurant in one of the alleys, then back to the ship on a ship's shuttle.

 

In short, nothing planned, we went with the flow, took advantage of an opportunity that interested us. If that hadn't popped up, we would have had a good day anyway.

Don't try to know and anticipate and plan every detail! If there is a ship's excursion or a privately offered excursion that sounds like the thrill of a lifetime for you, book it. If you don't want to go that route for whatever reasons, that is perfectly ok. Different strokes for different folks. Some will book every hour of every port, others will stay aboard most of the time, others (like us) will sometimes do our own thing, sometimes plan and organize elaborate excursions, and sometimes just relax, wander, and enjoy being in a different place.

 

Stan

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Not St. Thomas, but last Aug in Bermuda, we went to the beach. Returned to the ship and cleaned up and changed. Then off to dinner ashore.

 

Similar in Bahamas, did a snorkling excursion, then came back to the ship, showered and changed. Then wandered around Nassau, had dinner on the ship, then off the ship for drinks at a local bar.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I know two people who cruise 100+ nights a year. They have high standards on what ports they like; not bothering to get off the ship in ports they don’t like and only visiting the rare new port. They both have their favorite ships but will pick something else when it is a new port or unique/first time itinerary on their respective lines.

 

While I can’t imagine not getting off the ship, I would at least walk around the port. They are cruise experts and know what works for them.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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If it is a new port, we definitely get off the ship. We either do a ship's excursion or a private one.

For repeat ports, most of the time we do get off the ship and walk around. Sometimes we take a new excursion.

There are a couple of ports we do not like -- Jamaica for one -- so we stay on the ship.

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To each his own. We have never stayed onboard the ship in any of our ports of call - our cruises are mostly European cruises and I can't imagine going all that distance to remain on a ship!

Tablemates stayed aboard the ship in Athens - the ladies went to the spa & were not in the least perturbed to have missed a day in Athens.

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Since St Thomas is considered US property, your cellphone will work just fine with no roaming charges. It will be a chance to catch up on email, call friends/family, send photos home, and answer text messages that you could not do while aboard ship.

 

Although US territory, the drivers are on the wrong side of the street, so beware.

 

DW and I went to St. Thomas five years ago for a week. We rented a car from Hertz and it took me a couple of miles to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road in a left-side driver's seat. Poor wife was terrified until I finally figured it out! :')

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