Back on board time vs sail time

Our port itinerary on carnival website says 7am - 4:30pm. Is 4:30 the back on board time or the sail away time?

Sail Away.

The 7 AM is the expected time of arrival in port; not necessarily the time you are allowed off the ship.

I'm more interested in the 430 time. I doubt we'll be up and ready to get off the ship at 7am anyway.

Back on board is usually 3/4 to 1/2 hour before the ending port time - but best to not cut it that close. I usually plan to be back on the ship about an hour before...so 4:30 would mean 3:30 for me. Actual back on board would be about 4. They will tell you the actual time to be back on the ship in the FunTimes and it is also posted at the gangway where you can see it as you go ashore.

Sail away time is 4:30.

Carnival has a "recommended" back on board time, but it's just a recommendation, not any kind of rule.

Sail away time is 4:30.

Carnival has a "recommended" back on board time, but it's just a recommendation, not any kind of rule.

Exactly. It's entirely up to you to get back to the ship on time. Your choice to re-board or wave goodbye, no rule, no problem.

Sail time is not quite so negotiable. On the last sailing on the Sunshine it looked like we left someone behind in Nassau. Near the 5pm sail time they called 4 names over the speakers. The gangway remained in place with a couple of officers acting like they were waiting for someone. About 5:10 a female officer came out with a backpack and handed it to a man in a vest that identified him as port personnel. As soon as she walked back up the gangway it was pulled in and we pulled away minutes later.:eek:

Could have been another reason but those were my observations.

PS ... they did wait to call the names for a couple of ship excursions that arrived very close to 5pm.

What's listed on the itinerary is the sail time. Usually they say to be back on board 30 minutes prior to sail time.

Back on the ship time at a port stop is never less than 30 minutes before sailing.

You will need to be back by 4:00 since you'll be sailing at 4:30. :)

You will need to be back by 4:00 since you'll be sailing at 4:30. :)

But that is recommendation and not any kind of rule.

4:30 is when the gangway is pulled and the ship is untied. If you're not back before then they will be paging you. If you aren't onboard, the contents of your safe will be put in an envelope and left with the agent at the pier. That is why they tell people to be back onboard 30 min before. So they can allow time for 2 officers to go to your cabin and collect those things if necessary. Your clothes will not be packed, just your safe stuff.

And before all the naysayers chime in, it has been repeated over and over again by John Heald that this is what they do. I'm sure everyone is familiar with them paging people constantly before the ship is ready to depart.

Actually, it is a RULE -- 30 minutes before sailing time.

That gives them time to untie and pull up the gangplank.

Once the gangplank in removed, that's it.

The only exceptions are if a ship sponsored excursion is late returning or there's some sort of medical emergency. Then, the ship will wait.

To be safe, we are always back one hour before the posted return time when leaving the ship, the ship is not sailing without us :)

So they do remove your safe items and leave them for you...like passports and money? Then we do not need to carry them in port with us? We have always left it in the safe as we don't want passports/cash/birth certs to be lost or stolen but our next cruise we are doing a non-carnival excursion for the first time ever and I am worried about not making it back in time.

So they do remove your safe items and leave them for you...like passports and money? Then we do not need to carry them in port with us? We have always left it in the safe as we don't want passports/cash/birth certs to be lost or stolen but our next cruise we are doing a non-carnival excursion for the first time ever and I am worried about not making it back in time.

Yes. They retrieve your Passports and money for you. There will still be people that insist on carrying their Passports with them and that's fine. However, knowing that it will be waiting for me at the pier with the ship's Agent should I miss the ship, I keep mine in the safe. There is a much higher likelihood that I would lose/misplace/have it stolen vs the likelihood of me needing it in port.

Plus if I took it off with me and was pick pocketed (Italy, anyone), robbed (yes it has happened with both ship sponsored excursions and private ones), or what have you, AND managed to miss the ship in the process, at least I would be able to get home without having to jump through hoops.

The die hard "never leave the ship without your Passport" types will never be persuaded otherwise and I'm not trying to change their minds as I am firm in my ways as well. All I know is what Carnival says will happen and I feel better knowing it's locked away where it won't get lost or stolen. The chances of that are way higher than actually missing the ship. But at least if I do then I can rest assured that I will make it back to the US without having to waste time and money hunting down an Embassy and such.

We always take a photocopy of the picture page of the passport. I have heard that the numbers on that page make it easier for the local embassy to issue a new passport.

I hope you are not taking a private excursion that is cutting the time that close and you are just a person who worries. I would not take a privste excursion that did not plan to get back to the ship at least an hour early.

See my post #7 from the cruise we just got off of. Getting left does happen and what I observed is just what's being described here. :)