ship departure from ports

[vtsoccermom]

I have booked shore excursions in Grand Cayman and Cozumel separately from Disney. What is the latest time to return to the ship in order to board as I have read that if you are late and not booked through Disney they will leave you.:cool:

[mom x4,grandma x4]

yes they can and will leave you.

 

Usually the Captain will delay a few minutes and try to locate you but unless your running down the dock towards the ship they havnt a clue where you are.

 

We have been on board several times when people missed the ship.

We had a coast guard ship pull up beside the Magic a couple of times and they helped a family into the ship. Of course the family had to pay for that service. They were right under our balcony and we watched them board.

 

You always know if someone is late because they page them on the ship. After a few minutes they will leave without you.

 

Last November we left a port 20 minutes late waiting for the stragglers who came running up as we started to pull away. They are lucky the Captain came back to the dock for them. They said they forgot to set their watches to the time change. It is announced a dozen times, it was in the Navigator and a special paper on the bed the night before to remind you.

 

Sorry I dont know the hours of departure for your cruise, but do NOT be late. Plus in the afternoons we have found traffic picks up and it takes twice as long to get back to the ship. We were 40 minutes late once ue to heavy traffic but it was a DCL excursion so they waited for us.

[truck1]

Ditto to the above.

 

Generaly speaking, the ALL ABOARD TIME (diffferent from the departure time) is 30 minutes prior to the ships departure.Try and give yourself at least 30-60 minutes prior to the ALL ABOARD time, to allow for the uh oh.

[StevefromOhio]

Do not cut your time too close. I have seen many people left behind and only once did the the ship (Seabourn) dispatch a tender to pick up the errant passengers.

The guarantee not to be left is the biggest advantage to booking with the cruise line, especially for tours returning late.

[bbwex]

I would not get overly worried. Most tour operators, if not all, know the rules, and will get you back in plenty of time. In our experience, you save a lot using private tours, often get better, more personal service, and are back in plenty of time -- about the same time as the ship's tours get back.

 

Technically, if you are too late, the ship might have sailed. The one great advantage of the computerized cards is that they know who is aboard and who is not in real time.