How long does it take to disembark Mariner at port?

[bassspanker]

We're going to be on the Mariner next week and after noticing some posts about ship's time vs. local time, I checked into this some more. I was thinking that all the ports were only +1 hour, but I now realize that Cabo & Mazatlan are +1, and PV is +2!!!. This means I will be cutting it very close to make it to an excursion in PV that I booked online (not through RCCL).

 

My question is- assuming we're ready and waiting, how long does it take to get off the ship? Arrival is scheduled for 8am ship's time (10am PV time). Given the short distance from Mazatlan (the previous port) I can't imagine that late arrival would be an issue, but do they usually "lower the gangplank" right on time?, or maybe a little early?

 

I'm also wondering if there are long lines and a bottleneck to disembark when they first open the door. How many minutes would you say it would normally take you from "scheduled arrival time" to climbing into a taxi in front of the terminal?

[Atomica]

If you're the first off, probably not long. I think we were off by 8:30am.

 

You won't set your clock ahead for PV, but you do set it one hour ahead before arriving in Cabo, and you'll keep it set that way until the 2nd last sea day, so the time difference will only be 1 hour - but make sure you keep your watch set to ship's time!

[LBumb]

when getting off at 8:30 did you take your bags

[socalcruiser23]

:confused: I was under the impression that PV was 1 hour ahead of ship time as well and now it IS saying PV is 2 hours ahead!!! My husband and I already booked a tour for 9:45am PV time and now will be in PV at 10am?!?! arg....

I thought I did my research so well on CC and the internet. How frustrating... :mad:

 

Can anyone tell me what's going on with the time zones. Last month when I checked the current time in PV it was only 1 hour ahead. Does this have something to do with daylight savings? Will it be the same in May or not?

[bassspanker]

This is definitely a source of much confusion, as I have read several conflicting posts on this on these boards. Some posts say that ship's time goes an hour forward during the cruise, but I just read another post from someone who just sailed a few weeks ago that said the Mariner stayed on LA time the whole time, making PV +2.

 

Perhaps it changes depending on time of year?

 

DST shouldn't be a factor since Mexico is on DST, as is LA. However if you recall, a few years ago here in the US, we changed our DST effective dates, and I'm guessing Mexico did not change. If you checked your time zones a month or so ago, you may have been in that "window" where LA and PV were not both on DST.

 

The time zones are well documented for LA, Cabo, Mazatlan, & PV. So it really comes down to the question of if, how, & when the ship changes time, and what that published "arrival time" really means. Why wouldn't RCCL publish this information with my itinerary? I can't find any official info on the subject.

 

Anyway, bottom line, I'm still confused & hoping my excursion in PV is not a bust next week.

[cencalcruiser]

When I sailed on the Mariner on March 28-April 4, Cabo and Mazatlan were same time as LA, while PV was 1 hour ahead.

 

The ship always stayed on LA time. Read the Compass each night before each port. They will give you the head's up on any time changes.

[Ashland]

It seems very unlikely that an excursion you booked would not wait for you..They are very aware of the ships arrival times.....

[norcalal]

It seems very unlikely that an excursion you booked would not wait for you..They are very aware of the ships arrival times.....

 

This is the bottom line...your tour operators know what time the ship comes in. They set their tours accordingly. Their livelyhood depends on this...they will get it right. The cruise lines will give you four answers to three questions about ship/port time... :D

[mation101]

Contact the tour operator and ask them. They know what time the ship comes in each week, and I am pretty sure they will wait until all guests have checked in with them before leaving. They are trying to build a good reputation with cruisers.

[bassspanker]

When I sailed on the Mariner on March 28-April 4, Cabo and Mazatlan were same time as LA, while PV was 1 hour ahead.

 

The ship always stayed on LA time. Read the Compass each night before each port. They will give you the head's up on any time changes.

 

I'm guessing this was in that "window" where Mexico is on DST, and US is not. Right now PV is 2 hours ahead of LA.

 

 

It seems very unlikely that an excursion you booked would not wait for you..They are very aware of the ships arrival times.....

 

Yes, I understand, and this seems to be the standard response in these forums for this kind of question. But I'm not sure if I'm convinced. This particular tour has an even earlier time available that leaves before the ship gets to port. I got the impression that they also cater to resort clients, so they probably won't wait for us if we're 1 or 2 hours late. But I imagine they might be understanding, and let us take a later tour time.

 

Also, in this case, we booked through a tour broker, since the actual tour company does not seem to have a website, or any kind of direct contact(that I could find after numerous Google searches, at least...). So I'm not sure if a phone receptionist for the broker would really know either.

 

I'll see if I can contact RCCL about this, since that seems like the most reliable source for me. Again, I don't know why they don't include this information in the cruise docs or website.

[rollyb]

I am a true lurker on these boards but I felt that I needed to respond to this post. I would hate to see this worrying ruin your vacation. I was on the 4/11 Mariner and was surprised to see that PV was indeed 2 hours ahead of ship's time. I also had scheduled an excursion outside of RCL and was worried about making it. However after reading the excursion materials handed out on the first day, I realized that the Mariner was scheduled to dock at 7am ship's time (9am PV time.) There are many excursions offered through RCL that started at 7am so I think they docked even earlier than 7am. I left the ship at 8am and just walked off the ship without any lines. I hope this helps. Have a great vacation.:)

[cb at sea]

Norcalal has it right...stick to "ships time" and your tour guide will be waiting...there's no need to rush and NO need to worry about this!

[bedfordmom]

I just got off the Mariner yesterday and they stayed on ships time the entire cruise, so that meant that PV was two hours ahead of ships time. Luckily that didn't mess up our Los Veranos excursion as we scheduled the pickup for 11:15 (or 9:15 ship time).

 

They said this was the second week that this occurred so our cruise didn't learn about it from the April 11th cruise critics as we boarded before they had a chance to post. I could see how the two hour difference could mess up early private excursions

[bassspanker]

OP here, back from our cruise and following up on some of my threads from before the trip. Regarding questions raised above- here was my actual experience:

 

1. Ship's Time: For this cruise, we stayed on LA time for the duration of the cruise (pacific + DST). This is not the case always. It will depend on time of year, DST adjustments, and your cruise line or capitan's preference. We spoke with some people on a Princess ship at port the same time as us- they had changed ship's time forward 1 hour, while we did not. Bottom line is, there doesn't seem to be any good answer for this, and it is not published anywhere, so plan accordingly if booking your own excursions.

 

2. Arrival Time: The arrival times published in your itinerary before the cruise are apparently just ballpark, and were quite different than actual arrival times. For our Mariner cruise last week, the arrival times (ship's time) were Cabo- 10am, Mazatlan- 8am, PV- 7am.

 

3. Time to disembark: In Cabo it took a very long time to get off the ship because we were not docked. We waited an hour before heading downstairs, and there was still a long wait to get on the tender. In Mazatlan and PV we were docked, and were able to get off the ship very quickly.

 

4. Shore excursions: A lot of people on this thread & others responded with the standard "your excursion will wait for you". I would say that this is NOT necessarily true. Of course if you book through the ship, they would certainly wait if the ship is late. But if you are like us & book independently on the internet like a lot of people do, I would not assume that they will wait.

 

We did two excursions. On both excursions, there were only a few of us from the cruise ship(s). The majority were from resorts and also some locals. I'm sure they would not hold a bus full of people waiting for us. And even so, I surely wouldn't want to be the unpopular guy to get on the bus after making all those people wait a long time. If the ship came in late, or if we just got confused about the local time, I suspect they might let us take a later tour if it was an option.

 

I think the lesson learned is to do your homework if booking independently, and give yourself a couple of extra hours to be sure. If I were to do it again, I would have booked a later tour in PV, since we did not have much time to spare.

 

Hope that helps...

[norcalal]

4. Shore excursions: A lot of people on this thread & others responded with the standard "your excursion will wait for you". I would say that this is NOT necessarily true. Of course if you book through the ship, they would certainly wait if the ship is late. But if you are like us & book independently on the internet like a lot of people do, I would not assume that they will wait. quote;

 

 

I have booked many excursions directly, as a matter of fact, none through the ship. If you book an excursion that they say is available to ship folks then you have no worries. They will know when you get off the ship and advise you if that time will work. It will not work if you are not on time...meaning lingering over breakfast because you did not get up early enough. If you leave the ship in a timely manner, you will not have a problem. I would not book something primarily directed at resort folks. You still have to do your homework when booking these things on your own. I give them the ships name, date of port call, and ask if it will work. If the answer is yes, then I request an email confirming. I am batting a 1000. :D