Equinox Med cruise, port times question

[sharky23]

Hi,

 

I'm sailing on an upcoming 11-night Mediterranean cruise and have a question.

 

Does anyone know if the times listed for arrivals and departures from ports of call were the actual times you were allowed to get on/off the ship?

 

Example, if the itinerary said 7am arrival in port Athens (or wherever), did that mean you were able to get off at that time? If it said departs Athens at 5pm, was that the time you had to be back on by, or would you need to be back earlier?

 

Hope I asked this clearly. Thanks for any insight, just trying to time my shore break plans!:)

 

Regards,

 

S

[Gonzo70]

They are the times the ship is scheduled to arrive. Usually ships arrive on time or a bit early to ports but on rare occasions can be late. Nobody can leave until the ship is cleared by local authorities; the amount of time this takes can vary some, but usually is pretty quick. If the ship is docking, it is a good bet that most of the time you will be able to get off the ship within 10 minutes or so of the scheduled arrival time. If the ship is tendering it can take considerably more time. Usually the first tenders are reserved for those in suites and/or high up in the loyalty program and/or with early excursions booked through the cruise line. It may take as long as 45 minutes or so after the scheduled arrival time if you are tendering.

 

Usually the rule is people need to be all aboard 30 minutes prior to sail time (so if it says 5:00pm on the itinerary, you'd have to be onboard no later than 4:30pm). On one cruise the Captain sometimes made this just 15 minutes and occasionally it will be 45 or 60 minutes, but 30 minutes is most common. Again if you are tendering you need to allow more time. Do not arrive back late to the ship as it will sail without you!

[karpela]

We have just arrived back from this itinery on the Equinox and we were off the ship within half an hour of docking in each port.

You would have to be back on board 15 to 30 minutes of leaving port.

Have a wonderful time - we did!!:)

[sharky23]

Great info, thanks!