Valor Cruise--st. Thomas

[CRUZFOOLS]

We Have Booked Our Own Tour In St. Thomas And Would Like To Know If We Can Disembark Sooner Than Waiting For Our Floor To Be Called. I Had Read Somewhere That You Could Go To Purser's Desk To Get Something Or Other Which Would Help Disembark Sooner. Any Ideas On That Or What Can We Do To Get Off In A Reasonable Amount Of Time?

[phlydude]

If you are going to St Thomas from another non-US territory, you have to wait for customs to clear the ship as you are back in US waters again. No one gets off the ship until customs clears it.

[CRUZFOOLS]

We Are Stopping In Nassau On Monday And Then St. Thomas On Wednesday. I Read Another Post Where The People Did Not Get Off The Ship Til 1 Pm. We Booked Our Tour For 10 Am.

[phlydude]

St Thomas is a port stop for most ships so you shouldn't have to worry about groups being called. It's usually exit as you please when you don't have to tender (of course after customs clears the ship)

[aprilcruiser]

We also have a tour booked at 10 am and the Valor is just due to get into port at 9 am. I am also worried that we will not make the tour on time. Does anyone have experience with this?

[Linda&Mike]

We were in St Thomas the end of Feb. we docked at I think 7:00 waited for our floor to be called to go to immigration show our ID get a sticker then your free to get off the ship. I think it was 11:00 when we got off. That was on the Valor and the CD Josh had it all very organized to get everyone off ASAP. You only have to do this if you go to a non US country before going to St Thomas. When he does the shore talk he explains is all and puts all floor numbers in a hat and draws them out in the order he will use that morning, every floor has the same chance to be first.

[CRUZFOOLS]

Do you have to prove your room # or floor? Perhaps we could just blend with our friends who are on another floor. What do you think? I really can't be late for this 10 am tour.

[BilaBu]

We too have booked an independent tour. How fast can we get off the ship? Our tour leaves at 10.00 am.

[WeatherGeek]

When I was on the Valor, I made sure to get in line around 8:30am. The line for US citizens started right outside of the Eagles Lounge and since I had gotten there early, I was able to get in line right around where the Java Cafe was, so I was fairly close to the front of the line. You do not have to prove your room number or anything. We had a tour with Godfrey booked for 10am and were off the ship by 9:20am. Immigration officials boarded the ship just before 9am when we docked and immediately got the line moving.

[CRUZFOOLS]

Thanks! We Will Do Just That.

[lil nemo]

you will not make that tour!!! first is 10 oclock there time? it probably is! and it takes 30m - 1 hour to get off the boat because of customs!! :( period!!!

[GroupCruiser]

On the Glory in March they began calling by shore-tour times, not floors. you had to have your tickets with you to prove you had that time, and they did check them. The line moved fairly fast though. I don't know what they did if you booked your tour yourself, do you have tickets in hand with a time on them? I would think if you do you're all set.

[WeatherGeek]

you will not make that tour!!! first is 10 oclock there time? it probably is! and it takes 30m - 1 hour to get off the boat because of customs!! :( period!!!

That isn't always true. I was off of the ship by 9:20am, ship time, 20 minutes after the line started moving for customs. Our tour was at 10am ship time and we had 40 minutes to kill at the pier.

If the OP's tour is at 10am St. Thomas time, then they may be in trouble since St. Thomas is 1 hour ahead. Do they set their clocks forward for daylight savings time? If not, then 10am ship time may be the same as 10am island time.

At any rate, it's hard to determine exactly what scenarios are going to play out - is the ship going to get there on time, will immigration officials immediately get the line moving once they board the ship, are the people in line in front of you cooperating or are they holding the line up? Everything is relative.

To the OP: just get in line early to wait and hope for the best! You might want to get a cell phone number of the tour operator and let them know that you are running late, should that be the case.

[MamaParrotHead]

there is a possibility the tour is on ship time. I know when I booked Godfrey for St. Thomas he specifically said, "pick up at 10 a.m. SHIP TIME" in his confirmation email.

[WeatherGeek]

From what I've read over on the St. Thomas board, I think it is the norm for tours like Godfrey's and Timmy's to accomodate to the passengers' ship time. If that is the type of tour the OP is taking, chances are the 10am means ship time, which leaves 1 hour to get off the ship after it docks, which hopefully will be plenty of time! :D

[oceantravel]

Keep in mind you only have priority if your tour is booked thorugh Carnival, otherwise you have to wait. They did not check for room numbers once the tours groups departed. If you booked on your own you could possibly have a problem. Any chance of changing the tour time now?