Returning to the Ship

[Spree75]

I am working with a travel agent booking various excursions and guides for an upcoming cruise. I feel that she may be cutting the time to get back to the ship a little close... What time should we be planning to be back on board? In two ports the schedule has us arriving back to the ship 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. In a few others the gap is an hour.

 

Thanks for your help.

[wripro]

I would leave at least an hour. You never know what can happen and it's better to be safe. 30 minutes is cutting it too short imo.

[cwn]

I am working with a travel agent booking various excursions and guides for an upcoming cruise. I feel that she may be cutting the time to get back to the ship a little close... What time should we be planning to be back on board? In two ports the schedule has us arriving back to the ship 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time. In a few others the gap is an hour.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

You must be on board 30 minutes before sailing time. So if sailing is 4 PM, you need to be on board at 3:30 PM.

 

We rent cars or make private arrangements for most ports including our Sept Sojourn cruise and have for nearly 30 years. I have always planned on one hour before sailing or more if we are going some distance from the ship. That allows some time for traffic problems etc. Several times we have arrived back less than an hour before sailing and I always get a bit nervous.

 

One time, 4 years ago in Korea, we were using the trains and missed a conection. We had allowed 2 hours before sailing as the return time and would have been right on the money except for our missed train change. By the time we got back to the right station and the dock gate, the ship had our passports at the gate waiting for us. (China was the next etop) It was about 5 min after all aboard when we arrived at the port gate. I figured we had missed the ship and were in for a REAL travel experience, DH was in a panic! The gate officer called the ship and we ran to the ship (about a 10 min walk) in 5 mins. They were pulling the walkway in behind us as we ran aboard to meet a non to happy officer! We were sailing by the time we got to the suite. That is no way to end a pleasant day in a port!!!

 

We still do our own thing, but are even more careful to allow enough time. And we take what we need to travel ashore with us should something happen.

 

I would say a minimum of an hour before sailing time or even more if you will be traveling some distance outside of the greater city area.

[surfersgirl]

I would agree with cwn since we also do a lot of private tours, car hires etc but we make sure that we take the Daily Herald with us if it has the port agents details so that we can advise of any problems. We had an experience in Spain where we had allowed plenty of time to reurn to the ship but the unforseen road works meant that we just made it back before the walkway was taken in. But we have also learnt that if we need an early departure (Cairo or Saigon) to check and see if the walkway is in place or not!!.

J

[Roxburgh]

Be careful. I have known the 'all on board' time to be brought forward from the published schedule.

[Seabourn-nail]

They will always show the time of leaving of the ship as you go ashore... They can't forward that time ;)! Then they would miss people I suppose...

Marja

[cwn]

They will always show the time of leaving of the ship as you go ashore... They can't forward that time ;)! Then they would miss people I suppose...

Marja

 

Yes, once we had the time change from what was posted in the ship's program the night before. They had the new time posted at the gangway...we somehow missed that, it was only 30mins earlier and we were back in plenty of time. I have learned to double check as I am getting off the ship.

 

Taling the port info found in the daily program is a good idea. I had that but we were on the train heading back when the problem happened and didn't have phone service. If we had missed the ship I could have called them though.

 

If they do change the time during the day.... it does happen very rarely....usually for weather/tide reasons and leave people...the cruise line is responsible to getting you to the next port.

[Mr Luxury]

Captains have the flexibility to leave port a little early but normally only after everyone has made it back to the ship.

They will always wait for a late tour that has been arranged by Seabourn but I would not chance it if the tour has been arranged by someone else.

[Keith1010]

I would leave at least an hour. You never know what can happen and it's better to be safe. 30 minutes is cutting it too short imo.

 

This is wise advice.

 

Keith

[Spree75]

Thanks all for your responses. I'll definitely keep an eye on time. We're on private tours for the most part so we should be able to let the guide/driver know early on so that we can adjust accordingly.

 

Last year in the Agean it wasn't a big deal. The only non-Seabourn tour I booked was for Ephesus and since we had the evening recital there was no way we were going to miss the ship. The various other islands there wasn't really much distance you could go so we always seemed to be back on the ship by 2 pm.

 

This year is the Baltic and the excursions tend to go outside the city. I hadn't even considered doing this if it was an excursion on our own but the tour guides don't seem to think there is a problem. Ronne we're planning on driving out to Hammerhaus Ruins after lunch. Stockholm we're planning on driving out to Drottningholm Palace (really excited to see this). St. P we're going to the Hermitage for the third day.

[marazul]

Stockholm we're planning on driving out to Drottningholm Palace (really excited to see this).

 

You might have considered this. There are very frequent tour boats to Drottningholm that leave from the dock by City Hall. It is a beautiful ride. The views of the castle and the city by water are great.