Disembarking times for private excursion

[Joneildu]

My wife and I are cruising carnival fascination in late august. In nassau, we wish to hit the 8:30 departure for blue lagoon. The ships dock time is 8am. I hear a taxi ride is 10 minutes to the ferry terminal. How long is it going to take us to get off the ship? Can we make it to the ferry terminal from the port with an 8am dock time to make the 8:30 ferry departure for blue lagoon?

[CruiserBruce]

You might make it, but it will be pretty tight.

[Joneildu]

Is there someone I could slip some $ to in order to get in the front of the disembarkation line?

[CruiserBruce]

Is there someone I could slip some $ to in order to get in the front of the disembarkation line?

 

You might be able to get to the head of the line by being there early and being ready. Slipping somebody some money, unless it was everyone you stepped in front of, would be very rude, in my humble opinion.

 

Besides, they will open the gangway and release people when they can. Bribing your way to the front of the line won't help with this problem.

[Joneildu]

You might be able to get to the head of the line by being there early and being ready. Slipping somebody some money, unless it was everyone you stepped in front of, would be very rude, in my humble opinion.

 

Besides, they will open the gangway and release people when they can. Bribing your way to the front of the line won't help with this problem.

 

The reason I asked about tipping my way to the front is that I had read that they let people that booked through the cruiseline with early excursions off first, so it's not a first come first serve basis anyway. Is that true? The excursion, from what I can find, cannot be booked through carnival, so I had to book outside of the cruise line, but it still starts early. I'm not trying to cut in front of anyone, I have no problem arriving in line very early if that gets me off early. But if others get to move up front because they have early excursions, why can I not tip my way up there as well?

[diane.in.ny]

Just because the ship's dock time is 8 a.m. doesn't mean anyone will be able to go ashore at 8. It all depends on how long it takes the local authorities to clear the ship.

 

Suggest you find out which deck you'll be disembarking from and then park yourself as close to it as possible by 7:45 and then just wait

[Cuizer2]

I would advise you to either look at a later departure for Blue Lagoon or arrive at the departure area at 7:30. Nassau is not a tender port, so there is no priority for anyone. It is first come first served.

 

The priority is given to tender ports.

 

If you are really into bribing, bribe the captain to arrive at 7:30 and bribe the local customs officers to clear the ship quickly.

 

Or, if this is your first port stop, fly to Nassau and then board the ship on the second day - after Blue Lagoon (let Carnival know you are going to do this).

 

However, unless ALL the stars align for you, I don't see you arriving anywhere at 8:30am after a ten minute taxi drive.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Cuizer2

[CantanaLobo]

... I had read that they let people that booked through the cruiseline with early excursions off first, so it's not a first come first serve basis anyway. Is that true? ...

I don't know if that's true, but if it is: Book the early ship excursion, get off the ship with the group, do not get on the bus with the group, and go wherever you want. That may or may not be more cost-effective than bribing people. You may want to be nice and give the excursion ticket to the driver of the bus so the tour company gets paid, and the bus won't be delayed. Edited June 27, 2015 by CantanaLobo

[Joneildu]

I would advise you to either look at a later departure for Blue Lagoon or arrive at the departure area at 7:30. Nassau is not a tender port, so there is no priority for anyone. It is first come first served.

 

The priority is given to tender ports.

 

If you are really into bribing, bribe the captain to arrive at 7:30 and bribe the local customs officers to clear the ship quickly.

 

Or, if this is your first port stop, fly to Nassau and then board the ship on the second day - after Blue Lagoon (let Carnival know you are going to do this).

 

However, unless ALL the stars align for you, I don't see you arriving anywhere at 8:30am after a ten minute taxi drive.

 

It makes me feel better that it's not a tender port. I'll just arrive at the deck early as possible and evaluate where I'm at when I hit solid ground.

[rakuroda]

It makes me feel better that it's not a tender port. I'll just arrive at the deck early as possible and evaluate where I'm at when I hit solid ground.

 

Aloha :D

 

Save yourself a lot of grief and book a later time! Think about it, do you want to stress out to make a close departure time to get to someplace where you will then try to relax? What if there is no taxi? What if the driver gets lost? You're on vacation, take your time and don't stress!

 

Aloha :D

Edited June 27, 2015 by rakuroda

[Cuizer2]

It makes me feel better that it's not a tender port. I'll just arrive at the deck early as possible and evaluate where I'm at when I hit solid ground.

 

You be here ...

 

[w&k]

My wife and I are cruising carnival fascination in late august. In nassau, we wish to hit the 8:30 departure for blue lagoon. The ships dock time is 8am. I hear a taxi ride is 10 minutes to the ferry terminal. How long is it going to take us to get off the ship? Can we make it to the ferry terminal from the port with an 8am dock time to make the 8:30 ferry departure for blue lagoon?

 

Joneildu-

 

8:30am at the ferry terminal isn't going to happen. Even if the ship actually clears to exit at 8:00am, that only starts the debarkation.

 

Excursions are supposed to go first, but it's typically not an organized process at any time, and less so when docked. The trend now is for shore excursions to meet on the dock, so there will be lots of folks milling around in a mess. Not counting all the folks trying to push into the line, and the ones that have to dig around to find their cards. If you want to get off in the first hour, count on inching your way down several flights of stairs in a crowd.

 

After you 'bing' off the ship and work your way through the crowd, you will still have to walk the pier. Depending on the slip the boat is assigned, this can range from a reasonable stroll to a long hike. Look carefully at the photo that Cuizer2 posted. The terminal building is actually out of frame to the left.

 

Once you reach the terminal area, you will have to run the gauntlet of tour guides and vendors. I was there the first weekend of June, and the terminal (Festival Place) was closed for renovations, so we didn't have to work our way through the whole building before getting out. We didn't find out when terminal will reopen.

 

The taxis are on the outside of the terminal area. When you get to a taxi, they will commonly wait to fill the taxi with passengers before they leave (10-12 people).

 

So... IMO, 8:30am at the ferry terminal is not possible. Make it 9:30am, stroll off after the rush, and enjoy your morning.

 

Enjoy the Fascination, and make sure that you're on a top deck for sailaway. The Dames Point bridge looks tall when you're driving over it, but the ship doesn't have very much clearance getting under it.

 

The ride down the St. Johns River is beautiful and scenic. Look for the Coast Guard station on the starboard side just as you're about to hit open water.

 

Have a great time!

 

Wendy

Edited June 27, 2015 by w&k

[Cruisin' Chick]

Doing a little checking...if your ship is there on August 26, you'll be in port with five other ships.

 

So even if you're the first person in line at the gangway:

1. You have to wait until the ship docks

2. You have to wait until the portmaster okays the ship's passengers to disembark

3. You have to get off the ship (and bypass the ship's photographer with a "no thanks") and make your way to where the taxis will be waiting

4. Then your taxi has to maneuver through traffic to get to the ferry terminal.

 

But then, 1. your ship might not be the first to dock, which might mean 2. the portmaster okays the first ship and then moves on to the second ship, etc., 3. then you have to find the taxi area and get in line behind possibly others getting off the other ships before you, and hope 4. the driver gets you to the ferry terminal on time

 

And you might not even be the first in line.

 

One poster didn't have the right info: for docked ports, usually those with cruise ship excursions don't get to the front of the line (unless there's an extra early time). It's usually first come, first serve, unless with Carnival, there's some favoritism (I haven't been on a Carnival cruise since 2002 so I don't know how FTTF and all that works for this situation, if it does).

 

Tender ports are where those on ship-booked excursions, those in highest category cabins, and those in the highest tier of the loyalty program get tickets for the tender line before everyone else (at least that's how it works on Princess). We did have one excursions in which we met in the theater and were escorted to the front of the line and on our last cruise, we were given priority tickets for the tender port, but we didn't rush to get to the gangway, and simply took our place at the end of the line, which was undoubtedly what we were supposed to do.

 

I seriously doubt that any amount of a tip will get you a pass to go in front of others when it comes to getting off the ship. The crew members handling the gangway are with the security detail (as far as I know) and get a regular salary. If any of them accept a bribe and it gets back to their supervisor...

 

And your situation of having a too tight of a deadline for getting to the terminal would not be considered an emergency to them. That's why many book through the cruise line or else schedule an excursion that's more reasonable. I'm guessing from your first post that this isn't even an excursion, but you're just trying to get on as early of an ferry as possible. So expect to go on the next ferry but hope for the 8:30 (which probably won't happen).

[skrufy]

The line to go ashore forms early. Once the o.k is given to allow passengers to go ashore the line moves quickly. Be on line by 7:30-8:00 and you should be in good shape. This is as long as the o.k. is given no later than 8:00am. If there is an later excersion, I would try to change to it. Takes away all the worring to make the early one. Good luck.

[spookwife]

Dock time and clear to disembark time are NOT the same.

 

even if it is timed so that they are TYING UP AT THE PIER at 0800, figure at MINIMUM 15 minutes for them to run the gangways and get permission from dock authorities to let pax off. far more likely is 30 minutes

 

if they are just approaching the dock at 0800, it will be an hour before anyone is off the ship.

 

 

sop unless you get supremely lucky and they dock early, don't hold your breath

[xxoocruiser]

Not to mention that Nassau is one of the most horribly crowded ports to navigate once off the ship and the taxi station is equally congested.