What is the absolute latest time to return to ship at a port?

[Desert Cruizers]

We personally plan our tours to get us back within 2 hours of departure, this gives us time to walk the port a little and shop if we wish. If the tour van has a mechanical problem your not giving yourself much wiggle room to get back in time.

[JZ1018]

Don't panic! and remember your towel

[Retired LEO]

If the ship is smaller than you remember it, then you're too late.

[Pipo]

On Oasis class I've seen a 45 minutes "All aboard time". On other smaller ships it's 30 minutes. If everyone is on before that time, the ship leaves ASAP. But under normal conditions, they lift the gangway and shuts doors 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time. So that probably is the very final time to board.

[3happyferrets]

If the ship is smaller than you remember it, then you're too late.

 

 

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[Desert Cruizers]

We once left 30 minutes before the scheduled time in Tahiti because everyone was on board. After the morning Tours and being it was a Sunday many places were closed down so unable to visit the stores. We got back on around 1 Pm and i would say over half the passengers were back on board. Scheduled departure was 10 PM.

[mollyeilis]

We were on a Bernard's tour last month and while we got back well within the time of us leaving (and we were delayed in departing, which rubbed salt in the wounds of my worrying), I didn't enjoy the worry.

 

For some reason they had mixed the van between cruiselines, and there were 2 different all aboard times and two of us who had a different understanding of what the all aboard time was than the others on our ship. And that was because the announcement that morning (I heard it in WJ) flat out told us to be back by 4. The Compass said 4:30, but that announcement could not have been more clear.

 

Our tourguide, who didn't seem to care for me and that's fine b/c I didn't like him from the beginning, did not fill me with confidence that he was going to remember to get us back in time.

 

And given that I am fairly certain that something changed from the time I booked to the time of the cruise (there was even a discussion about the times on the boards when I realized that something had changed), the timeframe of what I signed up for was different than it was on on the day. When I signed up for it, there was going to be all sorts of time for shopping in Philipsburg (concentrated, focused, shopping, no dawdling, but still, time), and as it was, there was no time. (in retrospect there was, but I didn't know the ship was going to leave late)

 

 

So if you're on a van or boat or whatever with people from a different ship who leave at a different time than you, there might be stress. Either of you making sure you get back on time or you wishing you didn't have the constraints of the earlier-leaving shipmates being on your tour.

 

But I think you said yours was private, so maybe you won't have that issue.

[rubrrick]

Royal Caribbean, along with all of their competitors, loves to have first time cruisers aboard, because it increases their bottom line, with so many that stick with the ShoreEx, that is another profit center for the cruise lines.

 

Many experienced cruisers shy away from the "ships tours" as for the most part, they cost a great deal more than locally owned shore excursions.

 

We have a tendency to do our "own thing". We will book with reputable local tour companies, or even rent our own car, and explore. We read the CC ports of call, along with TripAdvisor, because we want to see as much of a new port as possible, and truth be known, dealing locally will save someone up to 50% compared to dealing with the ships shore excursions.

 

The best rule to follow is to make sure that you are back at least a half hour before the "all aboard" time.

 

Rick