Ship Excursions

[Lulubelle45]

I have been told that if you book an excursion through the ship, that the ship will not leave until it returns. Does this apply to Hop on Hop off tours sold through the ship???

[paul929207]

The ship will try to stay if one of their tours is late. Sometimes they cannot wait. In that case they will cover the expenses to get you to the next port.

 

For a HOHO tour, I would think there are restrictions on this protection. I would read the lines info very carefully.

[rguy123]

How could the ship be responsible for you when you decide when to hop on and off? This is not a "excursion" but a mode of transportation.

Edited July 3, 2016 by rguy123

[cb at sea]

While they will TRY to wait, they can't always....but, they will get you to the next port, if possible.

 

There is really little risk by doing things on your own, as long as YOU keep track of the time! Always use a WATCH...not your cell phone, and make sure it's set to the same time as the ship's clocks when you leave the ship. As long as you're back on the ship 30 mins. prior to sail away, you'll be fine.

[ducklite]

Our rule if thumb when setting out in our own or booking an independent shore excursion is to be back an hour prior to sail time. Of course in a port like Kotor where we are just poking around inside the walled city where it is no more than a 10 minute or so walk to the pier we might push that later, same if we are in a place like Moorea sailing to Tahiti where if we miss the ship we can pay $20 to take the ferry and arrive one berth over half an hour later.

 

In a place where delays due to bad roads or traffic happen regularly, we usually pad that hour and try for 90 minutes. We would rather be safe than sorry.

[Lulubelle45]

Thanks for the info. Thats what i figured, that they may wait but with a HOHO its more like you would be on your own. The cost difference from ship booked vs private is double for same company and i say save the differense as i doubt the ship will wait if you are late

[paul929207]

If the ship is offering the identical tour to a private one. It is very likely they will follow each other around all day. If one makes it back, thee other will too

[Cruisin' Chick]

With HOHO "tours", there's really no way for the ship to know where you are (we did the San Francisco one in March, but we didn't have a ship to return to). On a regular guided tour booked through the cruise line, the guide can stay in touch with your ship if some problems pop up.

[WanttoCruise2015]

Thanks for the info. Thats what i figured, that they may wait but with a HOHO its more like you would be on your own. The cost difference from ship booked vs private is double for same company and i say save the differense as i doubt the ship will wait if you are late

 

 

If the ship rate is higher than the private company but exactly the same otherwise I would check to see if they do a Price Match Guarantee. I have seen that Carnival does.

[simplelife]

The guarantee if if the TOUR is held up. It does not mean that the TOUR will wait for every individual on it.

[crooooze]

There is really little risk by doing things on your own, as long as YOU keep track of the time! Always use a WATCH...not your cell phone, and make sure it's set to the same time as the ship's clocks when you leave the ship.

 

 

This is great advice and can't be emphasized enough. The time on the cell phone syncs with the local cell phone provider and silently changes from ship time without any warning.

 

You could be enjoying on a cocktail at the bar right on the pier and thinking you have another hour... when suddenly you notice the ship slowly moving away.... [emoji33]

[ducklite]

This is great advice and can't be emphasized enough. The time on the cell phone syncs with the local cell phone provider and silently changes from ship time without any warning.

 

You could be enjoying on a cocktail at the bar right on the pier and thinking you have another hour... when suddenly you notice the ship slowly moving away.... [emoji33]

 

 

 

Oh so true. The only time I wear a watch is when traveling. It's a waterproof analog that I Pretty much put on when I leave my home and don't take off until I return. I can easily reset the time as needed by pulling out the stem and turning. Otherwise it's not going to change.

[Lulubelle45]

Oh my gosh! Never thought of that. I use a fitbit for my watch. Its linked to my phone. On my last cruise i set it on airplane mode and the time was way off.

[kerryincork]

This happened to me. Ships time was different from local time & my phone changed on land , just caught the last tender to ship. Now when travelling I put my phone in date / time in to manual mode and change times myself.

[Flatbush Flyer]

This happened to me. Ships time was different from local time & my phone changed on land , just caught the last tender to ship. Now when travelling I put my phone in date / time in to manual mode and change times myself.

 

 

You may want to learn a touch more about your phone - it's very easy to turn off "auto time adjust" in SETTINGS and adjust the local time to whatever zone equates to the ship time.

[kerryincork]

You may want to learn a touch more about your phone - it's very easy to turn off "auto time adjust" in SETTINGS and adjust the local time to whatever zone equates to the ship time.

 

I know plenty about my phone, I do exactly as you describe, except I refered to it as manual as opposed to Auto. ☺

[Magnum60]

Unless you are crossing date lines or a time zone your time and ships time will stay constant. To be safe always turn off 'auto time set' on your cell phone or be prepared to wave goodbye to your ship because you returned from being ashore an hour later than you thought.

On Cunard a reminder card is placed on your pillow at night as you click off time zones that says in very proper English, "Please Advance or Retard your clocks one hour before retiring" which helped keep you in sync with your ships time.

When Concord was in service you could make up to six time changes - in three hours of flight. Now that certainly kept your cell phone or your fingers busy. Ha!