Concerned about Getting Back to Ship On Time!!!

[Rowan555]

We're looking into Native Way's Stingray and Island tour, which returns at 2:30 - Conquest leaves port at 4 PM - will we be cutting it too close? Any suggestions?

[cjmiller]

My parents did this tour last week. They loved everything but where over an hour late getting back the peir. I

[alolewis]

We booked a tour with Native Way, Snorkeling at Coral Gardens and Stingray Sandbar. Got confirmation e-mail which stated tour leaves at 10:30 Eastern Time. Met tour guide at 10:15 and he said that we were suppose to be there at 9 am, showed him the e-mail, he tried blaming it on me, ship time vs Island time but Eastern Standard time is Eastern standard time. After he made several phone calls and offered solutions that did not work (i.e. can I put you on the island tour which includes lunch which gets back at 3:30 - No our ship sails at 3), finally he told us to go with another group which was another tour company but he never really explained what was going on. All the other people on this tour were from another ship that was sailing at 6 PM! Told bus driver and boat Captain we had to be back at the cruise terminal by 2:30, told Don't worry, of course I worried, boat was late getting back in, then the bus got into traffic, etc, we ran from the bus to catch the last tender back to the ship. Worrying about the time and potential missing ship made the tour less enjoyable.

Lessons learned - would comfirm tour and times a couple of days prior to tour.

[jsaadat]

Thats one of the reasons you pay the extra $$ and book the excursions through the ship. If you book through the ship THEY WILL NOT LEAVE YOU IF YOUR LATE GETTING BACK.

[BeachBumMama]

Most of the reputable people who do island tours are very aware of when cruisers have to be back and take great efforts to get you back. Just make sure everyone is clear and everyone on the same page. Have never done Native Way, but did Captain Marvins when I was there. Wanted to see so much more and they arranged for a cab driver to meet us where the boat was when we were through and he took us to turtle farm and hell then back.

 

Traffic is heavy there so be careful. You would have a better idea if you knew where your tour boat was leaving from and where the ship tenders are. Ask them specifically how long it takes from one to the other.