Shore excursions leaving ship.

[Fastfredcruise]

if the ship is scheduled for a 8:00am arrival, about what time would you expect to meet a private tour if you do not have any of the special rankings.

[RuthC]

If the ship is docked, then I would plan for 8:00. Meet my group at a specific place on the ship, and go off together. There is no priority for anyone when the ship is docked.

If the ship is at anchor, and tendering is required, that's a whole different ballgame, and I would hesitate to recommend a time. Others might be able to give you an idea.

[dfish]

Tendering is a tricky one. I checked for a tender port on an upcoming cruise. We arrive at 7:00 am. Most ship's tours are scheduled for 8:00 am or later, so I figure if we get there early, say 7:30, we can get one of the early tenders off the ship and beat the rush.

 

The CD on my last cruise kind of clued me in to look for that. We were at a port with tendering and had to meet for a private tour. She overheard us discussing when we should try to go ashore. In that case, she said most ship's tours would be tendering in about 9 am, so if we went for tender tickets be 8:45, we'd be ok. She was right - we picked up our tickets and got right on the next tender.