Excursion help for the Horizon

[pambam]

We will be going on the Horizon on 11/2/2019

Found a great deal on a local tour for my family of eight but it may be a time crunch depending on debarkation. Debarkation in Aruba starts at 8:00 a.m. The tour leaves at 9:00 a.m. and is located about 15 min by taxi from the port. I was hoping someone who has sailed on the Horizon could advise me on how long it took to get off the ship in Aruba? This being such a new and large ship I have concerns over if we'd be able to make our tour on time. Thanks!

[ddloml]

Aruba is not a tender port, so you will be docked.  Although it's a large ship, Carnival does set up two exits/entrances when docked.  It is very efficient to get off the ship.  The dock in Aruba is in the middle of town, and taxis should be plentiful.  You probably don't need to worry about making your tour.

[joepeka]

A couple of things to consider:

 

Tour providers in cruise ship ports know the ship's schedules and debarkation procedures so they are inclined to be flexible and wait for their customers to debark. They don't want to leave without customers and lose the revenue.

 

You say the tour is a 15 minute taxi ride - are you expected to arrange that ride or is the tour provider arranging it? If it's the latter, then they will definitely wait for you; if it's the former, it's likely they will wait as well once you arrive.

 

Lastly, as mentioned above, Aruba is a docking port and exiting the ship is pretty quick and easy. The taxis will be available if you have to arrange your own transport to the excursion meeting point.

[coevan]

I Agree 100%  The tour companies lives income depends on the cruise ship. They know the time, if you are going to be late, if there are customs delays, and when you depart. They will wait for you, no worries. 

[pambam]

Thanks everyone, then I'm going to go ahead and book it for my family of eight. Having such a large family, I like to book early on. The tour is with, Roberto's Watersports. Is anyone familiar with them? It's a snorkeling tour with two stops including Gibbs Island, open bar, fruit, snacks, and lunch. It is a great deal! 

I feel a lot less worried thanks to your responses.

 

[pambam]

On 3/22/2019 at 7:17 PM, joepeka said:

A couple of things to consider:

 

Tour providers in cruise ship ports know the ship's schedules and debarkation procedures so they are inclined to be flexible and wait for their customers to debark. They don't want to leave without customers and lose the revenue.

 

You say the tour is a 15 minute taxi ride - are you expected to arrange that ride or is the tour provider arranging it? If it's the latter, then they will definitely wait for you; if it's the former, it's likely they will wait as well once you arrive.

 

Lastly, as mentioned above, Aruba is a docking port and exiting the ship is pretty quick and easy. The taxis will be available if you have to arrange your own transport to the excursion meeting point.

We are providing the cab ride to their location. When I had inquired with them about the tour it was they who showed a little concern over our making it in time for the 9:00 a.m. tour. They also we're the ones who advised me that is was a 15 min taxi ride from the port. But I guess I must agree with you folks that It their livlelyhood, so I don't think they would want to leave eight passengers behind. But I like to be prompt as well as to not leave the tour waiting. It sounds as if we should be able to make this work. Thanks!

[Namlsnik]

On 3/25/2019 at 6:35 PM, pambam said:

Thanks everyone, then I'm going to go ahead and book it for my family of eight. Having such a large family, I like to book early on. The tour is with, Roberto's Watersports. Is anyone familiar with them? It's a snorkeling tour with two stops including Gibbs Island, open bar, fruit, snacks, and lunch. It is a great deal! 

I feel a lot less worried thanks to your responses.

 

Good reviews on TripAdvisor... 

[Namlsnik]

On 3/25/2019 at 6:44 PM, pambam said:

We are providing the cab ride to their location. When I had inquired with them about the tour it was they who showed a little concern over our making it in time for the 9:00 a.m. tour. They also we're the ones who advised me that is was a 15 min taxi ride from the port. But I guess I must agree with you folks that It their livlelyhood, so I don't think they would want to leave eight passengers behind. But I like to be prompt as well as to not leave the tour waiting. It sounds as if we should be able to make this work. Thanks!

Hi... just wanna make sure... 

 

Are you aware that we CANNOT make it over to their sail and snorkel excursion that departs at 9:00 AM Local Time Aruba? 

 

The ship observes Daylight Savings Time on November 3rd so when when we arrive in Aruba on November 7th at 8:00 AM ship time — that will (unfortunately) be 9:00 AM Local Time Aruba so there is not enough transfer time to make it over to Roberto’s Watersports.

 

I had to cancel my booking with them due to this timing discrepancy. 

[pambam]

On 4/22/2019 at 10:44 PM, Namlsnik said:

Hi... just wanna make sure... 

 

Are you aware that we CANNOT make it over to their sail and snorkel excursion that departs at 9:00 AM Local Time Aruba? 

 

The ship observes Daylight Savings Time on November 3rd so when when we arrive in Aruba on November 7th at 8:00 AM ship time — that will (unfortunately) be 9:00 AM Local Time Aruba so there is not enough transfer time to make it over to Roberto’s Watersports.

 

I had to cancel my booking with them due to this timing discrepancy. 

Thank you for letting me know about this. I feel a bit confused about the "ships time". My TA contacted Carnival to see if ship time automatically changed for daylight savings time. Between two different agents, one whom didn't even seem to understand the question and another who had said yes, but seemed unsure about her answer, made me feel a bit concerned.

I believe I am correct in thinking that on our itenerary it is only the Turks and Caicos that honor daylight savings time. Is this correct? 

I have been accustomed in the past on other iteneraries that most island tours went by ship's time and we're very familiar with the ships at their ports so now I am feeling a bit intimidated by the whole time change thing. Seems it would be a financial loss for the locals to not be more adapted to the ships times. Especially in the case of the Horizon given it's passenger size.

So, here I am looking to the "Cruise Experts" on Cruise Critic which has always been my Bible for all things cruise.

So here are the things I want to be certain of before comfortably choosing tours:

1. Is it certain that the ship time will change to accommodate daylight savings time?

2. Is ship time based on Eastern Standard Time?

3. Can you verify which islands are on ship's time and which are not?

4. Any suggestions for tours for a large family of eight that won't break the bank? Our interest are snorkeling tours, horseback riding, swimming with stingrays or dolphins, ziplining, or anything unique to the islands. We have four autistic young adults so we try to keep tours to a lower level of difficulty.

Thanks so much for all your help and support. I've been a lurker for many years and finally got brave and started posting.

[coevan]

The tour operators know their time, ship time, port time, departure time, this is all they do for a living. We never use Carnival tours and every tour operator we booked with give you explicit direction on where to meet and what time.