Clarification of posted departure times

[VegasChic2014]

Hi everyone!

 

I’ve been on several cruises but all the recent pier runner pics have me a bit worried lol. I was looking at our itinerary for an upcoming cruise and what is stated doesn’t seem to make sense to what we have experienced based on the following:

 

It says 2 hours prior to ship departure everyone must be on board. Looking at the departure time, that means everyone needs to be on the boat by 2 on departure day? In Grand Cayman, everyone on by 2? That sounds really early to me. I’m thinking 4:00, the time shown as “depart”, must really be the all on board time, not the time we leave the dock?

 

It say disembarking 2 hours after arrival as well? Again that doesn’t fit my memory....that would make Grand Cayman a 10:00-2:00 stop with all these 2 hour windows?!? And Cozumel 12:00-4:00? This doesn’t even fit in most of the excursions offered.

 

Have they worded this for an abundance of caution, poorly chosen terminology, or are the stops on this trip really that short?

 

Thanks in advance for any comments!

 

 

 

[All-ready2cruise]

This just poorly written policy which is related to embarkation day ONLY.  It's been discussed here a few times regarding the wording. Just ignore the "2 hours" times at ports. At ports, you'll be able to get off the ship fairly quickly, think 30-45 minutes after docking and you'll need to be back on the ship 30-60 minutes prior to sail away. 

 

Most of  the pier runners happen b/c people don't listen when getting off the ship and don't check their time on their watch.  

Enjoy your cruise. 

[ggTexasGal]

30 minutes ago, VegasChic2014 said:

 

Hi everyone!

 

I’ve been on several cruises but all the recent pier runner pics have me a bit worried lol. I was looking at our itinerary for an upcoming cruise and what is stated doesn’t seem to make sense to what we have experienced based on the following:

 

It says 2 hours prior to ship departure everyone must be on board. Looking at the departure time, that means everyone needs to be on the boat by 2 on departure day? In Grand Cayman, everyone on by 2? That sounds really early to me. I’m thinking 4:00, the time shown as “depart”, must really be the all on board time, not the time we leave the dock?

 

It say disembarking 2 hours after arrival as well? Again that doesn’t fit my memory....that would make Grand Cayman a 10:00-2:00 stop with all these 2 hour windows?!? And Cozumel 12:00-4:00? This doesn’t even fit in most of the excursions offered.

 

Have they worded this for an abundance of caution, poorly chosen terminology, or are the stops on this trip really that short?

 

Thanks in advance for any comments!

 

 

 

 

"Ports of Call" rarely (if ever) require an "All Aboard" time of two hours!

What every cruiser needs to pay attention to during the cruise is the "All Aboard" posted for each day's port.

Ports are subject to change(s), so, times might vary from the pre-cruise posted information.

#1 Rule: Be onboard the ship, (in your case, Orlando) 2 hours before your cruise-ship is scheduled to leave!

#2 Rule: Follow the posted time for ALL ABOARD at each ,and every, port visited!

 

All-ready2cruise (above post) explained it well!

[VegasChic2014]

1 hour ago, All-ready2cruise said:

This just poorly written policy which is related to embarkation day ONLY.  It's been discussed here a few times regarding the wording. Just ignore the "2 hours" times at ports. At ports, you'll be able to get off the ship fairly quickly, think 30-45 minutes after docking and you'll need to be back on the ship 30-60 minutes prior to sail away. 

 

Most of  the pier runners happen b/c people don't listen when getting off the ship and don't check their time on their watch.  

Enjoy your cruise. 

 

Thanks a bunch! In regards to the times listed though....would you think the all aboard time on departure day is really 2:00 with sailing at 4:00? Every cruise I have been on, seems to me we always started sailing around 6-7 pm....which would seem to line up with the 4:00 really being the “all aboard” time....but obviously every cruise is going to be different! 

 

My sister is considering flying into Orlando on the day of the cruise and I’m worried she may not be allowing enough time if she experiences any delays...a couple hours can make a big difference! 

[KarlChilders]

Sailaway times seem to be pretty accurate in my experience. On initial departure we have sailed within 10 minutes of the listed time.  Flying in day of is always dicey.  Not for me.

[VegasChic2014]

7 minutes ago, KarlChilders said:

Sailaway times seem to be pretty accurate in my experience. On initial departure we have sailed within 10 minutes of the listed time.  Flying in day of is always dicey.  Not for me.

TOTALLY agree! It’s freaking me out they are considering this. Her husband isn’t sure if he can get another day off of work, but I figure with 4 months lead time surely he can switch some shifts around with others to ENSURE there are no hiccups! 

 

Flying same day from Toronto, Canada- in January - seems to have way too much risk!

 

 

[KarlChilders]

4 minutes ago, VegasChic2014 said:

 

 

Flying same day from Toronto, Canada- in January - seems to have way too much risk!

 

 

Seriously, what could go wrong? Not like weather could be an issue!  😉

 

[All-ready2cruise]

If sailaway time is 5PM, you will be sailing away very close to that time. The exception is if there's a problem IE: several (100 +) passengers having been delayed at the airport. 

 

The latest boarding time is usually 2 hours prior to sail away, so 4PM you'd need to be onboard by 2.  They usually schedule Muster Drill around 3:15 - 3:30 and your attendance is mandatory; if you miss it, you'll have to attend a makeup the next day. 

[Mike_DeA]

46 minutes ago, VegasChic2014 said:

TOTALLY agree! It’s freaking me out they are considering this. Her husband isn’t sure if he can get another day off of work, but I figure with 4 months lead time surely he can switch some shifts around with others to ENSURE there are no hiccups! 

 

Flying same day from Toronto, Canada- in January - seems to have way too much risk!

 

 

If they must fly the day of, book the earliest flight possible, fly direct and cross your fingers.  Winter is more risky than other times of the year. 

 

Can they fly out later on the day before the cruise?

 

I usually fly in the day of departure and so far have not had an issue.

[FitchburgWIFamily]

Another thing to worry about is Orlando traffic and the drive to port.  Are they taking a shuttle to the port?  There will be some delay between landing, getting luggage, finding shuttle, waiting for shuttle departure that all need to be added to the 45+ drive to the port.   Their flight better be coming in well before noon. 

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, VegasChic2014 said:

 

Hi everyone!

 

I’ve been on several cruises but all the recent pier runner pics have me a bit worried lol. I was looking at our itinerary for an upcoming cruise and what is stated doesn’t seem to make sense to what we have experienced based on the following:

 

It says 2 hours prior to ship departure everyone must be on board. Looking at the departure time, that means everyone needs to be on the boat by 2 on departure day? In Grand Cayman, everyone on by 2? That sounds really early to me. I’m thinking 4:00, the time shown as “depart”, must really be the all on board time, not the time we leave the dock?

 

It say disembarking 2 hours after arrival as well? Again that doesn’t fit my memory....that would make Grand Cayman a 10:00-2:00 stop with all these 2 hour windows?!? And Cozumel 12:00-4:00? This doesn’t even fit in most of the excursions offered.

 

You need to be at your embarkation port 2 hours before departure. Muster is usually 30 minutes before departure unless you have a late departure. 

 

At ports of call, all aboard is usually 30 minutes before departure. Late arrivals can and have been left behind. 

 

At ports of call, the gangway is usually open shortly after the posted arrival time. This week, the gangway has been open before the advertised arrival time. All depends on a timely arrival and clearance from local officials. 

 

No worries, you will get your full time in port. 

[snirpville]

1 hour ago, VegasChic2014 said:

TOTALLY agree! It’s freaking me out they are considering this. Her husband isn’t sure if he can get another day off of work, but I figure with 4 months lead time surely he can switch some shifts around with others to ENSURE there are no hiccups! 

 

Flying same day from Toronto, Canada- in January - seems to have way too much risk!

 

 

I fly from Montreal and always try to leave two days before if I can especially in the winter. You just never know with the snow, ice, etc in January. Can they fly out the night before? Even if they land in Orlando at 2am, it's still better to already be there. I hope you can convince them to leave earlier. Have fun!

[GA Dave]

Look for these while onboard.

 

[smplybcause]

During the summer Air Canada has a 8pm flight to MCO. If available I'd at least do that. Never flown in the winter so don't know if the schedule changes, but hopefully they can at least make one of the evening flights on Friday night out.

[Bootman4U]

Have any of you ever heard of an aircraft that was discovered to have a "problem" before it even left the gate?  "The weather" is not the only thing which can cause delays:

 

Once we had to wait to board until the entire flight crew showed up

Earlier this year we were delayed for three hours waiting for a plane which "Just arrived" to be checked over and cleaned

Last year we were delayed because the copilot discovered probable "bird damage" to the fuselage during his walkaround; we had to wait for a mechanic to come out to the airport and inspect it and then for "the paperwork" to be processed

 

Too many factors for me to fly in the day of, sorry

[Mike_DeA]

2 hours ago, Bootman4U said:

Have any of you ever heard of an aircraft that was discovered to have a "problem" before it even left the gate?  "The weather" is not the only thing which can cause delays:

 

Once we had to wait to board until the entire flight crew showed up

Earlier this year we were delayed for three hours waiting for a plane which "Just arrived" to be checked over and cleaned

Last year we were delayed because the copilot discovered probable "bird damage" to the fuselage during his walkaround; we had to wait for a mechanic to come out to the airport and inspect it and then for "the paperwork" to be processed

 

Too many factors for me to fly in the day of, sorry

Don't apologize, you do you.

 

Do you understand that most of us ARE aware anything can happen to delay/cancel a flight?  There is risk with any scenario, but the ones you mentioned are single incidents affecting a single flight, much less likely to occur than weather affecting dozens/hundreds of flights at one time. 

[esm54687]

You also want to ensure your watches are synced with the ship's clock. Travelling from different time zones and not paying attention to that is another cause of people missing the ship.