Newbie question about port times

[MobiusHky]

I think I've been pretty clear I've never been on a cruise in my life.  I understand that there are bound to be flexibilities with the times that Celebrity lists as time at port.  For sake of discussion, if the itinerary says that we will be in port from 8am to 7pm, is that when you can leave the ship?  Or is that when the ship "touches down" so to speak if I can use airline analogies.  I ask because some of our days when we plan to do an excursion, the time listed for the excursion is later than the "in port" time and we were wondering if we would have time to leave and come back.

 

So for instance, if we're docked (no tender) and our excursion is saying it will leave at 10am, but the boat is saying it will be docked at 8am, can we go explore the port for an hour and come back?

[RTShaker]

14 minutes ago, MobiusHky said:

I think I've been pretty clear I've never been on a cruise in my life.  I understand that there are bound to be flexibilities with the times that Celebrity lists as time at port.  For sake of discussion, if the itinerary says that we will be in port from 8am to 7pm, is that when you can leave the ship?  Or is that when the ship "touches down" so to speak if I can use airline analogies.  I ask because some of our days when we plan to do an excursion, the time listed for the excursion is later than the "in port" time and we were wondering if we would have time to leave and come back.

 

So for instance, if we're docked (no tender) and our excursion is saying it will leave at 10am, but the boat is saying it will be docked at 8am, can we go explore the port for an hour and come back?

.It shouldn't be a problem  It is no different than leaving the ship and returning for a noon excursion. Just bear in mind that 10 AM excursion may have a 9:30 meeting time.

Edited March 13, 2023 by RTShaker

[Arizona Wildcat]

You can likely disembark within 30 minutes of docking.

On shore you can do what you want.  Just be back on board 30 mi uses before departure

[DCPIV]

If it says "8 AM to 7 PM," then that's when the ship arrives and when it leaves, not when you can get off and need to get back on.  Usually, the ship is cleared to let folks off around 30 minutes after the arrival time, and you usually need to be back on no later than 30 minutes before the departure time (but that might be earlier).

 

For the tour, your ticket will note whether you need to meet on the ship or on the pier.  Many tours that leave later than around an hour after arrival often meet on the pier.

 

The only wrinkle in your plan is that they sometimes get all the early tours off the ship before letting everyone else off, so you might have to wait a little longer than you think.

[MobiusHky]

4 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

If it says "8 AM to 7 PM," then that's when the ship arrives and when it leaves, not when you can get off and need to get back on.  Usually, the ship is cleared to let folks off around 30 minutes after the arrival time, and you usually need to be back on no later than 30 minutes before the departure time (but that might be earlier).

 

For the tour, your ticket will note whether you need to meet on the ship or on the pier.  Many tours that leave later than around an hour after arrival often meet on the pier.

 

The only wrinkle in your plan is that they sometimes get all the early tours off the ship before letting everyone else off, so you might have to wait a little longer than you think.

OK, that's what I was thinking it would be.  We have one that is only an hour and a half before the tour starts.  That was the one we really wanted to take some time in the port, but it doesn't sound possible.

 

So with that in mind...  If you want to watch the docking process, is it likely to be occurring for say an hour before the "dock" time?  If I find a place to watch an 8am dock at 7am say?

 

ETA: On the flip side, is the departure time listed after the all-aboard time then?  Like the ship is leaving at 7pm so be on the ship an hour before (or whatever)?

Edited March 13, 2023 by MobiusHky

[DCPIV]

12 minutes ago, MobiusHky said:

So with that in mind...  If you want to watch the docking process, is it likely to be occurring for say an hour before the "dock" time?  If I find a place to watch an 8am dock at 7am say?

 

The "dock" time is the time the time the ship is scheduled to be at its position at the dock.  I don't know what you mean by the "docking process," but the big action usually happens only about 10-15 minutes before the arrival time (final approaches with thrusters and what-not) and for a little while after (tying up, putting out the gangway, etc.)  It will vary from port to port and even upon how the ship is to face once docked (it sometimes needs to come about slowly).

 

If you want to watch the ship come in, the time you may want to be up and out there varies a bit from port to port.  Some are more interesting than others.  You can probably ask a bartender or your waiter what some of the good ones are (or ask here, of course).

 

15 minutes ago, MobiusHky said:

On the flip side, is the departure time listed after the all-aboard time then?  Like the ship is leaving at 7pm so be on the ship an hour before (or whatever)?

 

Yes, the all-aboard time will be before the departure time, and it's usually 30 minutes before the departure time.  The all-aboard time will be on the app and on the activity schedule you get in your room the night before, as well as on a sign posted at the gangway when you get off the ship.  The stated departure time is the time the horn blows and the ship pulls away.

[cruisestitch]

It would help if you would tell us the ports. Some approaches are very interesting to watch. The ship may have to wind its way through several islands. It may even turn around and pull in backwards. Other ports are not so interesting. The docking procedure, where the lines connecting the ship to the pier are sent out can be fascinating to watch.  If you are up very very early you might even see the pilot boat come to deliver the pilot. Watch how he transfers from that boat to the ship. That usually takes place an hour or so ahead of the docking,But again that is very dependent on the local conditions. If you don’t see him come onto the ship watch for him to leave after you depart

Edited March 13, 2023 by cruisestitch

[MobiusHky]

9 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

 

The "dock" time is the time the time the ship is scheduled to be at its position at the dock.  I don't know what you mean by the "docking process," but the big action usually happens only about 10-15 minutes before the arrival time (final approaches with thrusters and what-not) and for a little while after (tying up, putting out the gangway, etc.)  It will vary from port to port and even upon how the ship is to face once docked (it sometimes needs to come about slowly).

 

If you want to watch the ship come in, the time you may want to be up and out there varies a bit from port to port.  Some are more interesting than others.  You can probably ask a bartender or your waiter what some of the good ones are (or ask here, of course).

 

 

Yes, the all-aboard time will be before the departure time, and it's usually 30 minutes before the departure time.  The all-aboard time will be on the app and on the activity schedule you get in your room the night before, as well as on a sign posted at the gangway when you get off the ship.  The stated departure time is the time the horn blows and the ship pulls away.

Awesome!  Thank you for the info!  That was really helpful!

[MobiusHky]

1 minute ago, cruisestitch said:

It would help if you would tell us the ports. Some approaches are very interesting to watch. The ship may have to wind its way through several islands. It may even turn around and fall in backwards. Other ports are not so interesting. The docking procedure, where the lines connecting the ship to the pier are sent out can be fascinating too watch.  If you are up very very early you might even see the pilot boat come to deliver the pilot. Watch how he transfers from that boat to the ship. That usually takes place an hour or so ahead of the docking,But again that is very dependent on the local conditions. If you don’t see him come onto the ship watch for him to leave after you depart

Katakolon, Santorini (tender), Kusadasi, Mykonos (tender), Souda, Pireas, Zakynthos (tender), Ravenna.  I might enjoy the ship pulling into places like Santorini and Mykonos, but probably more interested in Katakolon, Kusadasi, or Pireas to watch the docking.  I'm a left brained engineer and my wife thinks I'm nuts.  But that's the kind of stuff I enjoy.

[drowelf]

52 minutes ago, MobiusHky said:

Katakolon, Santorini (tender), Kusadasi, Mykonos (tender), Souda, Pireas, Zakynthos (tender), Ravenna.  I might enjoy the ship pulling into places like Santorini and Mykonos, but probably more interested in Katakolon, Kusadasi, or Pireas to watch the docking.  I'm a left brained engineer and my wife thinks I'm nuts.  But that's the kind of stuff I enjoy.

Can't speak to most of those ports, but unless things have changed signficantly in 20 years since we were last at Kusadasi, then then docking may not be much to see. The dock then was a long narrow pier that stuck out into the harbor we just sailed up to it and stopped. Now when we left it was quite interesting as the ship backed straight out from the pier, never getting more that 10-15 feet away until the bow cleared the end by 50 feet or so. Then the ship did a 180 and just sailed away. 

[CNSfromHI]

1 hour ago, MobiusHky said:

 If you want to watch the docking process, is it likely to be occurring for say an hour before the "dock" time?  If I find a place to watch an 8am dock at 7am say?

I enjoy watching the docking process, too, @MobiusHky because it's just cool to see how things work and to watch competent people at work. Sometimes I could see the tugs involved, or heavy machinery hauling huge lines out of the water, watch how the Celebrity ship maneuvered/positioning itself, etc. Just interesting stuff if you have that mindset. 🤓

 

On our first cruise last fall, I found that some ports are interesting and others not so much. It depends on the entry, the berth layout, other ships in port, etc. But, if you're interested in watching, you can usually find a good vantage point on deck somewhere, if you can't see it from your cabin. Time-wise, docking was within 60 minutes, but I'm an early riser and was typically working on my second coffee by then. You won't need to fight through a crowd to get a view, trust me 😆

 

Hope you have a blast!

 

cjr

[Jim_Iain]

Generally the times shown are when the Ship is scheduled to be alongside the pier.   It may be 15-30 minutes after this time that they begin disembarkation.     Also the Departure time is the time the ship leaves and generally you will have an All Aboard Time 30  minutes before departure. 

[DCPIV]

19 hours ago, MobiusHky said:

Katakolon, Santorini (tender), Kusadasi, Mykonos (tender), Souda, Pireas, Zakynthos (tender), Ravenna.  I might enjoy the ship pulling into places like Santorini and Mykonos, but probably more interested in Katakolon, Kusadasi, or Pireas to watch the docking.  I'm a left brained engineer and my wife thinks I'm nuts.  But that's the kind of stuff I enjoy.

 

The tendering ports actually won't be all that interesting from an engineering point of view.  The ship just heads over to it's assigned spot and drops anchor.  However, coming into the harbor for some of these spots can be quite beautiful, especially in the early morning.