Leaving ship early?

[Werangels]

Hello

 

We are booked on Pursuit for Xmas this year from Cape Town.  We are looking at flying to Kasane, Botswana very early morning on the departure day 3/1/24 to join the Zambezi Queen river cruiser.  The flight leaves CPT at 0640 so I guess we need to be off the ship around 4am to make the flight based on driving to the airport, arrive 2 hours ahead of flight as in the Europe, etc.  

 

Would we be able to leave the ship at this time?

 

Thanks so much.

[ECCruise]

I wouldn't waste time asking here on Cruise Critic, frankly.

 

Azamara is the only one that can make that decision, in coordination with any customs/immigration needs in South Africa.

 

You will definitely need to arrange this in advance (we had a similar situation in Lisbon last year) and verify the details. Our departure was fully vetted until we tried to disembark and we needed "approval" again.

 

[Werangels]

Thank you.  We arrive into Cape Town on the 31st December and stay on the ship until the 3rd.

[uktog]

26 minutes ago, Werangels said:

Thank you.  We arrive into Cape Town on the 31st December and stay on the ship until the 3rd.

Even then it depends when the custom authorities are scheduled to attend the ship. @ECCruise is correct you need to ask and get confirmation from Miami. Don’t rely on random “oh I’ve done it” here. Yes you can do it but not in every port. Contact head office and get the agreement in writing. 
Good luck. You look like you have a fantastic holiday set up there 

[Werangels]

Thanks UKTog.  I have asked our TA to find out. Yes, it should be wonderful.  We have 24 days in total!

[Werangels]

Hello

 

To update on this.  The answer came back that we can only depart between normal times ie 8 and 10.  Such a shame and has stopped us even getting the later 9.45 service to Victoria Falls.  
 

Thanks for the help.

[Roel94]

On 3/16/2023 at 4:15 PM, Werangels said:

Thank you.  We arrive into Cape Town on the 31st December and stay on the ship until the 3rd.

I bet you can leave ship the day before. You will need permission..yiu are leaving one country fir another and Viss etc.

 

lots to do in Capetown but might be easier to leave the day before

 

 I left another ship Andrejoined in Capetown. Was not a problem.left this ship And slept in a hotel, all doable 

 

 

 

[uktog]

Sorry to hear the plans aren’t quite coming together. It is now tougher in many countries to disembark early as the  availability of immigration and customs agents is less and rules are tougher than ever. 
At least you got an answer so know the score from proper sources 

[Werangels]

Thanks both.  What I don’t want is to be worrying throughout the cruise as to whether we would be allowed.  The river cruise is way too expensive not to turn up for and only 2 nights, so missing 1 night would be half of the experience.  Not worth it,  

 

It’s a shame as we have a deposit on this carried over from 2020.  Cest la vie …..

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Werangels said:

Thanks both.  What I don’t want is to be worrying throughout the cruise as to whether we would be allowed.  The river cruise is way too expensive not to turn up for and only 2 nights, so missing 1 night would be half of the experience.  Not worth it,  

 

It’s a shame as we have a deposit on this carried over from 2020.  Cest la vie …..

The river cruise is only 2 nights?  Can you push it two days?  Get off the ship at the normal time, enjoy Cape Town for a day and a half [or Jo-burg], then fly on to the river cruise for the next sailing?

[Werangels]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

The river cruise is only 2 nights?  Can you push it two days?  Get off the ship at the normal time, enjoy Cape Town for a day and a half [or Jo-burg], then fly on to the river cruise for the next sailing?

Zambezi Queen does 2 nights on Mondays and Wednesdays and 3 nights on Fridays.  We really can’t push our budget to 3 nights with everything else we are doing,  

[uktog]

I know your agent asked Azamara but sometimes the guest asking directly gets a different answer. I believe the team who dealt with early disembarking was called something like the downstream team. Given how special the river tour might be if you have time maybe one more check with Azamara do it yourself. Ask to speak to the specialist team who handles early disembarking. It’s worth a try then you know you’ve given it every shot. 
A few years back we had that issue coming off in Peru and rejoining a few days later. Our agent got a no, our friends got a yes we went back direct and got the yes 

Edited March 21, 2023 by uktog

[Werangels]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:13 AM, uktog said:

I know your agent asked Azamara but sometimes the guest asking directly gets a different answer. I believe the team who dealt with early disembarking was called something like the downstream team. Given how special the river tour might be if you have time maybe one more check with Azamara do it yourself. Ask to speak to the specialist team who handles early disembarking. It’s worth a try then you know you’ve given it every shot. 
A few years back we had that issue coming off in Peru and rejoining a few days later. Our agent got a no, our friends got a yes we went back direct and got the yes 

Thank you.  That is very helpful.  

[Grandma Gilly]

We disembarked in Cape Town the evening before the cruise ended. We had no problem at all. We informed guest services at the beginning of the cruise. We were even given help with our luggage.