Disembark at port - priority for those who have booked excursion w X?

[LizzGo]

I was told that those who have booked their excursions thru the ship get priority to disembark at port. All other passengers must wait before they can disembark. Is this true? I’ve never noticed that to be the case, but I’d like to make sure. Can anyone tell me if this is indeed X policy? 

[Woody14]

It can be true, the times it is usually you are given a meeting point on the ship and then are escorted off before the gangway opens to the regular people.

It is usually very true if it is a tender port.    At a walk off port I have seen a few times where one gangway is for those with celebrity booked excursions and the other gangway is for those which are not.    

It has never been a big deal with X for me.

[mizLORInj]

Did not notice this last week on Eclipse other than in the 2 tender ports. 

[Jim_Iain]

Those that book excursions with Celebrity will be directed to a meeting place, usually the theater.   From there they will call your group by number and will proceed to a tender.   

 

My experience is they usually, when possible,  have twp tenders locations setup.   Regular tendering operate from a different location.

 

Having said that -  I was on one Ship's Tour and they decided to put us on a tender from the General Tender Location.   To get around the line they gave us an unofficial tour of I-95 and we were boarded ahead of the general tendering passengers.

[cruisestitch]

4 hours ago, LizzGo said:

I was told that those who have booked their excursions thru the ship get priority to disembark at port. All other passengers must wait before they can disembark. Is this true? I’ve never noticed that to be the case, but I’d like to make sure. Can anyone tell me if this is indeed X policy? 

For tender ports, yes this is the policy.

[the penguins]

11 hours ago, LizzGo said:

I was told that those who have booked their excursions thru the ship get priority to disembark at port. All other passengers must wait before they can disembark. Is this true? I’ve never noticed that to be the case, but I’d like to make sure. Can anyone tell me if this is indeed X policy? 

You report to the Excursions point - usually the theatre - and are escorted off the ship at the appropriate time. All times, venues etc are clearly set out on your tickets which will be delivered to your cabin.

The same system works for both tendered and non tendered ports. Just follow the instructions and relax.

[tigervixxxen]

If you have an excursion that leaves right at arrival time yes you will have priority. That isn’t something new. 

[LizzGo]

We have booked through the ship once or twice. We know the drill. That's not my question.

 

Just to be clear: Have NOT booked a ship excursion. We are interested in an excursion offered by a ground operator. We are in port at 8, not tendered.  The ground operator is right there but tour leaves at 9. They claim they will be there to pick us up at 8:45 and get us to the tour at 9. I'm not so sure. Sounds like they're cutting it a bit close......And obviously if we have to wait for all those who have booked through the ship, it will not work. 

[Texed]

2 minutes ago, LizzGo said:

 We are interested in an excursion offered by a ground operator. We are in port at 8, not tendered.  

 

You can start getting off the ship when the ship is cleared. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, LizzGo said:

We have booked through the ship once or twice. We know the drill. That's not my question.

 

Just to be clear: Have NOT booked a ship excursion. We are interested in an excursion offered by a ground operator. We are in port at 8, not tendered.  The ground operator is right there but tour leaves at 9. They claim they will be there to pick us up at 8:45 and get us to the tour at 9. I'm not so sure. Sounds like they're cutting it a bit close......And obviously if we have to wait for all those who have booked through the ship, it will not work. 

You simply walk off.  Have never had it take more than 10 minutes to get off when we are docked.   Usually immediate.

Many ship's tours do not leave immediately on docking.  Many are afternoon tours.

Relax.

You are more likely to find the ship arrives late or there is an issue clearing the ship.  In that case your tour will simply wait for you and everything will move back.

Edited October 13, 2023 by Arizona Wildcat

[LizzGo]

Everyone knows I'm not talking about ship tour, right? We are not taking a ship tour. I'm not sure a non-ship tour will wait. Most will not. 

 

But I think some of you have answered this: Priority disembark is only for ship tours if there is a tender. Otherwise we can just walk right off while the rest of the ship tour people are still sitting in the theatre waiting to be assigned to a group. If that is the case we only have to worry about the ship being late. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, LizzGo said:

Everyone knows I'm not talking about ship tour, right? We are not taking a ship tour. I'm not sure a non-ship tour will wait. Most will not. 

 

But I think some of you have answered this: Priority disembark is only for ship tours if there is a tender. Otherwise we can just walk right off while the rest of the ship tour people are still sitting in the theatre waiting to be assigned to a group. If that is the case we only have to worry about the ship being late. 

 

Quick version, 15mins before the ship is scheduled to be cleared, take the stairs to the gangway and you'll ultimately be waiting in a line to get off, possibly earlier than the ship is scheduled to

 

Long version, half the time the ship is cleared 10-15 minutes before it's announced over the PA.  While waiting for the ship to be cleared in a NON-tender port, there'll be a hoard of people waiting to get off the ship ASAP.  Sometimes they're allowed to line up on the gangway deck but usually, it's the deck above where a crew member is "guarding" the stairs to go down to the gangway deck.  In that case, everyone is lined up in the upper stairs.  Either way, you'll either see the line or will be directed to the line

 

On tender ports, just a datapoint, on my last sailing, the first tender with passengers left a half hour before it was scheduled to be cleared

[Woody14]

1 hour ago, LizzGo said:

Everyone knows I'm not talking about ship tour, right? We are not taking a ship tour. I'm not sure a non-ship tour will wait. Most will not. 

 

But I think some of you have answered this: Priority disembark is only for ship tours if there is a tender. Otherwise we can just walk right off while the rest of the ship tour people are still sitting in the theatre waiting to be assigned to a group. If that is the case we only have to worry about the ship being late. 

You are correct if the ship is on time and the tour company is right there you should have no issues at all meeting up with them.   If you are ready to get off as soon as the ship clears you will probably even be early.

[the penguins]

2 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Quick version, 15mins before the ship is scheduled to be cleared, take the stairs to the gangway and you'll ultimately be waiting in a line to get off, possibly earlier than the ship is scheduled to

 

Long version, half the time the ship is cleared 10-15 minutes before it's announced over the PA.  While waiting for the ship to be cleared in a NON-tender port, there'll be a hoard of people waiting to get off the ship ASAP.  Sometimes they're allowed to line up on the gangway deck but usually, it's the deck above where a crew member is "guarding" the stairs to go down to the gangway deck.  In that case, everyone is lined up in the upper stairs.  Either way, you'll either see the line or will be directed to the line

 

On tender ports, just a datapoint, on my last sailing, the first tender with passengers left a half hour before it was scheduled to be cleared

Elite and above get priority tendering - full details on the ship. If the ship has difficulties docking/getting clearance/ gangway issues all priorities "go out the window". At one port in South America the gangway would only support the weight of 8 passengers, or 1 wheelchair passenger, at a time - the delays were horrendous. Same issue in Hawaii where the gangway didn't fit the ship. Or depending on the tide the Gangway in Buenos Aires has to seen to be believed.

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Elite and above get priority tendering - full details on the ship. If the ship has difficulties docking/getting clearance/ gangway issues all priorities "go out the window". At one port in South America the gangway would only support the weight of 8 passengers, or 1 wheelchair passenger, at a time - the delays were horrendous. Same issue in Hawaii where the gangway didn't fit the ship. Or depending on the tide the Gangway in Buenos Aires has to seen to be believed.

 

Good to know.  With tender ports, priority is good in theory but I don't see it well enforced.  I'm Elite +, when in a tender port, priority disembarkation states to meet in a lounge where a crew member will escort you off.  The problem with this is, that the line will be 20 people with one crew member leading the way while leaving the back "unguarded" so before you know it, another 20 just joined the line.  Additionally, I've seen folks get off the elevator on the gangway deck and just join the end of our captains club priority line

[hcat]

ships excursions are  def best in tender ports.. non tender ports def  expect a  free for all..

 

hopefully you will be fine and the  tour guide will not wait too long for late comers!  

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

ships excursions are  def best in tender ports.. non tender ports def  expect a  free for all..

 

hopefully you will be fine and the  tour guide will not wait too long for late comers!  

 

Assuming an independent tour departs a bit after the ship is scheduled to clear, nothing wrong with that.  I will mention on this year's Greenland cruise on the summit, that there was one ship tour on a tender port that met in the theater an hour after the ship cleared, they waited another 2 hours (I think?) for the tour guide to show up but was a no-show.  Not X's fault by any means, just SOL for those who lost their port day

[Pushka]

When we arrived in St Petersburg a few years ago we had to go through immigration which took ages. The downstairs atrium was full of non Celebrity shoreex passengers and we were not allowed off until celebrity  shoreex left. We were delayed at least an hour. Lots of angry people. 

[hcat]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Assuming an independent tour departs a bit after the ship is scheduled to clear, nothing wrong with that.  I will mention on this year's Greenland cruise on the summit, that there was one ship tour on a tender port that met in the theater an hour after the ship cleared, they waited another 2 hours (I think?) for the tour guide to show up but was a no-show.  Not X's fault by any means, just SOL for those who lost their port day

  So ships's excursions not always best..I take it back.

 

We had a had a bad one in Jamaica..non tender bare bones cargo port. Another line got the fancy terminal

 

The tour operator  did not order an adequate number of tour busses  for the number of excursion seats sold. It was an unsafe port so taxis were not an option.Not enough of them anyhow

 

After almost a 2 hr wait in the terminal with just some seats and a bthrm....we and dozens  of others gave up .  Celeb reluctantly  agreed to refund the excursion cost.   Wasted day!

Edited October 14, 2023 by hcat

[the penguins]

8 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Good to know.  With tender ports, priority is good in theory but I don't see it well enforced.  I'm Elite +, when in a tender port, priority disembarkation states to meet in a lounge where a crew member will escort you off.  The problem with this is, that the line will be 20 people with one crew member leading the way while leaving the back "unguarded" so before you know it, another 20 just joined the line.  Additionally, I've seen folks get off the elevator on the gangway deck and just join the end of our captains club priority line

We have always been given tickets that are collected at the Tender - hopefully the line jumpers are refused boarding.