How strict is NCL About what time you have to be back aboard?

[KeithJenner]

Here’s a picture of a sign at the gangway showing all aboard times. We leave at 7pm.

[mking8288]

Whether it's an iPhone or Android smartphone, you can use a clock widget that show World time, set to different cities like ours - match the clock to ship time. 

 

 

[UKstages]

it also depends on the port/city you're visiting.

 

in manila, for instance, where traffic can often delay your journey by as much as two hours, i would never book anything but a ship-sponsored excursion. traffic can happen anyplace, but a traffic jam in aruba or newport, rhode isalnd is very different than a traffic jam in manila.

[ticktock01]

12 hours ago, dlh015 said:

Always have to smile when this sort of question is asked...because I just wouldn't even consider taking that chance. Playing 'chicken' with the captain is a losing proposition...

What a condescending post.

I wasn't planning on "playing chicken".

I thought  that the ship required us to be back 2 hours before departure.  I'm going to take a private tour.  That will get me back about an hour before departure. That's not "playing chicken".

[roddy good boy]

1 hour ago, Laszlo said:

It's very easy. If Needed you can easily Manually change the time on your iPhone. Your watch will sync to the Phone in a second

Thank you! I have a few months to figure it out. And, of course I’ll ask the kids! 

[UKstages]

yes, you can manually change the phone, but it creates an entirely new problem. you have to remember to go back in and manually change it again with the next time zone or ship's clock time change! and you have to remember to change it back to "automatic" when you return home.  

[JennKach]

9 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

I just turn the time zone setting on my phone to Manual and then whenever there is a time change I change the location myself. Simple.

I tried that but discovered the Libre app for my continuous glucose monitor doesn't work on manual time settings on the iPhone.  You get a big error message and can't access any past or present data until you go back to auto. Unfortunately I still have to bring my cheap watch.

[KeithJenner]

47 minutes ago, UKstages said:

yes, you can manually change the phone, but it creates an entirely new problem. you have to remember to go back in and manually change it again with the next time zone or ship's clock time change! and you have to remember to change it back to "automatic" when you return home.  

True, but then you have to change a manual watch all those times too, and if you have an linked watch then this fixes both devices.

 

I look at my phone as often as my watch to see the time.

[graphicguy]

55 minutes ago, ticktock01 said:

What a condescending post.

I wasn't planning on "playing chicken".

I thought  that the ship required us to be back 2 hours before departure.  I'm going to take a private tour.  That will get me back about an hour before departure. That's not "playing chicken".

Hmmmm....that's a tough one.  Private tour with no NCL backing?  

 

I've done private tours, but never cut it that close.  Glad that I didn't.  Had two that were NCL sponsored that were late to the ship.  One had the bus break down, the other was traffic related.  Ship waited for us.  Private tour?  Doubtful.

 

There have been way too many stories about private tour bus, car break downs, traffic hold ups, etc.  

 

Ending an hour before departure?  Even if they assure they won't be late (what are you going to do if they are late?).  Ship won't wait.

 

Your time, your money, though.  

 

 

[Asawi]

3 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

 Even if they assure they won't be late (what are you going to do if they are late?).  Ship won't wait.

 

Remenber the people left in Africa by Dawn a couple of months ago. Their guide assured them they'd be back in good time. Yet they were late. And a lot late.

[graphicguy]

11 minutes ago, Asawi said:

Remenber the people left in Africa by Dawn a couple of months ago. Their guide assured them they'd be back in good time. Yet they were late. And a lot late.

I was thinking of that exact example. Had read the real reason they were late back to the ship was because the tour leader insisted on taking the guests to a shopping area, which I'm sure he got a commission from.  They assured the guest would make the ship on time, too.

 

Don't think the late guests were compensated in ANY WAY by the tour company.

 

LOL!

Edited May 1 by graphicguy

[Sinbadssailors]

Assume they'll be very strict:

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/cruise-passengers-stranded-norwegian/index.html

[Travelling2Some]

15 hours ago, roddy good boy said:

I need to consider this for our Mediterranean cruise. My kids gifted me an Apple Watch this last Christmas. Not only am I still trying to figure the thing out, the notion of trying to insure it synch’s with the ship’s and local times is daunting! 

My loved ones keep "threatening" to get me a new phone.  I still haven't figured out the old one!  I remember buying my parents a microwave, which they used only as a fancy breadbox.  Now I'm that age and I can relate!

[david_sobe]

I think the question has an incorrect premise asking how "strict" NCL is with on board time. NCL is like most other cruise lines that require passengers board 30 minutes before sail away.  Is that being strict?  Does not every mode of transportation have a board time?  Imagine airports if planes had no set time for departure but waited for all ticketed passengers to board.   Its common sense and not an issue of being "strict."  If there was no set time ships would be constantly waiting for passengers.  Is there not a set time we start work, attend school, get the bus, etc?  Its confusing to me to think of this as strict?  Maybe the OP meant to ask, when does NCL require passengers on board before sail away?

[luv2kroooz]

All aboard time is all aboard time. It is not a suggestion, unlike stop signs in Cozumel. 😀😀

[RocketMan275]

3 hours ago, david_sobe said:

I think the question has an incorrect premise asking how "strict" NCL is with on board time. NCL is like most other cruise lines that require passengers board 30 minutes before sail away.  Is that being strict?  Does not every mode of transportation have a board time?  Imagine airports if planes had no set time for departure but waited for all ticketed passengers to board.   Its common sense and not an issue of being "strict."  If there was no set time ships would be constantly waiting for passengers.  Is there not a set time we start work, attend school, get the bus, etc?  Its confusing to me to think of this as strict?  Maybe the OP meant to ask, when does NCL require passengers on board before sail away?

Have you watched any of the cruise line shows on, IIRC, Discovery channel.  Every episode, regardless of the cruise line, has a scene where the cruise line waits for passengers returning late from shore excursions.  The cruise line, in these scenes, always waits....

[Faulkh]

3 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

My loved ones keep "threatening" to get me a new phone.  I still haven't figured out the old one!  I remember buying my parents a microwave, which they used only as a fancy breadbox.  Now I'm that age and I can relate!

Oh how I can relate also!  Every time I ask my son a question about my iPhone he takes it from me and just does what I need done but that does not help me for the next time. We got a new microwave recently and my mother (91 who lies with us) still can’t figure it out. Guess who just takes her food and does it for her 😂

[destar]

On 4/30/2024 at 11:07 AM, ticktock01 said:

How strict is NCL about this?  If I get back to the ship one hour before the ship is due to leave, will that be a problem for me?

I don't know, I'm not willing to give this a try, but if you do, please come back here and let us know.

[david_sobe]

29 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Have you watched any of the cruise line shows on, IIRC, Discovery channel.  Every episode, regardless of the cruise line, has a scene where the cruise line waits for passengers returning late from shore excursions.  The cruise line, in these scenes, always waits....

Yes I've seen them. You are really going down a slippery slope.  To answer your question there is no rule of thumb how long a captain will wait.  Being there were film cameras on those specials I bet the captain waited longer than usual.  Again your post does not answer the murky question "how strict is NCL?"  It varies.  Sometimes a bus will wait for someone running down the street while other times the bus keeps going.  A pilot may delay pushing away from the gate for a minute or two.  Each scenario is different and every captain is different.  Its impossible to answer that question because its a ridiculous question.  With the recent passengers stranded in Africa supposedly they made contact with the ship and it did not matter.  Bottom line:  No matter what line you sail, get your butt on board 30 minutes before sail away.

You could always do an experiment on your next cruise.   See how long the captain waits for you and then report back to this thread 🤨

Edited May 1 by david_sobe

[RocketMan275]

42 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

You could always do an experiment on your next cruise.   See how long the captain waits for you and then report back to this thread 🤨

We rarely get off the ship.   

Edited May 1 by RocketMan275

[hallux]

57 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

A pilot may delay pushing away from the gate for a minute or two

Airline pilots don't make that decision, that's the operations people on the ground.

58 minutes ago, david_sobe said:

Being there were film cameras on those specials I bet the captain waited longer than usual.

The ship captain knew exactly how long he COULD wait, based on advice of the local pilots (if tides locally might be an issue), knowledge of how much time he needs to get to the next port, etc.  Those shows artificially elevated the drama, and the (late) passengers were certainly helped in that I believe they were on ship-sponsored excursions...

[roddy good boy]

2 hours ago, Faulkh said:

Oh how I can relate also!  Every time I ask my son a question about my iPhone he takes it from me and just does what I need done but that does not help me for the next time. We got a new microwave recently and my mother (91 who lies with us) still can’t figure it out. Guess who just takes her food and does it for her 😂

My daughter does the same thing with my phone! Also, she starts deleting and moving things around! Once I lost a few contacts! Sigh… But, what would we do without them? 😁

[Ellis1138]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Have you watched any of the cruise line shows on, IIRC, Discovery channel.  Every episode, regardless of the cruise line, has a scene where the cruise line waits for passengers returning late from shore excursions.  The cruise line, in these scenes, always waits....

 

And in shows, people run away from explosions without messing up their hair. They shoot guns that have no recoil. I'm not sure I would base my expectations in life on what happens in a TV show.

[RocketMan275]

Just now, Ellis1138 said:

 

And in shows, people run away from explosions without messing up their hair. They shoot guns that have no recoil. I'm not sure I would base my expectations in life on what happens in a TV show.

I wasn't saying the cruise line always waits, only that in those shows it always waits.  There was one show where the same guests were always late every port often over an hour.  Seems like they were VIP, major stockholders, etc.  The ship always waited.  

[KeithJenner]

2 hours ago, destar said:

I don't know, I'm not willing to give this a try, but if you do, please come back here and let us know.

If they come back to the ship one hour before sail away they will absolutely be allowed on the ship, as will those for the next 30 minutes (and probably later).

 

If it is a tender port then there could be an issue, but I don’t think that was the scenario discussed.