Port of Call Exiting Ship Strategy Questions

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 5/7/2024 at 3:21 PM, BirdTravels said:

There will be 4000+ other passengers who will want to get an early start or who have early shore excursion times.

There will also be hundreds (or thousands) that want to enjoy a relaxed breakfast while the nervous types run down to the exit point(s).  I can understand an early excursion (which I generally avoid), but otherwise don't understand the rush.

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 5/7/2024 at 3:21 PM, BirdTravels said:

There are always those who can find a way to bypass the mob being held on Deck 6 and sneak their way onto a lower deck...

Stairs?🤣

[BirdTravels]

7 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

There will also be hundreds (or thousands) that want to enjoy a relaxed breakfast while the nervous types run down to the exit point(s).  I can understand an early excursion (which I generally avoid), but otherwise don't understand the rush.

You need to take things in context versus throwing stuff out. In ports like Rome, you need to get out early (whether on a shore ex or on your own) if you want to get to the city (which is over an hour away) and back. So, yes, the vast majority of people are trying to get off early and not lounge around the ship. 

[BirdTravels]

7 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Stairs?🤣

Nope. Blocked off. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

29 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Nope. Blocked off. 

Well, I guess going around some velvet theater ropes might be "sneaking."  I wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't be shocked if many/most of the nervous types would.

[ChiefMateJRK]

34 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You need to take things in context versus throwing stuff out. In ports like Rome, you need to get out early (whether on a shore ex or on your own) if you want to get to the city (which is over an hour away) and back. So, yes, the vast majority of people are trying to get off early and not lounge around the ship. 

Sounds like a good reason to just avoid crappy itineraries.  Anything that makes me have to fight the mob to get off early ain't worth it.  That doesn't sound like a fun holiday.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, Ellis1138 said:

 

That's why I simply booked an NCL excursion for Isafjordur. While the dock is supposed to be ready, if it's not, then I want to be able to be refunded for NCL's last minute decision to not dock there.

Sounds like a good decision. And you can monitor earlier cruises than yours (unless of course yours is the first one) and see if they do dock there. If so, you can cancel your more expensive NCL excursion and book a local one. I would check out the local ones so that I knew what I wanted before the time came that I knew for sure whether the ship had been docking there.

 

We, unfortunately booked with a local tour operator before it became evident that the ship was not docking there at any time. 😒 And it really sounded like it was going to be a fun tour. 

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You need to take things in context versus throwing stuff out. In ports like Rome, you need to get out early (whether on a shore ex or on your own) if you want to get to the city (which is over an hour away) and back. So, yes, the vast majority of people are trying to get off early and not lounge around the ship. 

And not just Rome. There is also Paris, Florence, Athens and maybe more I don't know about because we have not been there. (note have not been to Paris on a cruise, but was there on a land trip). I guess I should add London. We did not have to get there from the port, but stayed in London before sailing (both from Dover and Southampton).

 

for @ChiefMateJRK, hardly crap ports.

[BirdTravels]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And not just Rome. There is also Paris, Florence, Athens and maybe more I don't know about because we have not been there. (note have not been to Paris on a cruise, but was there on a land trip). I guess I should add London. We did not have to get there from the port, but stayed in London before sailing (both from Dover and Southampton).

 

for @ChiefMateJRK, hardly crap ports.

Yeah. I just wanted to point out that the comments made are by the poster not responsive to the OP’s specific question. Some folks want to continually make jokes and make light of the OP’s legitimate question. Others are trying to help. 

[ontheweb]

10 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yeah. I just wanted to point out that the comments made are by the poster not responsive to the OP’s specific question. Some folks want to continually make jokes and make light of the OP’s legitimate question. Others are trying to help. 

And I should add Edinburg. Scotland to that list.

 

Really some of the most fascinating cities in the world are a cruise and a tender away.

[N-8]

We did a similar cruise a few years ago and you need to keep in mind Monaco is a bit aways from the port. If you do it on your own, make sure you understand their "guarantees" to get you back in time. It was our first European cruise but there was a transit strike in Rome so all excursions there were cancelled. We did a private tour instead and decided to do private tours for the rest of the cruise due to the price. For the Monaco trip (which we loved), there was an accident on the way back and we made it back with maybe 5 minutes to spare so it was very stressful. The good thing was that many of the NCL excursions were late coming back too because they were impacted by the accident as well but you may not be that lucky. If there is a practice, I would imagine the roads are going to be even busier. Ever since that situation, if the destination is a distance from the port, we just book with NCL. 

[BirdTravels]

3 minutes ago, N-8 said:

We did a similar cruise a few years ago and you need to keep in mind Monaco is a bit aways from the port. If you do it on your own, make sure you understand their "guarantees" to get you back in time. It was our first European cruise but there was a transit strike in Rome so all excursions there were cancelled. We did a private tour instead and decided to do private tours for the rest of the cruise due to the price. For the Monaco trip (which we loved), there was an accident on the way back and we made it back with maybe 5 minutes to spare so it was very stressful. The good thing was that many of the NCL excursions were late coming back too because they were impacted by the accident as well but you may not be that lucky. If there is a practice, I would imagine the roads are going to be even busier. Ever since that situation, if the destination is a distance from the port, we just book with NCL. 

Yup. The most recent public bashing of NCL was after a couple did an independent excursion that was planned to be back just before all aboard. The excursion ran an hour late “because of traffic”’which, miraculously only impacted their excursion and not any of NCL’s. And they got left behind. They immediately went to CNN. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

for @ChiefMateJRK, hardly crap ports.

I said, "crappy itineraries."

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I said, "crappy itineraries."

If someone picks an itinerary, it is not "crappy" for them if it is what they want.

[Travelling2Some]

There always seems to be a "great divide" between cruisers that go just to cruise and those that are primarily sight seers.  The first group are happy to float around anywhere (usually the Caribbean) and just relax. They repeat itineraries over and over and they enjoy all-inclusive resorts too.  If ports are skipped on one cruise its no biggie to them because they figure they will see it next time (if they wake up in time).  Our very best friends are like that.  We love 'em but we don't travel with them, lol.  Cruisers to whom the itinerary is very important have signed on to see the world - or at least the sights in those ports. 

 

 Our favorite thing is exploring so  We pick places of historic and cultural interest that we have never been to.  We avoid duplicating trips because we have done our research and saw what we wanted to the first time.  We are retired and don't travel to relax since we do that at home for free. 

 

Sight-seeing types are not "nervous" simply because they want to get off the boat promptly.  I don't call people who want to sleep late and eat breakfast on vacation "lazy gluttons" even though it's not my preference.  There are different kinds of cruisers.  Nothing wrong with either group.

Edited May 12 by Travelling2Some

[Travelling2Some]

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yup. The most recent public bashing of NCL was after a couple did an independent excursion that was planned to be back just before all aboard. The excursion ran an hour late “because of traffic”’which, miraculously only impacted their excursion and not any of NCL’s. And they got left behind. They immediately went to CNN. 

The odd thing was that they seemed to be well-traveled.  However, they went hours away from the port with a completely unvetted, fly-by-night tour guide and they did this in a very chancy country that rarely sees a cruise ship.  Very foolish on several counts.  Anyone who cruises regularly knows that the media coverage was very unfair to the cruise line.

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

If someone picks an itinerary, it is not "crappy" for them if it is what they want.

Sure, if they "want" to have to join the stampede early in the morning because they otherwise won't have enough time to enjoy the port.  

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Sight-seeing types are not "nervous" simply because they want to get off the boat promptly.

Some are.🤣

[The Traveling Man]

21 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Well, I guess going around some velvet theater ropes might be "sneaking."  I wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't be shocked if many/most of the nervous types would.

I have noticed on several cruises that NCL stationed a security officer near the stairs to turn back any line jumpers.

[Travelling2Some]

1 hour ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Some are.🤣

Haha, true enough!  But the "nervous" part generally kicks in when trying to get back on time!  I must be mellowing out and getting old cause I just canned an excursion I wanted to take because there was too much potential drama.

Edited May 13 by Travelling2Some

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

There always seems to be a "great divide" between cruisers that go just to cruise and those that are primarily sight seers.  The first group are happy to float around anywhere (usually the Caribbean) and just relax. They repeat itineraries over and over and they enjoy all-inclusive resorts too.  If ports are skipped on one cruise its no biggie to them because they figure they will see it next time (if they wake up in time).  Our very best friends are like that.  We love 'em but we don't travel with them, lol.  Cruisers to whom the itinerary is very important have signed on to see the world - or at least the sights in those ports. 

 

 Our favorite thing is exploring so  We pick places of historic and cultural interest that we have never been to.  We avoid duplicating trips because we have done our research and saw what we wanted to the first time.  We are retired and don't travel to relax since we do that at home for free. 

 

Sight-seeing types are not "nervous" simply because they want to get off the boat promptly.  I don't call people who want to sleep late and eat breakfast on vacation "lazy gluttons" even though it's not my preference.  There are different kinds of cruisers.  Nothing wrong with either group.

Well said, but there is one thing I would disagree with. There are ports that you definitely cannot see everything you want from one cruise visit. Rome is an example. And there are ports where there are multiple towns available, so for example, one time you explore Nice and the next time Cannes.

[Travelling2Some]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Well said, but there is one thing I would disagree with. There are ports that you definitely cannot see everything you want from one cruise visit. Rome is an example. And there are ports where there are multiple towns available, so for example, one time you explore Nice and the next time Cannes.

Totally.  We do land trips to places that need multiple days instead of cruising.  I try to book "one way" cruises whenever possible too.  That way we can spend multiple days in the embarkation and debarkation regions.