Logistics of Ship-Sponsored Shore Excursion Guarantee

[Slythgal]

We cruised for the first time on the Norwegian Sky this May. I knew it was possible to do shore excursions cheaper by not going through the cruise line but, as a new cruiser, I wanted that extra layer of security that the ship would not leave without us. However, something happened on our very first excursion that really made me question how cruise line's apply that guarantee. I thought I would post the scenario and see what everyone's thoughts on it are.

 

We took a waterfalls excursion through NCL in Puerto Plata that was supposed to return almost an hour before all-aboard time. It actually returned 5 minutes before all aboard time and it dropped us back off at the very far end of the port - not where it originally picked us up at the top of the port. The walk back took a good 10 minutes and that was with us hoofing it. I was beyond stressed the entire time! I was thinking that the cruise line's obligation to wait for us ended as soon as the excursion provider dropped us off and that the ship would leave without us because of the length of the walk back.

 

In the end, I didn't need to worry because there was already a very long line to get back on board. But it was a nerve-wracking 10 minutes!

 

Which leads me to my questions - how do cruise lines know that one of their excursions is late? And what counts as late? Do they allow enough time for folks to reasonably make it back to the ship? I would sincerely hope they allow some leeway but there are so many horror stories on the internet that I'm just not sure.

[BOB999]

37 minutes ago, Slythgal said:

Which leads me to my questions - how do cruise lines know that one of their excursions is late? And what counts as late? Do they allow enough time for folks to reasonably make it back to the ship? I would sincerely hope they allow some leeway but there are so many horror stories on the internet that I'm just not sure.

 

Cruise lines are in communication with the excursion operators and will know when cruise-line sponsored excursions are late.

 

I had one in Panama (a ferry ride through the Panama Canal) that was ~90 minutes late past departure time and we were dropped off literally at the gangway.  Of course we had what I term as the Senior Officers Tap Dance Party awaiting us and we left within 5 minutes of the last bus arriving.  We met the ships Chief Revenue Officer at an event and he told us the excursion was always late; however, it was too important to cut.

[CruiserBruce]

You scan on and off the ship. If they look at a list of people who haven't scanned back on, they can see you are on a ship's excursion.

 

By the way, there are times when the ship can't wait for late people,  even those on excursions. Not frequent,  but it has happened. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

Regardless of what a cruise line’s advertising may say about not leaving without passengers on one of the ship’s tours that returns late, the truth is found in the fine print of your cruise Ticket Contract and Terms & Conditions. 

I’ve yet to see or hear of a cruise line that truly “guarantees” the performance of its contracted services (which can include ship’s shore excursions, pre/post cruise flights they arrange, etc). As the old saying goes: “Time and Tide wait for no man” (or woman). All sorts of things from weather to sea conditions to port labor issue and ship traffic can (and do) impact the ship’s time flexibility.

And let’s not forget that the person with the final say about any changes to port arrival/departure times is the Port Captain (not the ship captain).

[mom says]

1 hour ago, Slythgal said:

I was beyond stressed the entire time! I was thinking that the cruise line's obligation to wait for us ended as soon as the excursion provider dropped us off and that the ship would leave without us because of the length of the walk back.

Obviously you thought wrong. Why would a ship wait for their excursion guests to be dropped off at a port entrance, and then leave before they reboarded?

 

Every ship has a manned excursion department.They don't just send people off and then forget about them. Part of their job is to know when excursions have returned. What is late? Any time after the all aboard time which is published in the daily newsletter and is posted prominently at the gangway as you exit the ship. If a late return is likely to happen, they stay in contact with the provider, and provide the necessary information to the bridge.

 

The ship will wait as long as possible,but depending on other circumstances,  can and will leave a ship excursion behind if they can no longer extend their stay. In that case, the cruise line would be responsible for getting those guests to the next port to meet up with the ship. Guests who were left beh8nd, but were not on a ship excursion? They're  on there own.

[ontheweb]

On our second cruise, we were obviously going to get back very late from an excursion from Cozumel, Aztec ruins and then swimming. I was really stressed out, but then was assured by one of the assistant cruise directors (there were a few of them) on the excursion that the ship was going to wait for us.

[clo]

2 hours ago, BOB999 said:

We met the ships Chief Revenue Officer at an event and he told us the excursion was always late; however, it was too important to cut.

It would be 'nice' had you been told that. Sheesh. I'm a punctuality freak btw.