Private excursions...making it back to the ship

[misssea]

I was just wondering if anyone has ever missed the boat due to problems from booking private excursions instead of booking through Carnival?

[retiredldo]

Missea, I have seen folks miss the boat but in most cases they were off doing their own thing, We have always taken our own excursions, booking other than the ship and have never had a problem Remember the folks running the tours know the routine better than you, they do it daily weekly etc. It is to their benefit to get everyone back on time, as failure to do so and the word will get out very quickly that they are not a good place to book a tour with

 

regards

 

Pete

[derf5585]

I worry that the private operator would say, "And what will you give me to get you back to the ship on time"

[retiredldo]

Derf, I guess one can worry about that, but why in most cases they are running multiple tours and have to be back on time to take the next ones out. Again up to the individual and I am sure they are the same folks that worry about not making an early flight after the ship returns Oh well

 

Pete

[piggs]

I was on the Conquest last week and the last tender to the ship is at 3:00. At 4:30 we were still in port waiting for 6 people. I would like to know when the cut-off really is for leaving without people. I would bet they were not on a ship sponsored tour as they were calling overhead for them to report to the purser's office. If they were with Carnival wouldn't they know there was a late tour? I was very amazed that we waited and that the folks on the tender were waving and laughing as they pulled up along the ship.

Anyone know the "rules"

[derf5585]

piggs

 

It probably has to do with Cruise time to the next port. Or port regulations. Or what kind of day the Captain is having.

[OSUcruiser]

We were in Belize a few weeks ago on the Glory and did cave tubing with x-stream....well when I booked we were one hour difference (I think) and when we cruised (after daylight savings) we were 2 hours different. Anyways..the last tender was at 4:15 and at 3:30 we were an hour away from the ship! It was a panicky 45 minutes and we pulled into the tender area at 4:15....we ran to the tender to find a line of people waiting to get back. We were LUCKY because it could have been worse! ALways tell the private charters of the time you need to be back!!!

 

Karen

[cruztime]

Hi,

 

The rule is to be back on board at least 30 minutes prior to the scheduled sailing. I have heard stories of folks being left behind but have never personally witnessed it. If you are on a Carnival tour, the ship is required to wait. The Carnival rep is always in contact with the ship. If I take a non-Carnival sponsored tour, I try to get an early tour to make sure I don't run into that situation. But, I'm one of those people who have a phobia about being late for anything. You do have to be careful about time changes. Also, if you are tendered in, keep in mind that Carnival tours that are early have first dibs on the tenders. So time your tours accordingly. Hope this helped.

[HOSKI]

These tour operators make their living off of cruise passengers and if they did not know when to have you back or caused someone to miss the ship then they would be out of business. I always email and confirm times with the tour operators and also question ship to shore time. Prebooking online or from one of the tour operators right at the pier should solve any time issues. Of course there will always be unforeseen situations and your cruise insurance will cover those. As of yet, we have never missed the ship.

 

The lates are usually not on organized tours they have either gone on their own or just hired a taxi.

[yarlenna]

Most of the time you should be OK IF

1. The tour operater is on the same time as the ship (You do change time zones during the cruise.) or is aware of ship's time.

2. You have no mechanical breakdowns

3. You have allowed sufficient time to take care of things like tendering.

 

It is a risk. It is usually a very small risk.

If you are on a ship sponsored tour and there is a mechanical breakdown etc - you WILL make it back before the ship leaves because it will wait for you. If you miss the ship, you get to pay to fly to the next port and rejoin your cruise there.

[cruiseco]

Of course there will always be unforeseen situations and your cruise insurance will cover those. As of yet, we have never missed the ship.QUOTE]

 

Not necessarily. The reason for the delay would have to be under the policy's list of covered reasons. If your tour bus driver gets lost and you miss the ship you probably won't be covered. If you are on a tour and break your ankle you will be covered.

[4mycats]

We were on the Conquest a few weeks ago & ran into a slight time problem. We had booked our own private excursion to Stingray City through a very highly reccommended company. We left town at 11:15 am & were supposed to be back at the terminal before the last tender to the ship at 3:00pm. We didn't make it back by 3:00. We ran late & then our tour bus got stuck in rush hour traffic. We did make the last tender, along with a lot of other fellow cruisers at 3:15 (may have been a little later...I was a nervous wreck...not looking at my watch by then, too busy watching to see if the ship was moving!). After we reboarded the ship, there was a call for 6 people over the pa system. They called those folks for quite a while (I still wonder if they made it back to the ship). I guess you could say that Carnival gives you a little leeway...but I wouldn't want to push it too much. Book your private excursions as early as possible & with a reputable company.

[tef43]

I saw it happen in Martinique (ugh) a few years back. A couple missed the ship as they were off on a "private tour" of the island. They didn't miss it by much, but "close" only counts in horseshoes, handgrenades and tactical nuclear weapons.

 

They were able to hitch a ride back to the ship, at no small cost, on the pilot boat.

 

The Captain announced over the PA exactly *why* we were stopping. Quite a few people were on deck to "welcome" the unfortunate couple back on board. I would not have wanted to be them for the rest of the voyage. :p

[palmtre2]

As others have said here, the tour operators must get you back to the ship on time to keep up their reputation (I tend to use operators who get glowing reviews on these & other boards). Our cave tube guide Charles (Xstream - very reputable) locked the keys in the van and a few of us were a little nervous because time was tight anyway but it turned out just fine. Charles felt so bad he probably would have driven us to our next port.

[babs275]

I hate to say this but... add these couple of stories about X-Stream cutting it too close to my story (bus with tranny problems plus 2 funeral processions if you see my other post) and I would say that despite the glowing reports about X-stream and Richard and company - they just are not paying close enough attention right now to deserve to stay on the "Cruise Critic Recommendation" list.

[pholter]

Is there an actual "Recommendation List" somewhere or it's just all over the place in our postings??? I hope I've missed something really great and easy that will answer all my excursion worries...

[babs275]

Sorry - I guess that was a bit mis-leading - there isn't an "official" list but if you hang out on the ports of call boards there are several names for each ports that are often recommended.

[pholter]

Thanks for clearing that up. I do love the POC board and wished more folks contributed there as well. I'd love to see a recommendations listing on this board though- one that we could rank when we've used them, etc. Hmmmm- who's ear could we put a bug in on this one?? Is it a possible addition?

[palmtre2]

I'd still recommend X-stream, our ship got in late and "to err is human" no one should be held out to dry for anything that could happen to any one of us on a normal day i.e. a vehicle breakdown or a funeral procession or locking the keys in the car. They were polite, informative, cheaper than the ship's tour and we had a blast.

[babs275]

The only problem I had with the whole thing was that I felt Richard should have been aware of the time and where we were at - it shouldn't have been one of the guests calling his attention to the fact that we were 30 miles out, going 30mph and had only 45 minutes to make the last tender. It was his responsibility to ensure our timely return. He has made that trip countless times before - he should have been aware there was something wrong and already taking steps to correct it.

[mirrajay]

I have heard so many differing opinions on whether the ship time changes with time zones. Some say it doenst matter - the ship will always be on the time zone of the orgininal departure city, other say it will depend on where you are at the moment.

 

Does anyone know for sure??

 

Thanks!

Carey

[derf5585]

mirrajay

 

I would go or call the "Tour Desk" and ask them how time zones are handled.