Spending Night in Port Off the Ship

[Cruising Blue]

Hi, I am fairly new to cruising and am wondering if this is do-able, can you spend the night off the ship? We have two days in Rome (arr 7 am day one, leave 7 pm day 2). We are wondering if it is allowed to spend the night in the city instead of traveling 90 minutes or so back to the ship for the night, then travelling into the city again the next day. Other than the cost, are there restrictions or other reasons not to do this?

 

Thanks

[Keith1010]

My suggestion is to have your TA contact the cruise line to see if this is OK.

 

Keith

[babsinpbg]

We recently sailed on the Legend Western Med. When we docked at Livorno overnight, we took the train to Lucca and stayed overnight in a hotel. Just brought a change of clothes and toothbrushes in a backpack. Several others we met spent the night in Florence to avoid the loss of back and forth travel time both days. We let our cabin steward know we'd be out overnight, and that was it. No problem. So glad we did that as we were really able to use both days on land to the fullest.

 

Have a great trip.

[dbh62ark]

It sounds like a good plan to me, but when this came up on the Celebrity board recently, Celebrity has advised passengers that this is illegal under the Italian Carbotage Law. I have no idea how that is policed, but I can tell you from cruising Europe every year that we have personally observed the ship's personnel reporting the names of those who didn't return to the ship to the local port authorities. I think it's a great idea to save time commuting back and forth to the ship to allow more time in Rome, so just FYI.

 

Have a great cruise,

Donna

[Nonna and Papa]

One our eastern Med cruise last month on Celebrity, we overnighted three times, and each time an announcement was made as we docked, that the gangway would be open for 24 hours as a convenience to the passengers (their phrasing, not mine).

 

Contact your cruise line, although you may recieve conflicting answers. But as mentioned, should you decide to overnight off the ship, just make sure that your cabin steward at the very least, is aware of your plans. And most important of all, return to the ship in plenty of time to make the sailing!

 

Mary

[Cruising Blue]

Thank you for your experiences. I had a feeling that I had read there might be a "law" that would restrict this practice, so I am glad to know that many people do it.

[Cruising Blue]

We recently sailed on the Legend Western Med. When we docked at Livorno overnight, we took the train to Lucca and stayed overnight in a hotel. Just brought a change of clothes and toothbrushes in a backpack. Several others we met spent the night in Florence to avoid the loss of back and forth travel time both days. We let our cabin steward know we'd be out overnight, and that was it. No problem. So glad we did that as we were really able to use both days on land to the fullest.

 

Have a great trip.

 

Thanks again. I love Lucca. We stayed there a couple of days and the city is pretty interesting.

 

Kay

[Cruising Blue]

One our eastern Med cruise last month on Celebrity, we overnighted three times, and each time an announcement was made as we docked, that the gangway would be open for 24 hours as a convenience to the passengers (their phrasing, not mine).

 

Mary, were any of your stops in Italy? Thanks

 

Kay

[claims cruiser]

We did the exact same thing that you are planning in Rome. The ship docked, we were on the 08:02 train to Rome (the station is a 15 minute walk from the main gate at the port) and stayed the night.

 

Very easy.

[Nonna and Papa]

Yes, we flew into Rome for a pre cruise stay, and then sailed from Civitavecchia to Naples. The rest of our itinerary was: Santorini (although we arrived there, but were not cleared to tender in because of choppy seas), Rhodes (overnight because of missing Santorini), Cyprus, Alexandria (Cairo and Giza) Egypt, Kusadasi (overnight), Istanbul (overnight), and Athens. We were scheduled for four sea days during the 14 days, but again, because of not being allowed to tender into Santorini, we ended up with an additional half day at sea as we sailed to Rhodes.

 

It was a wonderful itinerary and cruise.

 

Mary

[janellmartin]

We overnighted in Florence. Just booked a hotel on our own. We were on Legend of the Seas and the concierge said we didn't even need to advise them we wouldn't be back for the night. However, do take your passport as you'll need it to check into your hotel. We hadn't taken our off the ship, but they accepted our U.S. driver's license as ID.

[Steph27]

As long as you have 2 days in the same city you can of course spend the night ashore. You just need to notify the cruise line ahead of time for permission. If however you want to spend the night ashore and join the ship in the next port you cannot do this while you are still in the same country. Cabotage laws restrict cruise passengers from getting of the ship in one port and getting on in another within the same country. If there is another country in between then it would be ok. Hope this makes sense!

[Cruising Blue]

As long as you have 2 days in the same city you can of course spend the night ashore. You just need to notify the cruise line ahead of time for permission. If however you want to spend the night ashore and join the ship in the next port you cannot do this while you are still in the same country. Cabotage laws restrict cruise passengers from getting of the ship in one port and getting on in another within the same country. If there is another country in between then it would be ok. Hope this makes sense!

 

This clears this up for me, thanks

 

Kay

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

The ship doesn't know whether you're out partying all night or staying in a hotel. It shouldn't matter to them. Good advice though about at least informing your cabin steward of your plans so he/she doesn't report you missing.

 

BobK/Orlando