GCT Check-in without documents

[thuyronald]

Hello,

 

I will be leaving home on my Europe trip 16 days before meeting up in Amsterdam for my GCT river cruise.

 

GCT standard policy (according to their pamphlet) of mailing out the final cruise documents is 10 days before the trip departure date. I've called customer service and told them that I would need the documents much sooner than the 10 days because of my much earlier flight overseas. The person on the phone said I wouldn't need it since I am not doing airfare with GCT and that I would only need to show my passport when I get on the ship to check-in.

 

My question is this: has anyone ever done the check-in on any of the GCT without their final cruise documents?

I rather be safe than sorry when it comes to these kind of things. If just showing up with your passport is okay to check-in, then I won't worry too much about this. Obviously, I would rather have my documents in my hands before leaving for my trip, but it doesn't seem like GCT would mail them to me sooner.

 

Has anyone received their documents much sooner than the 10 days before departure?

 

Thanks for any help in this matter.

 

Twee

[JerseyGem]

We booked a GCT river cruise a year ago at the last minute , and I mean LAST MINUTE, as in 7 days before departure. They did send us the air docs asap, but all the other documents were waiting for us when we returned. We didn't have anything "official" to show a GCT rep that we belonged on the ship. However, our names were on the roster, and our passports verified who we were. I think I carried every scrap of paper that we received from them plus our notes of phone calls, showing names and dates, etc- all just in case there was some issue. But no problems.

 

You will miss out on their wonderful information booklet, but you can easily catch up on board! (You will also receive detailed itinerary info onboard.) We did The Great Rivers of Europe

[thuyronald]

Thank you so much for replying. It's good to know that you didn't encounter any problems.

 

I'll printout my receipt of payment and reservation and hope that with my passport, I won't have any problem neither.

 

Thanks again.

 

Twee

[susan33]

We just received final info for a land trip. There is a booklet that has an itinerary, name tags, and luggage tags.

 

We have been on several river cruises, and people frequently arrive without name tags. The front desk is prepared to provide tags for people that do not have them.

 

Since you have your own flights, you will not need to worry about the luggage tags. When you arrive at the ship, the crew has a list and will write your cabin number on something on your suitcases and then deliver them to your cabin.

 

As long as you have your passport, you are good to go.

 

Have a nice trip.

[thuyronald]

Thank you Susan for the info.

 

Twee

[Calar]

I'm about in the same situation...I've asked them where I find the boat to board it...and they say it will be in the documents - duh, but if you don't have the documents!

 

So far...I am nervous about this trip...right out of the blue they changed the dates of the trip - thank God my wife has an understanding boss to give her additional vacation days on a "loan"...they seemed like they could care less...and same thing for trying to get more info from them...they messed up my airfare, so I dropped that out and made my own arrangements - same as you - leaving early!

[thuyronald]

Although we got a great deal with airfare, we needed to do our own flights because we have an ocean cruise prior to this GCT cruise. I had a hard time getting any information as to where my ship will be in Amsterdam, so I will have to survey the dock area and hope that our ship will be near the Central train station.

 

I think I will post a question on the forum and see if anyone has been on a cruise where the dock is not near the Central station.

 

Good luck to you on your cruise Calar.

 

Twee

[JerseyGem]

Hi Twee- We have docked twice in Amsterdam with GCT. Both times we were near the Central train station. Once, we were close enough to see the ship from the station and to walk back and forth (easily). But this last time (April), we were a little further down the docking area. We were past a large hotel (and a public facility- maybe a music venue)(that were right on the waterfront), so that we couldn't see the ship from the station. We did walk it (we're good walkers), but I certainly wouldn't try doing it with luggage LOL.

 

From the station, the taxi drivers will certainly know the way to the cruise ship docking area; they might even know where your specific ship is located. All the ships are clearly marked on their sides (I assume you know which ship?). There were a very few ships docking on the other side of the harbor, but none were GCT ships.

 

Can GCT give you the phone number of your ship? (You will receive it once you board, but it would be good to have it ahead of time!)

 

Good luck and enjoy your vacation.

[CPT Trips]

Call GCT (customer service, not sales) asap and ask them to give you the ship's phone number. If necessary, ask for a supervisor.

 

Once you get to Amsterdam, call the ship to find out where they are docked, or give the phone number to a taxi driver or dispatcher and ask that they call . . . the location should mean more to locals.

 

There great things about the Dutch - they are friendly, fluent in English and all seem to have cell phones!

 

From my limited experience, it seems that they don't know exactly where they will tie up until the ship gets to the destination . . . general area, but not the berth.

[webfoot]

Unfortunately we got a taxi driver that did not speak English at all ... he couldn't understand where the ship was docked, so we called our tour director and between Robert and the taxi driver conversing in several languages, we finally made it .... so, my recommendation is to only take a taxi with a driver that speaks 'good' English ...

[thuyronald]

Thank you everyone for your great advice and info. I will definitely get the phone number of the ship. Although I usually don't bring a cell phone on my vacations, I might just have it handy just in case.

 

Thanks again.

 

Twee

[letsgo39]

It is my understanding that even though all the river cruise ships dock in the vicinity of Central Station not even the Captain will know the exact location until they get there.I guess this is determined upon arrival in port. I am sure you will not have any problem finding your ship.If you are bring a cell phone make sure it will work in Europe. My Verizon phone does not so I just buy an International phone card which is even available at Wal Mart.In 5 trips to Europe I have only used it very few times,maybe 4.