Caribbean Princess- what time off ship in Bar Harbor??

Our itinerary says the ship will arrive in Bar Harbor at 7am. We are planning on booking the Ollie Trolley 2.5 hour tour. Would a 10am tour be too early. I am not sure if we will be able to get off the ship in time for the tour. They also offer an 11am...Just trying to figure out which would be better to pre-book.

CC member Radio is doing one of his live postings for his current C/NE cruise. He is doing it on another cruise line and he departed Bar Harbor yesterday. His cruise ship anchored at 7:00am and the first excursion passengers started tendering in at 7:30am.

I don't think there are any major differences in the process of tendering between the cruise lines. I think a 10:00am tour would be OK.

Here is his thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1461649 . Bar Harbor starts with post #216.

SBtS

HI , people said there is free bus ( or shuttle) to Acadia Nat'l park, where

do you catch this, and how often does it run. I was about to join a tour,

but "free" is always welcome.

thanks for your help

If you were reading CC member's Radio live thread on his C/NE cruise, I did provide the link for the bus in his thread.

But here is the link for the Island Explorer: http://exploreacadia.com/index.htm IE is a free public bus service that has 8 routes in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island. This is a seasonal service that runs from mid-June to Columbus Day, observed. This is NOT a tour bus; there are no tour guides on board the bus giving a running commentary so you have to do your homework before boarding. Also, the bus does NOT go to the top of Cadillac Mountain. To do that, a cruise ship excursion is required or a tour with either of the independent tour companies the serve Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.

The buses are fit with bicycle carries, 3 front and 3 rear. There is also a Bicycle Express that includes a bicycle trailer that gives easy access from the BH Village Green to the ANP Carriage Road at Echo Lake.

Most buses can be boarded at the BH Village Green which is about a 5-7 minute walk from the tender dock.

SBtS

thanks for the clarification. Since this is my first time to Bar harbor, i think

I will join a tour then because I really do not know anything about the

place. I found one for about $27/$28 . I think that seems fair

We were on the Caribbean Princess last week and we were off the tender by 8:50 for our 9:00 tour.

We also cruised on the Caribbean Princess this summer and did Oli's tour in Bar Harbor. We were off the ship before 9 a.m. and had time to stop for a bluebery muffin before the tour. You will have plenty of time.