Float plane Ketchikan and tight timeline

We booked a float plane excursion for 6 directly with the company and not through the ship in Ketchikan. The excursion is from 8am- noon and our ship is departing at 1:30pm. Company claims they will have us back by 12:15. Are we cutting this to close and risking missing the ship which will not wait for us since it is not one of their excursions?

Anyone have any experience with this close timeline?

We booked a float plane excursion for 6 directly with the company and not through the ship in Ketchikan. The excursion is from 8am- noon and our ship is departing at 1:30pm. Company claims they will have us back by 12:15. Are we cutting this to close and risking missing the ship which will not wait for us since it is not one of their excursions?

Anyone have any experience with this close timeline?

A group on our recent cruise was booked on a 3:00 to 5:00 Misty Fjord Float Plane trip. The Radiance was to depart at 6:00 pm. All aboard was scheduled for 5:30. Island Wings guaranteed they would be fine.

We saw the group on the ship the next day so I believe it worked. The vendors know the ship timetables well and I am sure you have plenty of time.

Steve

I'd be fine with that. Honestly, the main worry with getting back on time is traffic or breakdowns. You won't have a traffic jam in the air. If there is a breakdown.....well, you aren't making it back to the ship anyways. Sometimes I've had excursions take longer than expected as people linger at places, or something takes longer than expected, but again, that won't be a problem with a floatplane. They only put so much fuel in the plane, so you can only be gone for so long! We had about 1.5 hours before all aboard with our floatplane tour. We were back exactly on time, and had them drop us for at creek street for a 20 minute walk through before walking back to the ship. I would book it. Talk to the company and ask their advice. With social media, they know they are in big trouble if someone misses the ship and complains to the world, so as long as they think you will be back in time, go for it!

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We booked a float plane excursion for 6 directly with the company and not through the ship in Ketchikan. The excursion is from 8am- noon and our ship is departing at 1:30pm. Company claims they will have us back by 12:15. Are we cutting this to close and risking missing the ship which will not wait for us since it is not one of their excursions?

Anyone have any experience with this close timeline?

It is a few minutes by road, from the ships to the float plane docks. You have fully disclosed your port time with the vendor? The established vendors know what they are doing and how to schedule. You can trust their business standards. It's up to YOUR "level of acceptance" how you wish to proceed. Nothing is going to be 100%.