Private Excursions

Anyone book a private excursion, i.e non-HAL and end up missing connections with the ship? If so, how was it handled? A little concerned about booking long excursions thru a private party.

Anyone book a private excursion, i.e non-HAL and end up missing connections with the ship? If so, how was it handled? A little concerned about booking long excursions thru a private party.

I have been on more private excursions than I can count and have never missed the ship.

I do know one story in Italy of a highly reputed private tour company where due to accidents, they did miss the ship (the only time). The company put the tour participants up in a hotel and drove them to the next port. All they missed was a night on the ship.

Quite similar, actually to what HAL did when their private excursions missed the ship in a different port. Yes, HAL tours can miss the ship.

Things can happen on any cruise - ship can't hold anchor (tender port), waves, etc. force them to leave. A little story.....from when we were on the Prinsendam.....

In Monte Carlo the N Amsterdam was forced to leave everyone that was on shore (HAL tour or no) due to the winds and inability to hold anchor. Fortunately, the Prinsendam was docked and became very crowded when it made arrangements for all of those passengers. N Amsterdam returned later when the weather was better and the N Amsterdam passengers were tendered back to their ship.

The chance of missing a ship with a private excursion vendor is incredibly small. Microscopic.

We took our first one last cruise - marvelous and cheaper - taking another one and this one is longer but has great reviews on trip advisor - check it out there and with others and go with your gut. Took several cruises before we got brave enough.

Cannot count how many private excursions we have enjoyed. Never missed ship.

Selected our vendors carefully. Left as early as possible. Usually budgeted 2 hours extra to get back to the ship. One or twice less based on the port and the tour.

This is even less of a concern for us on certain European itineraries where we know that missing the ship may only mean a short train journey and a B&B or hotel.

The only time I would think twice about booking an independent tour is if the ship was about to sail off across the ocean - and perhaps without me. Then I would probably take a HAL excursion or a DIY one.

The chance of missing a ship with a private excursion vendor is incredibly small. Microscopic.

24 DEC 2017, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico, Oosterdam - All Aboard is 4:30 PM. At 4:25 PM, we were missing nine pax. The shorex mngr reported all his tours were back so we knew they were out independently. A ship-wide public area P/A announcement is made by the cruise director; no response; All involved cabins are called by telephone from the gangway; no response; A guest relations supervisor and a security guard are sent up to physically inspect the cabins; all are found empty. The captain has a high-speed run back to San Diego to think about

4:30 PM comes and goes; still nine missing; 4:45 PM comes and goes; 4:58 comes and goes; finally at 5:03 PM, the Puerto Vallarta port agent reports a zodiac inbound going to the dock behind the Oosterdam with a number of occupants frantically waving in an apparent attempt to get the ship's attention. Simultaneously, the officer on the aft mooring deck calls the bridge and gangway on his portable radio "this looks like our missing nine" As soon as the zodiac comes alongside the dock, out jump the nine, and they run all the way to the gangway, the last two having obvious difficulty in doing so. They just make it on Christmas Eve before the captain orders the gangway taken in and the shell door closed and secured. The nine were on a private excursion

In my experience, vendors are a little less reliable overall in the Caribbean/Mexico than in many other places. In the Caribbean and Mexico, where a lot of excursions or activities seem to involve a) drinking and b) small boats, I can see why there is a greater danger. ;)

Due to my extreme disappointment with the excursions offered by cruise lines, I have been getting around on my own or taking private tours in Europe since 2006, with at least one and sometimes two cruises per year.

I've never come close to missing the ship.

Edited to add: My experience also includes one cruise in Asia.

Anyone book a private excursion, i.e non-HAL and end up missing connections with the ship? If so, how was it handled? A little concerned about booking long excursions thru a private party.

I too would be interested in hearing the story of those that missed the ship. Many of the long time regulars have posted they never miss the ship which is great but not was was being asked.

Maybe they never made it back home!:eek:

Copper10-8 story is good reading for those that like to cut it close.

We did a private trip in St Thomas many years ago. It was to a local beach on the other side of the island. We accounted for extra time on our return. Unfortunately the tour operator was stuck in traffic to get us and the return was bumper to bumper. So a short couple of miles stretched into over an hour's trip. We did make it with very little time to spare.

I do know the daily programs handed out onboard at the ports include local port contacts for HAL. So if you are on a private tour and miss the boat, so to speak, you're supposed to contact them and it's all on your dime to get home.If you are on a sanctioned tour the ship waits or will get you back to it on their dime.

Dan

There was one time in Italy I was very thankful we were on a ship tour. The traffic came to a standstill for over an hour because of a car fire. Nobody could move, bumper to bumper. We were on our way back to the ship at the end of the day on a major road and truthfully didn't think we would get back in time, but thankful the ship knew where we were. There was no way to get out of that situation.

The times we have used private tours have only been after thoroughly checking them out and reading reviews.

The reputable private tour operators all know the contact information for all the cruise ships (and so should you for your own ship) and are quite willing to call them. I suspect that any ship would be hesitant to leave a number of pax behind, particularly if the tour operator calls explaining why they are delayed. Here is a personal experience in South America.

After a water tour which docked at another place than the cruise ship dock, the bus that was supposed to take us back to the ship did not appear. The tour operator immediately called the ship and also started arranging taxis (on his dime) to take us back to the ship. Luckily we got there a couple of minutes before departure, but the security crew were expecting us (they knew us all by name on this 67 day cruise) and the ship was clearly waiting. All ten of us were last aboard.

We have done lots of private group tours with other cruisers who have had much more experience than we have. No one had ever heard of a group being left behind as long as the tour operator contacted the ship or port agent if delayed. On the other hand, many "individual tours" or true private tours (a couple in a car with a guide) have been left behind.

Bottom line - select your tour operator carefully, go in a group, and contact the ship if delayed.

I am most interested in a private tour on the first day of a two day stop....and most interested in a ship's tour on the second day when the ship leaves early. Have been on a ship's excursion in Belize where one person did not follow directions and missed the boat/bus back to the tender. The rest of us waited for over an hour while the tour operator retrieved the errant guest and the last tender was delayed that long for one person who didn't follow directions on a ship's excursion. Gangway was raised as soon as we boarded. Have had whole ship wait two hours past sailing for a plane to get back to our Guatemala port on the Veendam from its excursion.

Had a very bad feeling one Easter Sunday doing Rome on our own when the train schedule was altered for the holiday. About 300 people were trying to get back to the ship and two scheduled trains didn't run. It looked like all of us were going to miss the ship. At the last minute an unscheduled train was added and we all literally ran from the station back to the ship. Never again on a holiday will I go on our own.

Only bad private excursions were on a Celebrity cruise when the roll call person didn't do a good job running the three Japan excursions. Every roll call excursion prior to that had been a good experience, some better than others. On this one, think an excurison to Mt. Fuji that never went to Mt. Fufi. I would gladly go back and pay more for the ship's excursion in that case. When people complained, the husband of the person who arranged the tour threatened to beat up the people who complained about not going to Mt. Fuji.

Bottom line, you take a chance with a private excursion, but a very small one if you book with a reputable company that has been vetted on Trip Advisor. The only roll call excursion I have organzied used the #1 provider in that port as rated by TA.

Our tablemates last year on the Zuiderdam told us about missing the ship on a previous cruise when they were in St. Thomas. Apparently they took it in stride and had a good time on the island for a couple of nights before flying back to Norfolk to meet the ship and retrieve their luggage. When they ran into people whom they had met on the ship, they found out about how bad the seas had been. They decided it was fortunate that they had missed the ship.

While I thought this was an excellent question to be asked on this board, and well more relevant that say wearing jeans in the Pinnacle, seem no one who missed the boat cares to reply. Or perhaps no one on this board has ever missed the boat?

But, be that as it may, it still is a valid question. So I have found one website that lists out what happens.

For the details OP go to:

https://cruisefever.net/03231-what-happens-when-you-miss-your-ship/

Hope that helps a bit.

never missed the boat

ship. In 2016 one port of call was Antwerp. We decided to skip Antwerp and took a train to the neighboring town of Ghent to see the Altarpieces. We were first off the ship and grabbed the first train to Ghent (about 1 hour away). Well we had a wonderful day touring and visiting Ghent and caught our scheduled train back with a good 2 hours before all aboard.

Well thats when things started to go casters up. It seemed that we were going a bit slow and about 20 minutes into the trip, an announcement comes over the speakers that is long. Well of course we understood none of it, but fortunately one of native travelers noticed our look of utter comprehension and translated the message for us. It seems this train is having issues and can not go faster than 30kph. Its going to limp into the next station, where another train headed to Antwerp will stop about 10 minutes after we arrive. We started doing time calculations and figure that we still be ok, as we get to Antwerp with at least 45 minutes left.

Lo and behold, the new train was a bit late and we got to Antwerp at 17:00, with all board at 17:30. We grabbed a cab immediately and had the drive take us to the port fast. I offered a large tip if he could get us there in 20 minutes, which he did. We boarded the ship at 17:25.

We were most worried about getting back on board, as the next 2 stops where tiny Channel islands. It probably would have taken 3 days until we could have re-joined the ship in Ireland.

But even with that close call, we are not deterred with private excursion, either on our own or with a group. Just be prepared and always have a plan to get to the next port.

Never missed, but have had a couple very close calls. Now I usually only do private tours on the first day of an overnight. However, like others I have only seen individuals or couples miss, not a larger private tour. One thing to be sure is always have the Port Agent contact information with you. One couple that missed our ship in, I think, Buenos Aires, would have been ok if they had contacted the agent. They almost made it!!!

Susan

I would like to add to this thread...

some organisers are really good. Have checked and double checked and asked a lot of questions.

Others just sign up.

A quick email to your organiser (and I always ask everyone on my tours to email me) will quickly reveal the facts. Ask any concerns you have and see if there are answers ;)

Just ask and if there are answers, then it is usually good. Most basic questions have been asked, but if you have a specific one, the organiser should have no problem reaching out to the guide if they don't have the answer.

And the guide should be happy to answer ;). JMO though.

I'm sorry if this is a long post but being an organizer on a truly private tour is not an easy task. There are worries, fears and watching the watch always. It's not a 1, 2, 3 job. It takes time, effort and emails. It can be a hugely superior experience but it can take a lot of work in the ports that are not frequented by cruise ships.