Getting off the ship quickly

[Ubermann]

I'm a first time cruiser and I've probably been doing too much research for my own good. I've decided to book private shore excursions during our 02/27 Atlantica cruise to avoid travelling with large groups from the ship.

 

However, I've read that excursions booked through the ship get priority if the ship has to tender (is that the right term?) to the dock. I dread the thought of waiting in line with 2,500 other people while our private tour departs without us.

 

Is it worth booking an excursion on the ship just to get off the ship quickly and then take the private excursion? I don't mind paying for a ship tour that I don't take if I can avoid lining up to get off the ship.

 

I've received some great advice on these boards and I'd love to hear what people think about this.

 

Thanks,

 

Ted

[joschus]

Hi Ted,

 

We just got off the Atlantica and did tender to shore when we were in Grand Cayman. Yes, they do get our tour group off the ship first, but that may have been because we were on a very early tour in the morning. Regardless, the tender was huge and I didn't talk to anyone who had to wait in a long line to get off.

 

The other BIG advantage of booking through the ship is that if a tour is late getting back to the ship, the ship will wait. If you are on your own tour - better get to the airport and fly to the next stop! Any more questions - my email is campstcroix@yahoo.com

 

John

[cruisy]

Ted:

 

Private tour companies usually know what the tender situation will be. A few things you can do in advance are: look up how many other ships will be in port, and when they are arriving, this way if there are passengers from other ships who might be on the tour with you, you'd know if they are already going to be there waiting for you. We were combined with another ship for a Grand Cayman tour, and we arrived at about the same time, but there were a few who arrived on a later tender. There are different tender situations at each port. GC tenders take about three hundred people at a time, and are quick. Belize tenders are quite small (45 passengers) and the tender takes about 40 minutes. As I mentioned, these tenders are operating every day, and the private tours know that if they want to get paid they should wait for you. If you do take a private tour, I'd make sure you are returning to the tender/pier area quite a while before the last tender. It is very stressfull to be worried about missing the ship.

 

Here is my tendering advice: If the ship's paper says the first tender is at 8:00 am, you tell your family to be there in line at 7:30. There will already be a line of people waiting for the tenders/tender tickets. On our last cruise my family was there 45 minutes early, sitting in the atrium area. I left for five minutes, came back and there was a huge line in front of them (they had their backs to it). Crowds can sneak up on you on these ships. The other advice: on the same cruise we were told that if we wanted to get off the ship after 11:00 am (Belize) we would not need a tender ticket. We were ready at 8:00, but weren't leaving untill later. At 10:00 they stopped giving out tender tickets. We showd up at 11:30 and were told, sorry, way behind, you won't get off untill at least 12:30. So get the tickets as soon as you can, you can use them when you are ready, you don't have to get them and leave immediately.

[Ubermann]

Sorry for my ignorance. A ship only tenders if there is no room at the dock? How easy is it to get off the ship if it is docked? Is there a mad rush to get off? How soon after docking can you disembark? How can I find out what other ships will be in port? Why is the sky blue?

[Silver Anniv]

LOL:p

you definitely have alot of questions!

I had a problem with my private tour in Grand Cayman last year. The weather was bad and we couldn't tender at the regular port, they tended us south of Georgetown in Spots Bay (sp?). They do let their own tours off first and I waited for over an hour packed in a little area with about 1,000 people waiting our turn to get off. I missed my excursion time, but when I got there they told me it was cancelled anyway because of weather. So we ended up just walking and touring the city, told my husband that's a good reason to come back! (Grand Cayman tenders only no ships dock) Most ports have docks so no tendering isn't necessary and, yes, you can just walk off the ship anytime and we didn't run into any problems getting off the ship at the rest of the ports. As for how soon you can get off the ship, depends; the daily paper you receive each day will let you know what time you can disembark.

I sure wish I could see a blue sky, so gray and cloudy here, haven't seen blue sky in awhile:(

HAVE A GREAT CRUISE:)

[cruisy]

Ok, here's why it takes a little while to get off. You have an ID card with a magnetic strip. As you board the first time, they run your card through a little machine and it pops up your info and takes a quickie photo of you. When it's time to get off the ship, each person has to have their card "dinged" in the machine, and they verify pictures/names/whatever. Then, when you re-board it's all done again, to make sure you're the same person getting back on. At this time you also have to go through airport type security. There are usually two or three of these machines, but you still get people who don't have their card out, and sometimes someone's card doesn't work.

[cruisy]

Bye the way, it was like this on HAL and RCI. If somehow it's different on Costa, please don't flame me. The whole Costa experience seems to be shrouded in mystery.

[Ubermann]

Thanks so much for everyone's advice. I don't know why planning this trip has me so befuddled. I guess because most of our vacations are a little "off the beaten path" so they are by necessity loose and flexible. There just seem to be so many "rules" around cruising. Aside from the obvious schedule concerns, you have to know how to dress, when to tip, where to line up, when you can go, when you can't go.

 

I'm trying hard to calm down and remember this is a vacation... relax... breathe...

 

Arrrgh!

[daisy-mae]

Relax.....no need to fret.

 

You will probably love the ship so much that you will be in no hurry to go ashore. Although we docked at 8 a.m., we were rarely off the boat before 9, since we wanted to take the time to have a good breakfast - usually up on deck, outside, near the pool.

 

In Cozumel and Grand Cayman, we went back onboard for lunch, and then ventured out again. We never felt rushed, and aside from the day when we were taking an excursion, there was never a line-up to get either off or on the ship.

 

We found that the only time we looked at our watches was late in the afternoon, to make sure we would not be late for supper ( first seating ), or when there was an activity that we wanted to take part in. Oh, I almost forgot the life-boat drill. Make sure you aren't in the gym locker room just before the drill starts -- I almost got locked in, as the doors close automatically, like on the Starship Enterprise... (just in case you needed something else to fret about...)

 

You're going to have a great time!

 

Linda