How long will it take us to disembark the Dream in Nassau, St. Thomas, and St. Martin

[Palomino]

We are counting the days (6 more) until our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Dream!

 

How long will it take to disembark the ship at the various ports? Should we be stationed in a certain place early if we want to get off quickly, or are the lines relatively short? We want to maximize our port time.

 

Thank you!

[golfadj]

If you want to be offearly station yourself close to gangplank.

 

Otherwise might take a half hour.

 

Most of the delay is the ships photographers stopping people getting off the ship to take their picture.

[Kelane]

We are counting the days (6 more) until our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Dream!

 

How long will it take to disembark the ship at the various ports? Should we be stationed in a certain place early if we want to get off quickly, or are the lines relatively short? We want to maximize our port time.

 

Thank you!

 

We did this cruise in both January & November of this year (needless to say we loved it both times!) and never spent much time getting off the ship. Actually, no line to speak of. Stopping for pictures was the only hold up! The line getting back on was longer than getting off.

NOTE: This was our personal experience. I would hope it would be yours!

 

We had a private tour with Bernard in St. Marten and wandered off with no problems to meet him "as soon as possible".

 

I'm sure others can help with December port disembark info; but in Jan & Nov it was no issue at all.

 

Hope this helps...

[Islandbuoy]

Same as any other ship.

if you dock @ 8AM no lines

10 AM-everyone is ready to get off.

 

What really bad on any ship is when the ship is late in docking, and everyone piles up on the stairwell.

[serene56]

your 10am arrival in St Thomas-- you want to avoid the waiting at the stairwells. It will be a mess. and the line will be huge.

 

Once the ship has given the all clear and people are ready to disembark- wait 15 minutes then head over.

 

Remember that St Marten and St Thomas will be 1 hour ahead of your ship. Take a watch and do NOT ask any one what time it is

[Palomino]

your 10am arrival in St Thomas-- you want to avoid the waiting at the stairwells. It will be a mess. and the line will be huge.

 

Once the ship has given the all clear and people are ready to disembark- wait 15 minutes then head over.

 

Remember that St Marten and St Thomas will be 1 hour ahead of your ship. Take a watch and do NOT ask any one what time it is

 

 

Thank you, everyone, for the input.

 

So in St. Maarten we have a tour booked with Joyce Prince. Since the ship gets in at 8:00 am ship time, I should tell her that we'll meet her at 9:30 am her time? (which would give us enough time to get off the ship and meet with her?

 

In Nassau, we'll try to be early birds, getting off at 8:00 am to beat the late risers, so we can get over to the Sheraton earlier to enjoy the beach.

 

In St. Thomas, we will take the ferry to St. John. Since the ferry leaves on teh hour, I imagine we will aim for the 11:00 am ferry. Will we make it?

[zqvol]

We are counting the days (6 more) until our Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Dream!

 

How long will it take to disembark the ship at the various ports? Should we be stationed in a certain place early if we want to get off quickly, or are the lines relatively short? We want to maximize our port time.

 

Thank you!

 

 

Getting off the ship at a docked port is not a big deal. If carnival would move the stupid photographers away from the gangway you could get off a lot quicker. Just walk behind the people that are waiting and skip them.

[serene56]

Thank you, everyone, for the input.

 

So in St. Maarten we have a tour booked with Joyce Prince. Since the ship gets in at 8:00 am ship time, I should tell her that we'll meet her at 9:30 am her time? (which would give us enough time to get off the ship and meet with her?

 

In Nassau, we'll try to be early birds, getting off at 8:00 am to beat the late risers, so we can get over to the Sheraton earlier to enjoy the beach.

 

In St. Thomas, we will take the ferry to St. John. Since the ferry leaves on teh hour, I imagine we will aim for the 11:00 am ferry. Will we make it?

 

 

 

On our last cruise to Nassau- I was amazed at the number of people who stayed on the ship.

 

 

You arrive at St Thomas at 10am? its already 11am on the island

[Palomino]

On our last cruise to Nassau- I was amazed at the number of people who stayed on the ship.

 

 

You arrive at St Thomas at 10am? its already 11am on the island

 

Yes, that's right. I guess we'll aim for the noon ferry then. I guess that isn't going to leave us as many hours of daylight as I had hoped to have in St. John.

[BCNlady]

Thank you, Palomino

These were my last minute questions!:confused:

Have a good cruise, we'l sail on NYE.:)

[zqvol]

Yes, that's right. I guess we'll aim for the noon ferry then. I guess that isn't going to leave us as many hours of daylight as I had hoped to have in St. John.

 

 

I don't want to disappoint you but you might rethink going to St. John.

 

Making the noon ferry is going to be possible, but not likely, it takes longer than you are thinking to get off the ship and find a cab, and then it is about a 30 minute drive. Your original question was how long to get off the ship and that can be done pretty quickly, but walking to the cabs, and waiting for one to be assigned to you takes a good 15 - 20 minutes. Also once you get to Red Hook, you have to get in line to buy tickets which can take a few minutes.

 

One more thing to consider is that sunset is around 5:40 p.m., so by the time you actually get to St. John, you are going to have between 3 and 4 hours at most of usable daylight.

[sonicbuffalo]

I highly recommend Bernard's Tours....we have taken his tour twice and learned a lot of new stuff even the 2nd time around. Very nice tour and beach time at Orient Beach was great. Beautiful beach! :D

[australian_girl]

Thank you, everyone, for the input.

 

So in St. Maarten we have a tour booked with Joyce Prince. Since the ship gets in at 8:00 am ship time, I should tell her that we'll meet her at 9:30 am her time? (which would give us enough time to get off the ship and meet with her?

 

 

We just got off of the Dream yesterday. We toured St. Maarten with Joyce on Wednesday and had a wonderful time. I'm sure you will too. Make sure you wear a watch. We forgot to take one and it was a pain because our cell phones automatically switched to island time.

 

Have fun! :)

[Kelane]

Thank you, everyone, for the input.

 

So in St. Maarten we have a tour booked with Joyce Prince. Since the ship gets in at 8:00 am ship time, I should tell her that we'll meet her at 9:30 am her time? (which would give us enough time to get off the ship and meet with her?

 

In St. Thomas, we will take the ferry to St. John. Since the ferry leaves on teh hour, I imagine we will aim for the 11:00 am ferry. Will we make it?

 

I'm sure that if Joyce Prince sent you an email confirmation with instructions to meet up with her that you can go by what she tells you. She does this daily and knows how long it takes to get off and to her meeting spot. Also, in emails I receive, they give SHIP time, not island time. Confirm before sailing if confused.

 

If you are concerned about St. John, you could book the excursion thru Carnival. If memory serves, they have a St. John adventure (or something like that). They will get you TO St John and back with no worries about waving good bye to the Dream from the dock! Peace of mind could be worth more than the cost difference. OR...you could go by their time guidelines and follow them on your own.

[audcc77]

Yes, that's right. I guess we'll aim for the noon ferry then. I guess that isn't going to leave us as many hours of daylight as I had hoped to have in St. John.

 

Palomino - According to some other people here on CC, St John is well worth the effort. We are also going on the Dream (in Feb) and would like to hear about your experience and whether you had enough time to get over to St John without a lot of stress. Would appreciate you posting your experience when you return. :)

[serene56]

Palomino - According to some other people here on CC, St John is well worth the effort. We are also going on the Dream (in Feb) and would like to hear about your experience and whether you had enough time to get over to St John without a lot of stress. Would appreciate you posting your experience when you return. :)

 

 

St Johns is worth the effort-- I just cant see the effort for 4 hours

[Palomino]

Palomino - According to some other people here on CC, St John is well worth the effort. We are also going on the Dream (in Feb) and would like to hear about your experience and whether you had enough time to get over to St John without a lot of stress. Would appreciate you posting your experience when you return. :)

 

We don't mind a little adventure and have decided to give it a try. I'll let you know how it goes!

[JKJG3]

I've been to Nassau before, but are the other two ports docked as well? The tender process always backs things up.

[Kelane]

I've been to Nassau before, but are the other two ports docked as well? The tender process always backs things up.

 

We docked in all 3 ports. No problem. :)