Itinerary Question

[luvSClake]

If the time on the itinerary says we will be at a port from, say 6:00 am to 8:15 pm, does that mean the ship will leave at 8:15 or is that when they want passengers to be back on board? I was thinking that would be the departure time and we would need to plan to be back on board 30 minutes prior. However, one of the excursions that is offered on the Star Princess cruise I am looking at while in Juneau says it is scheduled to return at 8:10. I know we won't want to cut it that close, but want to make sure I have the correct understanding of the times.

[1025cruise]

Usually its the time the ship leaves.

However, if it is a ship's excursion, you will have no issues.

[skrufy]

The excursion will have you back on board 30 min. prior to your sailing

[Krazy Kruizers]

When you take a ship's excursion, the ship will wait for you even if you get back late -- it has happened to us a couple of times when tours ran long.

But if you are doing your own thing in the ports -- your tours or just walking around, you need to be back on the ship 30 minutes before it is due to sail. We always make certain we are back at the ship at least 1 hour before the ship is scheduled to sail.

[sail7seas]

Don't play cames with the time you return to the ship. It is usually 30 minutes prior to sailing time you need to be aboard but you should verify to be sure. We always plan to be back aboard an hour in advance if on our own. That leaves a bit of room for unexpected small delay.

 

The ship will leave you behind if you are not on a ship's tour and you are late returning.

[sherryf]

If the time on the itinerary says we will be at a port from, say 6:00 am to 8:15 pm, does that mean the ship will leave at 8:15 or is that when they want passengers to be back on board? I was thinking that would be the departure time and we would need to plan to be back on board 30 minutes prior. However, one of the excursions that is offered on the Star Princess cruise I am looking at while in Juneau says it is scheduled to return at 8:10. I know we won't want to cut it that close, but want to make sure I have the correct understanding of the times.

 

As others have said, if you are on a ship's excursion, you will be fine. They do cut it close sometimes. Once when we were in Skagway, we took a Princess tour that included taking a ferry over to Haines. The ferry was late getting us back, but the ship waited. Our group was the last on board. I would never cut it this close with a private excursion, but it's okay with a ship excursion.

[beachchick]

There's another benefit to the cruise line excursion with such a tight return. I know there are people who think the ship will wait however long is necessary and will never leave port if a cruise line excursion is late. That's not quite correct. There are unusual situations where the captain cannot keep the ship indefinitely in port. For example, port/dock scheduling, excessive overtime fees, schedule to make the next port so that all the passengers who are onboard do not miss it, or a weather situation. If the port master says a ship must leave, then not even the captain can refuse. It's really uncommon, but it does happen. If the ship must depart before the excursion is able to return, the cruise line will take care of accommodations, meals, and transportation to meet the ship in the next port. If you're on your own ashore, it's all on you. (Note: Generally, cruise lines will make sure a representative is at the port to help passengers who miss the ship. I believe that the captain will also send security to the passenger's cabin to check the safe for passports and other necessary documents, which are then kept by the port representative.)

 

In any case, we would never consider an excursion with a return time so close to departure unless it was, as it is in this case, through the cruise line.

 

beachchick

[UPGrandma]

As Beachchick says: If the port master says a ship must leave, then not even the captain can refuse.

 

We were in Juneau on a land tour in early Oct. Road to Denali from Anchorage had already been closed a couple of days that year & we could not get into Glacier Bay by that time which had us asking about the cruise ships & bad seas & staying in port. The owner of the hotel which was right across from the docks said that the port fees were $5,000 for less than 24 hr so the ships would not pay the overtime fees. This was in '97 so who knows what the fees are now. He did say that there had been times they would go out into the mouth of the bay & anchor until the storm ended.

 

BTW, we were generally watching out the restaurant window when the ships were ready to leave & did not see anyone having to run to make the ship. :)

[MermaidWatcher]

that is generally departure time, but the ships provide plenty of info about times to be back on board for.

[sail7seas]

Be certain your watch is set to the time the ship announces. They usually go to 'port time' but Verify!!

 

[jamessemaj]

There are conspicuous signs telling what time to be back. I always plan an hour before.

 

For ships excursions, they will wait for you.

[fleckle]

As others have said, if you are on a ship's excursion, you will be fine. They do cut it close sometimes. Once when we were in Skagway, we took a Princess tour that included taking a ferry over to Haines. The ferry was late getting us back, but the ship waited. Our group was the last on board. I would never cut it this close with a private excursion, but it's okay with a ship excursion.

You don't even need to be on a ship excursion.

We have taken that last ferry back from Haines to Skagway on our own, knowing that the ship would wait for it because there was a ship's excursion booked on the same ferry.

 

We had no interest in taking the ship's excursion because we preferred to rent a car in Haines and go sightseeing on our own.

 

We wanted to wait for the last ferry of the day to return because we were going bear watching at Haines and the best time of day for bear watching there was right before sunset.

 

 

You can do the same with trains. If you go out on your own that day and know you will be cutting it close coming back, check the ship's excursion schedule to see if they have any of their own tours coming back on the same train.

 

But at any port where we will be cutting it close on the return, we like the peace of mind that comes with knowing what backup options we have for getting to the next port -- just in case.

 

We have done that a lot through the years and have never needed to use a backup plan as we have never missed a ship yet. But it is always better to play it safe and know our "what if" possibilities -- just as we do when flying.

 

To the OP -- they will let you know what time they want you to be back at the ship, or back at the tender dock if it is a tender port.

The "all aboard" time or "last tender" time is typically printed in the daily schedule and also posted by the gangway as you exit the ship.

 

Often it is 30 minutes before departure time, but not always, so go by the posted time for your cruise and realize that it may be a different time at different ports.

[fishycomics]

When you take your Ships excursion, NOT a private excursion, the ship will not leave without you

 

when ship is at port they do give the time it is about 30 minutes before l that time

 

so 8:15, be back 7:45. Do not be late, ship is on time most the time... this is something you want to be back on time but otehrs with you will be on the same boat

[jdvmd]

If the time on the itinerary says we will be at a port from, say 6:00 am to 8:15 pm, does that mean the ship will leave at 8:15 or is that when they want passengers to be back on board? I was thinking that would be the departure time and we would need to plan to be back on board 30 minutes prior. However, one of the excursions that is offered on the Star Princess cruise I am looking at while in Juneau says it is scheduled to return at 8:10. I know we won't want to cut it that close, but want to make sure I have the correct understanding of the times.

The time listed is the time you will depart. If you are on a ship's excursion, you will be fine.

[rvsullivan]

You don't even need to be on a ship excursion.

We have taken that last ferry back from Haines to Skagway on our own, knowing that the ship would wait for it because there was a ship's excursion booked on the same ferry.

 

We had no interest in taking the ship's excursion because we preferred to rent a car in Haines and go sightseeing on our own.

 

We wanted to wait for the last ferry of the day to return because we were going bear watching at Haines and the best time of day for bear watching there was right before sunset.

 

 

 

 

 

You can do the same with trains. If you go out on your own that day and know you will be cutting it close coming back, check the ship's excursion schedule to see if they have any of their own tours coming back on the same train.

 

But at any port where we will be cutting it close on the return, we like the peace of mind that comes with knowing what backup options we have for getting to the next port -- just in case.

 

We have done that a lot through the years and have never needed to use a backup plan as we have never missed a ship yet. But it is always better to play it safe and know our "what if" possibilities -- just as we do when flying.

 

To the OP -- they will let you know what time they want you to be back at the ship, or back at the tender dock if it is a tender port.

The "all aboard" time or "last tender" time is typically printed in the daily schedule and also posted by the gangway as you exit the ship.

 

Often it is 30 minutes before departure time, but not always, so go by the posted time for your cruise and realize that it may be a different time at different ports.

 

That all sounds good except. The ship will sometimes leave even their own excursions behind if the delay is long enough. The difference is, if your on their excursion they will pay all expenses for hotel, air or anything else to get you to the ship. If you were on that same ferry and not on their excursion, you will do it on your own and pay your own way.

[dsrdsrdsr]

As Beachchick says: If the port master says a ship must leave, then not even the captain can refuse.

 

We were in Juneau on a land tour in early Oct. Road to Denali from Anchorage had already been closed a couple of days that year & we could not get into Glacier Bay by that time which had us asking about the cruise ships & bad seas & staying in port. The owner of the hotel which was right across from the docks said that the port fees were $5,000 for less than 24 hr so the ships would not pay the overtime fees. This was in '97 so who knows what the fees are now. He did say that there had been times they would go out into the mouth of the bay & anchor until the storm ended.

If it would cost a ship $5,000 to wait for one of their own excursions to return, they'd wait. They wouldn't be able to pay for overnight accommodation and flight to the next port for a coachload of passengers for that money. (Not even at 1997 prices.)

[fleckle]

That all sounds good except. The ship will sometimes leave even their own excursions behind if the delay is long enough. The difference is, if your on their excursion they will pay all expenses for hotel, air or anything else to get you to the ship. If you were on that same ferry and not on their excursion, you will do it on your own and pay your own way.

Yes, that is true but it is something that very rarely happens.

There is some risk in everything we do in life. We each assess how much risk we are willing to take with the things we do every day.

 

As I stated previously, we keep our backup options in mind.

For example, if we should miss the ship in Kona, Hawaii when the next port is Hilo, or even Maui, that would be no big deal.

If we should miss the ship at a European port where we can take a train and taxi to get to the next port on our own, the costs would be minor and it would give us a nice additional side trip to talk about.

 

On the other hand, we would not risk missing the ship for a transatlantic cruise when our next port is 6 days later on the other side of the ocean. We also would not go driving off alone miles away from port in South America through some remote jungle area with no alternate way to get back.

We are cautious types who have never been considered daredevils or great risk takers.

 

 

After more than 20 years of cruising, doing most excursions on our own, we have never missed a ship.

So even if travel insurance would not reimburse our costs for getting to the next port and one time we might need to pay our own way, it would be well worth it.

 

There is no way I am going to take a ship's excursion that I really do not want at locations where I would much rather be doing something else and the risks or consequences of missing the ship would be minor.

 

[Cruisin' Chick]

We were on a ship's excursion that came back late in Skagway, and the ship did wait (my daughter said she could hear our names being paged...I'm guessing all of us -- i think around 15 -- may have been paged, then). In that port, our actual sailaway time was moved up an hour between the time we had booked the tour and the actual time we were there. On top of that, there were weather conditions that affected our travel back to the port.

 

The time listed is the time the ship plans to leave. I think that the OP might want to double check the time of the tour when the tickets are distributed on the first day of the cruise as it's possible the time would be changed to accommodate the time the ship is leaving.