How many of you feel that ship AND private organized tours start too early?

[A Sixth?]

It seems that ship based tours all need to meet an hour before you line up to wait to get everyone on the bus to tour. You need to get up and go re-donkeylessly early.

 

Even as a do-it-yourselfer not a "ship tour guy" I have noticed that many tour agents ashore combine singles and couple into smaller group tours that still leave within a half hour of docking, even if it's at 7 am!!!!

 

I think docking a bit later or at least moving more tours back a bit so I can sleep in a bit and enjoy my shore leave refreshed.

 

Why start the day in port at 7 am or 8am and stay 10 or 12 hours when ships could dock a few hours later and still stay the same amount of shore hours?

 

I can't be the only one who doesn't like getting up early can I?:confused::p

[bogofman]

A lot of our cruis es ( all in eurooe) get in early and leave relatively early 5pm to 6 pm max,

 

 

Tours on the way by 8am is meet 7 ish

 

We almost never take a tour but do diy and leave much later, only problem is it can be tight on time with the ships leaving the ports so early. There is no need to leave early as they often move so slow between the ports as they are close together in Europe ( generally)

 

Last year we were in istanbul and they cancelled the over night, as compensation the sip left the following ports at 10pm . It made the diy trips much more enjoyable as we did not need to worry about getting back to the ship before 5pm.

 

Maybe the cruise lines like to leave early to scare passengers into taking a ships (expensive) tour

[virginialucy]

I agree that many of the tours start far too early in the day. I'm not much of an excursion person anyway but when I do want to book one, the start times put me off a lot of times. And my BF hates having to wake up at a certain time on vacation, so I have to factor that in to whatever we decide to do. I was considering a beach excursion through Celebrity on my upcoming cruise but it starts at 9am and only lasts about 3 hours. The draw for me was that it includes drinks, but even though I'm a pretty big drinker, beer and rum punch in the AM hours isn't my idea of fun. I would love it if port times shifted later across the board. I'd much rather be in port 10am - 6 or 7pm rather than 7 or 8am - 4 or 5pm.

[Hydrokitty]

I just came back from Southern Caribbean on Eclipse and the latest shore excursion we had started at 9 a.m. with a meet at 8:45, which meant leaving our cabin at 8:30. Thank God for room service, but since the longest of the tours returned to the ship at 1 p.m. and the earliest we sailed was 5 p.m., I don't understand why excursions have to start so early or why we can't have one in the morning and one in the afternoon like on river cruises. We don't do beaches any more and I wouldn't mind picking up a bag lunch or even buying lunch on shore if I could do a second excursion once in a while. Sometimes it's really a shame to have to pick 1 out of 12 and have the whole afternoon free.

[hcat]

We like an early start, esp for beach excursions....the first busses arrive before others, you can avoid hottest part of the day and have time to enjoy in port after the beach.,...can aways sleep in on sea days or do the visit on your own in ports if listed times do not work & ..many tours do offer am or pm...

 

In many European ports, its a long distance to the city of interest, so an early start is essential.

 

The annoying part of many Celeb tours, is that they drag you to the theater early and get very backed up in calling the tours by group... we prefer assembling on the dock...but then there are always stragglers who operate on their own time..group travel..par for the course,!

[Jane2357]

Who sleeps in on a cruise? You are missing sunrise.

Edited April 17, 2016 by Jane2357

[Lady Chew]

We are not morning people, but we don't mind getting up early for excursions. In the Caribbean we don't take that many, and when we do it's something we really want to do, usually something cultural/historical somewhere we haven't been. Anywhere else, we're exploring and are up & off the ship as early as possible and back about an hour before sailaway.

[sooper]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I don't like to get up earlier than I do for work. On the other, I want to maximize the time I have at each port.

[GUT2407]

I suspect it's because most want to squeeze as much in as possible.

[OCruisers]

Good Poll!

Glad to see some also feel the excursions offered by the ship and independents leave way too early!

LuLu

[Rosethorn40]

It probably a combination of things; the local tour operator may control parts of it. They want an early start so they can end their day early. If you are in a port that has several ships on the same day the limited availability tours may take one ship's passengers at 7:30, the next ship's passengers at 9:30, and the last ship's at 11:30.

[cruise kitty]

I either DIY or organize/join small private tours... if the ship docks at 7, I'm off at 7:05 :)

 

I'm referring to Europe/Med...

[Officer Dibble]

On our recent Panama canal cruise on Infinity, the ship departed a couple of ports at 3pm. So early excursion starts were inevitable if the tours were at all lengthy.

 

OD

[cruiseluvva]

We rarely take organised excursions, whether organised by the ship or privately. We much prefer to DIY and wander around ourselves and sometimes don't even bother to leave the ship if we've been before and aren't bothered about going again.

 

But when we do take an excursion, we prefer to go a little later - but have medical reasons why.

[chemmo]

We love early starts!

 

In places like Santorini you get there before the crowds..

At beach resorts you miss the heat of midday...

In cities the air is at least a little fresher..

Early starts mean you can visit further away places..

In ports where it is nice to browse you have time post tour..

If you return to the ship early you can still have pm pool side.

Waking up early means you see the ship come into port...

Having a quick balcony breakfast leaves room for a decent lunch..

 

Each to his/her own! We do like it when there are choices for tours am/pm...then everyone is happy.

[shipshape sam]

We have book many private tours and picked our time. I would think, in part, Celebrity wants early starts to get early finishes and not missing passengers when it is time to leave.

 

 

We also have found that most private tours are cheaper than comparable cruise line tours, thus you can also save some money!

[TLCOhio]

I feel conflicted. On the one hand, I don't like to get up earlier than I do for work. On the other, I want to maximize the time I have at each port.

 

Glad to see that my choice of "Things are fine. Stop whining and I’m an early riser. Max out the morning and day!" was winning with 46% of the votes. On this poll, the wording with these choices is not perfect, but there are mixed/varied reasons/motivations as to why people go on cruises.

 

For us, it is more about the ports, destinations, etc. For others, it is more about "floating on the boat". Your choice!! Also, there might be differences as to whether you are sailing in the more predictable Caribbean . . . versus . . . in more unique areas of the world such as Australia/New Zealand, the Baltics, SE Asia, etc. Personally, if it can work, we like to set-up private, small-group tours which can be more efficient in time set-ups, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 140,408 views for this posting.

[14ersco]

I'm fine with current port arrival times, except for getting a decent, relaxed, breakfast. :( If Celebrity is going to dock at 7 AM then the full buffet should be available at 5 AM; not just drink service or continental. As it is now, we just have time to grab and go to be at the front of the line leaving the ship.

[wvufan]

The earlier the better. I like having time after excursions to walk around or just to go back to the ship for lunch. Or to take a second excursion.

 

Another factor: many ship and private operators have two tours a day. If they started later, that would eliminate many of the second tours thus in effect reducing income for the operators and limiting availability for guests.

 

It ain't broke, so don't fix it .

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE Baby :D:D Bob and Phyl

[gold1953]

I pay a lot of money to be on a cruise ship and to be taken to wonderful places. I can sleep at home where I am not missing anything!!! Like to be up with the sun.

Also

don't want to be trying to get back to a port in rush hour traffic and like to be back on board to enjoy dinner

[K.T.B.]

I can sleep when I'm dead.

 

And by "dead", I mean "on the plane ride home".

 

:D

[A Sixth?]

Always neat to see what my fellow cruisers are interested in.

 

Love the overnight ones we've done and like maxing time ashore when it's a new stop for us.

 

Would have thought that cruise companies would benefit from better revenues (casino/shops/bar) if people could stay up a bit later when berthing later in the morning....

 

Looking forward to our British Isles cruise.... our 8th cruise this year :D

[SPacificbound]

We book some private tours for just us, and we control the time.

 

We also do some small group tours with others, and some ship tours.

 

Do whatever makes you happy. There is no right or wrong.

[DaisyFire]

I'm fine with current port arrival times, except for getting a decent, relaxed, breakfast. :( If Celebrity is going to dock at 7 AM then the full buffet should be available at 5 AM; not just drink service or continental. As it is now, we just have time to grab and go to be at the front of the line leaving the ship.

 

That's when I order room service ... i think you can ask for delivery as early as 6.

[fantasy51]

It is a biological fact that some people are 'larks' (morning people) while others are 'owls' (evening people). It is to do with body chemistry. This means that no one set pattern will suit all people. Somehow our society has patterned itself around the 'larks' but that does not mean this is the only way to do things. There are some of us who really struggle to get up early, especially when medical conditions weight the balance even further (in my case ME/CFS).

 

There has to be a spectacular excursion (like Petra or the pyramids or Iceland or St Petersburg) to get me up early. I mainly do DIY and only stay out for 2-3 hours. I love the shipboard life and the chance to just relax and have someone else take care of housekeeping chores for a change.

 

(On a side note, I would like to add how much I am enjoying the Celebrity forum. This thread could have degenerated into a slanging match with people referring to others as lazy or wasting their time by sleeping in. It is lovely to see an internet forum where people can express their own preferences without fear of criticism.)