Not missing the ship on private excursion

[Scubadoc]

 Less than two weeks now to our cruise on the crown!  How much of a buffer do you give yourself when you do a private excursion? Specifically we will be at Laluna resort in Grenada which has an amazing spa and beach.   All aboard shows to be at 1:30 on the Crown  My concern is I don't know how the traffic will be going back in a taxi. I'm thinking about   Leaving the resort at 12:30 to give myself a full hour to get back just in case. Thoughts? 

[Musky Ike]

Everybody has there own tolerance. I like to plan on being back at the port an hour before all onboard time. So this would be a just a bit too tight for me and in over 20 cruises we haven't missed the boat yet 😉. Remember there is shopping and stuff at the port area if you get back early. 

Edited January 3, 2020 by Musky Ike

[mcrcruiser]

4 minutes ago, Musky Ike said:

Everybody has there own tolerance. I like to plan on being back at the port an hour before all onboard time. So this would be a just a bit too tight for me and in over 20 cruises we haven't missed the boat yet 😉. Remember there is shopping and stuff at the port area if you get back early. 

Agree 1000% 

[MCC retired]

If you are already worried about getting back to the ship in time , how could you enjoy that enjoy  that resort ?

Leaving @ 12:30 would you not feel that you just got there ?

[canadarocks]

Laluna is about a half hour's drive from the cruise terminal, so you really would be cutting it close leaving at 12:30. 

[OCruisers]

Leaving any later than Noon to return to the ship would make me nervous. 

[skynight]

39 minutes ago, OCruisers said:

Leaving any later than Noon to return to the ship would make me nervous. 

Agree.

Half hour drive at best without any issues. 15 or so minutes to walk from the front of the terminal to the ship. 

[Micahs Grandad]

Would want to leave by 12 to make sure we are back on time. That is assuming transportation back to ship is reliable.If not would probably do a different activity.

[Cruise Raider]

My tolerance level is less than that.  I always try to plan on making it back with extra time to spare ... I would say 2 hours.  But, I am a worrier by nature.  
What is the next port of call if you miss the ship ... that's what I always look at?  

People were very critical  of me when I didn't want to join a private tour in Bonaire but, our next port of call was Key West.  If it were Aruba or Curacao, that would have given me a higher comfort level and I may have gone.  The only time the ship came close to leaving without us was once on a private tour up in Vancouver and our bus broke down.  The other was on a ship sponsored excursion and the driver got lost in all these detours up in Boston.  Both cut it way too close for me.  The ship sponsored one was so late that we got the big round of applause by those onboard as we finally arrived at the port.  But, in either of these instances, if the ship would have absolutely had to leave without us, it would have been easy enough to get to the next port of call.  

[Mike45LC]

I agree with Cruise Raider that the next port (and the difficulty in getting there) is an important factor.  

[dog]

You might have to wait for taxi, traffic can be busy as you get into town, are you tendering there? We were not suppose to once, but ended up having to I suggest getting into the taxi by 1is the day pass spa cost worth it for 3-4 hours?

Edited January 3, 2020 by dog

[Daniel A]

3 hours ago, Scubadoc said:

 Less than two weeks now to our cruise on the crown!  How much of a buffer do you give yourself when you do a private excursion?

If you are on a private excursion, wouldn't the tour operator know when to get you back to the boat?

[LeeW]

2 hours ago, Daniel A said:

If you are on a private excursion, wouldn't the tour operator know when to get you back to the boat?

 

Always - their business depends on it.  And normally they check with you to make sure ships time matches local time or if they need to modify the return time to match your ship.

[TheRabbit]

5 minutes ago, LeeW said:

 

Always - their business depends on it.  And normally they check with you to make sure ships time matches local time or if they need to modify the return time to match your ship.

The OP mentions taking a Taxi back. Sounds like this is not a private tour, but a private side trip. Unless the taxis are lined up in the front, I would add more time. Adding up all the worst cases time wise and adding an hour does not sound unreasonable. Might want to get some info on wait time for a taxi at the Spa. Maybe contact the Spa via email.

[donaldsc]

I have a friend who cruises extensively.  On one cruise, a couple did not get back from their beach visit at one of the Caribbean islands.  The next stop for the cruise was a port in Europe.

 

DON

Edited January 4, 2020 by donaldsc

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

I have a friend who cruises extensively.  On one cruise, a couple did not get back from their beach visit at one of the Caribbean islands.  The next stop for the cruise was a port in Europe.

 

DON

That scenario definitely called for a ship's excursion. 

[Daniel A]

6 hours ago, Scubadoc said:

All aboard shows to be at 1:30 on the Crown  

If you need to be onboard by such an early time (1:30) I wouldn't think that's the day to do a freelance trip to a resort not connected to the cruise.  I read a review from someone who did the day pass there and it sounded like the resort has an agenda they follow and the guests got their massages in the afternoon.  You may want to make sure you will have time to fit everything in to make the risk of missing the ship worthwhile.  Whatever you choose to do, Enjoy your trip!

[donaldsc]

24 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

That scenario definitely called for a ship's excursion. 

 

Even worse, they had limited cash w them, no credit card, no passport and their only clothing was their bathing suits and a cover-up.  Could not have been fun!!

 

DON

[TwoCruisers]

I always leave plenty of extra time when on a private excursion.

A couple of years ago a group of us took a 3 hour local taxi tour on Barbados. Shortly after we left our last stop, at Bath Sheba, the taxi broke down. It took about 40 minutes for a different taxi to arrive and take us back to the ship. We didn’t worry since we had about 3-1/2 hours to get back to the ship.

I never cut it close.

[satxdiver]

I want to get back on the ship one hour before they pull the gangplank.  I only take highly rated excursions on tripadvisor or other sites.   If there is any doubt as to whether I will make it back in time, I take only ship tours.  

[vampiress]

lol.  i'm over here like, ship leaves at 12:30?  i'm still going to be in my cabin on my balcony.  but i'm not into beach/resort days.

 

i almost missed ship in hawaii because of a bad storm/accident affecting the only road in town.  i has left 2 hours to return car and then do some dockside parking, but that did not work out for me.  i wasn't the only one affected, i believe one of the tours was also affected as the island pretty much shut down.  i had a panic attack about being left in hawaii.  granted hawaii is the united states and i could get home, but it would still have been super inconvenient. 

[satxdiver]

If you find you are going to be late in returning to the ship your only hope is that Princess tours are also going to be late in which case the ship waits.  If traffic is all backed up there is a good chance a ship tour is among those backed up.  I have seen the ship wait for a few independent travelers but no guarantee that the Captain will decide to wait.  

 

We were in Curacao and ready to sail when the Captain told us he was waiting for one couple to return to the ship.  We waited over 30 minutes when the ship did finally set sail without the couple.  Next port two days later was St Thomas.  Again we were all on the ship expecting to set sail when the Captain announced that we were missing one couple and that we would wait because "I am a good guy".  After about 30 minutes past sailing time a taxi came up to the ship hurriedly,  the back doors flew open and this couple ran to the ship.  As you may now have guessed it was the same couple!  I imagine they had the privileged of a personal meeting with the Captain soon after.   

[Scubadoc]

Thanx everyone. So helpful. Think we will either change plan or leave earlier. 

[BigGuy25]

I’m in the one hour before “all aboard” time. Also, the comment about making sure that “ship’s time” matches port time is a wise one. It’s only happened to us once, but we were well into an excursion before we realized there was a one hour discrepancy. Still plenty of time to make adjustments and get back to port on time. But, it could have been a close call if we hadn’t noticed the time difference. 

[MCC retired]

What time would you actually have to arrive at this resort , to depart noon or so , to even make this excursion worth doing ?