Leaving cruise early

[doolfan]

I’m in the very early stages of planning my very first cruise. The itinerary I’m looking at begins in Barcelona and ends in Athens. The day before Athens it is docked in Mykonos. Can we disembark in Mykonos a day early? We’d like to stay a few days there.  I have found conflicting info on if cruises allow leaving early.  

[Nachosdelux]

The short answer is: It depends

 

You have to ask Celebrity and they will give you the definitive answer.

[Jim_Iain]

You can but you need to apply in advance and they have to approve it.   I believe the cost is $60.00.

 

I've done it before and they check to make sure there are no restrictions and have to  potentially arrange customs. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

This month we asked to leave a day early in Victoria instead of Vancouver.   Was told no.  Explanation was covid and customs issues.

It cannot hurt to ask 

[jelayne]

As mentioned you need approval.  Contact Royal Caribbean Emergency Service Dept who handlles these requests for.Celebrity.  I believe it is. Alex a Downline departure 

[cruisestitch]

things to know:

 

Greek authorities need to approve it

 

you have to pay a downline disembark fee

 

you will not get a refund for the missed night

 

 

 

 

[koolforkatz]

Considering the paperwork and cost of missed night on cruise, it would be cheaper to fly from Athens to Mykonos. We've done that before. It's a cheap, quick flight. 

[Essiesmom]

54 minutes ago, koolforkatz said:

Considering the paperwork and cost of missed night on cruise, it would be cheaper to fly from Athens to Mykonos. We've done that before. It's a cheap, quick flight. 

Or for an adventure, take one of the cruise ferries.  EM

[MustBCruzn]

1 hour ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

This month we asked to leave a day early in Victoria instead of Vancouver.   Was told no.  Explanation was covid and customs issues.

It cannot hurt to ask 

 

This must be covid related or the rules have changed. I lived in Seattle until a couple of years ago and did 3 Alaska cruises and 2 Honolulu - Vancouver cruise on Celebrity where we got off in Victoria instead of staying onboard to Vancouver. It's so much easier to take the Victoria Clipper back to Seattle than to mess with getting back from  Vancouver.  

Edited July 12, 2022 by MustBCruzn

[cruisestitch]

As the poster said, it was covid related

[doolfan]

Thank you all very much for the quick replies…I now understand why I’ve seen conflicting info. It’s clearly up to the discretion of that particular cruise and the countries involved. It’s not a huge deal if we can’t. We are going to head to Athens next on our itinerary anyway, I just thought it would be fun to spend a couple of nights in Mykonos before moving on. 

[jelayne]

When we did it there was no paperwork on our part, just told them what we wanted to do, they emailed us 2 days later telling us ok and getting credit card info for the admin fee ($65).  The next day they emailed us our approval document to take to Guest Services.

[Jim_Iain]

Mine was more complicated as we were taking a side trip from New Mangalore  and rejoining the ship a couple days later to visit the Taj.   The ship had a tour also but was 3x the price I did it privately.   On ours instead of staying in New Deli overnight we stayed in Agra.   We had a private driver and guide for 3 days and was one of the best tours we have ever taken. 

 

 

[WestLakeGirl]

So that was not a downline disembarkation at all, then?

[Jim_Iain]

1 hour ago, WestLakeGirl said:

So that was not a downline disembarkation at all, then?

I guess you are more than an expert than the Emergency Staff at RCL who gave me a written approval for  A DOWN LINE DISEMBARKATION as well as a DOWN LINE EMBARKATION.

[cruisestitch]

Interesting question.  Did you have to settle your account before leaving for a few days?  What if you had been unable to come back to the ship?  

[Jim_Iain]

47 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Interesting question.  Did you have to settle your account before leaving for a few days?  What if you had been unable to come back to the ship?  

No you did not have to settle our account nor did we take most of our luggage with us.   We just took enough for a 2 night visit.   They returned our Passports to us the night before  (they were being held most of the cruise) and the Retreat Concierge escorted us to our driver who was waiting for us.    We were given a Transit Pass similar to what you get on a B2B and our stateroom key was taken from us as we left the ship.  When we rejoined the ship the Documentation Agent came to the gate and gave us back our room key.  

 

The Indian Immigration was paintful and had to manually write down everything from you passport in a log book.   As it ended up the Celebrity Tour was on the same airplane as us in both directions and we all arrived at the port at the same time.

 

 

[buchhalm]

It sounds like  a major pain in the butt.

Apart from a quick flight from Athens to Mykonos, there are many ferries from Piraeus to the island. Anything from relatively slow large car ferried to high speed ferries. A cheap and quick taxi ride from the pier to the ferry terminal (or a bit of a walk, depending from where you dock) is all it takes.

Time-wise it will probably be much the same. ATH airport is quite some distance away.

[Tyler414]

Just "miss" the departure, cruise lines seem to have no problem leaving passengers behind at a port, just turn the tables and "leave" them behind.  Getting off with all your luggage may be an whole other issue however. 

[Alakegirl]

That advice has to be a joke, right?

[SHIP TRAVELER]

We were denied a "downline exit"  by X when we wanted to leave the Sillie in LaHarve  transit to Paris instead of getting off in Southampton the next day.  This is on a future cruise we have booked in May of 2023 Southampton RT to Spain Portual and France.  To bad because it would have saved us a flight back over and a tranfer to LHR from Southampton.  We may revisit the situation closer to sailing as I think Covid rules were in play.

[Yoshikitty]

7 minutes ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

We were denied a "downline exit"  by X when we wanted to leave the Sillie in LaHarve  transit to Paris instead of getting off in Southampton the next day.  

My guess is that you are supposed to leave in the UK while Le Havre is part of the EU, so totally different rules in terms of immigration, customs etc.

[Arizona Wildcat]

22 minutes ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

We were denied a "downline exit"  by X when we wanted to leave the Sillie in LaHarve  transit to Paris instead of getting off in Southampton the next day.  This is on a future cruise we have booked in May of 2023 Southampton RT to Spain Portual and France.  To bad because it would have saved us a flight back over and a tranfer to LHR from Southampton.  We may revisit the situation closer to sailing as I think Covid rules were in play.

Actually easy to book a transfer from Southampton to Paris - ferries leave often. 

You are also asking way too early.  Have never been approved almost a year ahead - plus of course covid.  My guess is because of different CBP rules probably no.