Going ashore overnight

[kiramoli]

Hello,

we are planning to take a cruise in East Asia. In some ports the ship docks for more than one day and we are planning to go shore overnight (to get a hotel in the city). Also, we are thinking of taking a private tour for one of the days when the ship is at sea - leaving it in one port and catching it at the next one. Would that be ok with the cruise line?

[DeanoNorthPerth]

Possibly but best to check with the cruise line.

[LHT28]

Get it in writing from Oceania

 

When onboard  just confirm with the purser that they know you will be off the ship overnight

 

The only thing that could be a problem is if the ship is scheduled  to stop at another port  & then it cannot make that port due to weather/sea conditions

[edgee]

5 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Get it in writing from Oceania

 

When onboard  just confirm with the purser that they know you will be off the ship overnight

 

The only thing that could be a problem is if the ship is scheduled  to stop at another port  & then it cannot make that port due to weather/sea conditions

I would add that Oceania is among the most conservative cruise lines at missing ports due to weather/rough seas. IME of over 50 cruises, ten have been on Oceania or Regent. I believe that on only two if those cruises we did not miss a port...eight we did miss at least one. On the other 40 cruises, as far as I can remember, we missed ports on maybe three of them. Could be a coincidence, but I would hesitate to leave an Oceania ship at one port during a cruise and plan to meet the ship at another.

[Tea Snob]

We were on the Insignia with an overnight in the port of Hong Kong in 2017.  We just notified reception a few days before that we were spending the night off the ship and gave them the hotel information and our contact number.

[Noxequifans]

On cruises visiting countries outside the US, we take the conservative approach … always stay overnight on the ship. The risk of being “stuck” outweighs the benefits of an overnight away from the ship. 

[pinotlover]

We did an overnight in Iceland visiting beautiful areas unreachable by single day trips. Our group simply notified the ship of our plans. No problems.

 

Great sites, wonderful experience Ended up staying in a small Icelandic town having a delightful summer festival. No one missed not having American food abroad ship that night and we were back in time before sailing. One can’t, or shouldn’t, live their lives in total fear that a car, bus, or van might break down . 

 

 

[GeezerCouple]

9 hours ago, Tea Snob said:

We were on the Insignia with an overnight in the port of Hong Kong in 2017.  We just notified reception a few days before that we were spending the night off the ship and gave them the hotel information and our contact number.

 

Spending a night off the ship is - or could be - quite different than leaving the ship at Port A and planning to get back on board at Port B.

 

IF there is bad weather, or the ship needs to re-route for an emergency evacuation (or who knows what else) and they can't dock at Port B, then one would need to reconnect at some other future port.  Given that those replacement port arrangements or permissions wouldn't have been made in advance, there's also the additional potential problem of that country not being able to arrange customs/immigrations for the reboarding.

 

I don't if this would create problems in other countries if one is still getting off and then getting back on at two different ports in the same country, or if that is country-specific.

(Presumably the original permission to remain behind when the ship sailed might make this easier.)

 

GC

[LHT28]

If the ship is overnighting in the same port  it is pretty safe  to stay ashore 

 

It it  a different  situation if the ship is going to another port  in another Country  or even the same Country

Just be aware if you miss the ship  you are on your own

[Jancruz]

These are Covid days..I would notify Miami and not wait until you get on the ship..

Jancruz1

[HiFi43]

Frankly, we have done this many times. Both staying overnight in a port hotel when the ship is in port for extra days or leaving for a multi day tour on our own. We have done over the years a number of multi day side trips where we’d left the ship in one port and joined it days later in another. For example,, we left the ship in Dubai flew to Delhi, took a tour to Taj Mahal, went back to Delhi and then flew done to Mumbai to rejoin the ship. The trip with guides, flights and hotels cost us less than $1,000 each. We did the same thing on the same cruise in South Africa leaving the ship in one city, staying in a Safari park, and and then rejoining the ship in another nearby port. As Jan Cruz suggested above, we informed Oceania before the cruise and all as gone well every time we’ve done this. .

[kiramoli]

Thank you all for the feedback. I will reach out to Oceania to confirm ahead of time. Rules may be different post-COVID.