Cruise overnight at a hotel

[NMTraveller]

I was considering overnighting at a hotel vs staying on the cruise ship over night.  Is there anything that I should be aware of?  

 

Also I have excursions booked through the ship for both days.  Can I have the first excursion leave me in town.  And meet up with the 2nd excursion in town if I  prearrange a meeting spot?

 

 

[ECCruise]

All of that will need to be arranged with Azamara.

 

You will for certain need to inform them if you are not planning to return to the ship overnight since they must have a way to contact you.

 

As the excursion question, obviously it would depend on the excursion.  Letting you off in town--IF the tour has exactly that route--may not be a problem.  I would be very surprised if they let you join an excursion (not checked in on the ship) mid tour, but only they could answer that.

[cruisestitch]

Azamara?????

[NMTraveller]

This is a Celebrity cruise.  And I am considering overnighting mid-cruise.  So I will be checked in to the ship and have my excursion tickets.  Do I need to let them know that I will not be back that night?  Or does it matter?

[cruisestitch]

Yes, you need to let the ship know.

 

there may be restrictions put on by the local authorities.

 

what is the port?

[NMTraveller]

2 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Yes, you need to let the ship know.

 

there may be restrictions put on by the local authorities.

 

what is the port?

Phuket.

[bigbenboys]

I have been on an excursion that let people stay in town and return to the ship later.

You might need to check with the county your visiting. Was a Visa required? Are we talking a city in the US or are we talking places where the government has more control over visitors?

[Nachosdelux]

no restrictions in Thailand.  Just don't miss the ship!

[mom says]

Yes, you need to inform the ship that you will be over nighting in port. As for your deviations from the usual excursion protocols, you would need to ask at the excursion desk. Have you determined what you will do with your overnight luggage while on these excursions? Is there a reason why you couldn't take a taxi from the port dock to your hotel at the end of the first  excursion? And reverse this the next day? IIRC, Phuket is usually a tender port. Is that the case on your cruise? Given the usual logistics in Phuket, I would think that the only alternate meeting point they might agree to would be the tender dock, before loading onto the local transport.

[mayleeman]

Sooooooo tempting to adopt the port name as my attitude bumper sticker.... 

[jelayne]

We have stayed at a hotel overnight on a handful of sailings.  In those cases we had booked a private guide so no ship excursions to coordinate.
We never advised the ship, except to tell the cabin attendant.  

[NMTraveller]

4 hours ago, mom says said:

IIRC, Phuket is usually a tender port. Is that the case on your cruise?

I am starting to question that now.  On the itinerary it does not say for this port.  Others are listed as Tender or Docked on the rest of the itinerary.  This is an overnight if that makes a difference.  Any idea how I tell if this is docked or tender?

 

If this does not turn out to be convenient I can always use the room during the day and overnight on the ship.

 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

33 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I am starting to question that now.  On the itinerary it does not say for this port.  Others are listed as Tender or Docked on the rest of the itinerary.  This is an overnight if that makes a difference.  Any idea how I tell if this is docked or tender?

 

If this does not turn out to be convenient I can always use the room during the day and overnight on the ship.

 

 

 

Should be in "Your Guest Vacation" Documents which were emailed to you.  If for whatever reason it's on there, send a DM to X on X (aka Celebrity on Twitter) to ask if you're tendering, they're really good with answering questions yet they're just as pointless as emailing them to complain

 

We went to Phuket and we stayed overnight in a hotel in 2020 on NCL which tendered.  After the tender, we cabbed it to the Phi Phi Island ferry, ferried and stayed the night in Phi Phi.  If you book a hotel, email them in advance to ask if you can send them a pic of your passport to expediate check in.  And I'll share, our return Phi Phi to Phuket ferry was delayed due to rough conditions and we encountered a moped accident which resulted in a complete traffic standstill for a few mins.  We just barely made the all aboard

 

I recommend telling X you're staying overnight and share the overnight hotel name and/or the address (if staying in a friends/family members home), its helpful to them if there's an emergency

Edited August 21, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[NMTraveller]

49 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Should be in "Your Guest Vacation" Documents which were emailed to you.  If for whatever reason it's on there, send a DM to X on X (aka Celebrity on Twitter) to ask if you're tendering, they're really good with answering questions yet they're just as pointless as emailing them to complain

 

We went to Phuket and we stayed overnight in a hotel in 2020 on NCL which tendered.  After the tender, we cabbed it to the Phi Phi Island ferry, ferried and stayed the night in Phi Phi.  If you book a hotel, email them in advance to ask if you can send them a pic of your passport to expediate check in.  And I'll share, our return Phi Phi to Phuket ferry was delayed due to rough conditions and we encountered a moped accident which resulted in a complete traffic standstill for a few mins.  We just barely made the all aboard

 

I recommend telling X you're staying overnight and share the overnight hotel name and/or the address (if staying in a friends/family members home), its helpful to them if there's an emergency

From what I am reading it will be a taxi ride from either the cruise port or from the tender port to Patong bay?  Perhaps the cruise port is a bit closer...

[NutsAboutGolf]

27 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

From what I am reading it will be a taxi ride from either the cruise port or from the tender port to Patong bay?  Perhaps the cruise port is a bit closer...

 

From X's site:

[NMTraveller]

12 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

From X's site:

Thanks.  I will try to coordinate with excursions to save taxi time.  It looks like a taxi is about 45 minutes each way...  Thanks for the site also...

 

The site that shows the main attractions for Phuket on the Celebrity website was better than their site for booking excursions.  Perhaps they should merge the two.

Edited August 21, 2023 by NMTraveller

[mahdnc]

7 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I was considering overnighting at a hotel vs staying on the cruise ship over night.  Is there anything that I should be aware of?  

 

Also I have excursions booked through the ship for both days.  Can I have the first excursion leave me in town.  And meet up with the 2nd excursion in town if I  prearrange a meeting spot?

 

 

 

When we planned an overnight stay at Cairns (a tender port) during our Great Barrier Reef cruise in 2018, Celebrity requested that we notify Guest Relations.  Here it is in the Important Information bulletin that was issued (see the last paragraph)..

[bigbenboys]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

From what I am reading it will be a taxi ride from either the cruise port or from the tender port to Patong bay?  Perhaps the cruise port is a bit closer...

It was years ago on Millie, but we tendered at Patong bay.

[NutsAboutGolf]

10 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Thanks.  I will try to coordinate with excursions to save taxi time.  It looks like a taxi is about 45 minutes each way...  Thanks for the site also...

 

The site that shows the main attractions for Phuket on the Celebrity website was better than their site for booking excursions.  Perhaps they should merge the two.

No guarantee you won’t tender so you should ask X on X/Twitter as they’ll let you know for sure

[emmas gran]

Personally would rather go back onboard than stay in a hotel overnight . You have no idea if the excursion will meet up with you the following day and may have to go back to the pier or tender dock to wait for your ship excursion.

[NMTraveller]

58 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

Personally would rather go back onboard than stay in a hotel overnight . You have no idea if the excursion will meet up with you the following day and may have to go back to the pier or tender dock to wait for your ship excursion.

If it is a Patong Bay tender then that would save me some time.  I would not have to take the tender in the morning,  just meet up at the tender dock.

[jelayne]

We are on the Edge this November and the itinerary shows us tendering in Phuket.  In 2018 we also tendered at Phuket.

Edited August 21, 2023 by jelayne