JUMPING SHIP (for one night)

[troywest]

We're thinking about leaving a ship in Livorno, and rejoining it the next night in Monte Carlo. We'll rent a car, and spend one night off the ship.

 

Should we notify the cruise line on board that we're doing this (so they don't wait for us), - but do we then run the risk they'll invent some "legal problems" that will prevent doing this, or..

 

Should we just "miss the ship" and catch up to it the next night ?

 

Has anyone had experience with this?

 

thanks......Troy

[Toto2Kansas]

Definitely check with Princess before you do this.

[Pia1913]

Are you on the Emerald? Emerald holds passports; definitely need to tell Princess.

[DougandEric]

Check with Princess for sure. You may have to forfeit the remainder of your cruise if you do this with no refund. Princess checks each passenger out and in on their security system and if you show up missing, they may also have pay penalties to local authorities as well as alert local authorities. Ships are not like hotels in this regard.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

Also consider all the other passengers on the ship that might have to "wait" for you to return if you turn up missing and they have to search for you.

[PescadoAmarillo]

I know people do this a fair bit, but I have to give one caution...due to whatever reason (weather, mechanical issue) the ship may not make it into the next port. This happened on our Princess transpacific cruise. Many passengers got off the ship in Auckland, New Zealand intending to reconnect it with 3 days later in Wellington. Due to weather, we never made it into Wellington, and those folks had to fly to Sydney, board the ship after it docked on the final day of the cruise and then pack up to leave the ship.

[mii]

The above posters gave you very good information on NOT doing what you want to do. Frankly with all of the security in the world today I would not do it. Even if you told Princess what you wanted to do there is no guarantee that the message would get to that particular ship, the right date etc.

 

Marilyn

[Colo Cruiser]

If you do decide to do this then you must let the ship personnel know as your cruise card will show that you are off the ship and you will create quite a stir if you don't. :)

[bubbadog]

Are you on the Emerald? Emerald holds passports; definitely need to tell Princess.

 

 

 

 

 

thats funny i was just on her(emerald), and we kept our passports in our safe:))

[Pia1913]

thats funny i was just on her(emerald), and we kept our passports in our safe:))

 

What was your itinerary?

[billie5]

Okay, we did exactly that on the Yucatan peninsula. Got off in Cozumel, rented a car and drove to Chichen Itza, where we overnighted at a great hotel actually contiguous to the ruins, then dropped off the car at the other side of the peninsula and rejoined the ship at Progresso. The night at Chichen Itza was absolutely memorable.

 

But, we DID notify the pursur's office. As we expected, they did everything possible to discourage us -- told us we would have to pack up our room in case we did not make it back (of course we did not), warned us about the possibility they might not be able to land at Progresso, etc. When we were firm about our commitment, they took our passports and made all the necessary arrangements with the Mexican authorities, ie, they were, in the end, very cooperative. And we also checked the weather very carefully over the Internet just before we disembarked in Cozumel, so we could be confident they would arrive in Progresso (which is a much more difficult port than Monaco). Of course, there was always a very small chance that the ship would not arrive in Progresso, anything from unexpected weather to an engine problem, but it is impossible to travel and worry about very small probabilities. The alternative would be to stay safely in bed.

 

I am sure you will have a memorable experience.

 

Bill

[katisdale]

Call Princess, ask them to send you and then fill out their "deviation form" (not on the website for downloading), and return it to Princess HQ. I would take a copy with me to show the purser's office.

[wcyellin]

There are more than two days of things to see and places to go along this route.

 

It sounds like a good idea.

 

But, you may get sticker shock when you look at the car rental cost.

 

I looked at thiis a month or two ago, and Hertz wanted over 800 Euros for a two day rental.

 

Some companies had Smart Cars (very tiny) for around 250 Euros.

[billie5]

And, of course, the train transportation is so good, and so frequent, in that region that you really do not need to rent a car at all.

 

The must-sees, incidentally (I lived for more than a year in Italy), depend upon whether or not you are already familiar with Florence. If so, I would go immediately to Pisa (more spectacular than you will have imagined -- not just the tower, but the Battistero and Duomo as well), then take the train to Milano, where I would overnight. The next day I would take the train to Monaco, probably via Portofino or San Remo (the first supposedly the nicest town on the Italian Riviera, although it is easy to be disappointed in Portofino -- or in San Remo).

 

If I were not already well familiar with Florence, then I have to question your plan. I also would disembark from the cruise ship for an overnight in Italy, but definitely to overnight in Florence, a true pearl of the Mediterranean. I would take the train to Pisa first, since it is on the way, then go to Florence. It is almost criminal not to spend a whole week reveling in Firenza, but since that is not possible, I would spend the day and night there, and then take a train to Monaco the next morning.

 

Wish I were coming along.

 

Bill

[CalCruzer]

Okay, we did exactly that on the Yucatan peninsula. Got off in Cozumel, rented a car and drove to Chichen Itza, where we overnighted at a great hotel actually contiguous to the ruins, then dropped off the car at the other side of the peninsula and rejoined the ship at Progresso. The night at Chichen Itza was absolutely memorable.

 

But, we DID notify the pursur's office. As we expected, they did everything possible to discourage us -- told us we would have to pack up our room in case we did not make it back (of course we did not), warned us about the possibility they might not be able to land at Progresso, etc. When we were firm about our commitment, they took our passports and made all the necessary arrangements with the Mexican authorities, ie, they were, in the end, very cooperative. And we also checked the weather very carefully over the Internet just before we disembarked in Cozumel, so we could be confident they would arrive in Progresso (which is a much more difficult port than Monaco). Of course, there was always a very small chance that the ship would not arrive in Progresso, anything from unexpected weather to an engine problem, but it is impossible to travel and worry about very small probabilities. The alternative would be to stay safely in bed.

 

I am sure you will have a memorable experience.

 

Bill

Do they have car ferries from the island of Cozumel to the mainland where Chichen Itza is located?

[Dorinda]

We did it in Morocco. Left the ship in Agadir, spent the night in Marakech, rejoined the next day in Casablanca. No problem. If we had missed the ship the next port - Gibraltar - wasn't far.

 

We had to wait maybe 30 minutes for our passport before we could leave.

 

It was a wonderful experience.

 

Have fun!

 

Dee

[PescadoAmarillo]

Do they have car ferries from the island of Cozumel to the mainland where Chichen Itza is located?

Yes, they do.

http://www.cozumelinsider.com/Trans

page down about 2/3 of the way.

[smeyer418]

There are more than two days of things to see and places to go along this route.

 

It sounds like a good idea.

 

But, you may get sticker shock when you look at the car rental cost.

 

I looked at thiis a month or two ago, and Hertz wanted over 800 Euros for a two day rental.

 

Some companies had Smart Cars (very tiny) for around 250 Euros.

 

www.autoeurope.com/ try this I use them all the time and they tend to be more reasonable with lots of discounts. 800 Euros is 1200! you must need an automatic...I find Hertz to be among the most expensive. I paid less than $350 for a week in Europe last summer and that was for an automatic....

[Cruise Junky]

I was just about to suggest AutoEurope. We have three weeks booked with them next month for $1,600 cdn. That includes the $400 drop off in Rome as we're picking up in Nice. That's something else you need to look out for, the dreaded drop fee.

[billie5]

Actually, we took the people ferry to the mainland (Playa del Carmen) and the auto rental agencies had people right there, so I could not have answered your auto ferry question. I would recommend doing it that way, in any case.

 

Bill

[smeyer418]

I was just about to suggest AutoEurope. We have three weeks booked with them next month for $1,600 cdn. That includes the $400 drop off in Rome as we're picking up in Nice. That's something else you need to look out for, the dreaded drop fee.

I find that within the same country there is rarely a drop off fee but when you get between countries there is....but sometimes you can get one without a drop off fee...If you take away the drop off fee its still about the same $350.00 we have been using buses a lot in Europe they are cheap and very nice---easier than trains and much less expensive and then just renting a car locally for a day or two.....much cheaper and better than long drives and greatly subsidized by taxes on cars and gas....IMO....

[donna5]

You would also want to check to see if you would need any type of papers(like a visa) for any country that you decided to not get back onto the ship and the next port/country that you would be getting back on the ship. Check to see what would be needed if you didn't make it to the ship at your intended port (or if the ship didn't make it to the port). Make sure you have a credit card with lots of credit avail. if you have to fly. Alway check options in case of a problem and have a list with you with phone numbers.

[Daphne8100]

I think it really depends on your itinerary. It might be more complicated with some itineraries, and I would really advise you to check with the purser.

 

They really do keep track of who makes it back to the ship. It causes the cruiseline alot of $$$$$ if they need to stay behind and wait for a passenger. There were several stops where they called the passenger's name more than once before we left. It is a big deal if you don't tell them.

 

Regarding passports...we were on the Emerald Princess June 22 - July 4. Our itinerary included non-Schengen EU countries (Greece) as well as Turkey, which is not part of the EU. For that reason, they took our passports before we got to Greece, and gave them back after we had stopped in Istanbul, Ephesus, Mykonos, and Athens. The way it worked was that we gave our passports to the cabin steward, and he gave us a receipt. It was all very formal official and well done.

 

Whatever you decide, have fun!!!!!

[Hlitner]

Autoeurope is a great "consolidator" for Europcar, but only handles longer term rentals (I believe the minimum is 3 days). As to leaving the ship overnight, its not a problem as long as you notify the guest relations desk (in advance). You should also ask for your passports since you generally need passports to check into most hotels in the EU. Also make sure you have the name and phone numbers of the ships' agents in both of the ports.

 

Hank