Disembarkation time?

We are trying to set the time for our transfer at the end of the cruise. I see an arrival time of 7 am in Rome on our itinerary, on the Oosterdam this June. Does anyone know what time we're likely to disembark?

The company proposed a meeting time of 7:30, which seems possibly unrealistic, but I'm not sure.

I'm interested in knowing the earliest and the latest if possible, because if possible, we'd probably appreciate not meeting our transfer until 8:30 am. Would that be allowed or will we need to be out before then?

I also need to figure this out for other ports. For example, our tour for Olympia has asked me to specify a meeting time, with 8 am port arrival, etc.

Thank you for any knowledge on this topic!

You probably know this, but the port above for Rome is Civitavecchia.

Also, for Mgarr port (Gozo, Malta) we have a tender with port times listed as arrive 8 am and depart 3 pm. When there is a tender, how does that affect the times we should use when setting customized private tour meeting/ending times? In this case we have a start time set at 9 am, but when should the end time be?

The earliest realistic time is 7:30. You will need to be off by no later than 10am, and they will push you gently before that. As I recall you don't really have a time constraint, correct?

If you set 7:30, and don't get there until 7:45, the vehicle will still be there.

I think 9am for Malta is appropriate. Again, the tour vendor will not leave at 9:01, if this is a private tour just for you. The end time should be 2pm.

If you are willing to do Express Disembarkation (where you must carry -off all your luggage) then 7:30 would be reasonable...assuming the gangplank is in place by 7. Civitavecchia is a pretty efficient port when it comes to clearing ships :). If you are using a decent transfer company (such as Romecabs or Romeinlimo) the drivers are well-aware of the possible disembarkation delays. When booking transfers we will usually give the transfer company our cell number (our phones generally work everywhere) and also ask if they can possibly give us a direct cell number of our driver. Sometimes they will eventually give you the driver's cell (this would generally happen within a day or two before your transfer) and other times they will tell you that you can always call their local office (often in Rome) and they can reach the driver. If we know that we will be delayed we like to notify the company and/or driver.

As to Katakolon (Olympia) give yourself 45 min from docking time to be sure.....but even 30 min will usually be adequate. Most EU/Schengen ports are good at quickly clearing ships...when compared to ports in the USA or the UK.

Hank

Thank you for this feedback. It's very helpful.

For the Mgarr port in Malta, with tender, if the listed port hours are 8-3, I like the idea of 9 am start time for our private tour. The tour operator recommended an end time of 2:45, but said that the tender hours are not available to her yet. Do you agree that 2:45 would be impossible as an ending time if the port hours end at 3:00?? The 3:00 time is for ship departure, right? Not the board-the-tender time?

Thank you.

Thank you for this feedback. It's very helpful.

 

For the Mgarr port in Malta, with tender, if the listed port hours are 8-3, I like the idea of 9 am start time for our private tour. The tour operator recommended an end time of 2:45, but said that the tender hours are not available to her yet. Do you agree that 2:45 would be impossible as an ending time if the port hours end at 3:00?? The 3:00 time is for ship departure, right? Not the board-the-tender time?

 

Thank you.

If you are set to sail at 3pm (that is the time that will be listed on your itinerary, not last tender), then last tender will be 2:30. Arriving at the tender dock by 2 is safe.

If you are set to sail at 3pm (that is the time that will be listed on your itinerary, not last tender), then last tender will be 2:30. Arriving at the tender dock by 2 is safe.

Thank for your responsiveness. So helpful!!

Totally agree with CruiseBruce on the return tenders. As to tendering on HAL, keep in mind that they use a priority system which can work against independent travelers. Priority is always given to the Ship Excursion Groups, than you have the folks in the larger suites, and also anyone who is a 4 or 5 Star Mariner gets priority. If you are not in one of those groups you need to report to a public lounge (the daily schedule will give you the details) and obtain a tender ticket. It is first come first serve...so if you want to get on an early tender you want to among the first folks to show-up to get tender tickets. There is no priorty system for return tenders...so you must simply get yourself to the tender pier by the required time (usually 30 minutes before scheduled departure).

Hank

Thank you for the detailed information! We will keep that in mind.

Totally agree with CruiseBruce on the return tenders. As to tendering on HAL, keep in mind that they use a priority system which can work against independent travelers. Priority is always given to the Ship Excursion Groups, than you have the folks in the larger suites, and also anyone who is a 4 or 5 Star Mariner gets priority. If you are not in one of those groups you need to report to a public lounge (the daily schedule will give you the details) and obtain a tender ticket. It is first come first serve...so if you want to get on an early tender you want to among the first folks to show-up to get tender tickets. There is no priorty system for return tenders...so you must simply get yourself to the tender pier by the required time (usually 30 minutes before scheduled departure).

 

Hank

Hank is correct. But the one thing frequently implied, but not always true, is that the all the ships excursions will go off first at arrival. This is not true. Not all ship's excursions will be scheduled for immediately at the start of tendering...they can be sprinkled across the day. A short port stay like in Malta does compress things a bit, but you shouldn't expect to stand at the ship's tender dock, and watch shore excursion after shore excursion after shore excursion go off while you wait. They may run more than one tender dock, and they will run multiple tenders.