are arrival times at ports accurate and can we disembark quickly?

[schnoor64]

We are sailing on the Glory March 13th-20th Eastern Caribbean. The itinerary says arrival at port San Juan is 7 AM. Will the ship usually be there early like sometime in the night or are they usually running late? And where do we go or who do we tell that we need off the ship ASAP to get to an excursion we booked not through the ship? does anyone have any tips on getting off quickly and early? Is there usually a huge mob of people trying to exit on these early morning port arrivals? I'm hoping most people are sleeping in or eating breakfast. I'm also hoping we get into San Juan in the early early morning and they let us off even earlier than the scheduled 7am. And for that matter, does the time listed as arrival at port mean you should be able to exit at that time?

[Atty]

We are sailing on the Glory March 13th-20th Eastern Caribbean. The itinerary says arrival at port San Juan is 7 AM. Will the ship usually be there early like sometime in the night or are they usually running late? And where do we go or who do we tell that we need off the ship ASAP to get to an excursion we booked not through the ship? does anyone have any tips on getting off quickly and early? Is there usually a huge mob of people trying to exit on these early morning port arrivals? I'm hoping most people are sleeping in or eating breakfast. I'm also hoping we get into San Juan in the early early morning and they let us off even earlier than the scheduled 7am. And for that matter, does the time listed as arrival at port mean you should be able to exit at that time?

 

A lot depends on where you are coming from and weather. Normally, the ship arrives just about on time. Pulling into San Juan early in the morning is cool. I have never heard of them letting people off early. There is usually a crush of people to get off, even in the early morning. Since you have a non-cruise excursion, I don't think you're going to get a lot of help from the crew. I would allow for 20-30 minutes to get off the boat once it is docked. Although you could get lucky and just camp out near the gangway.

[negc]

We are sailing on the Glory March 13th-20th Eastern Caribbean. The itinerary says arrival at port San Juan is 7 AM. Will the ship usually be there early like sometime in the night or are they usually running late? And where do we go or who do we tell that we need off the ship ASAP to get to an excursion we booked not through the ship? does anyone have any tips on getting off quickly and early? Is there usually a huge mob of people trying to exit on these early morning port arrivals? I'm hoping most people are sleeping in or eating breakfast. I'm also hoping we get into San Juan in the early early morning and they let us off even earlier than the scheduled 7am. And for that matter, does the time listed as arrival at port mean you should be able to exit at that time?

 

Listed arrival times are usually quite accurate, but the amount of time that local authorities clear the ship can vary considerably. The time listed as arrival time in the port is just that, and they won't dock earlier or else they would incur additional port charges. It is highly unlikely that your ship will be cleared for passengers to disembark before the scheduled arrival time and quite likely it will be, at the very least, several minutes after arrival. The amount of time really is in the control of local authorities and not the ship's personnel. Our experience with all arrivals in any port, regardless of the time of day, is that there will be an initial crush of passengers eager to be among the first off the ship. You can either get yourself up early and present yourself at the gangway early enough to be one of the first to disembark, or wait for the initial rush to subside and then disembark at your leisure. You should also check with your tour operator who should know what time you can expect to be off the ship. The operator should allow a reasonable amount of time for his or her clients to disembark and join the excursion. Your ship likely stops in the port on a regular basis and he or she should have long since adjusted the excursion schedule to accommodate the ship's passengers.

[Marysunshine]

I have been very concerned because the airline changed my granddaughter's flight home, only flight of the day, and it's early. I did research and discovered that I need to request early self assist debarkation.....taking off your own luggage in the morning.

[Atty]

I have been very concerned because the airline changed my granddaughter's flight home, only flight of the day, and it's early. I did research and discovered that I need to request early self assist debarkation.....taking off your own luggage in the morning.

 

That works for disembarkation. I've seen people getting off as early as like 6:30 am with self departure.

[G'ma]

anything can delay a ships arrival at port. Once docked, anything can delay getting off the ship.

 

The first passengers off are those on Carnival Sponsored excursions. All others need wait their turn. Unless you are Platinum, you will not be able to jump the line.

 

You must understand that Carnival gives no extraordinary weight to tours not booked through them. You will need to wait until general disembarkation is announce...that's after the shore excursions have left.

[zqvol]

We are sailing on the Glory March 13th-20th Eastern Caribbean. The itinerary says arrival at port San Juan is 7 AM. Will the ship usually be there early like sometime in the night or are they usually running late? And where do we go or who do we tell that we need off the ship ASAP to get to an excursion we booked not through the ship? does anyone have any tips on getting off quickly and early? Is there usually a huge mob of people trying to exit on these early morning port arrivals? I'm hoping most people are sleeping in or eating breakfast. I'm also hoping we get into San Juan in the early early morning and they let us off even earlier than the scheduled 7am. And for that matter, does the time listed as arrival at port mean you should be able to exit at that time?

 

San Juan is docked. The ship is usually at the pier and ready to discharge passengers at the stated time. Weather or other unforeseen circumstances could delay arrival. With such an early arrival time you should have no trouble at all walking off the ship. Most passengers don't get up and moving that early. The biggest delay will be getting past the photographers from Carnival.

[schnoor64]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I feel hopeful that we will get off ship fairly quickly. I checked the cruise sponsered shore excursions and there arent any that start earlier than 8am , so we should be able to get off at 7am as long as the ship is docked on time.

[negc]

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I feel hopeful that we will get off ship fairly quickly. I checked the cruise sponsered shore excursions and there arent any that start earlier than 8am , so we should be able to get off at 7am as long as the ship is docked on time.

Don't forget that the local authorities still need to clear the ship before any passengers can disembark. I wouldn't count on being off the ship before 7:15 at the earliest. Those cruise sponsored shore excursions don't start any earlier than 8 am for a reason. :)