How do I judge what time we'll actually get off the ship while in port?

[andysgirl360]

Hi there, off to the Med in August and trying to plan some DIY tours. I'm having a hard time judging what time to meet the private tour operator as I am unsure when we will actually be allowed to get off the ship.

 

For example:

 

Itinerary says we are in Athens from 9am to 6pm. I am assuming that this is the actual arrival/departure time of the ship itself - so would it be fair to say that we would only be getting off at about 10am and need to be back on the ship at 5pm the absolute latest?

 

I just don't want to misjudge the time and either wait a long time for the guide to arrive, or worse, have him standing there thinking we ditched him while we are still stuck on the ship.

 

Thanks! :)

[paul929207]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Cruise ships are usually pretty good at arriving on time. Then you have to wait for local authorities to clear the ship before you can get off. Most times this takes 15 to 30 minutes. here is usually a lon gline of people wanting to get off immediately, so it can be 15 minutes or sotill the backlog is cleared. Tour guides will know this and be waiting. If you arrive at 9am I would tell the guide 9:30 or 10:00.

 

Most cruise lines ask passengers to be back onboard at least 30 minutes before sailing.

 

Note the above applies if our ship is docked. If you are anchored and tendered to shore, that will slow the process.

[John Bull]

Often ships arrive in port around 5am - 6am, while you are still in the land of nod. So 9am can mean 9am.

But as Paul's post, tour operators know the schedules, & know how soon you can get off the ship - so just tell them the ship's scheduled time is 9am.

 

Piraeus you'll be berthed at the quay.

For any ports where your ship moors offshore & you go ashore in small boats (noted on your docs as "by tender"), life is a little slower & more complicated.

Post again if you have a tender port.

 

"Back-on-board" time is usually 30 mins before sailing, & for tender ports the "last tender" (when you have to be on the pier, not on the ship) is usually an hour before sailing. But you'll be told the precise times. Of course it's common sense to allow longer in case of a delay.

 

Its useful to have a cellphone (mobile phone) number for your guide & take your own cellphone, in case there's a problem

 

JB :)

[Keith1010]

In most cases the times shown are the arrival times. Major exception can be the day you disembark the ship.

 

I would plan on being off the ship 15 to 30 minutes after the time shown with the exception of the port of disembarkation.

 

Keith

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It could take 15 to 20 min to clear customes in some ports and the tour guides know.

[andysgirl360]

Thanks to both of you for your posts, our entire schedule is as follows:

 

Dubrovnik - 8am to 6pm

Corfu - 9am to 7pm (renting a car - what time for pickup?)

Olympia - 7am to 3pm (doing a ship tour here so no worries)

Santorini - 8pm to 6pm (renting a car - what time for pickup?)

Ephesus - 7am to 6:30pm (booked a tour for 8:30 am, should be OK)

Athens - 9am to 6pm

Messina 7am to 1pm (doing a ship tour so no worries)

 

This is on the Noordam, so if anyone has specific experience with these ports and this ship, that would be helpful (tendering procedures, etc).

 

Thanks!

[paul929207]

For the rental cars, are you going to them or are they ringing you the car? If you are going to them, the fare is usually per day, so I would put the time when you are scheduled to arrive. Like the guides, the car rental people are aware of cruise ships and possible delays

[CruiserBruce]

Thanks to both of you for your posts, our entire schedule is as follows:

 

Dubrovnik - 8am to 6pm

Corfu - 9am to 7pm (renting a car - what time for pickup?)

Olympia - 7am to 3pm (doing a ship tour here so no worries)

Santorini - 8pm to 6pm (renting a car - what time for pickup?)

Ephesus - 7am to 6:30pm (booked a tour for 8:30 am, should be OK)

Athens - 9am to 6pm

Messina 7am to 1pm (doing a ship tour so no worries)

 

This is on the Noordam, so if anyone has specific experience with these ports and this ship, that would be helpful (tendering procedures, etc).

 

Thanks!

 

We have sailed this route on the Noordam. Your times are good- as others have mentioned you will be able to get off within 20 or so minutes of the scheduled docking.

 

Santorini is a tender operation, and somewhat complex given the location. I would tell the rental car 9am.

 

You will find lots of good info on the HAL board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=171

 

the Med Ports board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=603

 

and possibly on your Roll call, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=316

[cb at sea]

Most times, the exit opens within minutes of the posted time. The ship is generally in the dock before the stated "port times".

[gadaboutgal]

The "posted" time is usually the time the ship is docking. Often they are requesting over the PA that people not crowd the hallways and stairs at the docking time because cruisers (new or experienced) just assume that if the time to be at port says 7 or 8 that one can just walk off at that time. Better to plan on that 20-30 minutes others have suggested.

[scareyness]

Thanks to both of you for your posts, our entire schedule is as follows:

 

Dubrovnik - 8am to 6pm

Corfu - 9am to 7pm (renting a car - what time for pickup?)

Olympia - 7am to 3pm (doing a ship tour here so no worries)

Santorini - 8pm to 6pm (renting a car - what time for pickup?)

Ephesus - 7am to 6:30pm (booked a tour for 8:30 am, should be OK)

Athens - 9am to 6pm

Messina 7am to 1pm (doing a ship tour so no worries)

 

This is on the Noordam, so if anyone has specific experience with these ports and this ship, that would be helpful (tendering procedures, etc).

 

Thanks!

 

On each of our cruises we have been in 30-60 mins before expected time, but by the time ship ties up, customs, then ships tour passengers are allowed off first time is ticking by.

 

We did a med cruise last year and I organised a transfer only to Taormina whilst in Messina, I think there was 16 of us, the private cars were waiting for us when we had docked they drove us to Taormina the scenic route and left us for the agreed amount of time and were then there to collect us at the arranged time, it was brilliant. We then had time to look around Messina later if we wanted to. A great day.

 

In Athens we caught the hop on hop off bus from the cruise terminal and went to the Acropolis excellent way to see if, much cheaper and we got a tour of the area stressfree too!

 

Booked a private trip in Naples which was one of the highlights of the trip (shame you are not going there!)

 

As previously stated Santorini is tendered, on our visit there was 5 other ships. The time we got off the que for the cable car was huge, so we ended up going up on the donkeys, an amazing experience (not one i will do again though!) we enjoyed a lovely walk around Fira having coffee in a breath taking cafe, we then got lost and met up with another couple and shared a taxi to Oia where we spent a few hours and had a fantastic lunch the views are just mind blowing and the day here was the ultimate highlight for us and is a place we will never forget. Got a taxi back, again que for cable car was long so i would say this is the thing to be most mindful of in Santorini.

 

Hope you enjoy!:)

[johneeo]

My experience has been that the ship is docked well before the posted time.

 

So, if posted time has been 9:00 AM, my experience has been the ship is docked at 8:00 AM and people are leaving at the scheduled time.

 

YMMV.

[cantwaittwogo]

i have found the ships are somtimes early as well.