Missing Ship Departure from Excursion

[fsa1155]

Hello Everyone,

I recently booked an excursion in St. Thomas that is scheduled from 1:30 to 5:30 pm. Our schedule states that the ship is docked until 6:00. I'm now concerned that we are cutting it too close. Has anyone had any experience with a Canival Cruise "contracted" excursion getting back late?

I don't want to feel rushed or worried on vacation and this is the one excursion that I really wanted to do. :confused:

 

Thanks for the help.

[kicia]

If you booked the excursion through Carnival and you'll be fine and the ship would wait if the tour ran late. If you booked the excursion on your own, I would definitely change it because 5:30 is too late. The traffic close to the ship and downtown is really bad especially at that time so it can take a long time to return to the ship. In short - ship tour is OK but independent tour is cutting it too close.

[PCHENG]

If you book the excursion directly through Carnival, the ship will either wait for you, or Carnival will get you to the next port free of charge should the ship had to leave. I don't know the logistics of it all, but I always wonder what would happen if you have to fly to the next port, and the guests did not carry their passport with them.

[fsa1155]

Oh good! Thank you. We did book it through Carnival's website so we should be fine. The only other thing I noticed was that our dinner time is 6:00 pm. I doubt we can be ready for dinner by 6:00. That might be a good night to book dinner in the steak house for a later time.

 

Thanks again,

[fsa1155]

If you book the excursion directly through Carnival, the ship will either wait for you, or Carnival will get you to the next port free of charge should the ship had to leave. I don't know the logistics of it all, but I always wonder what would happen if you have to fly to the next port, and the guests did not carry their passport with them.

 

That's a good idea. I should make sure we take our passports with us.

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi everyone,

 

just a question in general ... what happens if the ship actually leaves without you? We're booked for a med cruise in July and love to do our tours independently from the ship. We do know it's a bit of a risk ... but still. Let's say you miss the ship...can you travel independently to the next port and just walk back onboard the next day as if nothing happened? Or do they fine you for maybe having waited the day before, cast you off the ship or something else? Has this actually happened to anybody before?

[FTLCruiseGal]

Hi everyone,

 

just a question in general ... what happens if the ship actually leaves without you? We're booked for a med cruise in July and love to do our tours independently from the ship. We do know it's a bit of a risk ... but still. Let's say you miss the ship...can you travel independently to the next port and just walk back onboard the next day as if nothing happened? Or do they fine you for maybe having waited the day before, cast you off the ship or something else? Has this actually happened to anybody before?

 

If it is an independent tour, you have to find your own way to the next port and pay for it. Ship sponsored tours, they will make arrangements for you pay.

 

Some people "plan" on doing this as they want to spend more time in one particular port. If this is something anyone plans on doing, please do the courteous thing and let the ship know ahead of time. That way, they will not wait for you (as well as making all the passengers wait) to return to the ship.

 

Not sure if you get a fine from the ship, but I doubt it. They only make people pay if they incur extra costs (i.e., having to turn around because someone threw a life preserver in the water -- which will also probably get you thrown off the ship).

[golfadj]

Hi everyone,

 

just a question in general ... what happens if the ship actually leaves without you? We're booked for a med cruise in July and love to do our tours independently from the ship. We do know it's a bit of a risk ... but still. Let's say you miss the ship...can you travel independently to the next port and just walk back onboard the next day as if nothing happened? Or do they fine you for maybe having waited the day before, cast you off the ship or something else? Has this actually happened to anybody before?

 

It becomes your responsibility and cost to get to the next stop. They will not fine you.

 

Seems to happen a lot in Cozumel.

[deborahjo]

Hello Everyone,

I recently booked an excursion in St. Thomas that is scheduled from 1:30 to 5:30 pm. Our schedule states that the ship is docked until 6:00. I'm now concerned that we are cutting it too close. Has anyone had any experience with a Canival Cruise "contracted" excursion getting back late?

I don't want to feel rushed or worried on vacation and this is the one excursion that I really wanted to do. :confused:

 

Thanks for the help.

 

We did one in Nassau. Thru Carnival. Said it has transportation. Transportation was our two feet walking. We had to walk about a half mile to the boat we were using to go snorkeling. The ride back was cutting it extremely close. When we docked. We ask about transportation back to the ship since we had very little time. Was told no. We could pay for a taxi or walk. There were about 60 of us. We took off at almost a running pace. We got stopped when we had to show our ship identification. It was 15 minutes til the ship left. We had to run the rest of the way. They were getting ready to pull the walk way up when we got there and there were several people behind us.

 

Once back on ship, Liberty, we went to complain about the "transportation" issue. The only thing we were told was "you made it back on time did you not". We were mad. They were not holding the ship for us. If we had taken our time we would have been left behind even if it was a Carnival excursion. We were ask if we had stopped and shopped on the way back. DH said heck no. We hardly had time to get back here. Well there was nothing they were going to do.

 

I do not think I would take that excursion unless you had it in writing they will wait for you and if you miss the ship Carnival will pay to get you to the next port. Of course they will never do this so travel at your own risk.

[FlaGrl4Evr]

It becomes your responsibility and cost to get to the next stop. They will not fine you.

 

Seems to happen a lot in Cozumel.

 

 

Yes, it almost happened to us in Cozumel. We booked a Passion Island by Twister boat tour and the seas were rough that day hence a longer than expected boat ride back to the port area. Thankfully we did book the tour with the ship and they did wait for us. It was a good thing too as there were several running back to the ship from other tours that day as well.

 

As a rule of thumb, we try to book any port that has a tender or requires a long or unique mode of transportation, with the ship. In Belize and Pregreso we booked our Mayan Ruin tours with the ship too as it always seems that these require a long bus ride, plus Belize is a tender port with a looong boat ride back to the ship. I would not want to mess up in that port.

 

 

:)

[cantwait4cruise]

Hello Everyone,

I recently booked an excursion in St. Thomas that is scheduled from 1:30 to 5:30 pm. Our schedule states that the ship is docked until 6:00. I'm now concerned that we are cutting it too close. Has anyone had any experience with a Canival Cruise "contracted" excursion getting back late?

I don't want to feel rushed or worried on vacation and this is the one excursion that I really wanted to do. :confused:

 

Thanks for the help.

 

i have actually been on an excursion that i booked with carnival know who was going to be late and the ship waited for the group of us to get back

[sparks1093]

We booked a dolphin excursion in Freeport and the ship was scheduled to leave at 1:30. The excursion ran late for a few different reasons and the ship was in communication with the bus driver as we made our way back to the port. I think we crossed the gangway at 1:35.

[golfadj]

We do almost all of our excursions privately and make sure we are scheduled back well before sail time usually 90 minutes to be on safe side.

[PollyNJ]

We were on an excursion in Domenica through Carnival when we were on the Victory a few years ago...our excursion ran very late and they held the ship for us...there was about 15 of us on this excursion..the crew were joking with us..don't run we are waiting for you :)

[fsa1155]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I'm still a little nerveous about getting back on time. Maybe I'll remind the person who takes us on our excursion of the time our ship leaves and ask him to assure me we will be back in time. :)

[sparks1093]

We do almost all of our excursions privately and make sure we are scheduled back well before sail time usually 90 minutes to be on safe side.

 

I like to do that when I can but the Dolphin excursion could only be booked through the ship.

[evandbob]

We were on an excursion in Domenica through Carnival when we were on the Victory a few years ago...our excursion ran very late and they held the ship for us...there was about 15 of us on this excursion..the crew were joking with us..don't run we are waiting for you :)

 

 

Was late returning to ship twice, both on ship sponsored excursions:

 

1) Panama - CCL - tour delayed by traffic accident, was 1/2 hr late, pax cheered from their balconies as we ran down the pier to re-board.

 

2) Florence Italy- Princess - tour delayed due to taffic accident, returned 1 1/2 hrs late, the crew was pulling up the gangplank as soon as we crossed it!

[capcutie2002]

I did a Carnival excursion to the Mayan ruins Xunantunich in Belize. Our group of around 50 people was about 1.5 hours late getting back to the ship. There were still several groups behind us for the same excursion and the ship left at least 2 hours late that day. When we got back on I think the staff knew they would be waiting a while and we weren't rushed or anything.

[mountaincruiser20]

When we did our Med. cruise on the Magic it was almost every day we had people left behind. They made several announcements for those planning to miss the boat to let someone know what they had planned. A lot of people were doing overnight stays and just took the high speed trains to the next port. Rome was the only stop we were worried about getting back since we did a private tour. Always try to be back at least 90 minutes early.

[vigurl]

I have never been "almost" left my the ship.

 

But in Panama there was a large group of about 300 passengers who booked a tour through carnival. The tour was delayed 2 hours + getting back and the ship waited for them.

 

 

In regards to St. Thomas as someone who lived there 17 yrs there is no way in hell 30 mins is enough time to get back. Traffic there is terrible even w/o a cruise ship in port. If you are booked through Carnival I would not worry but if it is an independent operator no way don't do it!

[CdrescherRBL152]

Hello Everyone,

I recently booked an excursion in St. Thomas that is scheduled from 1:30 to 5:30 pm. Our schedule states that the ship is docked until 6:00. I'm now concerned that we are cutting it too close. Has anyone had any experience with a Canival Cruise "contracted" excursion getting back late?

I don't want to feel rushed or worried on vacation and this is the one excursion that I really wanted to do. :confused:

 

Thanks for the help.

 

As long as you booked excursion thru Carnival you will not have a problem. On your last cruise we booked an excursion thru Carnival in Colon Panama. That got so delayed they sent out a polioce escort for your bus on the return to the ship.

[BruceGDC]

Observation from stops in Belize on two separate trips:

 

1) Ship excursion delayed 90 mins past sailing. Ship waited with tenders enough for the group.

 

2) Private excursion delayed until 5-10 minutes after last tender. Travelers hired a speedboat, and the ship kindly opened the door when they pulled up to match speed. Yep, ship departed on schedule.... They had to catch up and jump to get aboard. They have not heard the end of it :). (They were part of our group - the ones that picked the cruise. Someone reminds them of it each year on the annual cruise)

 

I stick to ship excursions or leave at least 90 minutes leeway.

 

On our Alaska cruise, first port 8 people missed the boat (not on ship excursions). They had to fly on their dime to two days further on at $900 apiece. We left someone behind at most ports of call on that one, according to the staff. My wife and I did enjoy tending on the top deck and watching the runners and betting if they were on our ship. (And watched a few decide to do last minute port shopping as the gangplank was raised - we think they were the missing that stop, but hard to tell with three ships in port although they had bags from the line we were on)

 

 

 

 

 

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[fsa1155]

I feel much better about this now. Not quite as worried as I was. It sounds like I did the right thing by booking this excursion through Carnival's website and not booking a private tour. We'll just keep our fingers crossed that we make it on time. I only have 5 more months to worry about this. lol :)

[FlaGrl4Evr]

Observation from stops in Belize on two separate trips:

 

1) Ship excursion delayed 90 mins past sailing. Ship waited with tenders enough for the group.

 

2) Private excursion delayed until 5-10 minutes after last tender. Travelers hired a speedboat, and the ship kindly opened the door when they pulled up to match speed. Yep, ship departed on schedule.... They had to catch up and jump to get aboard. They have not heard the end of it :). (They were part of our group - the ones that picked the cruise. Someone reminds them of it each year on the annual cruise)

 

I stick to ship excursions or leave at least 90 minutes leeway.

 

On our Alaska cruise, first port 8 people missed the boat (not on ship excursions). They had to fly on their dime to two days further on at $900 apiece. We left someone behind at most ports of call on that one, according to the staff. My wife and I did enjoy tending on the top deck and watching the runners and betting if they were on our ship. (And watched a few decide to do last minute port shopping as the gangplank was raised - we think they were the missing that stop, but hard to tell with three ships in port although they had bags from the line we were on)

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

 

 

 

On our Belize port, we too has roll call friends that did a private snorkel tour. The boat broke down while in route back to the port. They too almost missed the ship. They finally hailed a passing boat and paid them to take them up to the ship. They also boarded last minute.

 

.