Oceania excursions vs. independent: lateness question

[Tarpeian Rock]

We've booked 5 (ye$, I know) Oceania excursions on our upcoming Mayan Mystique cruise in March. We tend to go with "official" excursions because of the security that comes with that should something happen and the tour run late. Silly question: is it universal cruise industry practice that the ship has to wait should a cruise-line sponsored tour run late? Can we safely assume that O follows this practice?

[orchestrapal]

We've booked 5 (ye$, I know) Oceania excursions on our upcoming Mayan Mystique cruise in March. We tend to go with "official" excursions because of the security that comes with that should something happen and the tour run late. Silly question: is it universal cruise industry practice that the ship has to wait should a cruise-line sponsored tour run late? Can we safely assume that O follows this practice?

 

Don't know if it's a " universal practice" but O does wait for it's ship sponsored cruise. It's been 10 years and even more cruises since we have taken one and it did run about 35 minutes late and they were really delighted to see us back.

[sitraveler]

They will wait for ship's tours, but it will be tour hour company's heads if it happens. Your private tour will return before the ship's tour to eliminate the (unlikely) late return. If it is a close call due to distance, don't do it private.

We were on Regatta in Panama and the ship had to wait a half hour extra for the ship's tour to return. They closed the highway and had a police escort back to get back even late.

[Mura]

The only time we were in this situation was on an NCL cruise in January 2002. In that case the tour bus broke down and we were about 90 minutes late getting back to the ship -- they took a lot longer to send a replacement bus than they'd promised.

 

The ship waited. In fact, some of the independent passengers waited in the port until we got there and they joined us in the tender.

 

I've never heard of O leaving any ship's tour behind.

 

Mura

[orchestrapal]

Don't know if it's a " universal practice" but O does wait for it's ship sponsored cruise. It's been 10 years and even more cruises since we have taken one and it did run about 35 minutes late and they were really delighted to see us back.

 

Sorry, brain freeze ( and everything else). That should read "ship sponsored TOURS.

[Terryd444]

Hey T Rock...we are doing Mayan Mystique beginning 2/2 and we did similar...well we actually went with O's Unlimited package and did seven O sponsored tours. I know....I know!! (Be kind.......!)

 

Here was our reasoning....

 

Our Roll Call for this cruise was unusually quiet. Only twelve people have posted to let us know they are booked! One person had already put out a tour we could have joined, but by the time I got my Doc's approvals to do some stuff, that was full. That was the only tour that was offered. Also this cruise has some unusually long tours to the Mayan ruins etc. that caused us to worry we might get back too late if we booked some tours ourselves. Others seemed to have the same concerns.

 

We've only done one other cruise, last years Caribbean Hideaways where we had good experiences with the M&G and met our (non Oceania) tour organizers. They worked out great. I guess I'm still a little hesitant to organize any on my own yet though, especially when I must be sure I will be healthy and fit! The O sponsored tours we did last year were also good, so we have had good experiences both ways.

 

Good to hear we will not be left behind!

Shall I post live next week.....?

 

Terry

[cruisingxpert]

The people who booked the Ruins excursion by air in Guatemala had a hair raising police escorted race back to the ship on our Dec 2nd cruise. They kept the crew dock out til they returned 1/2 late. Their return flight had been delayed.

 

Catherine

 

 

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[kuldalai]

Basically all Cruise Companies hold the ship for return of any late returning Shore Excursions arranged by the Cruise Line.

 

In the odd event of an exceptionally late return then the ship may sail on and the Cruise Line makes alternative transport and accommodation arrangements for pax involved to re-join the ship at the next port . This only happens very rarely .

[hawkeye3d]

:eek: We do a combination if ships tours and independents. About 6 years we were on a private tour. Going back to the ship in plenty of time, opps accident highway blocked. Guide knows another highway and opps accident this highway also blocked, Now we are on city streets at 5PM in Amsterdam and anywhere at 5PM there is going to be traffic. We finally get close to the dock ½ mile line of traffic, but we can see the ship and gasp the tug. We got to the ship and the other guy and myself run into the terminal leaving the ladies to pay the guide. Two pursers were there and they yelled Nautica and we said yes. That was the fastest boarding we ever had no security just get on board. We arrived about 1 hour after all aboard and a little after scheduled departure, but the guide had called ahead and they did wait for us. Ever since our mantra has been “remember Amsterdam” So it’s up to the captain, but they will do their best to wait for you. Since then we have insisted that any guides get us back 60-90 minutes before “all aboard”

 

Bob

[Tarpeian Rock]

Hey T Rock...we are doing Mayan Mystique beginning 2/2 and we did similar...well we actually went with O's Unlimited package and did seven O sponsored tours. I know....I know!! (Be kind.......!)

 

Here was our reasoning....

 

Our Roll Call for this cruise was unusually quiet. Only twelve people have posted to let us know they are booked! One person had already put out a tour we could have joined, but by the time I got my Doc's approvals to do some stuff, that was full. That was the only tour that was offered. Also this cruise has some unusually long tours to the Mayan ruins etc. that caused us to worry we might get back too late if we booked some tours ourselves. Others seemed to have the same concerns.

 

We've only done one other cruise, last years Caribbean Hideaways where we had good experiences with the M&G and met our (non Oceania) tour organizers. They worked out great. I guess I'm still a little hesitant to organize any on my own yet though, especially when I must be sure I will be healthy and fit! The O sponsored tours we did last year were also good, so we have had good experiences both ways.

 

Good to hear we will not be left behind!

Shall I post live next week.....?

 

Terry

 

 

 

Terry-- would love to see live posts from your Mayan Mystique cruise. If one of your excursions is cave tubing in Belize, would especially like to hear how that goes, as that's one we booked, and I'm still a little meh about that one.

[Floridiana]

In Belize, I would really worry if I were on a private tour. We did all ship tours on Mayan Mystique. In Belize, one ship sponsored tour bus broke down and limped back to port. No replacement. Our bus had malfunctioning wipers in two tropical downpours. In the morning, customs officials took their own sweet time to show up. We were all late for our tours.

[robbie21]

We did the Mayan Mystique cruise in Feb 2013. We did three private tours , one CC group and two on our own. We did the rest of the ports on our own without a guide/tour. No time problems at all. In Costa Maya the tour company had a van break down and we stopped to pick up part of that van and another van was also diverted to pick up the rest. There was a traffic accident and we diverted to side roads. There was a great deal of communication and coordination by cell phone. This company had probably 10-15 vans on the road so they had a lot of information

 

In talking with our guide he explained that they had never missed a sailing and never would since most of their business came from reviews on Trip Advisor and CC and even one report of missing a ship would kill their business. We have heard similar comments from guides all over Europe.

 

Bottom line. We got back to the ship 1 1/2 hour before scheduled sailing. The ships busses got caught in the traffic accident and were an hour late:(

 

We strongly favor private guides and have never had a problem. We also enjoy the smaller, more flexible and faster moving groups that allow us to see more and also to be able to ask lots of questions of our guide.

 

Robbie

[willidc]

Tarpeian Rock,

 

Yes, we have been on tours from the ship and have arrived back late.

 

And, yes, the ship waited for us on both occasions.

 

One was a tender port where they had names and cabin number of people on the tour from the ship and crossed our names off as we entered the tender. We were late in excess of 30 minutes.

 

There was another time when we were late (Marseilles, I believe) and I cannot even give a good reason why we got to the ship past the 'latest onboard' time (more than 25 minutes). Again, they waited for us with the list of names and cabin numbers.

 

Both of these instances resulted in the ships (Riviera, Marina) departing later than scheduled since they cannot begin taking up anchors, etc. until all passengers they are waiting on have gone up the gang plank.

 

We do a combination of ship's tours, private tours, and on-our-own touring when we cruise with Oceania's exciting itineraries. We typically do private tours when we are looking for something specific that the ship does not offer or if we find something highly recommended that is significantly cheaper. We have done the "Your World Collection" as well as the "Unlimited Passport Collection" and both of those programs bring the touring down to a price where sometimes we feel it is just worth letting someone else do the research, coordination and planning.

 

The most upset I have ever been on tour was one time we were on a private tour and the driver/guide cut the return to the ship way too close for our liking. He was well past the time we had set to be back to the ship. He insisted we 'had time'. I don't know what my blood pressure was that afternoon but after a fabulous all day tour, I was questioning my wisdom of booking a private tour. It was not the way to end the day even though we did make the report time with about 3 minutes to spare. :eek:

 

When we have been late on a ship's tour there truly has been no worry.

 

Each type of touring has a time and place, and which to choose is as individual as choosing your style of travel, dress, dining, or wine.

 

Enjoy your Mayan Mystique cruise! :)

Edited January 29, 2014 by willidc

[Acrusa]

Shanghai 1994 Royal Vicking Sky.90 passengers on train ships tour.Train brakes down.Ship to depart at 6 PM.Departed 10:3 PM. 1984 Frommer guide book,Ship will not wait for independent none ship tours.( So long seeya later,where outa here,FA getaboutit, give my regards to Broadway) You get the picture.We lived by that advice ever since.

[LHT28]

We have done many independant tours without issuse

however we plan to be back at the port 1-2 hrs prior to all aboard time & ALWAYS take the port agent's contact information with us.

 

 

This past cruise we were missing 2 passengers in St Lucia they started calling them at the all aboard time.

They continued to call for them until 10 minutes prior to sailaway time

We were on the balcony watching as this sailboat came into the harbour very quickly one of the crew jumped in to the dinghy put it up to the transom as 2 people jumped aboard... they raced to shore with the woman holding up her Oceania tote bag

 

Guess they made it as we left just after regular sailaway time.

 

Lyn

Edited January 29, 2014 by LHT28