Port Arrival & Departure, personal or ship time?

[MikeMonty]

Hello,

 

I am going on the Mille Med. this June, Barcelona to Venice. I have a question about the arrival and departure times. My itinerary says: For example Naples, arrival 7 am, departure 7 pm. Is this the time that the ship expects to arrive and depart from the port, or is this the time that passengers can disembark and then must return to the ship by? If the answer is option A, roughly what time would I be able to disembark the ship, assuming the itinerary says 7 am. How early would I need to return to the ship assuming 7 pm departure? Reason I ask is I have some friends I am meeting and I am not sure what time to tell them to be at the port. Thanks for you help.

 

Mike

[Guest]

Arrival time never means the time you can actually get off. The ship has to clear customs before anyone gets off. I'd don't know about others but I wouldn't plan to get off before 9:00 a.m. just to be safe and I'd make sure I was back at least by 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. You don't want to drive up to the pier and find your ship has gone bye-bye.

 

 

[bba]

What a wonderful trip. My recollection is that we got off the ship pretty close to 7:00 am on the Barcelona-Barcelona trip last October. Our drive (we used a private driver) met us at the dock and we left early for me -- and a good thing since a part of the Amalfi Drive was closed I think after 10:00 am, but we were already en route by then. We had early seating so we got back to the ship in plenty of time, so I don't remember what time we departed Naples.

 

BBA

[rwb]

For sure, departure time means "cast off and sail away time". Be there 1/2 hour before or risk hiring a boat to catch up to the ship.

 

Arrival times can vary from the schedule, but (unlike airlines) cruise ships tend to arrive early on purpose. The important thing is not when the ship gets there, but when the local governmental authorities clear the ship for disembarkation. That is largely beyond the control of the cruise line, and can cause modest delays in opening the gangplank.

[MikeMonty]

Thanks for the help. I will be sure to get back to the ship at least 1 hour before sch. departure to play it safe. Thanks again.

 

Mike