Missing ship departure - on purpose

[Playtennis]

What are the requirements for leaving the ship in one port and meeting it at another? I'm sure that you have to get prior approval from O but does that need to be done before the start of the cruise or can it be done onboard?

Since we will be in a foreign country I would assume they would give you your passport to carry.

Thanks for the help.

Keith

[rallydave]

What are the requirements for leaving the ship in one port and meeting it at another? I'm sure that you have to get prior approval from O but does that need to be done before the start of the cruise or can it be done onboard?

Since we will be in a foreign country I would assume they would give you your passport to carry.

Thanks for the help.

Keith

 

While some people will tell you that you don't need prior approval and simply talk to the shipboard people once on board, the prudent approach is to get approval from the home office well before boarding and then confirm things once on board.

 

There are possibilities that you may not be allowed to leave the ship depending on laws of the country(s) involved and better to have this all worked out prior to making your arrangements as if disapproved, you may have costs that are spent but, not used. Doubt travel insurance will cover this sort of situation.

 

We left a different cruise line twice during a previous cruise about a year ago and had an e-mail from the home office approving the departures. Once on board simply confirmed that they had the same information and that we would be able to retrieve our passports prior to departure. All worked well.

 

Enjoy your cruise and off ship time.

[kiawahdon]

We had a very difficult experience last year in Italy. We had prior permission to leave the ship 1 day early in Cinque Terre. Unfortunately the Italian Customs & Immigration only allows departure in a few select ports where they have personnel- and Portovenere was not one. It took the home office 6 hours to get permission for us to leave the ship. I suspect some Euros changed hands between the port agent and the authorities.

 

Bottom line, you need permission and double check if Norway authorities will approve.

[pinotlover]

Yes, to the above post. There are numerous ports, and even some countries, where one is not allowed to leave the ship. One should definitely talk to O before about leaving the ship mid cruise. Some ports require the ships to confirm that ALL passengers are back on board, before the ship can depart.

[karska]

We got an Alternate Port approval form. We requested to get off in LeVerdon, picking up a tour there, and then being dropped off at the ship in Bordeaux later in the day. We spoke to our O agent and got a form approving. However there are caveats mentioned on the form. Which basically covers their behind.

[Playtennis]

Thank you for your comments and sharing your experiences. I have already emailed our TA to get the necessary info/paperwork from O. Our cruise is 2 August so we have plenty of time.

All suggestions are welcome.

k

[karska]

Make sure you read the form. They recommend you contact special services dept prior to final pmt to reconfirm.

 

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[Off Shore]

When we visited Israel, We left Oceania in Ashdod and picked up the ship the next day in Haifa. The problem was, they changed the dock!!!

Make sure you have the contact information for their land agent In both ports.

I can assure you, these are very few things worse than being at what you thought was the right location, and gazing out to an empty sea...

Danny Weitz

[potterhill]

I can assure you, these are very few things worse than being at what you thought was the right location, and gazing out to an empty sea...

 

Danny Weitz

 

 

We had that very experience last year in Tianjin. We had permission to board late (after midnight ) but the problem was they changed docks. We drove for about 3 hours. I can assure you that Tianjin is one of, if not the largest dockyard in the world! Gave our driver a huge tip, so he was happy, but it was quite stressful. I was thinking I had the dates wrong. Was never so glad to see the ship. ;-)

 

Mo

 

 

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[NanciEA]

What if you wanted to leave the ship a day early at the end of the cruise when the ship has an overnight in the final port? For example, your ship docked in Barcelona at 8:00am on one day, but there it was an overnight and the cruise did not disembark until 8:00am the following day. Could you leave the ship on the day of arrival, if you noticed Oceania? Has anyone done this?

[Caroldoll]

to get a late night flight instead of have to be waiting around all the next day. You must tell the ship though and get permission.

[Paulchili]

What if you wanted to leave the ship a day early at the end of the cruise when the ship has an overnight in the final port? For example, your ship docked in Barcelona at 8:00am on one day, but there it was an overnight and the cruise did not disembark until 8:00am the following day. Could you leave the ship on the day of arrival, if you noticed Oceania? Has anyone done this?

 

Yes - we did it in Papeete. You must have permission from O before hand.

[beachwalker262]

We got an Alternate Port approval form. We requested to get off in LeVerdon, picking up a tour there, and then being dropped off at the ship in Bordeaux later in the day. We spoke to our O agent and got a form approving. However there are caveats mentioned on the form. Which basically covers their behind.

 

We asked our TA to get us this form. She called Oceania and they said that there no such form and that any required paperwork should be done by the company that booked the excursion. Does anyone have a copy of this form? Maybe it could be mailed to rdmsb1 @ Live dot com.

 

Thanks.

[Playtennis]

We asked our TA to get us this form. She called Oceania and they said that there no such form and that any required paperwork should be done by the company that booked the excursion. Does anyone have a copy of this form? Maybe it could be mailed to rdmsb1 @ Live dot com.

 

Thanks.

 

It's not the excursion that you need permission for, it's the need to deviate from the ship's movement, i.e. you ain't getting back on board when the ship leaves a port. For that your TA will need to ask for an "Alternate Port Request".

[karska]

It's not the excursion that you need permission for, it's the need to deviate from the ship's movement, i.e. you ain't getting back on board when the ship leaves a port. For that your TA will need to ask for an "Alternate Port Request".

 

You filled in the blanks that I left out. And there is such a form. It takes a few days to receive approval We got it from our O rep. And before final pmt you need to reconfirm as it states on the form.

[Playtennis]

Today we finally received the letter of authorization from O to deviate from the ships movement. It took almost 3 weeks. It is definitely a form letter as it suggests that we contact special services prior to final payment to confirm. Final payment was 4 months ago!

Sharing information as is done on these boards is important. One of the other couples on our Scandinavian cruise was going to get off the ship at the Hellesylt stop and miss the ship's movement up the fjord to Geiranger. He was going to take the local ferry over and beat the ship there. After reading my query he decided he'd better get permission too.

SHARE IT ALL! As most of you are most graciously willing to do.

[robbie21]

Today we finally received the letter of authorization from O to deviate from the ships movement. It took almost 3 weeks. It is definitely a form letter as it suggests that we contact special services prior to final payment to confirm. Final payment was 4 months ago!

Sharing information as is done on these boards is important. One of the other couples on our Scandinavian cruise was going to get off the ship at the Hellesylt stop and miss the ship's movement up the fjord to Geiranger. He was going to take the local ferry over and beat the ship there. After reading my query he decided he'd better get permission too.

SHARE IT ALL! As most of you are most graciously willing to do.

 

Well, I was planning to tell the purser before hand ;) but I got my form back approved in three days :) not 3 weeks :eek:.

 

I also called Oceania (as the form says) and confirmed that the ship will (should) have the same information. We will see.

 

Robbie

[JimandStan]

Well, I was planning to tell the purser before hand ;) but I got my form back approved in three days :) not 3 weeks :eek:.

 

I also called Oceania (as the form says) and confirmed that the ship will (should) have the same information. We will see.

 

Robbie

 

To put this into some kind of perspective:

 

Cruise ships travel from port to port under a "We are bringing in 800 this morning and will be leaving with the same 800 tonight" Process which is generically known as having "yachting privileges" in a given port.

 

Taxes and fees are assessed with the understanding that the Passengers of those ships will be "day trippers", and thus place very little strain on the local infrastructure and services.

 

If passengers wish to leave the ship in one of those through Ports -whatever their reasons may be- the Cruise Line will almost never object, except on those occasions when the number of passengers involved gets to the point where it might reasonably effect the ships tax status with the Port.

[robbie21]

To put this into some kind of perspective:

 

Cruise ships travel from port to port under a "We are bringing in 800 this morning and will be leaving with the same 800 tonight" Process which is generically known as having "yachting privileges" in a given port.

 

Taxes and fees are assessed with the understanding that the Passengers of those ships will be "day trippers", and thus place very little strain on the local infrastructure and services.

 

If passengers wish to leave the ship in one of those through Ports -whatever their reasons may be- the Cruise Line will almost never object, except on those occasions when the number of passengers involved gets to the point where it might reasonably effect the ships tax status with the Port.

 

Understood.

 

Most of the discussion of this issue here and on our roll call has revolved around the lack of information about the need for approval and the process of how one gets approval. We had some initial reports that this could be done with the pursers office on board (although there were some reports that it was not permitted). We then heard from someone's TA that there was an advance approval required and several of us proceeded with that. Apparently Keith's request disappeared into the vacuum for 3 weeks while mine was approved in three days and another request was approved the same day.

 

The approval form is less than reassuring in that it merely says that the request is approved without specifying just what the request was. Not to be overly pessimistic but one can envision presenting this form to the purser on board and having them deny any knowledge of the approval. Similarly, with this form in hand, I could claim to have approval for a completely different deviation.

 

Finally, when I called Oceania - the form says to call before final payment but that is long past - the reservation person taking my call was obviously unfamiliar with the process and placed me on hold for 5 minutes of so while he called special services. He then reported back that they indeed had my request, that it would be forwarded to the ship and, after my asking, that I should present this form to the purser.

 

The entire process is not confidence inspiring. But I do have a piece of paper that says I am approved to do something :D.

 

Robbie

[SoManyPlaces2Go]

To add to the strangeness of how Oceania handles this, they told me there was no approval form or note to send me. They said the extra day in Amsterdam was "optional" and changed my invoice to show I was leaving the ship a day early. :confused:

[LHT28]

To add to the strangeness of how Oceania handles this, they told me there was no approval form or note to send me. They said the extra day in Amsterdam was "optional" and changed my invoice to show I was leaving the ship a day early. :confused:

 

could be because it is the disembarkation port & you are just getting off sooner than others

 

Maybe the form is for those getting off in a different port than the disembarkation port