Will I make a 10:30 excursion with a 10AM arrival?

[lolayoga1111]

Hello everyone!

 

I am sailing on IOS 6/21-6/28 this year on the Eastern Caribbean route. It seems there are a couple odd times that ship is in port? In San Juan it's 4-11 and St. Maarten 10-7. I've booked an excursion with Capt. Bob's Soualiga Destinations. I let him know the ship I was on and arrival times. He said he would do a "late departure" for 10:30. He said where they meet is approx. 10-15 min from the cruise ships. We are fit 20 somethings and not worried about the walk BUT I am worried about getting off the boat in time.

 

I've only cruised once before (AOS 4/9) and never worried about what time I got off the ship as I didn't have planned excursions. I know I had to stand in line for a ticket though. Does anyone know what time those lines start forming? Does RCI open the doors right at 10?

 

Thanks so much for any info relating to those questions! ... I can't wait to cruise again and am a PLANNER. :D

[tidygirl]

If it's a tendered port that would be tricky, but I don't think these are.

My advice is to be ready to get off the ship at 10 or before be as close to the exit as possible. On our most recent cruise in the Med a couple times they actually started letting people off if they were at the exit before the Captain made his announcements. Sometimes they don't clear right away and you may be pushing it.

We missed a train we were wanting by 5 mins so had to wait 40 mins for the next.

[LovesCruising]

I think it might depend on where your meeting the excursion in St M

[Flatbush Flyer]

Why would you leave absolutely no margin for error?

[Merion_Mom]

Hello everyone!

 

I am sailing on IOS 6/21-6/28 this year on the Eastern Caribbean route. It seems there are a couple odd times that ship is in port? In San Juan it's 4-11 and St. Maarten 10-7. I've booked an excursion with Capt. Bob's Soualiga Destinations. I let him know the ship I was on and arrival times. He said he would do a "late departure" for 10:30. He said where they meet is approx. 10-15 min from the cruise ships. We are fit 20 somethings and not worried about the walk BUT I am worried about getting off the boat in time.

 

I've only cruised once before (AOS 4/9) and never worried about what time I got off the ship as I didn't have planned excursions. I know I had to stand in line for a ticket though. Does anyone know what time those lines start forming? Does RCI open the doors right at 10?

 

Thanks so much for any info relating to those questions! ... I can't wait to cruise again and am a PLANNER. :D

 

In St.Maarten, you are in port with just one other ship, the Carnival Sunshine. Chances are that any excursion Captain Bob is running will be for the benefit of the cruise ship passengers. It is in his best interest to tailor the time to your arrival. Email him and ask him this. I suspect that he will be most accommodating.

 

But unless there is a specific delay, which is rare in St.Maarten, you will be off the ship promptly by 10:15. You are much more likely to be on time than not.

 

:)

 

 

ETA: The reviews on trip advisor are incredibly positive. The vast majority of the reviewers were cruise ship passengers. If there had been time problems, they would have mentioned them.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147347-d2083816-Reviews-Soualiga_Destinations-Philipsburg_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

Edited February 11, 2015 by Merion_Mom

[lolayoga1111]

It is right off the cruise terminal from what I understand.

[lolayoga1111]

In St.Maarten, you are in port with just one other ship, the Carnival Sunshine. Chances are that any excursion Captain Bob is running will be for the benefit of the cruise ship passengers. It is in his best interest to tailor the time to your arrival. Email him and ask him this. I suspect that he will be most accommodating.

 

But unless there is a specific delay, which is rare in St.Maarten, you will be off the ship promptly by 10:15. You are much more likely to be on time than not.

 

:)

 

 

ETA: The reviews on trip advisor are incredibly positive. The vast majority of the reviewers were cruise ship passengers. If there had been time problems, they would have mentioned them.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147347-d2083816-Reviews-Soualiga_Destinations-Philipsburg_Sint_Maarten_St_Maarten_St_Martin.html

 

 

I've read a ton of those reviews and even saw one where they dropped cruise passengers off early so they could make their departure time and others could stay, so I am assuming he is very reliable. His website is all about catering to cruise passengers. I guess I'm more so just concerned about getting off the ship in time. Thank you for that information!! I've been meaning to check out how many other ships are going to be in port at the same time. That's SO nice there's only 1 other.

Do you know if you have to have a "ticket" thing to exit the ship or is that just for tendering?

[BillOh]

It is right off the cruise terminal from what I understand.

 

Private Excursion operators depend on word of mouth and they can also tell when one ship is late arriving and usually are there waiting for you as long as you are not waiting 30 minutes after the ship arrives.

[cruisegirl1]

His place is a "brisk" 10-12 minute walk from the port. As noted he likely has others from yours or the other ship in port. My advise is to get in line early to get off the ship as quickly as you can, and you will have no problem.

 

Just to throw in some more confusion, there is often ship time and island time on St Marteen, so you may have an hour to spare for arrival. Be sure you are aware of the proper time to get back to the ship. We had no problem getting to his dock, but we had to hurry back to the port.

 

BTW, we took an excursion with Capt. Bob and it was FANTASTIC!

 

enjoy

M

[Hoopster95]

It is right off the cruise terminal from what I understand.

 

I just met Capt Bob in December, great tour. They will not leave without you unless you are super late. If the ship is late, they'll have many people late.

 

The Marina you see on his map on the Soualiga website is a brisk 5 min walk through the St. Maarten port/shops area... then once you get out of the main gate on the street it's another brisk 5-10min walk to the meeting point. Very very easy to find, you cannot miss it unless you cannot follow simple directions as per the website.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137643&page=6

I have a Soualiga tour review in the link above... scroll down to post #118. The 5th photo shows the approx distance from the Marina back to the pier so you can gauge distance. The 6th photo is Capt Bob himself in the sunglasses so you can find him easier.

 

Have a great cruise & St Maarten tour! :D

[tidygirl]

If not tendering NO ticket is needed! Just remember your seapass card!

[cb at sea]

You can't GET OFF the ship without your sea pass!!!

[tidygirl]

Yes and if they forget their card and have to get it won't help them on their time!

[tlund]

We did the excursion with Capt. Bob. The walk to his pier is very short. Also, he does run a little late with organizing everyone with payment, etc. We got off the ship right away (and you won't have to get a ticket or tender, you can just walk off) and walked there in more than enough time. Sometimes the ship gets to port earlier also so you can get off even earlier. You should have no problem getting to his pier in time provided the ship arrives in port on time. It was a great trip!!! You'll have a great time.

[lolayoga1111]

His place is a "brisk" 10-12 minute walk from the port. As noted he likely has others from yours or the other ship in port. My advise is to get in line early to get off the ship as quickly as you can, and you will have no problem.

 

Just to throw in some more confusion, there is often ship time and island time on St Marteen, so you may have an hour to spare for arrival. Be sure you are aware of the proper time to get back to the ship. We had no problem getting to his dock, but we had to hurry back to the port.

 

BTW, we took an excursion with Capt. Bob and it was FANTASTIC!

 

enjoy

M

 

 

I was SO worried about ship time v. island time but after looking into it - in June due to the time changes, it's the same time!

 

Thanks for the good info. I'm happy to hear a CC review about his excursion!!

[lolayoga1111]

I just met Capt Bob in December, great tour. They will not leave without you unless you are super late. If the ship is late, they'll have many people late.

 

The Marina you see on his map on the Soualiga website is a brisk 5 min walk through the St. Maarten port/shops area... then once you get out of the main gate on the street it's another brisk 5-10min walk to the meeting point. Very very easy to find, you cannot miss it unless you cannot follow simple directions as per the website.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137643&page=6

I have a Soualiga tour review in the link above... scroll down to post #118. The 5th photo shows the approx distance from the Marina back to the pier so you can gauge distance. The 6th photo is Capt Bob himself in the sunglasses so you can find him easier.

 

Have a great cruise & St Maarten tour! :D

 

Oh that's awesome!! Thank you so much. The Mister is a grade A direction follower so I'm sure we can follow the directions lol. Thank you for the link!

[lolayoga1111]

If not tendering NO ticket is needed! Just remember your seapass card!

 

Thanks for the info. We do the all-inclusive drink package, so we always have our Sea Passes. I just didn't know about the tendering. Perfect!

[lolayoga1111]

We did the excursion with Capt. Bob. The walk to his pier is very short. Also, he does run a little late with organizing everyone with payment, etc. We got off the ship right away (and you won't have to get a ticket or tender, you can just walk off) and walked there in more than enough time. Sometimes the ship gets to port earlier also so you can get off even earlier. You should have no problem getting to his pier in time provided the ship arrives in port on time. It was a great trip!!! You'll have a great time.

 

Great to hear! Thank you! :D Now for 4 more months...tick tock.