First time cruisers to Bahamas, deboarding question

[tstahura88]

My spouse and I will be cruising for the first time to the Bahamas in October on the Carnival Valor. My question, especially for people who have been to the Bahamas on Carnival before, is how long does it take to get off the ship at a port of call. Basically most of my excursions are booked through Carnival, but we arrive in Nassau at 8AM one day and have a specific snorkel trip I very much want to take (as they allow you to snorkel above feeding reef sharks). The transportation from port for this operator leaves at 8:15-8:30. So if the cruise arrival time is scheduled as 8, how soon after 8 can I expect to be off the ship. Do they sometimes allow you to get off early if they arrive early? Also any general tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

 

8:15 - 8:30 would be cutting it close.

Email the tour operator and tell him your situation.

[sparks1093]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. It generally doesn't take too long to disembark in a port and a lot depends on what time they actually dock (which is usually early but not always). They will generally let people off first that are on ship sponsored excursions. But it's get your card dinged and walk off, so there shouldn't be too much of a delay.

[Capt_BJ]

Stuart's Cove perhaps?

 

if so, see http://www.stuartcove.com/DiveBahamasMgmt.aspx?id=2&pageId=51

[Schoifmom]

My spouse and I will be cruising for the first time to the Bahamas in October on the Carnival Valor. My question, especially for people who have been to the Bahamas on Carnival before, is how long does it take to get off the ship at a port of call. Basically most of my excursions are booked through Carnival, but we arrive in Nassau at 8AM one day and have a specific snorkel trip I very much want to take (as they allow you to snorkel above feeding reef sharks). The transportation from port for this operator leaves at 8:15-8:30. So if the cruise arrival time is scheduled as 8, how soon after 8 can I expect to be off the ship. Do they sometimes allow you to get off early if they arrive early? Also any general tips or recommendations would be appreciated.

 

If this excursion is booked through Carnival, they will have everyone meet in a specified location and will allow plenty of time for everyone to get there. If it is a Carnival excursion and the ship is delayed, they will wait.

 

Don't forget, as well, often ship's time and island time are different.

[griffy116]

I would contact the tour operator. I've never taken a tour sponsored by the ship or private (that included others) that we didn't have to wait around for stragglers getting off the ship or that got mixed up and joined the wrong group, if they are picking up more than just you. I would however, always contact the tour operator first.

[cb at sea]

Is this tour a ship's tour? If so, you have NO TIME WORRIES! Once they open the doors, you simply walk off, and if they are late opening the doors, your tour will wait a reasonable amount of time.....because it's likely ALL of the participants are from the ship!

[Banditswife]

Welcome to cruise critic- we've been to Nassau aboard a Carnival ship, might've even been Valor- I Don't remember the ship for sure. But like others said, email the tour operator, ship time is different from port time. Most, if not all, tour operators are aware of ship's docking time & will wait for you to get there. Nassau is a very easy port to disembark, you should be able to get off pretty quickly. Good luck, enjoy your cruise.

[mrsfuzzmo]

No worries on ship time vs. island time on a cruise from FLA to the Bahamas. They are both in the same time zone.

 

As stated above, if you booked this through the ship, they will tell you exactly where and when to meet and you will have no worries if you arrive at that designated location ON TIME.

 

If you have booked this through a private tour operator (which is unclear in your original message) then you would need to hustle off the ship as soon as your are cleared to disembark. Generally, as long as everything goes as planned, you can get off the ship shortly after they tie up. If you have a private tour booked (from a company other than through the cruise line) then make sure they know which ship you are coming in on and your arrival time. They will be watching the ships arrivals and will hopefully accommodate if there is a late arrival, but it's not guaranteed.