Time to be back on board when leaving port - Pacific Princess

[MNfamilycruiser]

How long before the ship is scheduled to leave do they want you to be back on board typically? I am planning some tours and was planning on making sure we would be back 1.5 hours before departure - but maybe could push it to 1 hr? We will be on the Pacific Princess on a British Isles cruise. Does being on a much smaller ship make any difference?

[CruisenOne]

How long before the ship is scheduled to leave do they want you to be back on board typically? I am planning some tours and was planning on making sure we would be back 1.5 hours before departure - but maybe could push it to 1 hr? We will be on the Pacific Princess on a British Isles cruise. Does being on a much smaller ship make any difference?

 

Usually, All-Aboard time is one-half hour prior to departure.

 

Size of the Ship does not matter.

 

Have a great Cruise.

[tcdcruiser]

I always arrange private tours and here is my advice. The farther away you plan to venture, the earlier you should plan to arrive back to the ship. My reasoning is that if something goes wrong (flat tire, missed or cancelled train, bad directions, etc.) recovery is much harder if you are 50 miles away rather than 5 miles away.

 

In other words, if I was having lunch with the ship in sight, walking down the pier 30 minutes to sailing is fine. If I was taking the train from Liverpool to Chester for the day I'd target being back to the ship 120 to 90 minutes before departure.

 

BTW the Pacific is my favorite. I agree that the size of ship does not really matter in regard to return time.

Edited April 23, 2017 by tcdcruiser
Forgot something

[toescat]

I would check your Princess Patter for the day you will be in port. The patter will tell you when you have to be back on board.

[Pam in CA]

When docked, plan on an hour before sailing. The last passengers should be boarding half an hour before and you want to leave a cushion in case of traffic.

 

When tendering, plan to arrive at the dock an hour and a half before sailing. You don't want to miss the last tender.

[tomatospice]

When we were on the Pacific several years ago, all aboard time was 30 minutes before departure. I loved that we were able to stay in the ports a bit longer due to the smaller amount of people on the ship, thus making reboarding a quicker affair.

[donaldsc]

When we were on the Pacific several years ago, all aboard time was 30 minutes before departure. I loved that we were able to stay in the ports a bit longer due to the smaller amount of people on the ship, thus making reboarding a quicker affair.

 

Almost all ships want you on board 1/2 hour before departure, regardless of the size of the ship.

 

DON

[Colo Cruiser]

How long before the ship is scheduled to leave do they want you to be back on board typically? I am planning some tours and was planning on making sure we would be back 1.5 hours before departure - but maybe could push it to 1 hr? We will be on the Pacific Princess on a British Isles cruise. Does being on a much smaller ship make any difference?

 

 

 

There is a placard at the gangway when you get off indicating onboard time for passengers and crew.

This would be the most accurate as the patter is printed the night before and subject to change.

We take a photo of the signage at the gangway on our way off. ;)

 

The size of the ship has nothing to do with it.

[beg3yrs]

When tendering, plan to arrive at the dock an hour and a half before sailing. You don't want to miss the last tender.

 

The last tender time is posted and yes it generally is an hour and a half before sailing. If you're at the dock by that time you are OK. Even if there are more passengers than the last tender can hold, they'll keep running tenders until everyone at the dock is on board.

[frugaltravel]

The last tender time is posted and yes it generally is an hour and a half before sailing. If you're at the dock by that time you are OK. Even if there are more passengers than the last tender can hold, they'll keep running tenders until everyone at the dock is on board.

 

Interesting. Whenever I have tendered with Princess, the last tender was 1 hour before sailing. That was true both on a CA/NE cruise and a Panama Canal cruise, both within the past 6 months. As you stated, as long as you are in line by that time you will get back on the ship. The line for tenders in Newport RI was SO long that we actually left and returned about 30 minutes before sail time then got in line. Still had a bit of a wait before we got on a tender!

[Colo Cruiser]

Interesting. Whenever I have tendered with Princess, the last tender was 1 hour before sailing. That was true both on a CA/NE cruise and a Panama Canal cruise, both within the past 6 months. As you stated, as long as you are in line by that time you will get back on the ship. The line for tenders in Newport RI was SO long that we actually left and returned about 30 minutes before sail time then got in line. Still had a bit of a wait before we got on a tender!

 

I agree, 1 hour.

[GUT2407]

How long before the ship is scheduled to leave do they want you to be back on board typically? I am planning some tours and was planning on making sure we would be back 1.5 hours before departure - but maybe could push it to 1 hr? We will be on the Pacific Princess on a British Isles cruise. Does being on a much smaller ship make any difference?

Normally half hour.

 

It will be posted as you disembark.

 

Leaving the hour buffer you plan should be plenty.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Actually, the size of the ship does affect the on board time when in a tender port. So does the length of the tender ride. We've more frequently seen 45 minute pre-sailing last tender times on the Pacific Princess than one hour pre-sailing last tender times.

[wheezedr]

I would check your Princess Patter for the day you will be in port. The patter will tell you when you have to be back on board.

Kind of hard for the OP to check her Patter as she is not on board but is trying to arrange tours for a future cruise as she indicated in her post.

[MNfamilycruiser]

Thanks everyone for the information!

We only have one tender port (St. Helier Jersey), and I am not planning any "big" tours there. I don't think it would be physically possible to get that far away anyhow ;)

One of the tour companies that has responded said they would have us back 1 hour before the ship leaves - I think that will be fine.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks everyone for the information!

We only have one tender port (St. Helier Jersey), and I am not planning any "big" tours there. I don't think it would be physically possible to get that far away anyhow ;)

One of the tour companies that has responded said they would have us back 1 hour before the ship leaves - I think that will be fine.

 

I agree 1 hour. Enjoy your cruise. :)

[memoak]

1 Hour before in usually good but I always write down and carry the number for the port agent just in case.