Sete - Can I make it to an excursion?

[BashfulBeki]

HAL Nieuw Amsterdam arrives is Sete at 8 am. My tour begins at 9 and is 15 minutes away by taxi. Will I have enough time? The tour company says yes, that many of their guests are from the cruise ship.  It seems doable IF the ship is on time and we can debark quickly.

 

Opinions, please?

[marazul]

If the company is aware of the ship's arrival and if several of the guests are from the ship, you can bet they will hold it for the passengers.  You might want to ask them if they are providing transport to all those other passengers to join the excursion.  Or you might want to go on your roll call and join those other passengers in taking taxis.

[MeHeartCruising]

In my experience, in Europe, ships generally are letting passengers off within 15-20 minutes of the planned arrival time.  They are usually staring the docking process a few minutes in advance and then the process of tying up the ropes and setting up the ramps and such takes a few minutes.  While that is being done, the arrival paperwork is done.  I would be watching for the ramps from the promenade deck (if there is one) and then start heading down to the gangway when I see that they are ready to let people off. I would not wait for a formal announcement.  I often am off the ship before that announcement is made.  As marazul has said above, your tour company should be aware of the actual timing and should be prepared to deal with your arrival time.