DIY overnight excursions off ship

[KirkNC]

I am curious what Azamara's protocols are for guests that want to get off the ship in one city, say Sydney Australia and then rejoin the ship five days later in say Cairns.  We have dome these kind of excursions before on another line in India and China.  They required a "deviation letter" which basically said you were approved but if anything goes wrongs its not their fault.  I recognize that any answer will be pre covid.  Thanks.

[Roel94]

I did it in two cruise lines. One time on Azamara was told no and another time yes. Crystal wanted a copy of flights and hotel or hotels. I do not believe yet they would agree.

 

also I never  planned it from land but got permission from ship and  in case ship booked hotels another I did.

 

The last time was Oct 2019. Personally I believe it will be up to ship as rules are changing daily.

[uktog]

37 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

I am curious what Azamara's protocols are for guests that want to get off the ship in one city, say Sydney Australia and then rejoin the ship five days later in say Cairns.  We have dome these kind of excursions before on another line in India and China.  They required a "deviation letter" which basically said you were approved but if anything goes wrongs its not their fault.  I recognize that any answer will be pre covid.  Thanks.

In 2019 it was as you state above. We came off for 2 days in South America to do Machu Picchu. We contacted loyalty and they routed our query to the correct people. The paperwork has to be set up in advance. Too risky to chance it to get permission once onboard. Even pre covid we were made aware permission could be withdrawn by port authorities late in the day. 
It actually all worked out fine 

[manc]

We got off in Israel and stayed overnight in Jerusalem so we got much longer there than travelling backwards and forwards. We just informed guest services and they were happy with our plans.

[Grandma Cruising]

We’ve done this when in a port for a couple of days. Did a private overnight tour to Luxor from Safaga. Just told guest relations on the ship & our room steward. However things may well be different in COVID times, not least whether the country you are in allows passengers off the ship independently.

[uktog]

2 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

We’ve done this when in a port for a couple of days. Did a private overnight tour to Luxor from Safaga. Just told guest relations on the ship & our room steward. However things may well be different in COVID times, not least whether the country you are in allows passengers off the ship independently.

Yes you are right.  Even before Covid there were far more hoops the ship had to go through as it had to go back to head office to check and sign off.  Thats why I would always advocate try and set it up before you go.

[Grandma Cruising]

4 minutes ago, uktog said:

Yes you are right.  Even before Covid there were far more hoops the ship had to go through as it had to go back to head office to check and sign off.  Thats why I would always advocate try and set it up before you go.

I’m sure you’re right that it’s better to set it up beforehand, especially in the current circumstances.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the responses.  Sounds like it would be best to as I have in the past and get corporate approval prior to boarding.  Since the disembarkation and embarkation are in the same country, it should work.

[Baynanno1]

On 11/29/2021 at 2:37 AM, KirkNC said:

I am curious what Azamara's protocols are for guests that want to get off the ship in one city, say Sydney Australia and then rejoin the ship five days later in say Cairns.  We have dome these kind of excursions before on another line in India and China.  They required a "deviation letter" which basically said you were approved but if anything goes wrongs its not their fault.  I recognize that any answer will be pre covid.  Thanks.

 

In the past, I have stayed off the ship overnight visiting family.

 

Who knows what may happen between now and when you sail, but a word about interstate travel in Australia.

You would be traveling from New South Wales to Queensland and judging by the difficulties we have had as locals (four interstate trips cancelled), especially as far as entering Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia during the past year, you well may find extra "hoops to jump through" traveling from a cruise ship, then from NSW to QLD.

 

Hopefully, by the time you cruise all Australian borders will be open to vaccinated travelers.

[KirkNC]

10 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

In the past, I have stayed off the ship overnight visiting family.

 

Who knows what may happen between now and when you sail, but a word about interstate travel in Australia.

You would be traveling from New South Wales to Queensland and judging by the difficulties we have had as locals (four interstate trips cancelled), especially as far as entering Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia during the past year, you well may find extra "hoops to jump through" traveling from a cruise ship, then from NSW to QLD.

 

Hopefully, by the time you cruise all Australian borders will be open to vaccinated travelers.

Good points, this would be in 2024 so hopefully things will have returned to some semblance of normal by then.  If not, we won’t attempt it.

[Baynanno1]

23 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Good points, this would be in 2024 so hopefully things will have returned to some semblance of normal by then.  If not, we won’t attempt it.

 

Hopefully all will be back as far as possible to "normal" before then!

[KirkNC]

55 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

Hopefully all will be back as far as possible to "normal" before then!

Lord help us if it’s not!

[betsey]

A very long time ago, I worked for a cruise line, and one of my tasks was working with deviation requests like this.  There are laws in many countries regarding where guests can get on and off in a particular country. In the US, it's often referred to as the "Jones Act," where you can't get on in one US port, and get off in another. Many other countries have similar laws (if the ship is not from that country). So, getting off in Sydney and reboarding in Cairns could be a problem and result in a fine to the ship (and ultimately the guest). So....if you are planning on disembarking in one port and reboarding in another,  you should get permission before you sail.  

[donaldsc]

You have not said when you will be visiting Australia.  Aren't they closed right now?

 

DON

[spw1947]

1 hour ago, donaldsc said:

You have not said when you will be visiting Australia.  Aren't they closed right now?

 

DON

Closed to cruise ships at present, and interstate borders are difficult as Baynanno1 mentioned above, and now some quarantine issues with international air travel as a response to uncertainty about Omicron variant.

The world is in such a state of flux who knows what will happen from one day to the next.

Also be aware that the distance is about 2500 km.

 

Come down here for a proper holiday one day; it's not easy to do by cruise ship even if we do mainly live within reach of the coast.

 

Cheers,

 

Sue

[Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, spw1947 said:

Closed to cruise ships at present, and interstate borders are difficult as Baynanno1 mentioned above, and now some quarantine issues with international air travel as a response to uncertainty about Omicron variant.

The world is in such a state of flux who knows what will happen from one day to the next.

Also be aware that the distance is about 2500 km.

 

Come down here for a proper holiday one day; it's not easy to do by cruise ship even if we do mainly live within reach of the coast.

 

Cheers,

 

Sue

 

 

Absolutely agree, cruising can never do justice to Australia, you need extensive land tours with several internal flights.

[donaldsc]

11 hours ago, spw1947 said:

Closed to cruise ships at present, and interstate borders are difficult as Baynanno1 mentioned above, and now some quarantine issues with international air travel as a response to uncertainty about Omicron variant.

The world is in such a state of flux who knows what will happen from one day to the next.

Also be aware that the distance is about 2500 km.

 

Come down here for a proper holiday one day; it's not easy to do by cruise ship even if we do mainly live within reach of the coast.

 

Cheers,

 

Sue

 

Total agree w you.  We did a nearly 3 month driving trip in Australia and we still didn't see all of the country.  Most people do not realize that Australia is as big as the United States and that there are many interesting places in the interior and not accessible by cruise ship.  Did much of the east and south coast including a few days on Kangaroo Island.  Flew to Perth and worked our way up to Broome including a couple of outback tours.  Then flew to Darwin and took the Ghan from Darwin back to Adelaide stopping for 3 or 4 days in Uluru.  Loved every moment of the tour.

 

Unfortunately we missed Tasmania.  Just not enough time.  Maybe some other time.  Also really wanted to visit the Bungle Bungles because they looked so beautiful and how could you not visit a place w the name Bungle Bungles.

 

DON

[KirkNC]

We would love to spend 3 months in Australia and New Zealand.  We have a travel plan to do it, it will just depend on the state of the world.

[Baynanno1]

3 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Total agree w you.  We did a nearly 3 month driving trip in Australia and we still didn't see all of the country.  Most people do not realize that Australia is as big as the United States and that there are many interesting places in the interior and not accessible by cruise ship.  Did much of the east and south coast including a few days on Kangaroo Island.  Flew to Perth and worked our way up to Broome including a couple of outback tours.  Then flew to Darwin and took the Ghan from Darwin back to Adelaide stopping for 3 or 4 days in Uluru.  Loved every moment of the tour.

 

Unfortunately we missed Tasmania.  Just not enough time.  Maybe some other time.  Also really wanted to visit the Bungle Bungles because they looked so beautiful and how could you not visit a place w the name Bungle Bungles.

 

DON

 

When you do come back to "the land down under" give yourself a good week for Tasmania. 🤩

[KirkNC]

6 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

When you do come back to "the land down under" give yourself a good week for Tasmania. 🤩

Will do!