May we leave the ship soon after boarding?

[Stuart Suss]

Our question pertains specifically to Voyager of the Seas, boarding on July 31.  The experience of passengers from other similar voyages may be informative.

 

Boarding begins on Sunday, July 31 in Stockholm.  Our cruise documents state a "departure" time of 6:00 pm on Sunday.  But Voyager does not actually depart.  Instead it remains in Stockholm until the next day, Monday, August 1.  The true "departure" time is 4:30 pm on Monday.

 

1. What is the meaning of the 6:00 pm "departure" time listed for Sunday?

 

2. Is 6:00 pm merely a deadline for boarding?  The last available time slot for checking in is 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm on Sunday.

 

3. May passengers who have already boarded leave the ship after 6:00 pm for a night on the town in Stockholm, returning later in the evening?

 

4. I had a customer services supervisor in Guatemala City tell me that once we board the ship on Sunday, we may not leave the ship at any time on Sunday.  Instead, we may not depart until shore excursions are available on Monday morning.  Is this correct?  For example, I doubt that any back to back cruisers are held prisoner on board the ship for the entire day on Sunday.

 

Some museums in Stockholm are closed on Monday.  In a perfect world, we would prefer to take advantage of our first boarding slot, leave suitcases in the stateroom, depart the ship and head out to visit sites, particularly those that are not available on Monday.  We would return to the ship by 6:00 pm or whenever we are required to do so.

If the supervisor in Guatemala City is correct (no departures permitted from the ship on Sunday), then we would choose the last possible boarding slot, check our suitcases, and visit the sites in Stockholm, boarding the ship at the latest permitted time.

We need a definitive answer, from someone willing to put the answer in writing, so that we can make the correct plans for Sunday in Stockholm, including selecting the best time for boarding the ship.

 

5. How do we contact the right department and the right person in order to receive clear and definitive answers to our questions?

 

Thank you.

 

 

[Ashland]

We have done this and you should have no problem at all.

[John&LaLa]

I had to depart Indy a few weeks ago. Forgot something in my car. No issue

[neverbeenhere]

Yea, you may go and get two more bottles of wine per trip.  San Juan was famous for many exits and re-embarkations as they had a “liquid” store in the port terminal. Might still be there. 

[Ashland]

OP...just to clarify. Your ship is going to overnight and once you board you'll be free to come and go. We had the same overnight itinerary in Dublin...boarded on a Friday and the ship didn't actually sail until 4:00pm on a Saturday.

[long4acruise]

3 minutes ago, Ashland said:

We had the same overnight itinerary in Dublin...boarded on a Friday and the ship didn't actually sail until 4:00pm on a Saturday.

@AshlandCurious, was your Dublin overnight recently and which ship?  Another cruiser was just telling me how nice Dublin is, but she flew there after her cruise in Amsterdam.  Thanks!

[Ashland]

1 hour ago, long4acruise said:

@AshlandCurious, was your Dublin overnight recently and which ship?  Another cruiser was just telling me how nice Dublin is, but she flew there after her cruise in Amsterdam.  Thanks!

No.. It was May 28, 2018 onboard Celebrity Eclipse. Even though I'm a loyal Royal cruiser we couldn't pass up this amazing itinerary:

 

Dublin Ireland (overnight)

Dublin 

Reykjavik Iceland (overnight)

Reykjavik

Akureyri Iceland

Lerwick/Shetland Scotland

Cork (Cobh) Ireland

Dublin

 

One of the best itineraries we've done.

 

We'll be cruising out of Amsterdam Arctic Circle RCI Jewel on July 26th...looking forward to this one too. 

 

[Stuart Suss]

I am the original poster.

 

I posed my original question in an email to MBayley.  I pointed out that museums and other sites in Stockholm are closed on Mondays. I wanted confirmation that I could check in, place my suitcase in the stateroom, and then leave the ship to visit those sites in Stockholm on Sunday.

 

Today, I received a response from Adrienne Bennett of the Executive Office.  Here is what she wrote:

I understand you are inquiring about the departure process for your sailing on Voyager of the Seas departing on 07/31/22, and I am more than happy to provide you with the information requested. I reached out to the pertinent teams to confirm that check-in is for the first day only. Once you are checked in and fully settled on board you can freely disembark the ship and visit your museums that won't be opened [sic] on Monday. They also advised that there isn't a set time for you to embark again once you disembark, as long as you're on the ship before 4:30 PM on Monday when the ship is set to depart. You can always reach out to Guest Services while onboard if you have any further questions regarding this.

 

I now have official confirmation of the answers that each of you provided to me.  Thank you, all.