Has anyone missed the ship while on a private tour?

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

They never tender.

 

Another reason to avoid them. Some of the most interesting ports are tendered.

[Charles4515]

26 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Another reason to avoid them. Some of the most interesting ports are tendered.

Most passengers on those ships are not looking for interesting ports. The ship is the destination. Fun, party, drink, gamble, eat, eat, eat……If they get off it is to go to a beach or by souvenirs made in China. 

[lynncarol]

21 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Yet another reason to avoid taking one of the Genormous of the Seas cruise ships.  If you take a small ship w <1000 passengers, not only do you get a much better cruising experience but almost no lines and definitely none of the problems that people are talking about here.

 

DON

I have never been on an Oasis size ship so can't comment on their speed of disembarkation. The two incidents I mentioned occurred on one of the lines 'smaller ships".  Still, when that entails 2000-3000 people, things don't always move that quickly.

I am well aware that on small ships I wouldn't  encounter this problem, but I freely admit, their cost scares me off. (exception was our Black Sea cruise in 2014 with Vantage where the vessel only had 36 cabins and thanks to Russia's recent annexation of the Crimea, prices were rock bottom),

[lynncarol]

21 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Yet another reason to avoid taking one of the Genormous of the Seas cruise ships.  If you take a small ship w <1000 passengers, not only do you get a much better cruising experience but almost no lines and definitely none of the problems that people are talking about here.

 

DON

I have never been on an Oasis size ship so can't comment on their speed of disembarkation. The two incidents I mentioned occurred on one of the lines 'smaller ships".  Still, when that entails 2000-3000 people, things don't always move that quickly.

I am well aware that on small ships I wouldn't  encounter this problem, but I freely admit, their cost scares me off. (exception was our Black Sea cruise in 2014 with Vantage where the vessel only had 36 cabins and thanks to Russia's recent annexation of the Crimea, prices were rock bottom),

[Mum2Mercury]

On 7/12/2022 at 2:30 PM, Charles4515 said:

That is true. Years ago I took a ships excursion to Tulum. That is one I advise not doing on one’s own because of distance and having to take a ferry to the mainland. Did not really have much actual time there. Years later I was at a resort on the mainland and did Tulum with family members with a tour booked at the resort. Instead of a large bus we went in a small van, had more time and a better guide. It was a much better tour. The lesson I learned from that is not book a tour that is far from the cruise ship. Save those tours like Tulum for land vacations. I have also done Coba and Chichen Itza on land vacations and I am glad I passed on doing them from a cruise ship. 

Yes, that excursion is the picture child for "don't do this on your own".  Yes, it would be better for a land vacation, but I can understand people saying, "I'll never do this other than a cruise, and I want to see the ruins."  

 

Years ago our tablemates came to dinner wearing layers and layers, obviously out of sorts.  They'd been on this excursion, and they said they'd been frozen all the way on a too-cold bus /with a driver who pretended not to speak any English.  They said they'd considered missing dinner, but they'd only had a Subway box meal hours ago on the bus, and they were hungry.  On that same day we'd done a close-to-the dock ATV ride through the jungle and had seen (less impressive) Mayan ruins.  Still, they acted like we were the bravest of the brave to "venture out" beyond the cruise line.  

22 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

This definitely has become a problem with some cruises--if you are not on a ship tour, you may have to wait a long time to get off the ship, which can be especially slow in tender ports.  I find this practice to be unfair in many ways.  If the ship tours were more reasonably priced and of better quality--not huge buses full of people (I am generalizing here; some are not as bad) it wouldn't matter so much, but to pay sometimes twice as much for an inferior tour borders on fraud.

Totally unfair to keep independent excursion people on the ship longer. 

I know you're generalizing, but it's what I've seen too.  

20 hours ago, wcook said:

One the one hand this is true. On the other hand, a *good* private tour has much less down time than ship tours. 

Agree.

[AKJonesy]

I've mostly done private excursions, BUT when there has been a tight itinerary I've opted for the ship excursion.  If we have a long port day, I've usually booked my private excursions early in the day allowing at least several hours of buffer between the end of the excursion and departure time.  That has allowed me to not experience any stress over a private excursion.  Also, if the excursion goes quite a ways from the port, I might opt toward the ship excursion.  I do maintain that private excursions with great reputations cannot afford getting people back late to the ship.  I don't think they would be in business considering all of the reputation websites.  

 

My only late departure back to the ship was a ship excursion swimming with the rays.  Our boat broke down and we had to wait for someone from town to bring out a part to fix the problem.  We were 45 min late, but obviously the ship waited for us.  

[kimberlym322]

I have been on 6 cruises.  On 3 I did a ship excursion.  And I will tell you all but one I did not like.  On 1 cruises I did group tours with privet company, on 2 cruises I spent the extra so that it was only my mom and I on the tours.  We enjoy the privet-privet tours because we got to see and do so much more then other passengers...even some that were with the same tour company.  

 

When booking the privet-privet tours, we tell them things we would like to see and do, like eating at a local place to try the area's food, and we always tell them the ship's sail away time is XX:XX time so we have to be back on board by YY:YY time and we would like to be back a hour before that time.  So if sail away time is 6 pm and they say we need to be on board by 5 pm we tell them we would like to be back to the port at 4 pm.  It has never been a problem...getting back like that also gives you a little time at the port for last minute shopping and such.

[navybankerteacher]

On 7/12/2022 at 8:16 PM, wcook said:

Random story: Bagnoregio (from the port of Civitavecchia) is a poor choice to tour independently. It’s far from the port, there are no good ways to get there or back via public transportation if something goes wrong, the next port (if not Naples) can be a pain to reach, etc. I’ve often thought about going, but I’m just not a ship tour kind of guy.

Well during the heart of Covid, ports were cruise ship tour only. I figured this was my best chance to go. Had a good time.  

Thanks for the great picture - definitely not advisable for an independent tour on a port call.  We went there, and to Orvieto from Rome (a couple of days before boarding ship for a TA home)  on a private tour we arranged by  talking it up on the cruise’s roll call.  

[Velvetwater]

We saw a rather drunk group run down to the ship in Cairns.

 

Found out from other cruisers later they had been on an organised bar crawl.

 

Plot twist: They weren't even late. 

[Mum2Mercury]

On 7/12/2022 at 9:14 PM, Charles4515 said:

Most passengers on those ships are not looking for interesting ports. The ship is the destination. Fun, party, drink, gamble, eat, eat, eat……If they get off it is to go to a beach or by souvenirs made in China. 

I think that's a generalization.  Me, personally, I cruise for the ship AND the islands; it's pretty much equal. 

But whenever I say to people, "I'm going on a cruise", the first thing they ask is, "Where are you going?"

[Nebr.cruiser]

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I think that's a generalization.  Me, personally, I cruise for the ship AND the islands; it's pretty much equal. 

But whenever I say to people, "I'm going on a cruise", the first thing they ask is, "Where are you going?"

I agree.  It is probably more about the destinations to us, but we enjoy the ship too--and we don't drink or party, just like the relaxation of being at sea, eating some nice meals we don't have to prepare, going to shows, etc.

[Charles4515]

13 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I think that's a generalization.  Me, personally, I cruise for the ship AND the islands; it's pretty much equal. 

But whenever I say to people, "I'm going on a cruise", the first thing they ask is, "Where are you going?"

It is not a generalization. There are limited ports than can take Oasis class ships. Also they are too big for tendering and the ports include a private island or two. It is not about the destination for those ships. They do the same ports over and over. 

[Charles4515]

10 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

I agree.  It is probably more about the destinations to us, but we enjoy the ship too--and we don't drink or party, just like the relaxation of being at sea, eating some nice meals we don't have to prepare, going to shows, etc.

On Oasis class you hardly know you are sea. And the food to feed the horde of passengers is meh. Cruising on a shopping mall at sea is hardly relaxing. 

[Mum2Mercury]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

It is not a generalization. There are limited ports than can take Oasis class ships. Also they are too big for tendering and the ports include a private island or two. It is not about the destination for those ships. They do the same ports over and over. 

Makes no sense: 

- Oasis ships are not the whole cruising experience. 

- Few people sail the same  cruise over and over, so it doesn't matter to them whether the ports are repetitive.  

 

I maintain that the comment about people sailing for the ship /not caring much about the islands is a generalization.  

[donaldsc]

1 minute ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Makes no sense: 

- Oasis ships are not the whole cruising experience. 

- Few people sail the same  cruise over and over, so it doesn't matter to them whether the ports are repetitive.  

 

I maintain that the comment about people sailing for the ship /not caring much about the islands is a generalization.  

 

I would disagree w that.  There are lots of posts on CC where people say that they have done 50 Caribbean cruises and they are thinking of doing something else but where should they go.  I am also sure  that we all know people who do a Caribbean cruise every winter on the same cruise line and sometimes on the same ship and in the same cabin

 

DON

[ldubs]

 

"Has anyone personally missed the ship while being on a private cruise or a DIY tour? "

 

114 posts later and the answer is still "no".   

[ontheweb]

6 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

"Has anyone personally missed the ship while being on a private cruise or a DIY tour? "

 

114 posts later and the answer is still "no".   

Or, the passengers who missed the ship never returned like poor old Charlie in the Kingston Trio song  so they cannot post of their experience.

[Nebr.cruiser]

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

On Oasis class you hardly know you are sea. And the food to feed the horde of passengers is meh. Cruising on a shopping mall at sea is hardly relaxing. 

We've only sailed on one Oasis class--it was fine, especially the entertainment, but you are right--connection to the sea was missing. The food was goodfor us; we're not goumets.  Most new builds have done away with true promenade decks and many ocean-facing areas on all lines, which I dislike.

[lovetocruise1953]

 

We were on a ship watching another one getting ready to depart, there was a lot of walking up and down and looking at watches then a person got off the ship handed 2 passports to a shore person and the ship departed, not 2 mins later a taxi pulled up and 2 people in just beach clothes ran up the pier but they were too late, the lady handed them their passports and escorted them off the pier. The ship was so close to the shore it seemed you could touch it but it didn't re dock. I hope they had some money and credit cards as the ships next dock was Nassau.

I forget which island we were on, the ship was an American one so they must hold their passports, a beach day they will never forget.......

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, lovetocruise1953 said:

 

We were on a ship watching another one getting ready to depart, there was a lot of walking up and down and looking at watches then a person got off the ship handed 2 passports to a shore person and the ship departed, not 2 mins later a taxi pulled up and 2 people in just beach clothes ran up the pier but they were too late, the lady handed them their passports and escorted them off the pier. The ship was so close to the shore it seemed you could touch it but it didn't re dock. I hope they had some money and credit cards as the ships next dock was Nassau.

I forget which island we were on, the ship was an American one so they must hold their passports, a beach day they will never forget.......

But we do not know if they were on a private tour. Actually, probably not if they came back by way of a taxi.

[Charles4515]

6 hours ago, lovetocruise1953 said:

I forget which island we were on, the ship was an American one so they must hold their passports, a beach day they will never forget.......

The ship didn't hold their passports. If passengers are missing when the ship is set to depart ship's security is sent to look for the passengers passports in their cabin. They will open the safe. Then the passports are handed to the port agent. 

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

The ship didn't hold their passports. If passengers are missing when the ship is set to depart ship's security is sent to look for the passengers passports in their cabin. They will open the safe. Then the passports are handed to the port agent. 

Usually, that is true, but sometimes ships do hold passports.

[Charles4515]

12 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Usually, that is true, but sometimes ships do hold passports.

Not in the Caribbean.

[ontheweb]

34 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

Not in the Caribbean.

OK, the cruise we were on in which the passports were collected was in the Eastern Mediterranean

[Charles4515]

47 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

OK, the cruise we were on in which the passports were collected was in the Eastern Mediterranean

 

I have had the same happen in the Eastern Mediterranean but the person who posted the anecdote  mentioned that they were on an island and that the ships next stop was Nassau.