WS Excursion Departure Times

[IpswichChris]

First-time cruiser here, so lots of questions!  Our Italy/Croatia itinerary shows the ship arriving in each port at 8:00 AM.  And WS excursions at each port show starting time of 8:15 or 8:30.  Do the excursions really get going so quickly after docking,?  And my understanding is that the tender boats shuttle passengers for the WS excursions first, so what is  realistic time for start of any independent tours we book - 9:00, 9:30?  

[Strenz]

You are correct a good time to start private excursions is 9-9:30 if you dock at 8. The excursion folks know and will be there waiting for you. It is not a strict rule that WS excursion folks go first. In our 26 cruises with WS we have never had difficulty getting in a tender first thing in the am if we needed to. 

We are on the 10/6 and have a few private excursions reserved and I do not expect any issues. Looking forward to this cruise, it is our third time trying. Happy Sailing

[milepig]

They stick to times.  If it say 8:30 departure, be in the lounge by 8:15, they mean it. They will track you down and not be nice. Don’t mess with the tour desk, you’re holding up a lot of people and if you aren’t on time, and they will leave without you no refund. 

[6rugrats]

I can speak only to my experiences, but I rarely book ship excursions, almost always private.  And, on each cruise, they have taken the ship's tours off first.

[IpswichChris]

On 9/17/2022 at 3:08 PM, milepig said:

They stick to times.  If it say 8:30 departure, be in the lounge by 8:15, they mean it. They will track you down and not be nice. Don’t mess with the tour desk, you’re holding up a lot of people and if you aren’t on time, and they will leave without you no refund. 

Oh, we’ll be on time. Certainly don’t want to be hunted down on the ship😀.  Was just wondering if cruise line would really get excursions so soon after docking - and obviously they do get things moving that quickly.

[Redtravel]

Excursions often get priority tenders. Often excursions get canceled.  You need a backup plan. Know what you can do in each port on your own.  Download maps and transportation info before your cruise. The ship isn’t good at giving you timely info.  Often the port talk is given by a person who has never visited that port.  Download maps before boarding. The WiFi onboard is unreliable and expensive.  we use our own mobile data package WiFi in ports. Check ahead with your mobile carrier for coverage.  We have AT&T which has plans that cover international and marine services.