Can RCI require you to book an excursion in order to leave the ship in port?

[dwlangham]

Potential new cruiser. I'm considering a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska in June. One review I read mentioned that you couldn't leave the ship unless you were booked on an excursion.

 

I wouldn't have guessed that this would be something to worry about. Last thing I want is to have to pay for the opportunity to disembark at a port where all I want to do is have a look around.

 

Tell me I have nothing to worry about, thanks in advance. 🤔

[UKWLDCruise]

At the moment you should have nothing to worry about but during higher Covid numbers ports could limit passengers going ashore to just those on cruise line tours.  If you left the tour party and struck out on your own you could be thrown off the ship so things were pretty serious.

[Tlbecker1]

9 minutes ago, UKWLDCruise said:

At the moment you should have nothing to worry about but during higher Covid numbers ports could limit passengers going ashore to just those on cruise line tours.  If you left the tour party and struck out on your own you could be thrown off the ship so things were pretty serious.

I agree that this was the case in 2021, but 2022 you were able to do your own thing at every port.  The rules can always change.

[DonnaK]

Just an FYI:  It's the port that had this requirement during high COVID times, not the cruiseline.

[firefly333]

41 minutes ago, UKWLDCruise said:

At the moment you should have nothing to worry about but during higher Covid numbers ports could limit passengers going ashore to just those on cruise line tours.  If you left the tour party and struck out on your own you could be thrown off the ship so things were pretty serious.

Alaska we had one glacier we went to see, no port or town, and just that one if you wanted to get up closer to the glacier in a smaller boat, you paid for the excursion. There were seals and all laying in front of the glacier so getting closer was a better look. 

 

Now as they posted above the ports there shouldnt be any issues getting off.

[RobInMN]

Look at the other answers specific to Alaska, but in general, I believe that the answer is yes, RCL can require an excursion to leave the ship. Might be extremely rare, but it can happen. For instance, when we were on Symphony 2018 Western Mediterranean, the port for Florance & Pisa was actually La Spezia. I don't know if the normal cruise port was too small or too busy, but for whatever reason, I am almost positive that the port we used was strictly a commercial port, and as such, I believe that RCL RCL required you to be on an excursion in order to leave the ship. No other traffic was allowed into the port (ie. taxis, independent tours), and it was completely unsafe to have any passengers attempting to walk through it. 

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, dwlangham said:

Tell me I have nothing to worry about, thanks in advance.

Welcome to CC.

No, you don't.

[Joseph2017China]

2 hours ago, dwlangham said:

Potential new cruiser. I'm considering a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska in June. One review I read mentioned that you couldn't leave the ship unless you were booked on an excursion.

 

I wouldn't have guessed that this would be something to worry about. Last thing I want is to have to pay for the opportunity to disembark at a port where all I want to do is have a look around.

 

Tell me I have nothing to worry about, thanks in advance. 🤔

That was for a very short period of time, when the ships were trying to sail, and they came up with certain rules, for different countries, to please them.  But that is ancient history now

[LeeW]

Common due to covid during 2021 but haven't seen any in last year. 

 

Exception is the Hubbard Glacier Explorer, which boards directly from the ship and sails much closer to the glacier - there is no port there.  Around $399pp last fall so we were not interested.  As I recall there sometimes is a similar one if the ship is going into Tracy Arm.

[taglovestocruise]

8 hours ago, dwlangham said:

Potential new cruiser. I'm considering a Royal Caribbean cruise to Alaska in June. One review I read mentioned that you couldn't leave the ship unless you were booked on an excursion.

 

I wouldn't have guessed that this would be something to worry about. Last thing I want is to have to pay for the opportunity to disembark at a port where all I want to do is have a look around.

 

Tell me I have nothing to worry about, thanks in advance. 🤔

We were on Ovation last week of Sep. No problem just walking off at every port.  As others have said it was just Covid paranoia.

[Oceansaway17]

aw but given all the fuss in bar Harbor wanting to limit 1000 passengers a day, that rule just might happen.   One never knows.  

[Tree_skier]

12 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

aw but given all the fuss in bar Harbor wanting to limit 1000 passengers a day, that rule just might happen.   One never knows.  

Bar Harbor has been dropped by Royal starting in the 2024 season and replaced with Sydney NS.  Bar Harbor is finished as a cruise port.

Edited January 4, 2023 by Tree_skier

[Oceansaway17]

8 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Bar Harbor has been dropped by Royal starting in the 2024 season and replaced with Sydney NS.  Bar Harbor is finished as a cruise port.

oh wow I am so glad I got to go on ADV OTS last fall.   That town might just regret it.

They have a short season and it is the gateway to the national park

[Tree_skier]

4 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

oh wow I am so glad I got to go on ADV OTS last fall.   That town might just regret it.

They have a short season and it is the gateway to the national park

The only mainline cruise co. that is still listed as going to Bar Harbor in 2024 is Norwegian and I suspect they will be dropping it too.  They list gem and breakaway as calling in 2024 but that isn't possible with their capacity so those itineraries will inevitably get a change.  

[Oceansaway17]

On 1/4/2023 at 6:28 PM, Tree_skier said:

The only mainline cruise co. that is still listed as going to Bar Harbor in 2024 is Norwegian and I suspect they will be dropping it too.  They list gem and breakaway as calling in 2024 but that isn't possible with their capacity so those itineraries will inevitably get a change.  

well that is a shame. I mean the ships behaved by anchoring out further.

 

time will tell how this ends up.  

[BirdTravels]

On 1/4/2023 at 11:35 AM, LeeW said:

Common due to covid during 2021 but haven't seen any in last year. 

I don’t think it was ever “common”. We went on 3 cruises in 2021 (including the very first North American cruise on the Adventure) and were never restricted. 
 

And the Glacier Explorer is an excursion. You can get off the ship in Juneau if you want and don’t have to take a ShoreEx. 

[gadaboutgal]

4 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well that is a shame. I mean the ships behaved by anchoring out further.

 

time will tell how this ends up.  

It wasn't the anchorage that BH folks objected to; it was the number of tourists in their town.

[ChinaShrek]

On 1/4/2023 at 6:21 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

oh wow I am so glad I got to go on ADV OTS last fall.   That town might just regret it.

They have a short season and it is the gateway to the national park

Many (most?) locals do not want the cruise ships there. They will not be missed.

[Oceansaway17]

18 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

Many (most?) locals do not want the cruise ships there. They will not be missed.

hmm time will tell I guess

[deliver42]

When their budget hits a short fall and people ask why are we having these cuts in service, look in the mirror for the answer.

[Tree_skier]

5 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

When their budget hits a short fall and people ask why are we having these cuts in service, look in the mirror for the answer.

And Sydney, NS will be smiling all the way to the bank 🙂 

[bonsai3s]

On 1/4/2023 at 6:52 AM, RobInMN said:

Look at the other answers specific to Alaska, but in general, I believe that the answer is yes, RCL can require an excursion to leave the ship. Might be extremely rare, but it can happen. For instance, when we were on Symphony 2018 Western Mediterranean, the port for Florance & Pisa was actually La Spezia. I don't know if the normal cruise port was too small or too busy, but for whatever reason, I am almost positive that the port we used was strictly a commercial port, and as such, I believe that RCL RCL required you to be on an excursion in order to leave the ship. No other traffic was allowed into the port (ie. taxis, independent tours), and it was completely unsafe to have any passengers attempting to walk through it. 

RobinMN...just wanted to share our experience.

 

Yes, RCCL can require an excursion to leave the ship...rarely...the only one I can think of at this time is St. Petersburg, Russia. (Visa issues)  For Alaska...no restrictions on our Quantum and Ovation sailings last September.

 

Livorno is usually the port for Pisa and Florence.  La Spezia is also used but is just a bit farther away.

 

On the Odyssey last year, we stopped in La Spezia.  A free shuttle took us directly from shipside to the cruise terminal building. Once outside, you can do independent tours.  We walked to town and took the train to Cinque Terre....visited 3 of the 5 villages...Monterosso, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.  (We decided to do Cinque Terre since we have been to Pisa and Florence.)

[JamesEM]

No, but there are a few ports where it is advisable to book a tour instead of going out on your own, one such place is Roatan.

[123funcruiser]

6 hours ago, bonsai3s said:

Yes, RCCL can require an excursion to leave the ship...rarely...the only one I can think of at this time is St. Petersburg, Russia. (Visa issues) 

 

Not true in regards to Russia / St. Petersburg. Royal did not require an excursion to leave the ship. 

If you had proper documentation you were free to go ashore with or without an excursion. Not Royal restricted anything, Russia set the entry rules for their country. Basically you had three choices, you either took a ship excursion and the cruiseline took care of the documents. Guided excursions were allowed ashore without visa by the local authorities. You could also book a private excursion and many companies would take care of the paperwork to get ashore. You could also get a Visa for Russia and having that you were allowed to go ashore on your own without any guidance. 

 

With some countries there could be restrictions, but these are not restrictions by the cruiseline, it´s the visited countries rules that set the possibility of going ashore or not. You simply have to follow those rules. 

 

However from experience I can think of another reason for not being able to go ashore without a shore excursion. Hellesylt in Norway to my mind. It´s the entry to the Geiranger Fjord and the ship only stops there briefly to let passengers with a full day shore excursion ashore that will meet the ship in Geiranger later in the day. Nobody without a shore excursion is allowed ashore there, not even to make a quick run outside to take pictures. 

 

Then there´s technical stops when nobody at all will be allowed to go ashore but those are rare.

[crazyank]

On 1/4/2023 at 3:52 PM, RobInMN said:

For instance, when we were on Symphony 2018 Western Mediterranean, the port for Florance & Pisa was actually La Spezia. I don't know if the normal cruise port was too small or too busy, but for whatever reason, I am almost positive that the port we used was strictly a commercial port, and as such, I believe that RCL RCL required you to be on an excursion in order to leave the ship. No other traffic was allowed into the port (ie. taxis, independent tours), and it was completely unsafe to have any passengers attempting to walk through it. 

This is incorrect.  We were on Symphony in the western Med also.  The requirement at La Spezia was that everybody had to take a shuttle bus from the ship to the port entrance.  No excursions were required.