How soon can one get off the ship?

[kilili]

Hi all,

 

We are booked on a 12 night Princess British Isles cruise for June.  Typically we do ports on our own, or book small group or private independent excursions.  Our last cruise (not on Princess) was very inaccurate as to when you could disembark at ports.  Sometimes it arrived on time, sometimes it didn't.  Sometimes an announcement would be made when you could get off, sometimes no announcement.  So my planning was off a bit because I could not figure out what to expect for the next day.  Which brings me to my question.  When Princess posts port times, are those the times that one can be off ship?  Are those the times ship is in port, but actual time one has is shorter?  If this is the case, how soon after docking are people allowed to disembark?  How much time before leaving shall people being on board?  How long before people without status or excursions (Princess) can disembark, both in walk out ports and tender ports?

 

Thank you in advance for your help.

[wowzz]

In my experience, the times Princess post, are normally the times you can physically leave the ship. 

However,  with tender ports, all bets are off, as those on Princess tours normally get priority.

If you book private tours, the operators usually arrange a pick up time an hour or so later than the scheduled disembarkation time, to allow for delays, queues etc.

[Turtles06]

OP: since your questions are specific to Princess, may I suggest you post them in the Princess forum:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/119-princess-cruises/

[samandlibby]

The times are pretty accurate that Princess posts. However, we had one port In Turkey last summer where the Turkey authorities were on board and wouldn’t give the all clear for almost an hour. People had the stairs, Deck 4, elevators jammed waiting to get off. So, I’m times of Covid or foreign security requirements, you can’t be 100%. We had booked a private tour and all the various tour vendors were all lined up waiting for us to get off.