Excursion Start times?

[Topowest]

I'm taking my first cruise to the Mediterranean on NCL Gem. itinerary: Rome, Naples, Taormina, Zakynthos, Alexandria, Port Said, Ashdod, Limassol, Rhodes, Kusadasi, and Istanbul. I'm looking to book some private excursions through Viator and others in several ports and trying to figure out start times. When it says the ship will be in port for example 8am-7pm, is that ship time or local time, and what time should we book our excursion to start, 8am, 9am, 10am?  Thanks

[CruiserBruce]

That will be local time. If it's not a tender port, you can have your private tour start 30 minutes after arrival. Remember, if it's a private tour, you own that tour. The tour providers will wait a bit.

 

If it's a tender port, starting 60 or 90 minutes after scheduled arrival is a good idea.

 

Go to the port boards, and research local recommendations for tour vendors. Yes, Viator looks good, but they are brokers, not providers. If you have any issues, it will be hard to reach anyone to resolve the problem. 

 

 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Topowest said:

When it says the ship will be in port for example 8am-7pm, is that ship time or local time,

Normal practice is for ship  time to always be local time,  so, during the course of a European cruise you may gain or lose an hour on a couple of occasions.

[Topowest]

Thanks guys exactly what I wanted to know.

 

NCL recommends to be back at least an hour before the departure time.  Is the departure time when the ship actually leaves or just when they start getting ready to leave, and what is the absolute latest you could still get on the ship?  I don't plan on cutting it close, but stuff happens sometimes. 

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, Topowest said:

Thanks guys exactly what I wanted to know.

 

NCL recommends to be back at least an hour before the departure time.  Is the departure time when the ship actually leaves or just when they start getting ready to leave, and what is the absolute latest you could still get on the ship?  I don't plan on cutting it close, but stuff happens sometimes. 

Departure time is exactly what it means. It is the time the ship plans to physically leave the port.

So, one hour before departure time is a good reference point for planning to be back on board.

Cutting it fine will likely lead to you receiving a "talking to" from one of the officers.