Excursions not booked thru the cruise line

[Steve in Omaha]

We're on Norwegian Jewel leaving Vancouver on Sept. 4.  I'm saving hundreds by not booking excursions thru NCL, but I have a question about timing.

I contacted NCL's "Customer Service" (if you've used them you know why it's in quotes) to ask when we can get off the ship in a port, and when we have to be back on the ship.  Their answer was you can leave the ship 2 hours after it docks.  And you must be on board an hour before it sails again.  Is this accurate?

One of the excursions offered by NCL is at 7:30am and the ship docks at 7am. That's not possible given the 2hr time they told me. How does this work?  Thanks

[shof515]

not true. 2 hours only applies to the embarkation day on the first day of the cruise. it does not apply to port stops

 

usually you get off the ship within 15-30 minutes after the ship is docked. they will make announcement when the gangway is ready for use. at the end of the day, all onboard time when everyone needs to be onboard the ship is 30-60 minutes prior to departure time. the time to be back onboard the ship will be posted in the app, freestyle daily and signs at the gangway

Edited June 11, 2023 by shof515

[www3traveler]

You can leave the ship for excursions as soon as the ship is cleared by the local authorities usually 30 to 45 minutes after docking.

 

"All Aboard" is 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.  The exact time for each port will be posted in the Freestyle Daily and on big boards posted by the elevators and the screening area.

[jimsig]

When making your excursion reservations by phone let them know what ship you will be on.  If making them online sometimes they have a field to enter the info in or even drip down menus that you can choose your ship.  Because they are so tourist/cruise ship dependent they tend to work around the ships time in port.  But as mentioned before it's important to let them know which ship you will be on.  You don't want to book an 8hr excursion if you will only be in port for 6 or 7 hours.  

[BirdTravels]

11 hours ago, Steve in Omaha said:

We're on Norwegian Jewel leaving Vancouver on Sept. 4.  I'm saving hundreds by not booking excursions thru NCL, but I have a question about timing.

I contacted NCL's "Customer Service" (if you've used them you know why it's in quotes) to ask when we can get off the ship in a port, and when we have to be back on the ship.  Their answer was you can leave the ship 2 hours after it docks.  And you must be on board an hour before it sails again.  Is this accurate?

One of the excursions offered by NCL is at 7:30am and the ship docks at 7am. That's not possible given the 2hr time they told me. How does this work?  Thanks

You can disembark within 30 min of published arrival time,,, if the ship is running in schedule. All aboard is 30 minutes before departure time. 
 

Also consider that NCL does not dock at the main cruise docks in some cities. For example, if your private tour says the meet at the Tramway in Juneau, NCL docks at the AJ dock. After waiting in the long, slow line to disembark, you need to wait in line to catch a shuttle into town and the Tramway. 
 

In Ketchikan it is the same. The ship docks at Ward Cove, which is a 15 min bus ride (once you get on a bus) to some tour pickup points. 
 

We cruise to Alaska every year. On our last NCL cruise, our entire itinerary got changed and a port dropped when a medical emergency caused us to have to turn back toward Vancouver for a medivac airlift. Our NCL excursions were automatically rescheduled.

 

And I would add that on our April and May cruises (Caribbean) we got into at least one port over 30 mins late for various reasons. 

Edited June 11, 2023 by BirdTravels

[Homosassa]

11 hours ago, Steve in Omaha said:

I contacted NCL's "Customer Service" (if you've used them you know why it's in quotes) to ask when we can get off the ship in a port, and when we have to be back on the ship.  Their answer was you can leave the ship 2 hours after it docks.  And you must be on board an hour before it sails again.  Is this accurate?

 

This is a generalized response to cover variations on ship clearance by local authorities, tendering procedures when tendering and other conditions that may apply to different itineraries or under port conditions the day of the port call.

 

The actual time that you may depart the ship or are required to be back on board will be available the day of the port call.

 

Take any scheduled times or dates that appear in a published itinerary  itinerary as what is planned, but may not happen the day of the port visit. 

 

Also be aware if you are thinking that you can contact the excursion operators in port once on board the ship but before arrival in  the port,  that cell phone service and satellite based internet service may be disrupted or not available at times as the mountains block signals (can affect TV programs in the cabins as well). 

Edited June 11, 2023 by Homosassa

[suzannenok]

@Steve in Omahaand @BirdTravels

We're cruising NCL in September: Vancouver to Seward on the Jewel. I'm desperately trying to narrow down excursions - two adults, no children, only one prior cruise. Do you have recommendations on what companies to research in the various ports? We would like to do some sort of glacier excursion, possibly with a helicopter (may be out of budget), a whale tour (would prefer kayak or smaller boat) and possibly a fishing expedition. We have only done one shore excursion previously, and it was Caribbean and very low key. I'd really appreciate any advice on how to research/narrow down what we'd like to do. I keep hearing that NCL excursions are way overpriced. We've traveled a ton, but we just haven't cruised much, so this is all new territory. Thank you!

[krufrank]

9 minutes ago, suzannenok said:

@Steve in Omahaand @BirdTravels

We're cruising NCL in September: Vancouver to Seward on the Jewel. I'm desperately trying to narrow down excursions - two adults, no children, only one prior cruise. Do you have recommendations on what companies to research in the various ports? We would like to do some sort of glacier excursion, possibly with a helicopter (may be out of budget), a whale tour (would prefer kayak or smaller boat) and possibly a fishing expedition. We have only done one shore excursion previously, and it was Caribbean and very low key. I'd really appreciate any advice on how to research/narrow down what we'd like to do. I keep hearing that NCL excursions are way overpriced. We've traveled a ton, but we just haven't cruised much, so this is all new territory. Thank you!

We are same ship and itinerary in August. We were shocked at how expensive the NCL excursions were. We had someone recommend Alaska Shore Tours as a company to use. After some research we chose to book 4 excursions with them - all at reasonable prices. Best part is they ask what ship and sailing you are on and let you know what excursions will or won’t work for you. As I haven’t actually been on one of their excursions yet (going August) I can attest to the difference in cost (significant) and ease at booking.