How to proactively ask to stay on the island and then catch up the next day?

[kdawg954]

Hi,

 

So I was looking into sailing the Jewel of the Seas in February 2024.  It is a 7 day RT Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan.  This ship visits the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.  Trinidad first and then the next day Tobago.  We have family in Trinidad and it would be great to spend the entire day and night with them as we haven't seen them since before Covid.  There is a ferry that runs in between the islands that is roughly 3 hours so the idea would be to catch the ferry the following morning and meet back up with the ship in Tobago which leaves at 5 pm the next day.  They also have flights that take about 30 minutes to get in between the 2 islands, with several every day so that also provides an option.  Of course we would have our passports/ID on us to make this as easy as possible.

 

Obviously I will ask the cruise line as well, but I figure why not ask in here to see just to set my expectations.  I'm guessing just missing the ship and catching up the next day, while certainly frowned on, probably would be another way but I'd rather not put the ship through that and give them advanced notice of my plan and see if there is a proper way to do this.

 

Anybody know how achievable this is?  Thank you 🙂

 

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by kdawg954

[smokeybandit]

This cannot be done 

[swoopy2110]

19 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

This cannot be done 

 

What would happen if you didn't tell them though? Could they stop you from just catching up to the ship and getting on again.

[reallyitsmema]

5 minutes ago, swoopy2110 said:

 

What would happen if you didn't tell them though? Could they stop you from just catching up to the ship and getting on again.

If they don’t tell them, they will hold the ship there for a time, inconveniencing thousands of other passengers. 

[kdawg954]

15 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

If they don’t tell them, they will hold the ship there for a time, inconveniencing thousands of other passengers. 

 

Which is what I'm not trying to do, even though the islands are only 20 miles apart, so not sure what the inconvenience for the passengers really is. 

 

I think I could miss the ship and catch up and it would be fine as far as continuing my cruise.

 

More concerned with the process of them assuming I am missing, and them having to go through the "missing passenger process", which doesn't sit well with me.

 

If it can't be done, it can't be done.

Edited July 4, 2023 by kdawg954

[reallyitsmema]

7 minutes ago, kdawg954 said:

 

Which is what I'm not trying to do, even though the islands are only 20 miles apart, so not sure what the inconvenience for the passengers really is. 

 

I think I could miss the ship and catch up and it would be fine as far as continuing my cruise.

 

More concerned with the process of them assuming I am missing, and them having to go through the "missing passenger process", which doesn't sit well with me.

 

If it can't be done, it can't be done.

I realize you are trying not to cause a problem, I was just answering the question asked. 🙂   As far as how it impacts the other passengers, shops and casino can not open while in port. 
 

The cruise line has not allowed passengers to join down line since the restart. It doesn’t hurt to ask but expect them to say no. 

[kdawg954]

Just now, reallyitsmema said:

I realize you are trying not to cause a problem, I was just answering the question asked. 🙂   As far as how it impacts the other passengers, shops and casino can not open while in port. 
 

The cruise line has not allowed passengers to join down line since the restart. It doesn’t hurt to ask but expect them to say no. 

 

Absolutely appreciate the knowledge and advice.  Thank you.

[JsMom2]

Contact the cruise line to see if it can be done.  Pre covid you would work this with the emergency travel team in advance.  Once covid hit they stopped all of this.  I don’t know if they will allow again.   But it does need to be worked with customs and immigration at the different ports.  If you simply “miss” the ship, there is a good chance they will pack up your staterooms and leave your belongings with the port agent, before they depart port.  And if you show up at the next port with luggage in tow, well it might not go over so well.  
 

 

[Anton]

There is also the possibility of a problem with your method of entry into T&T.  There is cruise ship passenger day visit entry and then there is normal visitor entry, meaning presenting yourself to an immigration official like at the airport.  Different rules in play.  If you knowingly stayed overnight and purposely missed the ship the authorities might not be happy.  As noted in a previous post, once people are not accounted for by the ship they typically send security and a guest services officer to the cabins and gather up what they can and leave it on the pier with the port agent, assuming you had some trouble returning and might need medication, clothing,etc.  

[funtimex2]

If it doesn't workout to overnight,  maybe your family could join you the next day.  

[kdawg954]

42 minutes ago, funtimex2 said:

If it doesn't workout to overnight,  maybe your family could join you the next day.  

 

We definitely thought of this.  The ship arrives on Carnival Tuesday so the kids are out of school, and that is the day we would arrive, so it would work out well to spend the day and night with them in Trinidad and we ferry over to Tobago Wednesday morning and catch our ship . . . but not so well for all of them to ferry/flyover to Tobago on Wednesday and then do the same thing coming back to Trinidad on the same day, especially with school back in on that Wednesday causing the kids to miss it.

 

Worst comes to worst we will have a good 7-8 hours with them in Trinidad and that will have to do.  But appreciate all of the ideas :). I am definitely interested in seeing what Royal's response will be when I ask them this lol.

[klfrodo]

Here are my concerns

 

Trinidad and Tobago is a country with laws. I would think that should you get off the ship "without" anyone's permission and spend the night, you have now entered the country illegally. You haven't entered the country properly thru official immigrations and overstayed your "cruiser" visa or whatever it may be called.

You could possibly fake that you returned to the port late (shortly after the ship departs) and cry to the port agent (who is the CruiseLine representative and in constant contact with the company). The immigrations people will be there with the port agent to properly process you. They can communicate with the ship that you will now rejoin the next day and immigrations is satisfied.

[cruiseguy1016]

5 hours ago, kdawg954 said:

 

We definitely thought of this.  The ship arrives on Carnival Tuesday so the kids are out of school, and that is the day we would arrive, so it would work out well to spend the day and night with them in Trinidad and we ferry over to Tobago Wednesday morning and catch our ship . . . but not so well for all of them to ferry/flyover to Tobago on Wednesday and then do the same thing coming back to Trinidad on the same day, especially with school back in on that Wednesday causing the kids to miss it.

 

Worst comes to worst we will have a good 7-8 hours with them in Trinidad and that will have to do.  But appreciate all of the ideas :). I am definitely interested in seeing what Royal's response will be when I ask them this lol.

 

Please come back and let us know what Royal has to say.

Edited July 4, 2023 by cruiseguy1016

[MommaBear55]

It's worth asking the question, several people did this in the TP as we went through French Polynesia

[BridgeMates]

I would contact the port agent directly in advance of your cruise or maybe see if your family members can work something out with the local agent.  

[crazyank]

1 hour ago, BridgeMates said:

I would contact the port agent directly in advance of your cruise or maybe see if your family members can work something out with the local agent.  

Port agent has nothing to do with this.  It's strictly a cruise line decision.

[new_cruiser]

What would you do if the Tabago stop had to be missed? I bring this up partly because our recent cruise had a stop in Skagway during the day followed by an evening stop in Haines. I was considering an excursion that took the ferry from Skagway to Haines and wondered if it would be possible after the excursion to stay in Haines and join the ship there. I ended up deciding to stay in Skagway for the day. It turned out too windy to dock in Haines and the ship skipped that stop. 

[livingonthebeach]

Tobago is nothing special. I would have liked to have stayed in Trinidad longer. This said, I would never just get off the ship and not get back on whenever I pleased.  Not only is this disruptive for the crew and fellow passengers, it could possibly earn a lifetime ban from the cruise line. If there's nothing left of possessions in the cabin, they'll know you did it intentionally without asking -- and how do you explain to the crew checking you out on port day your big suitcase? If you don't carry all your stuff out you might never see your stuff again as they might not let you back on the ship.  As others have said either ask beforehand or don't do it. 

Edited July 6, 2023 by livingonthebeach

[luvbrady]

My understanding is that downlining was occasionally allowed but strongly discouraged due to all of the reasons mentioned here that may impact guest safety/security including at the time testing/travel restrictions and changing itineries.  Looks like it was stopped all together after the resumption of service post covid.  But can't hurt to ask....

[Biker19]

31 minutes ago, luvbrady said:

My understanding is that downlining was occasionally allowed but strongly discouraged due to all of the reasons mentioned here that may impact guest safety/security including at the time testing/travel restrictions and changing itineraries. 

A "regular" dowline disembarkation is a bit different than what the OP is asking and those were not discouraged. Even after the restart there was a report of a customer being allowed to disembark in the South Pacific (on a TP sailing) and then rejoin the ship at the next stop (like this Trinidad request it was a near by port and the same country). I think a similar request by another customer to do the same with two different Italian ports was denied. You won't know what the ship will allow until you ask.

[livingonthebeach]

38 minutes ago, luvbrady said:

My understanding is that downlining was occasionally allowed but strongly discouraged due to all of the reasons mentioned here that may impact guest safety/security including at the time testing/travel restrictions and changing itineries.  Looks like it was stopped all together after the resumption of service post covid.  But can't hurt to ask....

 

Yes things have changed post Covid. In the past it was allowed if one was persistent enough. Those days are long gone. 

[irishgal432]

If you booked through a TA , maybe that is a question for them to ask Royal.