First time Azamara cruiser seeking advice around disembarkation time when already docked as an overnight at end of cruise?

[Cruisengators]

Hello, first time Azamara cruisers seeking advice around earliest disembarkation time for Quest when it has been docked for an overnight? We will be disembarking in Bordeaux on 6/10 and hope to catch an early fight from BOD airport @9:05 am to continue land travels in Madrid.  Before I book flights I am hoping some seasoned Azamara travelers can tell me if it would be reasonable for husband &I to disembark at 6:45 am to catch a taxi or shuttle to airport for flight?  We are Assuming passengers can disembark anytime on 6/10 as Quest arrives in Bordeaux morning of 6/9 but though you all would know best!

Is Bordeaux airport an easy and small airport to depart from?

Thank you. 

[mj_holiday]

Haven't been to Bordeaux but Rome2Rio says a taxi take 1 hour and 39 minutes to airport.  If you want to disembark on your own you need to be able to carry your suitcases.

[KirkNC]

If you are docked overnight you should be able to leave as early as you want but it will be self disembarkation, in other words you need to take your luggage off yourself. I would let the front desk know of your plans.

 

A note on Bordeaux, we have been several times and never seen taxis available at the ship.  It maybe different if it’s a turn around day, but I would not count on it.  We even tried calling a taxi one time but they wouldn’t come to the ship.  Bottom line, I would want to have a prearranged transfer.

[beatnix]

As the ship docks near Place des Quinconces it will take 15 to 20 minutes to the airport by car. I would pre-book a taxi. We use Welcome pickups if we need a transfer.

[PirateWife]

In order to leave ship early, you will need to let Customer Relations know about your plans before disembarkations instructions are issued. Before you leave the ship on the day of your disembarkation, you will need to get a card from Customer Relations that lets security know your account is cleared. On the Quest two weeks ago, I let them know the second days of our cruise and stopped by the desk on my way off the cruise. We were able to get off the ship at 7 am even though the ship had not been booked overnight. We had our suitcases with us. (Kindly, the security people helped us get them down the gangway.) We arranged a pickup with Welcome Pickups. We were in Bordeaux a couple of weeks ago and don't remember seeing any taxis, but I wasn't looking.

[fruitmachine]

5 hours ago, mj_holiday said:

Haven't been to Bordeaux but Rome2Rio says a taxi take 1 hour and 39 minutes to airport.  If you want to disembark on your own you need to be able to carry your suitcases.

It takes under an hour on the tram.  Probably a third of that in a taxi.

[manc]

Just left Bordeaux on 13th Sept. No taxis available. No taxis willing to come. Would pre book travel to airport. There is a tram stop but don't know ifvitcwould be direct yo the airport. Trams payment wasn't easy for dome passengers due to language, cash shortage etc.

[excitedofharpenden]

Whilst Bordeaux is a lovely place to visit I don't think it's great embarkation/disembarkation port. There's no proper cruise terminal so you just have tents set up. Fine if the weather's OK as it was when I left Onward mid-September, but challenging if it's not. Because it's tidal every piece of luggage had to come down the gangway. 

 

Definitely book a taxi. There are none available at the port. I recommended Welcome Pick Ups to friends as I've used them a few times before. Embarrassingly they never turned up. 

 

I hope Azamara have a rethink on using Bordeaux as a turnaround port. I wouldn't do it again. 

 

Phil 

[ExArkie]

To the OP: Thank you for being specific in your thread title. Too many Cruise Critic threads are started with a vaguely generic title that could mean virtually any topic for the question. 

[KirkNC]

2 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

Whilst Bordeaux is a lovely place to visit I don't think it's great embarkation/disembarkation port. There's no proper cruise terminal so you just have tents set up. Fine if the weather's OK as it was when I left Onward mid-September, but challenging if it's not. Because it's tidal every piece of luggage had to come down the gangway. 

 

Definitely book a taxi. There are none available at the port. I recommended Welcome Pick Ups to friends as I've used them a few times before. Embarrassingly they never turned up. 

 

I hope Azamara have a rethink on using Bordeaux as a turnaround port. I wouldn't do it again. 

 

Phil 

I find Azamara uses many unusual ports for turn around.  Sometimes I wonder if it hurts the sale of the cruise as they can be challenging to get to/from.

[Maya_C]

5 hours ago, manc said:

Just left Bordeaux on 13th Sept. No taxis available. No taxis willing to come. Would pre book travel to airport. There is a tram stop but don't know ifvitcwould be direct yo the airport. Trams payment wasn't easy for dome passengers due to language, cash shortage etc.

Tram Line A stops near the port (tram stop Porte de Bordeaux) and goes directly to the airport. The trip takes about 45 minutes. You can buy a single ticket that's good for one hour starting from the first time you validate it on a tram. Before you board you can get a ticket at the tram stop from a machine which has directions in English and takes euro coins. If you will be in Bordeaux the day before disembarking, you can buy the ticket ahead of time, and you might want to get a multi-ride ticket because the tram is the best way to get around Bordeaux. Trams come every 3-5 minutes and don't get stuck in traffic like taxis.

 

The Tourist Info Office will help you with any transport or sightseeing questions you have. On our first day in Bordeaux and all the other ports, Azamara had someone from the tourist office at a desk on deck 3. It was really helpful for us to stop at that desk at each port, get a map, and find out how to get around. 

 

We flew into Bordeaux for the start of a cruise in June and found the airport easy to navigate.  

 

~Maya 

[Grandma Cruising]

We haven't had anyone from a port onboard for our Onward Spanish Intensive. There was a port representative at the port gates at Ferrol, and lots of paper information too for all ports. By the way I guess you mean on Deck 4 (Guest Relations deck).

[fruitmachine]

14 minutes ago, Maya_C said:

Tram Line A stops near the port (tram stop Porte de Bordeaux) and goes directly to the airport. The trip takes about 45 minutes. You can buy a single ticket that's good for one hour starting from the first time you validate it on a tram. Before you board you can get a ticket at the tram stop from a machine which has directions in English and takes euro coins. If you will be in Bordeaux the day before disembarking, you can buy the ticket ahead of time, and you might want to get a multi-ride ticket because the tram is the best way to get around Bordeaux. Trams come every 3-5 minutes and don't get stuck in traffic like taxis.

 

The Tourist Info Office will help you with any transport or sightseeing questions you have. On our first day in Bordeaux and all the other ports, Azamara had someone from the tourist office at a desk on deck 3. It was really helpful for us to stop at that desk at each port, get a map, and find out how to get around. 

 

We flew into Bordeaux for the start of a cruise in June and found the airport easy to navigate.  

 

~Maya 

And, if you're feeling you're wanting to walk even less, Tram line B stops on the other side of the road where the cruise ship docks (take the one going to the left as you look at it from the ship) and you change to line A at Hôtel de Ville.  We did it in the other direction (our hotel was almost opposite the dock) and it was very easy.

 

The ticket machines also take Visa & Mastercard.

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Has anyone used Uber?  Their website shows they operate in Bordeaux.

[Maya_C]

6 hours ago, Grandma Cruising said:

We haven't had anyone from a port onboard for our Onward Spanish Intensive. There was a port representative at the port gates at Ferrol, and lots of paper information too for all ports. By the way I guess you mean on Deck 4 (Guest Relations deck).

Yes, Deck 4. I hit the wrong key. The Tourist Office reps were onboard at all ports on the France Intensive cruise in June 2024. Maybe we just lucked out. 

Edited Monday at 09:30 PM by Maya_C
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