how long does it take to get off the ship

[chessybear]

Hi all, does anyone know how long it takes to get off the ship (especially in Izmir), we have a private tour booked for this port, and would like to know if the ship tours take priority over getting off first. As time is restricted in this port, our private guide is expecting us within 30mins of docking. Is this realistic please, appreciate your input and help.:)

[ab0si]

This varies quite a bit by cruise line. I suggest you repost the question in the forum dedicated to whatever cruise line you are using.

 

Paul

[whale-watcher]

Depends on the size of the ship, and whether this is a tender port or not...usually, if the ship docks at a port, you are able to walk off with only minimal delay.

[Morgsmom]

There can also be issues with local authorities. Most (all?) ships must be cleared by local authorities before passengers can deboard. This can be held up for many reasons and many islands run on "island time." Some of the worst delays I've ever encountered were in the US Virgin Islands and passengers were held up an extra hour. The tour guides DID wait, however, and the only reason I would suspect that yours wouldn't would be if there were tourists from another ship or land based that were also on your tour. You are their source of income for the day; I doubt they'd leave you high & dry if you didn't get off in 1/2 hour due to ship's reasons.

[Spikesgirl]

When we docked in Shanghai, we were held for over an hour because one group of passengers didn't go through the on-board immigration process and the Chinese officials wouldn't release the ship. Guess it didn't matter if they weren't going ashore or not - these guys were adamant that you had to go through their immigration.

 

Don't think you'll have to worry about that kind of a delay, but these private excursion folks are used to dealing with the cruiselines and will usually wait for you - after all, you are paying customers.

 

And, yes, ship's excursions will be given priority over everyone else and will disembark first or at least that has been my experience.

 

Cheers!

[DAGVBSB]

Again, it depends on tender or docking port.

 

But, most ships do not even begin to disembark passengers until 25-35 minutes after the ship has docked. It takes this long for the ganways to be put in place and the local authorities to clear the ship. Some ports are even longer due to immigration issues.

 

We were late getting into St. John, New Brunswick (limited time in that port anyhow) on the Explorer because of fog and everyone decided to try and get off the ship at once and it jammed up the stairwells and lobbies near the gangway. They then decided to call people by ship tour. The waded through the crowd with a megaphone and called out tour numbers. If you had that number, you got to wade (push) your way through the crowd to the door where a security officer checked your ticket. If you didn't have the right tour ticket, back you went into the crowd. I was near the door waiting to go through the security check because my tour had been called and I heard a lady ask the security people to let her out because she had a private tour booked and she was told that she would have to wait until all the ship sponsored tours were off before she could leave the ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

30 minutes -- you may or may not make it.

 

If it is a tendering port -- the ship's tours do have priorityin getting onto the tenders. Once the majority of the tours are off, then they will start to call the other passengers.

 

Keep in mind that you will have to report to a lounge -- listed in your daily program to get a tender ticket.

 

There have been times when we were held up by the local athorities for over an hour -- this is not uncommon.