Returning to a ship you have disembarked from

[tgetz]

Has anyone ever, for any reason, planned or unplanned, returned to a ship once you desembarked with your luggage in a port that the ship was in overnight. Our next cruise ends in Rio and we are desembarking the first day. Originally our return flight left at 8:30 PM and now it has been moved to 11:45 Pm. We have an all day private shore excursion booked and they were to drop us at the airport, but we will not even be able to check in our luggage unitil after 9PM. We have to take our luggage off when the customs office is open, prbabaly only early morning. We are thinking of leaving our luggage with the tour opertor and just coming back and relaxing for a few hours and then leaving the ship again , this time with no luggage. called HAL and of course they don't know. thougth someone on this board might know.

[DMorris]

Once you disembark a ship I don't believe you can get back on it unless you are on the next sailing... I could be wrong, but don't think you can get back on. Will be interested to hear what the veterans have to say.

[hammybee]

This simple answer is no. It's not practical.

 

I am aware of some passengers who book a hotel room, just for the luxury of having a comfortable and private place to go, while they wait for their flight.

[sail7seas]

I seriously doubt that would be permitted by the local authorities let alone HAL.

 

Hammybee gave good advice. Book a hotel room.

We have done that several times and it worked out very, very well. We were able to shower and relax before our flight.

 

[tgetz]

We just wondered since we are paying HAL for the night on board if we could. We are traveling with our grandchildren and our secretary and her husband so it is 6 of us and it is a 23 day trip for us, so there is lots of luggage. There is a hotel at the Rio airport but it is not a real nice one, and we will need at least two rooms if not three and it looks sorta dumpy so was trying to come up with alternatives. Don't mind getting a hotel room, it just seemed like a lot of trouble to get a decent hotel for 3 hours , and again we will need to get three so was thinking of alternatives and wondered if this was possible. Knew we had to get our luggage off, but there will still be other ship passengers wondering on and off all day and night so thought it might be possible. Myabe i need to check with the Brazialian consulate and see if they might know. I assumed the answere was no, but you don't know until you ask.. So now, since that proabaly won't work, andyone have any great recommendations for a hotel. There is no Ritz there and AE recommends Caesar Park Rio-Ipanema and Copacabana Palace, but tripadvisor doen't give either great reviews. I will check the SA board also.

[DMorris]

We just wondered since we are paying HAL for the night on board if we could. We are traveling with our grandchildren and our secretary and her husband so it is 6 of us and it is a 23 day trip for us, so there is lots of luggage. There is a hotel at the Rio airport but it is not a real nice one, and we will need at least two rooms if not three and it looks sorta dumpy so was trying to come up with alternatives. Don't mind getting a hotel room, it just seemed like a lot of trouble to get a decent hotel for 3 hours , and again we will need to get three so was thinking of alternatives and wondered if this was possible. Knew we had to get our luggage off, but there will still be other ship passengers wondering on and off all day and night so thought it might be possible. Myabe i need to check with the Brazialian consulate and see if they might know. I assumed the answere was no, but you don't know until you ask.. So now, since that proabaly won't work, andyone have any great recommendations for a hotel. There is no Ritz there and AE recommends Caesar Park Rio-Ipanema and Copacabana Palace, but tripadvisor doen't give either great reviews. I will check the SA board also.

 

Is your disembarkation day that day or the day after? You said docked over night... is the over night for your cruise or the next sailing?

[tgetz]

Our cruise... I certainly know i couldn't go on board if it was the next sailing :-) OUr cruise ends with the ship in Rio for two days saturday and sunday ( the next cruise does not board and sail until sunday)and we chose to head home on saturday night. HAL has said we can leave early on saturday, we just have to coordinate the luggage in the am when the customs office is open. if it was open late, we could just disembark later in the day. However, it still really leaves nothing to do in the evening. we have to be at the airport too early to catch a samba show so not sure what else is appropriate for children at night in Rio.

[DMorris]

Our cruise... I certainly know i couldn't go on board if it was the next sailing :-) OUr cruise ends with the ship in Rio for two days saturday and sunday ( the next cruise does not board and sail until sunday)and we chose to head home on saturday night. HAL has said we can leave early on saturday, we just have to coordinate the luggage in the am when the customs office is open. if it was open late, we could just disembark later in the day. However, it still really leaves nothing to do in the evening. we have to be at the airport too early to catch a samba show so not sure what else is appropriate for children at night in Rio.

 

Oh.. that makes things different I think... since your official disembarkation isn't until the next day... there may be a chance you can get back on then. Just not 100% sure or not since you are taking your luggage off.

[jtl513]

If it weren't for the luggage, there's no question (IMO) that you could go back on again. Are you certain you can't take it off in the evening?

[tgetz]

Of course if there is no luggage, we could go on again, the same as anyone else taking a tour that day. The question is, if you ask for help getting your luggage off, and you do have to have the front desk's permission to leave, they have to coordinate with customs in Brazil, do they then somehow, disengage your card? We are using a credit card to gaurntee any fees on hte ship, so they could leave the account open until we actually got off. Just thougth maybe someone had actaully done this. Had posted a similiar question about disembarking early, and several had done this and respnede to my question. Realize this is a little unique, so not sure how many might have actually done this. May have to wait until we a re onboard to get an officail answer, but thought maybe i could get an educated guess.

[DMorris]

This is definitely a unique question... one I have never read about before. I guess worse case scenario you ask the front desk on the ship once you board to ship to see what they say.

[sail7seas]

I still think it will be more dependent upon local authorities than the ship and HAL.

 

Once they have cleared you through Customs and Immigration, they may prohibit you from reboarding the ship regardless what HAL allows. The remainder of the guests won't clear customs until the next morning when they all disembark.

 

 

It's an interesting question and I hope you think to come back here and let us know what finally is the 'verdict'. Hope you have an amazing cruise.

 

 

[MightyQuinn]

OUr cruise ends with the ship in Rio for two days saturday and sunday ( the next cruise does not board and sail until sunday)and we chose to head home on saturday night. HAL has said we can leave early on saturday, we just have to coordinate the luggage in the am when the customs office is open. if it was open late, we could just disembark later in the day.

We are in a somewhat similar situation with our SA/Repo cruise. We want to debark 1 day before the end of the cruise, when the ship will be in port (our hometown) until midnite & then set sail for its final port. We asked if we could debark as late as possible. Our TA received written confirmation from HAL that it’s OK for us to debark a day early, but the actual time will be determined by local authorities.

 

The letter from HAL states “…… your cruise guests must comply with all customs and immigration specifics that are applicable to the place in which they debark the vessel. This includes any additional costs involved at the pier/port to debark guests, which might not be affiliated to the actual Holland America Line booking. Please instruct your clients to visit the Front Office once onboard to make these arrangements known prior to disembarkation, so that they can be properly cleared by customs officials.”

 

I take this to mean that local authorities will determine what time we actually debark. Once we're processed by them, I think we’ll officially be off the cruise & I'd bet $$ that our ID card will be disabled. So we’ll head home, unpack, open a bottle of wine & toast the ship sail away, but sadly no final PG dinner for us. :o:o

[hammybee]

I see. You are disembarking an evening early, during an overnight port call, in RIO. What you intend is very common, when a ship is overnighting at the disembarkation port.

 

I think you will be just fine. It's your cabin and your call, when to head to the airport. Your travel agent should be able to make the necessary arrangments that should be reconfirmed,once onboard, assuming this is even necessary.

 

I think you will have plenty of company.

 

Do you have your visas, yet?

[tgetz]

Yes, we all have our visas. When the travel agent called HAL they said no problem disembarking early, but it had to be at the customs office in Brazils convenience. Then when our flight changed and is now really late leaving, and I had the TA call HAL to ask if we could reboard, they said no. BUt like many things, those on land rarely know what really happens on hte ship. That is why i asked to see if anyone else had done this. When i originally asked the cc boards about early departure, i recieved replies from several who had disembarked early. This is so different, in that i am willing to talke my lugage off when asked, i just want to come back without the luggage. HAS anyone actually done this and know it can be done?

[sail7seas]

Unfortunately, it seems entirely possible you may not have a definitive answer until the day you disembark. Like local Offcials everywhere, it could be at the whim and choice of the Brazilizian Customs Officers located in the terminal that day. These sorts of decisions are not always consistent and reliably predictable IMO

 

One Official may say "Fine.......go back aboard". Another may say "No". We have seen inconsistency with these sort of situations.

 

It has to be quite frustrating for you to not be able to know for sure how to plan.

 

Good luck.

[tgetz]

Sadly you are probably correct... I could be told anything by HAL on board at the office and then not be correct, but even more so, it could change with who ever is there the day we disembark. And, i think, even if someone responds on htis board and they have done the same thing but in a different country that would change it also. SO i guess it will be wait and see. We will plan that we can't come back, and be thrilled if we can... of course the person in the am that tells us we can reboard, may not be there in the pm to let us on... we shall see.. I will try to remember to come back and let everyone know. If we are told we can reboard, i will for sure get something in writing... nnot that i can read portugeese but :-) I have not heard from hte RIO tour companyy to see what they offer to do in the evening...

[hammybee]

Consider posting this on the South American Message board:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76

 

I know, with certainty, that I have read posts from people who have done what you intend to do.

 

You are taking a shore excursion and will return to your cabin, afterwards. Like some, you will disembark once again, later in the evening, only you are headed to the airport instead of to an evening entertainment event.

[shotei]

I agree with most here, that you will only find out whether you can get back on the ship after clearing customs at the time you try to do it. However, you should be prepared for the answer to be "No" and for good reason.

 

Look at it from the point of view of the customs officials. If you were a smuggler (which I'm sure you're not), it would be a great way for you to ply your trade. Clear customs in the morning, having left your contraband on the ship. Get back on the ship later and be free to walk off with your contraband when you leave the second time. I would think that, from their point of view, each time you board the ship you have left their country. To let you get back on and off again (without re-clearing customs) would be somewhat "out of control".

 

Marc

[RuthC]

Please understand from the outset that I have no experience doing what you are suggesting. But I have been on/off the ship in Rio a couple of times (including this past January). I think this will be more in HAL's hands than those of the local authorities.

If I have this straight, you want to disembark the ship with your luggage in the morning, tour about all day, then return to the ship without your luggage later that day.

I don't know where your luggage is going, then. :confused:

But, if I'm reading this right, I think there's no local authorities to deal with when you return to the Rio pier. You would approach the security area, show your ship card and ID, then pass through. The question is whether or not your card will still be "good". That's HAL's call. And it's something you may, or may not, be able to arrange while on board.

If I'm reading this wrong, and you want to return with your luggage, then I very much doubt you will be allowed to. You would have to go through the same procedure that was necessary in the morning---Customs/Immigration. And those folks would be long gone.

[tgetz]

THe tour company we have hired is going to provide a bus that holds 24 people and some luggage and we are only 6 people. They were aware we would have a lot of luggage and it will all fit on htis size bus. They have offerd to keep the luggage all day and until we are dropped at the airport. We are paying for a personalized 8 hour tour then a flat fee for the extra hours until we can be dropped at the airport. The tour company was the first one to notice tthat we couldn't check our luggage in that early and then i checked at all the airport clubs we are memebers of, and they all close by 8:30 PM. So our luggage would stay on hte bus with the driver and hte english speaking guide. Still trying to see if there is anything in the evening we and hte children would enjoy, but a little rest in our cabin before the 10 or 12 hour flight sounds the best. It will be interesting to see if we can. Yes, lots of people will get off that morning and return to the ship and then get off again for an evening tour. I think it mihgt just be a HAL thing as to whether they void or sea pass. IF they check your hand bags going off for shore excursions as they do do in some ports, they will check our hand bags in the evening. Have heard so many horror stories of things being stolen in Rio, am almost leary of leaving the luggage on the bus, but it was one of my stipulations with this company, that someone must remain on the bus at all times.