Last boarding call?

[Pam in CA]

Well here's why I asked this question to begin with. We leave Tortola at 5 pm. I want to do an excursion with White Squall II. The excursion is from 9 to 4. We leave port at 5. The dock for White Squall is only 10 mins away from where the ship docks. They take many many cruisers and are aware of when ships leave, but still they get back to the dock at 4 pm.

Do you think it would be safe to book this excursion?

You should be OK but I'd find others who have taken this excursion to find out if they really do get you back on time or if they are consistently late. In other words, get references. You will likely get them by posting on the Ports of Call boards.

 

If you do decide to take this excursion, let the Shore Excursion know where you'll be, who you'll be with, the passengers from the ship in your group and how to reach the tour operator. It never hurts to have someone on the ship know where you are in case you are delayed for some reason.

[rdsqrl]

So yep, good idea, I'll ask when I'm onboard, surely they will be reasonable in light of zero ship-sanctioned dive excursions.

 

This comment plus your earlier one about pleading first-timer's ignorance is making me think you fail to grasp the situation: the ship will leave without you. They're not going to wait for you to arrive and scold you, whereupon you can "plead ignorance,: and they're not going to let you barter a delay in advance to be "reasonable" --- they have a schedule for a reason and they are going to adhere to it. While it's true that in cases of delays to their own excursions, they will wait, those waits mean extra port fees and other costs for the cruiseline and you can bet they wait with extreme reluctance. If you think they'll cut you some slack just because you want to do an excursion they're not offering, that's not going to happen. Please don't come back on here after your cruise, when you've missed the ship and had to pay to get yourself to the next port, and complain about how you'll never sail Princess again because they didn't wait for you. You've been warned.

[moojar]

This comment plus your earlier one about pleading first-timer's ignorance is making me think you fail to grasp the situation: the ship will leave without you. They're not going to wait for you to arrive and scold you, whereupon you can "plead ignorance,: and they're not going to let you barter a delay in advance to be "reasonable" --- they have a schedule for a reason and they are going to adhere to it. While it's true that in cases of delays to their own excursions, they will wait, those waits mean extra port fees and other costs for the cruiseline and you can bet they wait with extreme reluctance. If you think they'll cut you some slack just because you want to do an excursion they're not offering, that's not going to happen. Please don't come back on here after your cruise, when you've missed the ship and had to pay to get yourself to the next port, and complain about how you'll never sail Princess again because they didn't wait for you. You've been warned.

 

I will ask you to come wag your finger at me, OK?

[Go-Bucks!]

I once booked a private excursion on Grand Cayman Island to swim with the stingrays, but before the cruise I began worrying about how little time was left between the end of the excursion and when the last tender went back to the ship. I cancelled the excursion.

 

Instead, my daughter and I went to the beach and also did a little shopping. We were waiting for the last tender back to the ship and, lo and behold, that stingray excursion wasn't back yet. We heard later that those folks got left behind. Boy am I glad that we didn't go!! Now I rarely take private tours (unless there's plenty of time) even if the ship's tours cost more - that's just the small price of insuring that the ship will wait for us! ;)

[awhcruiser]

Wow!!!!

 

I will ask you to come wag your finger at me, OK?