sdlong329
"Life is just a Fantasy!"
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2009
- Messages
- 1,422
The thing I like about DCL excurions - if your excursion is running late, DCL is responsible for making sure you get back to the ship - either by having ship wait, or providing transport to the ship.
Private tours you're just SOL.
ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! When we were on 2010 EB TransAtlantic cruise, there were three instances when DCL excursions returned to the ship ... late. One excursion was during an overnight stay in Barcelona, so there was no issue with the ship departing without us. We were also late returning from excursions in Madeira, as well as Cadiz. If my memory is correct, we were ONE HOUR late in returning from one of those excursions. The Magic STAYED IN PORT one hour past their scheduled departure, while waiting for the DCL excursion to return. When our bus finally pulled into port, we were greeted by a slew of officers (in whites).
Ships pay an additional fee (or fine) for staying in port past their scheduled time(s). If we were not on a DCL excursion, I am confident the ship would have left port without us. We would have had to meet the ship in the next port (at our own expense).
It has been our experience, when making plans for excursions in a port in which we are not personally familiar, we opt to book through the ship. It is also our experience, when making plans for excursions in a port where the ship does not frequently call on that port (ie: Inaugural Alaska, TransAtlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic, Panama Canal, etc), we opt to book through the ship as well.
Steven