"Guests Ashore" Time?

[leannak]

I've never cruised before. Can someone tell me what the "guest ashore" time really means? I assume it's when they start letting people off the ship. So does that mean we might not get off for an hour after that if the line is long? Or will they start letting people off earlier if they arrive earlier? I'm just curious what that window of time looks like because we're doing some touring and meeting people on our own so we need to get a pretty good estimate.

Also for the "Guests Onboard" time - do we need to be lined up an hour or so in advance to get through a line onto the ship?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[NZMUM]

We've never gotten off first thing so can't help with the All Ashore timing. But the All Aboard time is the absolute latest time to be onboard. In my experience there has never been much of a queue to reboard - the most we've had in front of us has probably been 10 people. But we don't do excursions, so never arrive back with a large group. For peace of mind I would arrive at the ship at least an hour before All Aboard time (and I prefer to be back onboard 1 1/2 hours before, except at Castaway Cay). If you are late, the ship will leave without you.

 

[jdb in AZ]

The only time we've encountered a significant wait to go ashore in port was when we had to take a tender (ferry boat.) Passengers on DCL shore excursions get priority. Lines to board after shore excursions can get long if a lot of people purchased souvenirs and have to send them through the security scanner. We haven't waited more than 15 mins to get back onboard, but we usually don't wait til the last minute to do so.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

Guest Ashore time is the time people start getting off the boat. If you have a tight time commitment on shore, you will want to go down to the debarkation area sooner than that to get off ASAP. People on DCL excursions are given priority for getting off, but for most ports that shouldn't delay you much. Sometimes debarkation times do change (earlier or later) and they will let you know that as soon as they can.

As for getting back on, regardless of any line to get back on board if you are back to the ship by the designated time, (or back to the line for the tenders at those ports) then you will be fine. Why people come back earlier than that is that you have to make sure you do get back to the port by that time. So if you are just shopping at stores near the port, no problem, stay out until nearly the time, and even if there is a line to re-board, you will be fine. But if you are on the other side of the island with friends, then you'll want to make sure you leave plenty of time to get back to the port by the designated time. Traffic jams happen sometimes, even in Paradise.

Have fun!

 

[clten]

Guest All Ashore time is when DCL estimates that they will be cleared to allow guests to start going ashore. The ship will arrive in port well in advance of that time. But the ship does have to clear customs (not the individual guests) so depending on when the customs agent arrives and what they are looking at that morning, the ship may clear earlier (and guest will be able to go ashore earlier than planned) or it may be delayed (and they will have to hold guests until the customs agent says it is okay).

In reality, most of the time I have seen clearance be earlier rather than later. So chances are good that you can use the time given as a good estimate. The DCL excursions meet onboard the ship so most of those individuals are not among the people lined up to be first off. So I've never seen it where things are on schedule and the wait to get ashore is more than 10-15 minutes.

Now, the All Aboard time, they mean it. You have to be at the ship (if you are on the line and it is a big line, that's fine, it counts as being at the ship) at that time or risk being left behind. We never cut it close on All Aboard time when we are out on our own and do usually allow a cushion of an hour to make sure no problems crop up to delay us. But that's our risk tolerance, that's not because we think it's ever going to take that long to get on board. (Longest line we ever had was at Castaway Cay - line was past the tram stop. Took a good 20-30 minutes to get onboard but that was extremely unusual. Still don't know why it was so backed up!)

 

[starvenger]

For All Ashore, my experience is that if you get off about 30 minutes after the gangway is lowered, you should be able avoid most of the "morning rush" and get off faster, albeit a little later.

If you want to get an idea of what it's like to get back close to All Aboard time, google "pier runners" and look at the videos.

Also, CC has a good story about what happens when one is left behind.

 

[Bethany10]

Oh man, I did not need to read that. I can see the argument between DH and I now, why do we need to go back now? the ship doesn't leave for another 3 hours honey. Me: but this guy in Nassau…

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I've never cruised before. Can someone tell me what the "guest ashore" time really means? I assume it's when they start letting people off the ship. So does that mean we might not get off for an hour after that if the line is long? Or will they start letting people off earlier if they arrive earlier? I'm just curious what that window of time looks like because we're doing some touring and meeting people on our own so we need to get a pretty good estimate.

Also for the "Guests Onboard" time - do we need to be lined up an hour or so in advance to get through a line onto the ship?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Yes, if the ship is early into port, it's possible the guests ashore time can be moved up. Doesn't always happen, but it happens.

As to the all aboard, it's a good idea to aim for no less than 1/2 hour before the all aboard, but many people do the 1 hour before. Will there be a line getting on, could be, but often it's pretty short (10 people or less). The line to reboard (when we were in Dublin on our EBTA) was well over an hour just to get on the ship. It doubled back on itself 4/5 times. We were delayed departing until the last person in the line was aboard. But there were late arriving excursions that missed the ship and had to be ferried to Liverpool.

 

[MelSpees]

For All Ashore, my experience is that if you get off about 30 minutes after the gangway is lowered, you should be able avoid most of the "morning rush" and get off faster, albeit a little later.

If you want to get an idea of what it's like to get back close to All Aboard time, google "pier runners" and look at the videos.

Also, CC has a good story about what happens when one is left behind.

Thanks for posting this. A very interesting story of what can happen.

 

[GPaLarry]

If you want to experience what it is like being late to reboard, check out the videos on YouTube entitled, "Pier Runners." Some get there in the nick of time and some just flail their arms, beg a lot and look for someone to help them get to the next port...very expensive and you'll need your passport. If you party in port, have a designed driver/walker to guide you back to the ship at least half an hour before the posted time to leave. We had one delay (45 minutes) in Acapulco some years ago when a DCL excursion was very late (bus with flat tire back in the bush somewhere). Because it was an official DCL excursion, the ship waited. If you book your own excursion or just hop off to see the port and return a bit late, practice your wave before you get there because the ship is outa there. "But the ship is so close, can't it just redock?" you ask. Each time the ship docks it pays a dockage fee and coming back wastes gas. Our Acapulco delay was especially critical because we had to be on time in the queue the next morning to get through the Panama Canal. Good luck & safe cruisin'.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Because it was an official DCL excursion, the ship waited.

Just to clarify this - even if it's a DCL excursion, if the ship has to leave, it has to leave. This could be due to a number of things - dock needed for another ship, DCL doesn't want to pay additional port fees, tides. Tides was the issue on our EBTA cruise. In Dublin, there were at least 2 DCL excursions that were stuck in traffic and didn't get to the dock in time (even with the delayed departure due to the lengthy reboarding line). They had to put those people on a ferry to Liverpool to catch up with the ship.

If it's a ship's excursion, and the ship has to leave, DCL will help those people get to the next port. If you're on a private excursion - you're on you own to get to the ship.