If Cozumel All Ashore Time is 8:30 am, How Long Does It Take to Get Off the Ship?

[AngelDisney]

I am booking a scuba diving shore excursion (not through DCL) for this August, all ashore time for Cozumel based on last year's personal navigator is supposed to be 8:30 am. The tour company says my ship will be there from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm, and tells me to be at the marina (a 10-min taxi ride) by 8:50 am. Is this doable? Am I able to get to the marina by 8:50 am. Should I line up at gangway before 8:30 am? Are we allowed off the ship earlier than 8:30 am? I understand that DCL excursions take priority when leaving the ship. Any thoughts and insights are appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[AngelDisney]

Double checking here. Is the all ashore time printed on the personal navigator local time or Orlando time? I think it is local time but the tour company assumes it is Orlando time. Please help! Thanks in advance!!

 

[clten]

All Ashore will be ship's time (which 99.9% of the time is local time). The tour company should give you times in local time and not try to translate from Orlando time, it would make things too confusing.

At all ashore time, they have two lines going out (they aren't using the line to get back on the ship yet so they'll scan you out that way to cut back on the crowds). So if you are in the lobby when the ship is cleared, it shouldn't be too much of a wait to get off the ship - since in Cozumel you will be at the pier and not having to wait for tenders. While they will escort DCL Excursion groups down, they don't usually stop other guests that are already in the lobby. They may move you to use only one of the lines and use the other for the excursion.

Is it possible to get off before the posted all ashore time? Yes, but it depends on how quickly customs clears the ship. The ship arrives in advance of the all ashore time and hopes that they can clear customs as quickly as possible. But that is entirely in the hands of the customs officers. So many times we would have been able to get off the ship before all ashore (15-30 minutes early) but we've also had a few where customs has taken longer and held up everything. If they do clear early, only people walking off themselves will take advantage of that. DCL excursions have set meet times so they wouldn't push them up to take advantage of the extra time.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

the time printed on the Navigator is ship time, which equals port time at each port. The Navigator tells you when to set your clocks forward and back as you cross into time zones so that you keep up with the local port time. As for the getting off the ship part of your question, it can be pretty quick, depending on the port and the amount of people that are waiting for excursions. They generally have everyone doing DCL excursions meeting in the WDW Theater or a lounge, and they proceed off the ship. Sometimes a different gangway is open for general exiting (those without DCL excursion). They typically announce over the PA if a gangway is open for general use. The ship docks directly on the pier at Cozumel, but the "marina" your excursion folks are referencing may be located elsewhere, which means you would have to get off and then take transportation to get to, if that is the case. Also, the ship opens for dis-embarking only after cleared by local customs, so it might not be exactly at 8:30.

 

[NS8VN]

I believe your confusion is that the ship is likely scheduled to arrive at the dock at 7:30. That won't be the same as the All Ashore time as the ship has to dock, set up the gangways, and be cleared to begin disembarking. As for getting off earlier than the listed time and making in time, I will defer to others but that does seem to be cutting it pretty close.

 

[AngelDisney]

The tour company moves the meeting time to 9:20 am at Harbor Fonatur. This should give us enough time for delay and to get off the ship.