Private excursion...how long does it take to get off the boat?

[eangel12]

Hi,

We are traveling on the Disney Fantasy in October. We have private excursions booked at each stop. How long does it take to get off the ship? We've only sailed Princess before and we would just...walk off. Is that how Disney works? Is there an order? If we are scheduled in Cozumel from 8:30am-4:45pm, what time will we realistically be off the boat and on our way? We are not concierge...staying on deck 5.

Thanks!

 

[Quellman]

If the port has a tender, concierge guests and guests booked with Disney excursions get first right of debarkation.
Usually Disney excursions also get priority debarkation at the the other dockable ports. This means that they will usually exit the forward gangway.
Otherwise the ports are all first come first served when it comes to getting off the boat. I would personally never set a tour pick up time until 30 minutes after the scheduled arrival. There may be a delay or a problem with customs.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

For the last five years I have had private tours in all ports. The Caribbean on the Fantasy, Alaska on the Wonder, European on the Magic.

With the exception of tender ports like grand Cayman I have always been off within fifteen minutes. Of advertised arrival time, sometimes they dock early and we have been off ahead of the schedule. St Petersburg we were an hour in advance of DCL tours.

Normally DCL run at least two gangways, one for DCL tours one for others.

Tendering is different, yes DCL tours get priority, allow 45 minutes, my delay has been less than 30 minutes, often far less.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

We've done a ton of private excursions. I would schedule for 30 minutes after the scheduled docking.

 

[eangel12]

Sounds good! We have a private snorkel excursion planned for Cozumel. We are set to dock at 8:30am so meeting at 10am should be fine! We have to taxi to the location!

Then in Grand Cayman we are scheduled for another private snorkel and they have it scheduled for 1 hour after we are scheduled to dock!

Looks like both companies gave us plenty of time in case of any issues!! Thanks again!!

 

[apathetic]

When you first dock, you will have lines from people trying to walk off mixed with excursions. But, after the initial rush it slows and you won't have much problem. Plus, the excursions are staggered, so you won't run into 10 tours all leaving at the same time. I think 30 minutes is a good buffer from expected dock time. The tours in ports know the issues and will likely adjust accordingly.