Getting On and Off a Ship

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pete_coach

Guest
I have a question for the seasoned travelers. I have booked a European cruise and there are as always, several stops. The ship is scheduled to arrive at 7 AM and depart at 6 PM or various hours throughout the cruise. The ship can hold close to 2000 people and I think that would be important to know for providing an answer. When docked and when tendered? It is nice to know when planning excursions and side trips that are not sponsorship by the cruise line.
And the same goes for getting back on the ship. How long does it take? Is there only one entry point to the ship? Is customs an issue?
Do you need to go through customs in both directions? It makes sense to me to have to go through customs but, just in case, I thought I would ask. When traveling in Europe, customs is not really an issue anymore but on ship, I am not sure.
 
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Ted_D

Guest
In most European ports you simply walk on and off the ship. Even in the busiest times, it takes no
more than five minutes. When you have a tendered stop, however, getting off and on the ship
can take quite a while, with waits at peak times reaching 30 minutes or more. You will not have to
go through customs at any of the ports, though you will have to go through a security check-point.


One thing to take into consideration when planing independent excursions is that some of the ports
are quite a ways from the cities that you intend to visit. A prime example is Rome, which is about
90 minutes from the port. So, the amount of sightseeing you can actually do is reduced by the
commute in and back.

Ted
 
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Conniemc

Guest
One more note - you are not guaranteed what time the ship will be docked. It's 98% accurate, but you might be running an hour or two late, they could cancel the port entirely due to weather conditions, etc. So for private excursions, just keep that in mind.
 
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smacks

Guest
Re: private shore excursions in Mediterranean.

I don't have much time left, but am considering getting some quotations on private shore excursions, rather than ship's shore excursions. Some seem over-priced or not just suiting our choice of options for sight-seeing. Also, some of my group members need more flexibility due to ill health and I don't want to hold up an entire bus of 60 people, who might grumble about one of my group causing them delays.

So, when you book private excursions, do you have to give a deposit up front? How, by credit card, paypal, etc ? If the ship does cancel the port, I would assume that any deposit would be forfeited, but are you still responsible to pay the balance to the private tour operator? What about travel insurance? Would it cover these potentially non-refundable deposits or balances owing in the event that your ship was delayed reaching a port or cancelled the port altogether? Would this count as a "trip delay" or "trip cancellations" expense?
 
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pete_coach

Guest
I can understand your special needs. I checked the Celebrity tours and yeas, while a bit pricey, I chose two of them for my Wife and I. We met some folks on another forum that are on the same cruise and we will share the cost and do a couple of private tours with them.
The Celebrity tours have various level of exertion on them and there may very well be one that suits your needs. We chose a Amalfi/Pompeii tour by Celebrity because it was so far away and I did not want to take a chance of missing the boat LOL. The other thing was we will be there on a Sunday and, having have been in Italy many times before, I know the whole Country goes driving on Sundays and the traffic can be horrendous, especially in the countryside.
We will take private tours in Turkey and on Rhodes. Messina,Santorini, and Mykomnos are the, what I call, walkabout stops.
There are several highly regarded tour operators that I am sure can custom tailor tours for you.
 
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