Thread: Has anyone ever missed the ship because of a private shore excursion?

I am a fairly new cruiser (number 3 in 17 days), I always use the ship's shore excursions so I don't have to worry about missing the ship as they state they always wait for their own excursions to get back. I know it is cheaper and sometimes better to use excursions from the port or previously arranged. My question is to all you experienced cruisers out there, Has anybody ever returned too late and missed the ship?

Good question Kirk.

I have seen people running down the dock that had gotten out of taxi's. I have seen groups of people running for the ship...but I don't know if they were from private shore excursions or just late because they lost track of time (or were having too much fun at Senior Frogs )

Some made it and some didn't! We left a group of about 5 or 6 people on the dock in Alaska. They had a small boat bring them out to the ship---the ship never stopped, just slowed down while the transfer took place.

Independent shore trips are just fine if you leave plenty of time for the return to the ship. We plan to be back at least 2 hours before the ship sails just to have a little buffer zone of safety.

We make it a policy to always take ashore with us the information about the Port Agent. It is usually printed in your daily. That is the person to contact if you are running late or have problems that the ship should know about.

Good advice Char

It's even good advice (taking the ship's newsletter with the port agent info and a mention of what time to be onboard) even if just going shopping or sightseeing in the port. That way you won't be wondering if you're supposed to be back by 4pm or by 5pm.

honest answer no, but we were the last ones on the ship in nassau last year...... not shore excursion , just toooo much time at the colony bar !!!!!!!!

In 35 cruises and many many shore excursions, we've only purchased a shore excursion offered by the cruise line twice - that's only because it was the only way to do what we wanted to do.

Other than that, we've always done independent shore excursions and have never had any problems. And the many hundreds of times our clients have used independent shore excursions they've never had any problems. And the many thousands of times clients with Cruise Planners have used Shore Trips, there have never been any problems.

I've talked to the president of Shore Trips (not recommending them over another but just using them as an example), and she said in the many years they have been doing this and the many thousands of clients, they proudly point out that not one of their clients have ever missed the ship. And should they, then Shore Trips would pay to get them to the next port of call.

Bottom line is, as long as you go with a reputable company, you will not have any problems.

And contrary to what everyone thinks, cruise lines do not want to leave passengers in port, no matter how they book their shore excursions or whether they booked any shore excursions at all. Most of the time when people miss the boat, it's because they lost track of time, didn't set their watches to ship time properly, or got too drunk to care. Almost always it's not caused by being on some type of organized excursion.

I've personally talked to several captains about this very issue and the number one thing they say is that communication is the number one priority. If you communicate with the ship when problems occur, they will try their best not to leave you. In the daily newsletter, they list the local port authority. You should always take this with you when you go into port. Should you have any problems, you need to get in touch with them immediately so they can communicate with the ship.

And yes, you can save alot of money by using independent companies. For example; we went to Aruba and Princess had a 4-1/2 hour tour on Harley Davidson motorcycles. Cost was $355. I contacted the Harley dealer in Aruba and the exact same tour was $155 if purchased through them. Of the 6 couples on the tour, 3 were staying on the island and booked it with the dealer. 2 other couples were on our cruise and booked it through Princess. We booked it through the dealer. 4 of us paid $155 and the two with Princess paid $355 yet we were all on the same tour together. Needless to say, the 2 that booked with Princess were really pissed off, to say the least.

Usually, an independent tour is less expensive and less crowded, yet some people still feel more comfortable booking through the cruise line. But as for us, we'll continue to book our excursions independently. Just a matter of personal choice.

Pete

Thanks for the replies. I am the nervous type when traveling and always leave extra time going to airports, ports etc, in case of flat tire or whatever. After reading the above I believe I will be more comfortable in taking shore excursions in port. Knowing myself, I probably would only take ones that are scheduled to get back early and the ones that are close to departure time I will still use the cruise lines, but that's just me. AGAIN, thanks for the advice.

Kirk .... Please don't feel you are being "goofy" by taking the shore excursions offered by the ship.

We've been on many cruises and normally do not use independents. Sometimes, we do use taxis to go to a fairly close beach on well traveled roads so we would be able get another taxi if something should happen.

As I've said here many times .... On a ship's excursion they pick you up at the ship, take you to have fun, return you to the ship ... and you never "miss the boat". Totally worry free for you.

Also, in our concern about getting back to the ship on time we come back early so actually have more port time when we take a ship's excursion.

Are independents less expensive? Yes ... but we are willing to pay for the convenience of a ship's excursion.

Have we ever seen anyone miss the ship from taking a pre booked private shore excursion? No, almost never. Once in Martinique when a group on a private excursion didn't return from the rain forest. They never rejoined the cruise elsewhere.... Another time the excursion didn't get back in time but PAID for their folks to stay in a hotel and arranged for them to get to the next port. Fortunately, this was from San Juan to St. Thomas so there were no major passport issues. This sort of thing seldom happens because everyone has cell phones especially now.

What I have seen quite a few times is a much recommended independent not picking folks up as promised ... leaving them just standing around wasting port time with nothing to do.

There are certainly pros and cons to doing either! Just do what suits you best and have a great time!

We prefer to take the ship's excursions for most of our tours.

On our first cruise many, many years ago we took a ship's excursion that was late getting back -- by an hour. And the ship was waiting there for us.

Like Krazy Kruizers (Yonnie), we've
been late getting back to the ship from shore excursions (thru ship) several times and ALWAYS the ship was waiting for us.

Once, NCL left a group on one of their's in St. Thomas. This excursion didn't return from St. John. When this was discovered, the SS Norway did go back for them to be tendered on.

NOTE: Stay with your Excursion Group (when booked thru the ship) even if you know it will be late returning. Do NOT try to get back to the ship on your own.

On the NCL mentioned above ... a few took another ship's excursion back to St Thomas ... but were too late ... so there were pax in both St. John and St.Thomas. A real pain.
Stay with your group so they'll know where to locate you!