DixieS Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 New to cruising. I am wondering how early before "departure" do they put the gangway up and we have to be back on board at various ports? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovetoCruise87 Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 I would be back on the ship at least 1 hour before the posted time the ship leaves the port. DixieS and YOLO 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovetoCruise87 Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 Welcome to the Boards! DixieS and YOLO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonOasis Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 33 minutes ago, DixieS said: New to cruising. I am wondering how early before "departure" do they put the gangway up and we have to be back on board at various ports? Welcome to the Boards. I like to be back onboard at least an hour before departure. Normally the all aboard time is around 30 minutes before the ships scheduled departure time but I would advise you to not cut it that close. If you are exploring a port on your own the captain does not have to wait for you and over the past 13 years that I've been cruising I've seen more than a few people running down the pier as the ship pulls way. DixieS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 They'll ask you to be back on board at least 30 minutes before the departure time. There will be signs up as you depart the ship DixieS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Waters Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 Make sure you're using "ship time" for planning when to be back on board. Your smart phone may be set to automatically change to local time, so either change that setting or have a cheap watch to go by. JasonOasis, Pattycruise and DixieS 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sushitex Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 1 hour ago, Southern Waters said: Make sure you're using "ship time" for planning when to be back on board. Your smart phone may be set to automatically change to local time, so either change that setting or have a cheap watch to go by. Or, if your smart phone is working while in port, the ship's time should still be displayed on the home page of the Royal app. DixieS and Southern Waters 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Waters Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 26 minutes ago, Sushitex said: Or, if your smart phone is working while in port, the ship's time should still be displayed on the home page of the Royal app. Thanks for that info! I've only been on one cruise in Jan 2018, and if RC had an app at that time I didn't know about it. I was cruising with friends who are seasoned cruisers and I think if there had been an app they would've been using it. They had seen several pier runners on past cruises and they warned me about paying attention to ship time. I'm going on my 2nd cruise in October on Liberty OTS, and I can't wait to see how cruising is with the app! WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMLM Posted July 8, 2022 Report Share Posted July 8, 2022 I would suggest you stay on the time that the cruise ship tells you (like ship time) as it can get confusing with time changes, get back at least 30 minutes in advance, and either be in great running shape (pier runner) or have plans to stay and get to the next port (or home) by yourself. Thank goodness we have only been back late once and it was on a RCL excursion in Italy. The ship stayed since it was through Royal and was not super late. Regardless, it felt strange being late. DixieS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScooterScott22 Posted July 9, 2022 Report Share Posted July 9, 2022 There are some good points/strategies about staying on ship time already. We also typically are back at least by 30 minutes but usually 60 minutes or greater. We enjoy getting back and watching for Pier Runners. Our last cruise was one of those exceptions. We were on one of the ships tour and it got back only 10 minutes or so before departing. My view is that there is increasing degrees of risk related to being left behind. The ship will never want to stay longer in port due to the associated costs of extending port time. Being on a cruise line excursion decreases the chance that they will leave. Also factoring in is the next port/stop. If the ship is making a short hop, something like Aruba to Curaçao or St. Thomas to St. Martin, the risk is also pretty low and port fees are the likely factor. If the ship is making a long run then not only are the port fees an issue but they are worried about making the departure time because being late increases risks for being tardy at the next location or burn more fuel ($$$) making up time with extra speed. So the risk probably varies, but as long as you even pay a little bit of attention, it shouldn’t be a worry. Happy sailing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 9, 2022 Report Share Posted July 9, 2022 Watched a pier runner couple in Alaska. They had to get a helicopter to get to the next port and rejoin the ship. I’m sure they wished they had set their watches, set alarms and planned to be back earlier. Btw, they were not on a Royal excursion and Royal did wait an extra 10 minutes IDK what would be worse, returning and the ships not there or running and screaming to “wait” when the ship is pulling away. DixieS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.