Every cruiser’s greatest fear on port days is missing the boat. (Ship, I know, I know). Cruiseline excursions are the only ones the ship will wait for, and the cruise line loves to remind you of this every chance they get. No one wants to get stuck in a foreign land without an idea of how to get to the next location. Because of this, many cruisers feel their only two options are to stay in the port or go on cruise sponsored tours. Luckily, there is another option. Rather, there are a ton of other options.
If you are nervous about making it back to the ship – I mean really nervous, like you won’t enjoy the day because that’s all you can think about, just don’t take the risk. It’s not worth ruining your day. However, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t tell you you are potentially missing out on some great benefits of traveling on your own or with an outside tour company.
First, let me be clear. These tips do not guarantee you will get back in time. And make no mistake, if you miss the ship’s departure time, they will leave without you. It does happen, albeit rarely. However, you could be doing yourrself an incredible disservice if you let this scare you from making the most of your trip.
First – Set Your Clock
This may seem obvious, but I have seen a lot of close calls because of confusion on this matter. Ship time does not always match the time in the port. Make sure your watch is on ship time, and your tour guide is working off the same time.
Second – Go By On-Board Time, Not Departure Time
The on-board time is generally an hour before the ship actually leaves. Work your excursions around this deadline instead of departure time. The departure time is when the ship will actually start pulling away from the dock. The doors are closed. There’s no gangway left. When scheduling your tours, let your tour company know you want to be back at least an hour before the ship’s departure as well, so they can advise you if there is truly enough time to do the sightseeing you are hoping for. I also want to take this moment to say if you are doing anything outside of walking or taking a taxi to very nearby locations, in 95% of cases you want to plan each sea day before you even get on the ship.
Third – Always have a back up plan
You always want a second option for getting back to the ship in case your plans go awry. This is especially important if you are depending on local transportation. We often take local trains and buses to destinations an hour or two away from the port. To do this, though, takes a lot of planning and large buffer times.
In Spain, for example, our return train was 45 minutes late. We had the number of a taxi company that we knew would make the drive to where we were, as you can’t depend on finding a taxi just anywhere. In this case, we wer in a very small town, but even in large cities we ended up walking a few miles back because we couldn’t get a cab. (Walking was our back-up plan in that case, fyi).
In another instance, my parents were on a tour and their driver got a flat tire. They had to help him change it as they didn’t have another option to get back to the ship. Ask your tour guide before booking whether they have vehicles on stand-by in case you have a minor accident or car trouble.
Fourth – Get up early.
If you are planning to travel outside of the local area, be the first ones off the ship and don’t stop in the port shops on your way out of town. Your day will be much more relaxed if you know you will be gone for the morning but back early afternoon. If everything goes wrong, you should have had a large enough buffer to still get back in time. Hopefully, everything goes right, though, and you can take your time looking through all the port shops and restaurants on a relaxing walk back to the ship.
Fifth – Use a reputable tour company and book ahead.
Online tour companies depend on good reviews to get customers. They cannot risk a customer missing port. Their customers come from referrals, and these days that means online reviews. A single 1 star review on Tripadvisor saying they caused the customer to miss the ship would tank most of these companies. Trust me, they do NOT want you to miss the ship. They will do everything they can to prevent it.
However, I caution against going ashore and picking the first company that pitches you a fantastic day. You know nothing about the guys in the kiosks on the streets, and especially the people who just walk up to you. Even withstanding the safety concerns of doing this, they are not dependant on those reviews that get back home. So they could be a little less organized, a little less aware of the traffic conditions, or not have a back up plan to get you back to the ship. If this guide didn’t get back with his group on time yesterday, you would never know. I also want to mention, because it gets used as a sales tactic often, if they show you print-outs with great reviews, just remember they are likely cherry-picking the ones they want you to see.
Finally – Know When the Risk is Too Great
There are times and places where it is easy to take an outside tour. Or even go out completely on your own. However, know when not to take that extra risk. If your first stop is Cozumel and the second is all the way in the Bahamas, you will probably want to stay closer to the ship. A flight to the next stop is going to be ex-pen-sive, and you might not even be able to get one if it is a private island.
On the other hand, say your second stop is Costa Maya. In this case, a short ferry ride and drive down the coast will get you there. Accommodation will probably not break the bank either if worst comes to worst and you actually do miss the ship.
I hope you found these tips helpful for your next cruise. I also hope I didn’t scare you further from going out on your own. I should close by saying I have actually never taken a cruise-organized excursion, and I have never missed a ship. I have run for one, yes, but never missed it! If you aren’t sure where to start, check out these shore excursions. You can input your ship and dates, and it will filter out the exact shore excursions to match your itinerary.
If you have any additional tips or questions, please comment below or send me a direct message! I can also help you find the right on-your own travel day or tour-guided shore excursion for your next cruise!
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