Quality and length of shore time during a cruise?

Question

I've never been on a cruise, but I'm interested in taking one to the eastern Caribbean. My concern is that we'll feel pressed for time in each port and the only excursions we'll have time to do are the ones swamped with other cruisers. Can somebody tell me ...

- How long does it take to get on and off the ship?

- How much time do you really have on the island?

- Will we spend the whole day worrying about getting back on the ship on time?

- Do you really feel like you get to experience the island (without it being overrun by other cruisers) when you're only there for a few hours?

Answer 1

Hello.. this past Jan we went on a eastern caribbean cruise with Royal Carribbean... it doesn't take too long to get off the crusie ship (amazingly alot of people stay on the ship when it docks or cause sometimes you dock early people are still sleeping.

It depends on each port of call the length of the stay... I did feel rushed when we were in San Juan.. I believe we got there at 3pm and had to be back n the ship by 10pm.. (we were delayed though) ( you ALWAYS want to be back on the ship a hour-30min prior to the scheduled time it leaves). All our other ports we were in the port by 7am and didn't leave till 6pm... we would do an  excursion and shop for a few hours and still have time to kill.. so when picking your cruise just look at the times the ship docks and departs (try to do your excursion at the begining.. then you won't feel rush to shop and look around). Alot of the ports of call the shopping districts are really close to the ports..(could always see the ship even from some excursions)

I felt we got to experience each port.. even with only being in San juan for a short time we got to experience the history, people, shopping.. it was great.

Cruising was the best experience ever... I would recommend it to everyone I know.  Just make sure you do your research on which cruise company you want to go with. Royal Caribbean was amazing.

Answer 2

It doesn't take all that long to get on/off the ship at ports [docking ports - tendered ports take longer].  There can be delays when passengers are required to report to immigration [visiting a US port after a foreign port] because there are always those people who don't feel obliged to be prompt in clearing immigration and the entire ship has to wait until everyone clears.

You will only have a few hours - usually about 8 - at each port.  You need to be back at the ship at least 30 minutes before departure, sometimes one hour.

You won't worry about getting back to the ship on time if you take ship excursions, because even if they run late, the ship will wait for you.  If you arrange your own excursions, then you will need to be aware of the time and allow plenty to return to the ship - they will not wait for you if you are late.

You get a "taste" of each island, as it is when ships are in port.  Some islands will feel more "overrun" than others.  One advantage of doing your own excursions is that you can get away from the crowds, to some extent.  But some islands are easier/safer to do on your own.

For lots of info about the different ports and what there is to do, go to CruiseCritic.com.  Click on "Boards", then go to "Ports of Call" and find your port.  There's great feedback from experienced cruisers.

Answer 3

I been on east and west Caribbean and you get about 8 to 12 hours per port depends what port you go to with Princess Cruises. It take about 15 minutes to get off the ship when time to get off the ship. I am going on my 9th cruise this fall.