How long does it take to unload a cruise liner?

Show all answers

Barbados Sleeeeem!!!

Usually a well-armed band of pirates can unload a cruise liner in less than an hour, if they're throwing enough people overboard

cbett50

I'd be back at least 20 minutes before. But if there is a line, the ship can't just take off. If there is no line, though, you want to be back before scheduled departure.

Anja H

On ships this size they stagger disembarkation. Those which are on a ship's organized shore excursion after arrival and clearance get to go first.
If the ship arrives at 7:00 am - you could be able to leave the ship at 8:00 - 8:30.
(First the ship needs to be cleared by customs and police and until this is done, nobody can get off the ship)

For the time you need to be back onboard, the daily news you are getting the day before will tell you that, plus there is a sign on the gangway telling you when to be back. The ask guests to be back onboard 30 mins before sailing time. Only in rare cases will a ship wait for you, if you are not onboard in time. It all depends on what the situation is in port (traffic, pilot availability) and what the distance and needed speed is to the next port. So I would not even consider that they will wait for you. If you are in line going back onboard and it is time to leave, the ship will not leave at this moment.
Yet, the moment the gangway is in and you come running down the pier there is a good chance you will be left behind, since all customs and police arrangement have been made, that you will be staying in that country.

Enjoy your cruise.

peaches6

Not everyone leaves the ship at a port of call. Some passengers choose to stay aboard for whatever reason. So, that makes less passengers disembarking and boarding. They usually tell you what time to be back at the ship. You should allow yourself plenty of time, in case of the unexpected. If your in sight, the ship's not going to leave you. Good Luck!

Mayday

When you are first getting on the ship, you have to be on the ship 90 minutes prior to sailaway. If you aren't, you can be denied boarding.
At a port of call you have to be on the ship 30 minutes before departure.
As said before, not everyone gets off at a port. If you get to the port earlier than 8:00 AM, there is usually little to no wait to get off the ship. However if there is a noon arrival, its a different story.

Paul in San Diego

It generally takes an hour or two to unload the passengers that want to get off right away. And, this depends on whether they are at the pier or have to take tenders (they use the life boats or water taxis to shuttle people back and forth to the pier if the ship can't dock there).

The first people off the ship will be people who have early shore excursions. They meet in designated areas on the ship and receive a certain colored and/or numbered sticker. Once all the tour groups have gotten off, the rest of the passengers can disembark, again in colored/numbered groups if tendering. That way, there's not a mass of people standing around in the passageways for a half hour waiting to get off the ship.

When coming back, the daily newsletter and signs at debarkation will say when to be back on board. Figure you should be at the pier about a half hour before that. Sometimes there's quite a line to get back on board, especially if tendering. If you're on an excursion and the excursion is late getting back, they will wait for you. The tour operators will have radioed in to the ship that the excursion is running late, but will be there soon.

David S

It would take about an hour and a half but it depends on the staff...the ship will wait for you but only for 15-25 mins as that is all it is licensed to wait for and then if you are still in the line...well...well you will have to run then wont you

Bedford S

depends on size and ships organization, customs etc. Most of my cruises it took two hours or less to unload. When flying we got off in the first half hour.

southernguy

They'll tell you all of that when you get there. But the last cruise I went on, there was a family that didn't come back and we actually waited about 45 minutes for them (in Mexico). I've heard other times when people were left there at the port because they were so late.

They can tell who is on and off the ship by a card you swipe. Don't be too scared about it, just don't be late.

Time travler

At each port not everybody disembarks at the same time. Some people choose to not even get off at all. Those on early tours get off first. It is very fast to disembark because of this, but goes on all day. A very important thing to remember is a ship does NOT wait for late passengers to get back on the ship unless they are right at the dock and the ship has not begun to leave yet. They ONLY wait for those who are on a tour organized by the ship itself. For anybody going on a tour that they pick after disembarking or not part of the cruise company, they DO NOT wait. So the bottom line is give yourself plenty of time to get back to the ship.

Audrie

1. not all passengers will get off of the ship at once, so anytime would be good exept if the ship is about t leave, so it won't take as long as u would think.

2.Try getting back with atleast 45 minutes to spare before the ship leaves

3.Yes it will wait, becuz there will be people making sure that u get on and off the ship safely, and they check ur cards to make sure that u r on the correct ship, because there will probably be 1 or 2 ships nearby, but sometimes they'll wait a while to see if a person with an unswiped card will come around, but if u wait too long then u might get left and will hav to provide ur own transportation to get to the next port of call to meet up with ur ship.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: