Back Before All-Aboard: How We Time and Track Your Ship

All-aboard vs departure: the time that counts

Your ship has two times at the end of the day. Departure is when it sails, and it is the time port schedules show, the one on this site included. All-aboard is when every guest must be back on the ship, and it comes earlier. Your cruise line sets the gap, prints the all-aboard time in the daily program and announces it on board.

We plan to all-aboard, never to departure. Send it with your inquiry if you know it. If you only have the departure time when you book, send that, and your guide confirms the final all-aboard with you at the meeting point before anything else happens.

One detail is easy to miss: Turkey keeps the same clock all year, while Greece, Italy and most of Europe change theirs in spring and autumn. Depending on the date and where your cruise began, ship's time and local time can differ. Check which clock your all-aboard is on.

Planning backward: how your day sheet is built

Once we know your ship, we build the day from the end, and the plan we send you is written in that order:

Only then do we fill in the sights. If they do not fit your call, we tell you before you book, not at the Library of Celsus. It is also why our tours have different lengths: Just Ephesus takes 3-3.5 hours door to door, while The Road of Paul and John takes 6-7 hours and belongs on a long call.

The evening before: checking your ship's times

The evening before your call, we check your ship against the port's schedule and against anything your cruise line has changed. Ships do move. An arrival slips, a call is shortened, and now and then a port is swapped. If something has changed, we rework the day sheet and write to you with the new plan.

Your guide starts the morning with your ship name, your names, your all-aboard time and the day sheet in hand, so nothing depends on memory or on a message arriving in time.

On the morning: following your ship in

On the day, we follow your ship's live position as it comes into the bay, so we know early whether it is on time. If it is running late, the plan changes before you step off, and your guide is waiting at the port, just outside the terminal exit, when you come out, whatever time that turns out to be.

At the meeting point your guide confirms three things with you: the all-aboard time, the clock it is on, and the time you will leave the last stop. You hear that time out loud at the start of the day. After that, keeping to it is your guide's job, so you can look at the marble instead of your watch.

Traffic, crowds and busy port days

The road from Ephesus back to Kusadasi cruise port is short, but it is not the same every day. When three or four ships arrive together, the drive inland is slower, Curetes Street fills early, and in the afternoon the road back carries several ships' guests at once. Our port schedule shows how many ships share your date, and we look it up the moment you inquire.

On a busy day we widen the margin before all-aboard and, where your ship's times allow, start earlier. On a quiet day the same margin simply turns into extra time at the port, and a slow coffee in town before you walk back.

When your ship's times change

• A late arrival. Your guide meets you whenever you come off. The all-aboard time has not moved, so the tour gets shorter and the margin stays. We agree with you what to drop, and the part you care about most stays in.
• A tender morning. Your day starts when your tender lands, not when the ship drops anchor, and the plan also allows for the tender line on the way back.
• All-aboard brought forward. If the ship changes its all-aboard time, we rebuild the plan around the new one, even if the tour has already started.
• The ship skips Kusadasi. You owe nothing, because nothing is ever paid before your ship docks.

For short, late and tender days, All-Aboard Ephesus is the tour we shaped around exactly these situations: the method above, applied to whatever time your ship gives you.

What helps us most when you book

A few details make the day sheet exact from the first reply. When you send us your ship details, include:

• the ship's name and the date of your Kusadasi call;
• the all-aboard time, if your cruise line has published it;
• how many of you there are, with children's ages;
• anyone who walks slowly or uses a wheelchair, so the pace is planned rather than rushed.

On the day, bring your ship card and whatever ID your cruise line asks you to carry, because you need them at the terminal on the way back in. A photo of the all-aboard notice in your daily program is a good idea too.