Cruise port transfers: how a chauffeur company adds them

Should a chauffeur company offer cruise port transfers?

It can be worth adding if a cruise port lies within your area, or if you already serve the nearest airport. Cruise passengers need to get from the airport or a hotel to the ship, and many of them arrive with heavy bags, a fixed boarding time and a family or a group. A ship sailing from a port near you also brings passengers on predictable dates, published long in advance, which is rare in this business.

Turnaround days are the most useful to you. On those days one group of passengers leaves the ship and another boards, often heading in opposite directions, so a car can carry people both ways. A ship that only visits for the day brings a different kind of work: day tours for passengers who want more than the organised coach.

What does the work look like?

There are three separate products here, and they differ in who buys them and how you sell them.

Begin with turnaround transfers if your port has them, as they are the simplest to run and to price. A port day tour needs a guide’s knowledge and a route you have timed. It also carries a serious risk, which is a passenger missing the ship, so it needs more care.

How do you find out what is coming?

Start with the ship schedule. Port authorities and sites such as Cruise Timetables list call dates by ship, with arrival and departure times, and often passenger numbers. Cruise Timetables, for example, has 2027 lists for Dublin, Cork and Barcelona. Compare a third-party list with your port’s own calendar before you plan around it, as dates change.

Put the calls for next season in a spreadsheet, and mark the turnaround days, the largest ships and the long calls. Note the clashes with your busy periods, because a 3,000-passenger ship on a day when you are already full is of no use to you. The list also tells you how much of this market exists near you. A port with only a few short visits each year will not support a product, and you will find that out in an hour of reading.

Then look at how passengers travel today. Cruise lines sell their own transfers: Carnival, for instance, sells transfers with set time windows, such as Fiumicino airport to Civitavecchia port. Shared shuttles and coaches run on fixed schedules too. Your offer is what those cannot do: a private car at the time the passenger needs it, door to door, with room for the bags. That usually costs more for one person and can be competitive for a family or a group, so show the price for the whole vehicle.

What must you check at the port?

Every port has its own rules on where private vehicles can stop, so go and look. Ask the port authority or the terminal operator these questions before you take a booking.

• Access: can a private hire vehicle reach the terminal, and does it need a permit or registration in advance?
• Meeting point: where can a driver wait and hold a sign, and how far is that from where passengers come out?
• Timing: when do passengers usually start to leave the ship, and how long can a car wait on a turnaround day?
• Traffic: which roads block up when a large ship is in, and how much extra time do you need?
• Your licence: does your licence or permit cover pickups at the port, particularly if it is outside your usual area?

Drive the route on a real turnaround day, if possible, and time it. Passengers often get told a time to leave the ship by deck or group, so your driver’s wait may be much longer or shorter than expected. Build that into the waiting terms in your no-show policy.

How should you price it?

Price by route and by vehicle, as you do for an airport transfer, then add what makes this work different. Turnaround days may involve longer waits and heavier bags, and may need a larger vehicle than the same passengers would need for a business trip. Consider a two-way offer, since a passenger booking from the airport to the ship may also want a car back at the end of the cruise, often a week or two later from the same port.

Do the sums the same way as for any new service. The guide on launching a new service sets out a one-page check of who buys it, when you can run it, what a trip costs and what remains. A cruise transfer that returns empty from the port may leave less than it first appears, unless you can fill the return with a passenger leaving the same ship.

Who sells it for you?

Your own website comes first. Build a page for each port you serve, with the ship terminal, the journey time from the airport, the vehicles and the price. The guide on local SEO covers how to build route pages that people can find.

Next, go to the people who already sell cruises. Travel agents who specialise in cruises arrange flights and hotels, and they need a transfer partner, as the guides on travel agent commission and the partner pack explain. Hotels near the port see passengers the night before boarding, so talk to their concierge desks as well.

Travel platforms can work for transfers and day tours, but read their rules first. The guides on Viator and travel marketplaces cover which experiences suit them.

How do you make sure nobody misses the ship?

This is the risk to take most seriously. A delayed airport transfer is an apology and a refund, while a missed ship can ruin a holiday and bring a claim. For port tours, return well before the time the ship asks passengers to be back on board, and tell passengers the time in writing. Plan the route with a margin for traffic, and carry a phone number for the port agent if you can get one.

For a pickup going to the ship, check the ship’s boarding times with the passenger and allow for delays on the road. Have a plan for what the driver does if a vehicle breaks down, including a second car you can call, and set the latest time you will accept a booking on the day of sailing.