Apologies for the delayed reply- thank you very much for weighing in here Kupe! You've confirmed what I had mostly suspected.

Since there is no chance of them changing the flight, what we have decided to do (similar to your suggestion) is the half of us arriving at 1 will ferry over to RT and the guests arriving at 3:40 will book stay night at Emerald Beach and catch the first ferry to RT in the morning. I Believe this will give them enough time to meet us at the dock at least by noon when we would ideally like to leave- please let me know if I'm missing any key factors here.

I appreciate the note on ferries running on time, that's not something I'm used to!

This certainly has been a bit stressful but I am confident we'll get it sorted and have a beautiful trip!

Thanks again!