Missed Ship

[Christyh121]

We were almost left as well. Carnival Fascination was ported at Freeport, Bahamas. It was and early leave time. I believe 3:00. We were trying to make a deal with a cab driver from in the town to take us back to our ship, without charging so much, since we were the only two riders. Well needless to say noone else ever got in the van, so we had to pay for each individual seat emty for him to take us, or be left there. To make matters worse we were late, so he was going 95 miles per hour on these small roads. As we approached the ship and customs. They were locking everything up. They had to stop what they were doing to let us on. I will never make this mistake again. Such a scary thought to be left behind!!!

[BlueJacketsFan1]

If you are on a Carnival excursion and it gets back late the ship will wait for you. If you just simply don't get back on time the ship will leave with or without you. I have seen the ship wait for passagers during our last cruise do to a Carnival excrusion. On our first cruise two people were left in Cozumel. We sailed out a midnight, and the couple got back to the pier at 3:30 am. Carnival put them up in a hotel that night. Then the couple had to find airfare to Grand Caymans for themselves, and a hotel. Because we had a day at sea before arriving.

[black forest]

On our cruise a couple was left behind at Nassau. I heard that they we were late at every port and in Nassau the shipped didn't wait any longer.

 

Somewhere I have read that the cruiseline will charge 300 $ fee (don't remember the correct word) if one misses the ship.

 

I do know about the taxi / time problem in Nassau. You have look for a taxi pretty early. When we were there it took about 25 min. to fill the taxi (Cabbage Beach).

[kr8z]

I may have missed it being mentioned, but.........

 

Always use a watch instead of your cell phone. Your cell phone adjust to the time zone you are currently in, which may not be the same time zone used by the ship.

 

If you leave it on airplane mode, it won't adjust. I found that out the hard way while trying to find a wifi signal in a port (took it off of airplane mode). I kept having to remember to subtract an hour over the next 3 days on the ship.

[GrannyGail]

I saw a couple come up at the very last minute, and they handed them their passports which they had taken out of their safe as they got on board. Also, saw a girl miss the ship by a few minutes and they put her on a tender and she boaded the ship a few miles out. They gave her passport back to her also.

We usually watch the boarding the last couple of minutes when we are in port. Lots of interesting stuff going on!

[happy40th]

Also make sure that you keep your watch to SHIP time, not local time. That will help alleviate any issues regarding to getting back to the ship on time.

 

So as long as my watch matches the ship time I will be ok? How do I know what time to book my excursions? ship time? local time? We are planning on doing a victor tour in Roatan and another private in Cozumel. Any help?

[trptplayer22]

You all have given me the biggest laugh this morning. My customers are looking at me like I am crazy. I do feel sorry for those left behind. I'm an early person. I actually panic about lateness, I'm usually too early for things.

 

Once again thank all of you from the comments to the Youtube. This has been one of the funniest threads I've read.

[Nowisthetime1]

We have cruised 15 times on Carnival, thus far, and other cruise lines. We have seen both waited and left the passenger. If they see the passenger they normally wait, if the passenger is running and appears to understand they are holding up the ship. If the passenger(s) is just walking and acting like they are better then everyone else holding up the ship I have seen it leave them. However, if no one is in site they leave. Afterall they have a schedule to run and thousand(s) on the ship who abided by the rules. I have no sympathy if someone is late becuase they were inconsiderate of others, for one last beer etc.. I do feel badly for those who's no Carnival tours are late and miss the ship. We have seen passengers miss the ship on a few of our cruises. 1st timers I would say book your tours on Carnival tours and always insure your watches are set on ship time. We were on one Carnival tour and our bus was held up due to an accident. The ship waited about 40 minutes for our bus to return and we all got on the ship. If we had been on a private tour bus we would have missed the ship. Have fun and be responsible!:)

[pozz]

On our cruise a couple was left behind at Nassau. I heard that they we were late at every port and in Nassau the shipped didn't wait any longer.

 

Somewhere I have read that the cruiseline will charge 300 $ fee (don't remember the correct word) if one misses the ship.

 

I do know about the taxi / time problem in Nassau. You have look for a taxi pretty early. When we were there it took about 25 min. to fill the taxi (Cabbage Beach).

$300 carnival fee plus what u have to pay out of your own pocket to get back on ship,read it its on the web site

[Sarah@Sea]

This past weekend we had lunch with a couple who just took their first cruises over Memorial Day and 4th of July, we were discussing the NCL freestyle and I said the only thing you HAVE to do at a certain time on any cruise ship is get back onboard....to which they replied... "acutally they wait for you since they have the cards they know when not everyone is back on board." I said "no they won't wait". They said "oh well they were making announcements for people"...I said yeah...they might get a warning...but they won't wait...lol.

[dan40]

This past weekend we had lunch with a couple who just took their first cruises over Memorial Day and 4th of July, we were discussing the NCL freestyle and I said the only thing you HAVE to do at a certain time on any cruise ship is get back onboard....to which they replied... "acutally they wait for you since they have the cards they know when not everyone is back on board." I said "no they won't wait". They said "oh well they were making announcements for people"...I said yeah...they might get a warning...but they won't wait...lol.

 

 

You don't think anyone would spend thousands of Dollars and travel to a foreign country and not have a clue of what they are doing, do you??:D:rolleyes:

[milomlo]

Anyone ever heard of someone missing a ship at the last port and not having a passport (because of closed loop)?

Right now that is my biggest concern. I booked an excursion in Cozumel (not through Carnival) and they say on their website that they will shorten the excursions to make sure you have enough time to get on the ship. But I am now petrafied that we will miss the boat. I can't even sleep now. We have 2 day till we leave and I am so worried. My husband and I have passports, but we are taking our kids who are 8 and 12 and they don't have passports yet.

 

What would I do if we missed? Is there an Embassy or something? Sorry for the goofy questions:o

[sprockie]

We missed the ship in St. Thomas 10 years ago -with only our ship ID, Visa card and our snorkel equipment. The last stop was Half Moon Cay (we were on HAL), so we missed the last 3 days of our cruise.

We telephoned the ship, and they were going to pack up our things and leave them at the pier for us in Fort Lauderdale - not allowing us back on the ship when it returned to Florida. After some begging, they agreed to let us on to pack up.

Moral of the story - 1. we always take our passports 2. we leave at least two hours before the all aboard time - St. Thomas had 11 cruise ships in that day, things were extremely congested getting back to the docks - our ship was tendered and the tenders were finished.

We can laugh about it now, but I am sure it took years off our life.

[magic&buddy]

DH & I were travelling with DD and her fiance last year on the Miracle - first cruise for DD and fiance. First stop was Puerto Rico. Ship was scheduled to leave at midnight. We were having a drink with them at a place where we could clearly see the ship. At about 10:45 DH and I headed back to the ship - they said they were going to have 1 more drink and then join us.

 

At 11:33 I got a call in my cabin from the gangway asking if DD or fiance were on board. I called their cell in a panic - DD thought I was overreacting - she said "the ship leaves at midnight - we're not late" - she had not paid attention to the piece saying they had to be on board 1/2 hour before sailing!

 

They made it back in time!:cool:

[matj2000]

People think if you are running late without a Carnival excursion they will just leave without you. It really is not that simple. If you or your group is running late and have called the port contact & let them know whats going on, they will wait a while.

I am one of those people who stand on the outside promenade and watch the action. More than 50% of the time the ship leaves a little late. Usually because of a couple of scragglers, who are not on Carnival excursions..

[poobears]

So far every cruise we've been on has waited up to 45 minutes on passengers. I haven't seen anyone left yet but it happens.

 

We almost always book private excursion the key is make sure you are booking with a reputable company. I've never worried about missing the ship on them but I've always researched the companies I use before I book.

[anamanxs]

I always plan om being back 1/2 early if I am doing somthing on my own not Carnival. But, I have to agree with other posted - first timers stick with Carnival until you see how the system works.

 

My Alaska cruise we totally booked outside Carnival and had the best deals and sights; but I did lots of research and everyone we went with had a guartnee to get you back in time.

[polks71]

I have heard that if you have a minor child on board the ship and you are not on the ship they cannot leave the port without you.