Left folks behind in Cozumel, What happens to them now?

[bedfordmom]

sad but true...people are left all the time...

It's amazing how inconsiderate people who are normally late for everything and hold everyone up for their arrival suddenly are on time when it comes to excursions at ports...because it won't hurt anyone but them if they miss the transportation back to the ship. I guess these people didn't quite get it...I'm sure they will next time.

 

 

On a recent Mariner cruise with Capt Johny in his Q & A session, the first question asked about what happens when someone gets left behind. He said right before ships departure, that security goes into cabin retrieves money and passport out of the safe and any meds that they can find and leaves them at the port. Now my question is what happens when the stuff is left and people either go running back into the boat or in a rare case hire one of those boats that drop you off onto the boat at their expense (I saw that in San juan) and their valuables are sitting on shore.

[The Scotsman]

This is one of the most entertaining things to do in Cozumel. Cheaper than a ships tour and far more enjoyable.

 

Make your self comfortable on board your ship with a good view of the quay side and wait for the fun to begin. Usually starts at or just after the scheduled sail away time. Happens on ALL ships. We have seen people ferried out to their ship by the pilot boat and then watched as they climb the ladder to board..... not something I would like to do. 99.9% of the occassions we have witnessed such events those involved seem to have trouble walking / running in a straight line ;) .

[BrianAlt]

What happens to them now? They hang out and drink Margaritas until they decide they've done that long enough and then they go back to Miami and claim their luggage. :p

 

Hopefully they took their passports with them.

 

We too have a case of the, "terminal earlies."

[lindalo5032]

i take some spark plugs out of the bus and carry them with me for insurance. ;)

 

 

funny!!!

[carribeanpirate18]

I tell my stepson all the time...."On time is 10 minutes early"

 

Anyway, we were on Liberty at the beginning of august and it seems there are quite a few excursions in Cozumel that get back to the ship late in the day. My mother was with us and took the excursion to Cancun (not sure why, but that doesnt matter). Anyway, they took a ferry from the dock and a bus to Cancun. It was scheduled to get back at 7, but did not get back until 7:45 or 8PM. We left after 8pm, but were scheduled to leave at 7PM.

[phish tales]

Good luck getting back into the USA without a lot of hazzel without your Passport. I think most folks do not take thier passport when they get off the ship. So if you miss the boat you are stuck. :D

 

 

great quote jaxfl. all those cruisers that leave their passports in their room in the safe because they say "it's safe in there" should take notice. without your passport you cannot fly anywhere. and with a "copy", all that is good for is to wipe your butt. NO PASSPORT---NO FLY. never go on shore without it... you paid for it, so for gods sake use it......

[AFS1970]

It must be a Cozumel thing. My DW and I had a near miss at that dock. Now I will start by saying that I am the one who is usually late and my DW does not consider herself on time unless she is early. I think that is what makes this story funny (at least to me).

 

We were on a cruise sponsored excursion, very long, only about 1/2 hour shorter than the full port call. We were told repeatedly that the ship would wait for us if the excursion was delayed. We were a bit late getting back to the dock but before the sail away time. We had about 10 minutes to get on board, there was a fairly long line so I knew we would be relatively safe. DW however wanted to go shopping at the gift shop on the pier. This lead to a bit of an argument with us finally getting on line and not shopping. That's why I call it a near miss. We could have been those ones you guys all laugh at from your balconies.

 

What did that teach me? On my next cruise I will not be taking any long Excursions like that, because I too would have liked the chance to check out that gift shop. That excursion was also more about transportation to Tulum then about the actual ruins, and frankly that part was not much fun.

[WhiteSoxFan]

One thing no one has mentioned, and I'm sure accounts for at least some of the problem, is that Cozumel is on central time and most ships, as they sail form Miami, are on eastern time. As we were told on our first cruise to Cozumel, "don't as a local what time it is or you will become one". Many people now do not carry watches and rely on their cell phone for the time. If your cell is set to pick up the time from the local carrier you may easily find yourself standing on the pier looking at a departing ship.

[Don Pedro]

great quote jaxfl. all those cruisers that leave their passports in their room in the safe because they say "it's safe in there" should take notice. without your passport you cannot fly anywhere. and with a "copy", all that is good for is to wipe your butt. NO PASSPORT---NO FLY. never go on shore without it... you paid for it, so for gods sake use it......

 

We understand your logic but many cruisers spend their shore time at the beach where passport can easily be damaged or lost and others worry about having their passport stolen. Some of us just feel much better with it safely locked in our cabin safe.

 

And, as some posters have implied ship personnel will make sure the passport and medicines of tardy cruisers will be left on shore for them. Perhaps the best advise is for everybody to know the name and telephone number of the port agent so they will have a contact point in case they somehow get stranded.

[absolutsixthree]

I was on the Enchantment a few years ago, again it was in Cozumel, we did an RCCL exscursion, but the ferry back to port broke down, so they had to find another one, about an hour late, but the Enchantment waited.

[SoCalCruzzing]

After seeing people stranded, I now understand why the ship tells everyone to take a photo ID with them. This is so they can get their passports back from the port agent when they are left with him or to prove who they are at their embassey to get emmergency travel documents, nothing to do with getting back on board. All i have ever shown getting back on board is my sign and sail pass.

[RoofingPrincess]

After seeing people stranded, I now understand why the ship tells everyone to take a photo ID with them. This is so they can get their passports back from the port agent when they are left with him or to prove who they are at their embassey to get emmergency travel documents, nothing to do with getting back on board. All i have ever shown getting back on board is my sign and sail pass.

Not really. There are ports where you have to show photo ID as well as your sign and sail pass to the local authorities to simply get back into the area where the ship is docked. The S&S pass, to prove you belong to the ship; the photo ID, to prove you're the person on the S&S pass.

Havensight in St Thomas and San Juan come to mind as two of them...

[cruzincurt]

When we cruise we always take a color copy of the passports when we go off the ship and leave the real passports in the safe. If we should miss the ship, the local shore agent of the line can contact the Embassy or consul and use the color copy to get new documents. Always take a copy of the compass for each stop as it lists the local port agent of the line.

Or you could just take your real passports ashore....that's why you have them for in the first place.

[MoFarbs]

How does one hire a pilot ship to get back on the boat? I've never seen this happen before. (Hopefully, I'll never have to find out first-hand)

[cruzincurt]

After seeing people stranded, I now understand why the ship tells everyone to take a photo ID with them. This is so they can get their passports back from the port agent when they are left with him or to prove who they are at their embassey to get emmergency travel documents, nothing to do with getting back on board. All i have ever shown getting back on board is my sign and sail pass.

how does the port agent get their passports? Does someone go up and search the cabin as they are casting off? I don't believe that urban legend. Last ship I was on said 'proof of citizenship', ...that's a passport.

[Miss Dot]

After seeing people stranded, I now understand why the ship tells everyone to take a photo ID with them. This is so they can get their passports back from the port agent when they are left with him or to prove who they are at their embassey to get emmergency travel documents, nothing to do with getting back on board. All i have ever shown getting back on board is my sign and sail pass.

 

In Nassau you have to have your photo ID to get out to the ships.

[cruisebunnies]

Just back from Liberty of the seas and we left 3 people behind at the Beach break after Tulum. This was a RCL organized tour, but i guess they didn't listen to what time to be back at the coach, tour guide waited 15 mins for them and searched local area then we left. This delayed everyone else waiting at the ferry to get back to the ship, we did not get back until 8pm, ship was supposed to sail at 7.30 pm. For those of us that followed the guides timelines we were fine and the ship waited, but for the 3 people that did not they were left behind on mainland Mexico. For those folks I guess they would need to catch a flight back to Miami, who would pack there stuff left in the cabin on disembarkation, any ideas?

 

My ex was a TA/TOURGUIDE here is what i learned from her experiences:

1)If the bus is scheduled to leave at 10.

00a.m tell the people to be on board at 9.45 ,wait until 10.15 and leave the stragglers behind.Always happens.

2)Let the pax know that waiting for a few is inconsiderate of the many.Most stragglers do not care.

3)People will take hundreds of dollars to the beach but leave the passport behind.A passport is worth more than all the money you have, in the wrong hands.

4)If people are left behind because of their own fault they WILL blame the tour company and expect compensation.They will Not get it.

Happy sailing

[chels08]

Like my old volleyball coach used to say to us about getting to practice on time:

"To be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late."

[insulationbabe]

Thanks to our neighbours who cruised years ago - we always bring along a few copies of our passports and birth certificates - I almost didn't get back on the ship in Nassau one time - forgot my wallet in the safe with my ID in it - won't do that again - My hubby pleaded with the shore guards and explained we had been married 48 years and he just shook his head and said go - boy did I run:)

[The Big Booper]

Or you could just take your real passports ashore....that's why you have them for in the first place.

 

And if they are stolen........????

 

how does the port agent get their passports? Does someone go up and search the cabin as they are casting off? I don't believe that urban legend. Last ship I was on said 'proof of citizenship', ...that's a passport.

 

If you had read all the replies, you would have seen that security will go into the cabin of passengers, unlock the safe, take passports, id, medications, etc. and leave them with the port agent.

 

My guess, as security leaves the ship to give the stuff to the port agent, the computer system will be flagged if the passenger shows up and attempts to board. This might be the first time this has happened to the passenger but not the first time that it has happened on a ship. Security are highly trained former soldiers, not minimum wage rent-a cops.

[The Big Booper]

We just renewed our passports to beat the hefty price increase and for just a few dollars more you can get a passport card in addition to the regular passport. The passport card is meant to be taken ashore in lieu of the passport so if you do miss the ship and have to leave the island you can go to the local US Embassy or Consulaute and that would be used to secure some kind of replacement passport.

[NorbertsNiece]

We just renewed our passports to beat the hefty price increase and for just a few dollars more you can get a passport card in addition to the regular passport. The passport card is meant to be taken ashore in lieu of the passport so if you do miss the ship and have to leave the island you can go to the local US Embassy or Consulaute and that would be used to secure some kind of replacement passport.

 

That sounds like something we could use over here...Only problem is it'd take years for them to agree the format..... let alone actually to decide to enable one....

[Bahrette]

If you're left behind in a port, it's your responsibility to make it to the next port to catch up with the ship, or back to the final port to collect your belongings.

 

On one of the cruises, we were on the Dunn River Falls climb with the captains son, and we joked around saying that we don't have to worry about being left behind if we get back late since he was with us. He then informed us that his dad has left him on 3 separate occaisions!! ha ha

[aldewitt]

Anyone catch the recent show about FOS on the Nat'l. Geog. Channel. Mom missed the ship in Jamaica (?) with her young daughter left on board by herself. :eek:

 

Sounds like criminal neglect to me. At the very least child endangerment. As others have noted, however, you can't fix stupid.

[FLACRUISER99]

When we cruise we always take a color copy of the passports when we go off the ship and leave the real passports in the safe. If we should miss the ship, the local shore agent of the line can contact the Embassy or consul and use the color copy to get new documents. Always take a copy of the compass for each stop as it lists the local port agent of the line.

 

Good luck getting back into the USA without a lot of hazzel without your Passport. I think most folks do not take thier passport when they get off the ship. So if you miss the boat you are stuck. :D

 

On a recent Mariner cruise with Capt Johny in his Q & A session, the first question asked about what happens when someone gets left behind. He said right before ships departure, that security goes into cabin retrieves money and passport out of the safe and any meds that they can find and leaves them at the port. Now my question is what happens when the stuff is left and people either go running back into the boat or in a rare case hire one of those boats that drop you off onto the boat at their expense (I saw that in San juan) and their valuables are sitting on shore.

All you have to do is call the port agent and the ship will remove your passport & valuables from the ship & give them to the port agent.