I Guess that Ships do Wait

[Barb Nahoumi]

I was wondering why the Breakaway was a few minutes late in leaving, when a taxi full of shoppers pulled up at the pier. If this wasn't a ship trip, did the last-minute-Louies call to inform the ship that they'll be right along?

 

Shopping can make folks lose track of time, or was there another reason.

 

The group boarded to the cheers of fellow passengers.

[meatball_nyc]

Not sure. Looked like they were definitely shopping though. Just watched that, too.

They got to the ship at 5:15! Isn't she scheduled for 5:30 departure?

I would have been having a heart attack if I were them.

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[Barb Nahoumi]

Not sure. Looked like they were definitely shopping though. Just watched that, too.

They got to the ship at 5:15! Isn't she scheduled for 5:30 departure?

I would have been having a heart attack if I were them.

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

 

I thought that the ship was scheduled to leave at 5:00. It pulled out soon after the group boarded. Close call!

[ColinIllinois]

Ships leave late all the time but glad those folks made it anyway.

[sugarnyc]

I am told it is the captain's decision. Probably because of costs and /or fines involved. Some wait and some don't. You would think with three days in one port you would be able to make it back on time!

 

On my 5/11/14 Breakaway sailing several people had to get home on their own. They missed the ship. One woman almost got lucky- the tugboat helped her but they had to abort the attempt.

[triptolemus]

I'm sure it was probably the captain who was shopping.

 

They would have left him, except he took the damn keys to the ship with him... :cool:

[meatball_nyc]

Haha. These pax today were all women however.

One of them may have been the captain's wife??!!?

Pretty funny.

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

[shof515]

Most ships can wait up to 30 minutes for last minute guests. The ship captain can make up lost time by sailing at full speed instead of the normal cruising speed

[biker@sea]

We waited an hour for a couple of parents that missed the st. george ferry back to Dockyard .

 

ONLY cuz their minor kid's were on the ship !! :eek:

[NJ Johnny]

I think that the shoppers that were late today were pretty lucky for the ship to wait for them. This doesn't always happen.

[soaringfalcon]

That happened on our Jewel cruise a few years ago. There were 2 people on medical scooters piled down with shopping bags. The gangway had already been up and they got on through a smaller one that I assume is used for loading/offloading supplies.

[mking8288]

For the rest of the passengers who are onboard, you can usually tell when someone is missing when 15 minutes or less (sometimes T - 30 min.) before scheduled sailing time that Guest Services started overhead/PA paging "the following guest xxxxx xxxxxxx, xxxxx and xxxxx xxxxxxxxx, etc. please contact ... as that's when the headcounts (beds & closet checking :D) are adding up, and that wanted to make sure someone didn't slipped past security at the gangway but actually somewhere on the ship.

 

I recall the Gem waiting as much as 15 to 20 minutes for several runners, with the officers & security on the pier and crew members at the ready to pull up the gangway.

 

For ships in port for the day, I can understand some pax are "confused" about ship time and port/local time, but it's much more difficult to explain ports like Bermuda when they have 3 days to "adjust" and NOT do last minute shopping & miss the ferry, bus or not take a taxi, etc.

[CruisinMaterial]

Breakaway sails at 5PM Bermudian time. The sailing last week I was on, three names were called over the PA system 20 minutes prior to departure. We left on time after Celebrity Summit completed her turn in the pier basin. Both had docked starboard side in for drills using their port side tenders which meant they had to turn when they left.

 

These passengers were very lucky but I think since there were so many of them, that's what probably happened. Chances are they missed a ferry and had to take a taxi and the taxi driver or the taxi company must have called the ship and told them they were enroute.

 

Three days on an island and you decide to shop on the last day and far away? That's craziness. At least it gave some of the passengers waiting for cast off some entertainment! :D

[meatball_nyc]

I thought that the ship was scheduled to leave at 5:00. It pulled out soon after the group boarded. Close call!

 

 

Barb...you were right. 5:00 departure time. I apologize for being incorrect on the time.

Def a close call, which really shouldn't be a close call on a 3 day stop!!

Those pax were a lot luckier than the pax a few weeks ago that tried boarding from the Faithful tug.

That will not be me in July!

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[sebas030]

On an episode of Mighty Ships on t.v. I saw about a year ago, It was about a new RCL ship on het maiden voyage. A few pax were not back in time at the last port... They said it was always the captain's choice...he waited 1 hour for the pier runners and to make up for that lost time he had to go "full throttle" at 22 knots to make the return in time....costing 50000$ in fuel !!! OMG !!! Yes Fifty thousand $$$ because they had to use the 4th engine to make speed instead of only 3 and some other technical things...

 

 

 

 

 

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[CruisinMaterial]

On an episode of Mighty Ships on t.v. I saw about a year ago, It was about a new RCL ship on het maiden voyage. A few pax were not back in time at the last port... They said it was always the captain's choice...he waited 1 hour for the pier runners and to make up for that lost time he had to go "full throttle" at 22 knots to make the return in time....costing 50000$ in fuel !!! OMG !!! Yes Fifty thousand $$$ because they had to use the 4th engine to make speed instead of only 3 and some other technical things...

 

Even with passengers paying last minute airfares to get home, I don't think it would've cost that much! I say leave them at the pier!! Higher fuel consumption prices always trickle down ahead to higher rates for cabins in the future. :cool:

[df5250]

We waited an hour for a couple of parents that missed the st. george ferry back to Dockyard .

 

ONLY cuz their minor kid's were on the ship !! :eek:

 

I was on that cruise too.... They were very lucky the captain held the ship that long! I've been in a similar situation where a ship sponsored excursion was an hour late returning...lots of people yelling at us to hurry up and run to the gangway when we finally returned!

[DevCruise]

Not sure. Looked like they were definitely shopping though. Just watched that, too.

They got to the ship at 5:15! Isn't she scheduled for 5:30 departure?

I would have been having a heart attack if I were them.

 

Wow.....45 mins late? Isn't final boarding time usually 30 minutes before the ship pulls out?

[JohnIreland]

On an episode of Mighty Ships on t.v. I saw about a year ago, It was about a new RCL ship on het maiden voyage. A few pax were not back in time at the last port... They said it was always the captain's choice...he waited 1 hour for the pier runners and to make up for that lost time he had to go "full throttle" at 22 knots to make the return in time....costing 50000$ in fuel !!! OMG !!! Yes Fifty thousand $$$ because they had to use the 4th engine to make speed instead of only 3 and some other technical things...

 

If I am thinking of the same show , it was some type of VIP that was the one that way late.

[VickiD59]

Maybe the captain didn't want to start his Bermuda season with 2 out of the 4 sailings leaving people behind - I swear...on that last day, I'm not venturing anywhere that I can't see the ship and reach her at a brisk walk.

I can't imagine (and I don't want to try!) what that must feel like to be standing there watching your ship.. your belongings .. and maybe your family, just sail away without you :eek:

[mugtech]

One of the selling points of taking an NCL tour is the fact that the ship will wait as long as it takes to get the people back on board. I was on a tour that got us back on board about 5 minutes before the sailing time, and we were not the last one. It appeared the ports on the 12 day Grand Med are close enough that leaving 30 minutes late did not affect docking the next day.

[Markanddonna]

Just off a TA and the captain announced that the ship would be waiting for over an hour because a ship tour to London was caught in traffic. Two busloads of folks were involved but we didn't have a tight schedule. It was well over an hour that we waited.

Edited May 31, 2014 by ConnieG

[mking8288]

The exceptions in "waiting" for late passengers to board that we've seen while cruising has been on embarkation day, when they are using NCL transportation to travel to the ports - once in NY & in fact, less than a week after Hurricane Sandy swept across the region and airport/transport operations were still disrupted. We waited but left no more than 30 to 45 minutes later than scheduled per the bridge's PA announcement, and we believed some pax were being flown to the next port to catch up.

 

On the Pride of America's Hawaii sailing, we left 3.5 hours (yes) late out of Honolulu around 10:30 PM instead of 7:00 PM as 2 busload worth of pax were delayed in-bound on their flight(s) ?? into HNL, and many of us finished dinner & were out on the open decks past sunset, staring at Waikiki's night scene & cheered as those pax finally arrived to board. It was a relatively short distance to Maui, the next port in the morning so the ship didn't have to speed up at all & we arrived bright & early (actually sailaway from the pier was ... 3:30 AM for us still jet-lagged from the East Coast as we flown in the day before.) CD & the bridge kept us informed & make the PA announcement but, AFAIK, nobody left the ship to venture out for any "last minute" shopping.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Barb...you were right. 5:00 departure time. I apologize for being incorrect on the time.

Def a close call, which really shouldn't be a close call on a 3 day stop!!

Those pax were a lot luckier than the pax a few weeks ago that tried boarding from the Faithful tug.

That will not be me in July!

 

 

Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

 

Or me either. We are planning to book on the Dawn for next year. There is a great little mall, nearby the pier for last minute shopping. I love the glass factory, and the other shops. If we want a last minute swim, we'll go to the Snorkel Beach which is a few minutes walk from the ship.

 

We cruise to Bermuda on the Dawn, since we live in Massachusetts. However, the Breakaway's schedule is better----arriving on Wednesday thru Friday. Everything is open, whereas on Sunday they're not.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Just off a TA and the captain announced that the ship would be waiting for over an hour because a ship tour to London was caught in traffic. Two busloads of folks were involved but we didn't have a tight schedule. It was well over an hour that we waited.

 

The ship waited because the busses were part of a ship trip. If it was a private group, the captain might not have waited.