Late Back To The Ship

[KauaiHawaiiGuy]

I just wanted to see what others thought about cruisers getting back late to the ship. We just started cruising Last February 2015. Had so much fun that we booked another cruise in August of last year, and then another late January of this year, just got back from on the 6th of this month, and have already booked another for March. But then this was about the late cruisers wasn't it.

 

Each cruise had three ports, so that means that so far we have waited for late cruisers 9 times. Not once were all the passengers back to the ship from their day ashore by the time the ship was scheduled to leave. Our last cruise waited in one port over half an hour for two couples.

 

So I suppose to many of you that have cruised a lot more than us, maybe that's just old news, but we are surprised that people can both be so inconsiderate to the other 3,000 passengers, to the captain and the cruise line, and put their own cruise in jeopardy by cutting the return to the ship so close. Do cruise ships actually ever leave passengers behind. Well that's enough for my first post. Looking forward to any responses.

[sail7seas]

Without knowing why those people were late returning or why the Captain chose to hold the ship for them, it is hard for me to assign adjectives to them. We don't know if they had a medical emergency and were returning from a doctor/hospital. We don't know if they had an accident. We also don't know if they drank too much, laughed to hard and lost track of the time.

 

But in the end, you didn't mention missing any ports so what was the big deal to you? You were on the ship, could do whatever you wanted so what was the problem if the ship sailed from port a bit late?

 

Ships REALLY DO leave latecomers behind. It is not a rare occurrence.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Yes -- we have been on quite a few ships when passengers didn't get back on time and the ship left them behind.

We even saw a young lady who was working on her first job in the beauty salon miss the ship. There were several of us having a little get together in the Ocean Bar on a HAL ship and watched as she kept waving and waving and the ship did not stop or back up for her. We happen to be on the next cruise and were out on our verandah when she left the ship with her father yelling at her -- she had been fired. And he apparently had to pick up her bills to get her from St Thomas back to Ft Lauderdale.

Security goes to their cabin, gets their passports if they are still in the safe and turns them over to the port agent.

[GUT2407]

It's the captains call., sure they try to accommodate but sometimes time and tide means they leave people behind. If you are on a ships tour then they get you to the next port, if your in a private tour or doing your own thing it's up to you.

 

Also how do you know that those 9 times were all due to people returning late?

[darkpelagic]

A friend was once late back to the ship - he went to what he thought was the assigned pick up point (it wasn't) and then waited too long for a shuttle. He called and we told him to grab a taxi. He caught a taxi, got to port but then couldn't find the way to the ship and had to be talked to it by a crew member. He was about 10 minutes late, and had I not been an advocate for him with the crew, they would not have waited even that long and they certainly would not have waited a half hour. So yeah, passengers do get left behind. He was so grateful they held the ship that 10 minutes.

 

But maybe those people you speak of were on a ship tour - I believe the ship is meant to wait for those who are late on one of their tours.

 

The crew on the ship told me that they could not wait anymore than another couple of minutes due to the tides. Once they pull in the gangplanks, that's it, and the tide dictates when that will happen.

Edited February 19, 2016 by darkpelagic

[KauaiHawaiiGuy]

Thanks for the input ............... and to answer specific things some of you mentioned. No, they weren't sick. As I said, all 8 ports, all different people, some having a rather good time of it. It's been our habit to be at the railings and watch the ship leave port (and see the latecomers scrambling up the already disassembled gangways). And no, it' isn't anything to me, we always made our port. I was just making general observations about people being careless with their own cruise and inconsiderate with others. Just my opinion, but I think that when you're late arrival affects an entire ship with 3,000 other passengers and 1,000 crew, except for an emergency it's rude and careless. Of Course we rarely get on an airplane either where somebody doesn't just barely make the flight after three last calls.

[cb at sea]

As long as you are back before the ship pulls away, they will take you on...usually...can't count on it!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

There are clips on You Tube of ships pulling away and leaving desparate and frustrated passengers running up the dock. You have to feel for those people.

[Goldygolfer]

We have had the experience of the crew pulling up the gangway right behind us. But we were not actually running late. However, anyone watching from their balcony and not aware of the scheduled departure time, might have easily (mistakenly) thought that we were "pier runners".

 

It was in Athens and we were on a smaller ship doing a repositioning cruise. There were only 300 passengers, instead of the maximum capacity of about 650. We had been on a private taxi tour with another couple to Corinth and arrived back at the ship almost an hour before the scheduled departure time.

 

Apparently all the other passengers were already on board and we assume that the ship had port clearance to depart early. It was a very strange experience to have the gangway pulled up right behind us. However, we were not in any trouble, because we were not actually running late.

[OCruisers]

Yes, the ship can and often does leave with people missing.

The ship will wait for excursions booked with the ship.

Also, we've been on ships where someone was injured in port and called the "ship's agent" and were on their way back to the ship but would be slightly late.

[sail7seas]

The most important thing to do when you leave the ship in any port is to be certain you have name and contact information for Port Agent. All cruise lines have Port Agents and they are your 'friend in town' if you have a problem. If you do not see the name etc in daily program or whatever the ship distributes for port information, go to front office and ask.

[GUT2407]

The most important thing to do when you leave the ship in any port is to be certain you have name and contact information for Port Agent. All cruise lines have Port Agents and they are your 'friend in town' if you have a problem. If you do not see the name etc in daily program or whatever the ship distributes for port information, go to front office and ask.

 

I take a photo of the details in the newsletter.

 

1. I've got it

 

2. I know what Port the following photos were in.

[whataboutport]

If it was only two couples, it is unlikely they were on a ship sponsored tour, but you never know. We were late twice on a ship tour, once for Tulum and once for Lamanai. Lamanai we were late over an hour, but there were a lot of us, and a couple of officers waiting for us to get back on the tender to get back to the ship.

[Quilting_Cruiser]

There are a lot of reasons someone might be late and just observing them boarding late doesn't tell you the why. They could have been caught in traffic or their cab could have gotten a flat tire, or something else out of their control. If they're late because they didn't pay attention or were drinking or something like that then, yes, I think it's inconsiderate.

 

As long as I'm the ship before it leaves the dock and we get to the next port then if someone's late, it doesn't really matter to me. TBH, I don't give it a second thought.

[Hlitner]

Forty+ years of extensive cruising (around the world) and nearly always independent travel has taught us to be disciplined about being back to the ship on time (we always try to be 30-60 min early). Over the years we have seen quite a few folks left behind...some in places where it was not so good. As others have said, whether a ship waits (even 1 extra minute) is up to the Captain. If the Pilot is aboard, the port cleared, a tug boat standing by (this is a requirement in many ports) and the tide right, the Captain will often make the decision to depart! The exception is that if the late passengers are on an official cruise line excursion (we hate these cattle calls) the ship will usually wait!

 

When we do some adventurous things in ports (this often happens in Europe) it is with the knowledge that we might miss the ship. So we usually have our own "Plan B" on how to catch the ship at the next port, and we also carry the phone number of the local "Agent" so we can call and tell them we will miss the ship and will catch up at the next port.

 

Hank

[Cruisin' Chick]

The only time we've been late getting back to the ship was when we were on a ship's tour...as soon as our group went up the gangway, it was being pulled up. Other than that, we try to be on board at least a half hour before the on board time. (besides not wishing to risk not being back on time, my hubby doesn't lie waiting in lines and there's more likely to be stuck in a line going through security as it approaches that deadline)

 

Someone my hubby knew from work had a situation on a cruise. He and his wife got back on board, but his mother-in-law and her bestie failed to do so. For him, the worries about elderly women having to arranging to get to the net port ruined that day for him and his wife. And of course, it was expensive for the two women to buy airfare and get a hotel room for the night.

 

So passengers do get left behind. If passengers are being stupid and ignoring the deadline, it would serve them right as they are inconveniencing the other passengers.

 

And for the ship itself, often getting behind schedule may mean a higher cost of fuel if the ship needs to speed up.

[NoobCruise]

Sometimes they'll wait and sometimes they'll leave them behind.

 

We left a small group in port in Mexico. I can't remember if it was Puerta Vallarta or Mazatlan. We were on Carnival Elation. We were at dinner when the ship slowed way down and the captain announced that we were slowing to let the group board. They had hired a boat to catch up to the ship and they had to climb a rope ladder to board. We didn't see it, but it sounded pretty scary trying to board like that. I think I would have just met the ship at our next port.

 

We also waited for about 45 minutes in Sitka for a bus-load of passengers. We were on HAL Westerdam. It was a ship excursion that was late with +30 passengers, so we waited. Again, the captain made an announcement to let us know why we were delayed in departing.

 

Unless we're late to the next port, it makes no difference to me. I'm on a cruise ship and there's plenty to do whether we're sitting in port or underway.

[jennybenny]

In all our many cruises (25-30 ish?) we have never actually seen people left behind, nor have we waited for people. I don't know if that's lucky or strange given the odds. Especially since in our younger years we did many booze cruises to Ensenada.

 

Who knows what happens to people, but if I was running late, I would love it if the ship waited for me. :)

[Keith1010]

We have not encountered many guests ever getting back late to the ship. Once in a while there have been ship tours getting back late and yes on an occasion someone on their own getting back late but thankfully that has been the exception.

 

Keith

[Crew News]

Our experience is that the ship will wait on any ship-sponsored excursions. One occasion was over an hour when an excursion bus had a flat tire returning from a Mayan ruin.

 

The HAL Westerdam left 43 passengers in Juneau when the fog rolled in and trapped them on the glaciers as the helicopters could not return to pick them up. The ship had to catch the tide to depart at 11:00 PM or be trapped in Juneau.

 

Those on ship-sponsored excursions were given accommodations for the night (some spent the night in a tent on Mendenhall Glacier) and free transportation to catch the ship. Several on private tours had to pay their own way.

[Clarea]

It happens rarely, but we've been on a few cruises where folks were left behind.

[Treven]

I was late getting back to the ship on my first cruise. The ship sponsored excursion's guide/driver had lost track of time on the summit of Mauna Kea. He quickly gathered us up, loaded his van and took off for the port. Fortunately he wasn't stopped for speeding, and we made it back to the ship. We were the last group back, and the gangplank was pulled up right behind us.

[Velvetwater]

Theres a lot of youtube videos including a cople arguing with the agents when the ship was right there but the gangplank had been pulled. Theres also a Carnival video filmed inside the ship where the cruise director talks of a couple that have been late to the ship in every port....they mentioned not allowing them off next time.

[KirkNC]

I would say that is quite odd unless they were on a ship's excursion. I have seen people left at several ports.

[Bonnie J.]

We met an older lady once who missed the ship. She and her husband came back from a tour. She wanted to go shopping, he didn't. So he got on the ship. She shopped. She thought the ship left at 5 but it didn't. She got to the port and looked to see the ship had left the pier and was no longer there. She could see it off the pier.

She was taken to a hotel. She had to pay for the hotel, dinner & breakfast. The next morning she was flown to HMC, the next stop. The plane was a sea plane and landed off the coast of HMC. Total cost for her to get back on the ship, $1800!

WE always get back at least an hour before the ship leaves any port!