What happens if you miss the boat?

[DominoBlue97]

I'm wondering what happens if you miss your ship's original departure at the embarkation port? I have 2 vacations booked back to back and I fully expect (fingers crossed!) to make it to the port on time. Celebrity's website states that if you don't show up at the embarkation port 60 mins. before departure, you'll be counted as a no-show and cancellation penalties will be applied. If I called ahead as soon as I knew I'd be late, would they allow me to join the cruise a day or 2 later if I flew at my own expense to the next port of call? (Unpleasant, but better than forfeiting the whole cruise). Would they charge a penalty?

Thanks for any help you can give! (p.s. I tried to find this answer on the board but couldn't.)

[steveweese]

I can't answer that one...........and hope that I never learn what happens.

[Ships R Great]

It has never happened to us but we have seen people boarding the second or third day with luggage so maybe they missed the boat in the original port. Or I gues they could have been entertainers. Why not call Celeb and ask them?

[dmarch@islc.net]

You would be responsible for getting yourself to the next port and catching up to the ship.

 

We showed up way less than an hour before the Millie left port on our last cruise. It was great! No lines, no life boat drill, wish I could say it was part of my master plan or that I would ever have the nerve to do it on purpose but it worked beautifully.

[albertiger]

i missed the boat once, due to weather. i dont recommend it. had to get myself to Cozumel, luckily had the assistance of a very sympathetic Delta agent who bumped me into first class. spent a night in a fleabag Cozumel hotel, rose at dawn, and literally watched my ship come in! i'll never forget it!;)

[dkjretired]

to board the ship at the next port. A federal law kicks in which forbids cruise ships from boarding certain passengers with hefty fines from the government. This is either the Passenger Services act or the Jones act and has to do with foreign flagged vessels and loading and unloading passengers from one port to another. It will really depend on where you board the ship and what the next stop is going to be. The law is also very complicated.

 

All expenses of course will be yours and if you don't make it you forfeit everything which is not covered by insurance.

[Liat]

in boarding Galaxy. This was told to us by the enrichment lecturer. She, her husband, two or three crew members and a couple of passengers had arrangements made for them by Celebrity to fly to Baltimore to board Galaxy in May 2004. Their small commuter flight took off from Miami, but very shortly thereafter had to return because of engine trouble. Another plane was located, and they rushed from the Baltimore Airport to the dock to see everyone on board waving cheerfully at them as Galaxy sailed away! Since this was a Transatlantic trip with the next port five days away in the Azores, they were a little disconcerted. So was Celebrity, so they arranged a flight to Cape Hatteras where the Chesapeake Bay pilot would leave the ship. The pilot vessel took the lecturer, her husband, the crew members and other passengers out to the ship at 2:00 A.M. for boarding - but they made it!

I am sure that if it were not for the fact that Celebrity had made the initial arrangements, and wanted the crew members as well as lecturer on board, this would not have happened.

We were actually a little concerned about our own arrival for this cruise since Celebrity put us on a red-eye arriving in Baltimore from Phoenix early on sailing day. We normally fly west to east the day ahead of sail date. It is well worth the hotel room charge to have a relaxed flight and a chance for a decent sleep before boarding.

[usha]

If you miss the boat you are ship out of luck.:p

[Blazerboy]

Don't know (fortunately) Celebrity's policies on this, and hope not to find out! But I think most are right to assume that, if they allow you to catch up, it is done at your expense. I did have this experience with another line (Crystal) and the end result is a monument to their terrific customer service!

 

My mother, from New Hampshire, and I, from the West Coast, were doing a TA from Lisbon to Barbados, and were to meet at JFK for the trip over. We did use Crystal Air, so that may have helped. I flew from SFO to JFK for the flight to Lisbon. When my mother didn't show up at JFK, I started to worry. After many quick calls, it turned out that she'd arrived in Boston for the flight to JFK with her husband's passport, and had to return to New Hampshire to retrieve hers- obviously too late to make the flight from JFK to Lisbon.

 

I flew on with out her, and the next day, Crystal, at their expense, flew her to Madrid from Boston, on to Seville, and hired a car to drive her to Cadiz, where we docked the day after we left Lisbon. We weren't in the Penthouse, or even a verandah stateroom, but one of the standard ocean view cabins. And while I'd sailed on Crystal before, this was my mother's first trip with them. To say we were both floored by their efforts would be putting it mildly.

 

So if I were caught in this situation again, I'd expect the worst, most expensive solution, and hope for the best help from the line.:)

 

Andrew

[Petert]

Hi Domino,

 

The Captain is the one that makes the decisions about late arriving passengers, but of course based upon company policy, port constraints etc. If you check your boarding documents or the daily bulletin when onboard, you will see a listing for the cruise line's local port representaive with phone contact number. If you are ever concerned about not making the ships departure this is the individual to contact immediately. When going ashore during your cruise it is a good idea to take this contact infomation with you, just in case. He is the one that can contact your Captain, and he can assist you if you do in fact miss the ship. I have seen the ship wait for passengers several times in the past, and even seen people brought out on the pilot's boat. One time in Dubrovnik they had removed the passengers gangway, but had one ships officer on the dock next to a crews gangway, apparently waiting for someone or something. About 30 minutes after sailing time a motor scooter driven by a customs officer, with a young lady aboard, zoomed up to the gangway. It was obvious that she had transport problems, and had contacted someone at the port. She was sure one happy camper to get there and see her ship at the dock.

 

Petert

[DominoBlue97]

I really appreciate everyone's input. Hopefully I won't have to find out what happens because I don't PLAN on missing the boat (who does? ;) But I'll report back if I do...happy cruising!

[jasm8449]

We always arrive at the port city the day before. I used to do it because of weather concerns in the winter. However, I just got off a cruise where we decided to go a day ahead to enjoy some time in New York before our New Jersey departure. Good Thing!! What should have been a one hour flight at 1pm from Toronto, long story short, turned into us not even arriving at our Jersey City hotel until 6:45 that evening! If it had been sailing day, we would have missed the boat. I will ALWAYS arrive the day prior.