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Has anyone ever missed their ship at a port?

ninamb1973

By ninamb1973,
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broberts Excellent Advice! Rare

broberts

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On 12/11/2018 at 3:32 PM, ninamb1973 said:

Ok. That's helpful to know. One of my concerns was that the ferry pass NCL provides is only for 3 hours, our tour is 5 hours. Some have mentioned on other forums that it's a suggested time and if we don't make it back in 3 hours we will still be allowed on the ferry if there is extra room. Hopefully NCL has it together and keeps the ferrys running until everyone makes it back to Harvest Caye.

 

I'm surprised there's no good conversations about this in forums. Lots of people asking the same kinds of questions I am, but with very few responses.

 

Look at it another way. If you are unable to return in time what will it cost? Would you even be able to get to another port on the itinerary in time to reboard?

 

NCL typically has to worry about more than 3,000 passengers and schedule windows at various ports. Two or three passengers that decide to do their own thing, (ignoring the limits of ferry passes), are likely to receive the same consideration they have shown other passengers and the cruise line.

 

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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52 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Look at it another way. If you are unable to return in time what will it cost? Would you even be able to get to another port on the itinerary in time to reboard?

 

NCL typically has to worry about more than 3,000 passengers and schedule windows at various ports. Two or three passengers that decide to do their own thing, (ignoring the limits of ferry passes), are likely to receive the same consideration they have shown other passengers and the cruise line.

 

Perhaps.

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Shmoo here

Shmoo here

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I'll just point out here that being on a ship's excursion doesn't guarantee the ship will be waiting for you, either.

 

On our eastbound trans Atlantic cruise , there was terrible afternoon traffic in Dublin delaying several buses (ship's tours) past the all aboard/depart time.  The ship HAD to leave due to the extreme tides there.  Our next port of call was Liverpool.  

 

All the ship's sponsored people were put on a ferry from Dublin to Liverpool and caught up with the ship the next day.

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Nebr.cruiser

Nebr.cruiser

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I will say that a couple of weeks ago we came a hair from missing the ship in St. Kitts.  My sister was literally the last one on the ship, and it was only about 5-10 minutes after the posted last time for passengers to board.

 

We have taken many, many private tours and never been close at all.  I am not going to name the tour operator as we really liked him and don't want to cause trouble.  I think he just lost track of time and just wanted to show us more and more of the island.  Very scary experience though as the gate to the dock was closing as we ran through and all the stuff outside the boarding area was being brought in.

 

When Celebrity says be back to the ship at a certain time, they mean it!  We usually try to be back an hour early and should have been more proactive at telling the guide to head back right now!  

 

We will still take mostly private tours because they are usually so much better and cheaper, but will make sure the tour operator is very aware of time.

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MicCanberra

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7 hours ago, Shmoo here said:

I'll just point out here that being on a ship's excursion doesn't guarantee the ship will be waiting for you, either.

 

On our eastbound trans Atlantic cruise , there was terrible afternoon traffic in Dublin delaying several buses (ship's tours) past the all aboard/depart time.  The ship HAD to leave due to the extreme tides there.  Our next port of call was Liverpool.  

 

All the ship's sponsored people were put on a ferry from Dublin to Liverpool and caught up with the ship the next day.

Yes, it does happen but at least the cruise line arranged everything (transport, accommodation, meals, possibly clothes) and more importantly paid for it, likely there was some compensation as well.

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ninamb1973

ninamb1973

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Well the owner of this tour company said we can cut the tour short if we want. It will only be our party on the tour so we are in full control. I will definitely be watching the clock and plan to be back at the ferry by 2:30 (ship is leaving the port at 5:00). Gives us some buffer in case their their boat breaks down, which is the only thing that I can think of that might cause us to be late coming back...

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gooch47

gooch47

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Two instances of people missing the ship come to mind.

 

Our waiter in the MDR missed it in New Zealand.  We were on the first ship to return to the port after 9/11 and it seemed like the entire population of the area came out to wave goodbye and say thank you.  He got caught up in the traffic.  Fortunately the next stop was also in New Zealand so he was able to go there by car.  Didn't stop everyone from really teasing him about it.

 

The second was in Venice.  As the ship was pulling away from the dock a water taxi came screaming up to the dock.  Two passengers got off yelling and waving but the ship did not go back for them.  Then, to add insult to injury, a police boat stopped the poor water taxi driver, apparently for speeding.

 

So yes, it does happen.  We've sat on our balcony and watched what we call "the running of the drunks" many times.  Most times they make it but seem to get chewed out by the officers standing by.

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ldubs

ldubs

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5 hours ago, Seadog & Sea Hag said:

Yes I do enjoy watching people that can’t follow the rules 

 

You actually have no idea why someone might miss the ship.  Accident, breakdown, traffic jam, or any of a multitude of possibilities.  

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MicCanberra Holiday Sharing Rare

MicCanberra

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I saw some pier runners once, they managed to get onto the ship luckily, but it was tremendously funny as they were all drunk. My wife was one of them and it was a ship's tour which was why the ship waited. I was slightly concerned that we would have left them behind and that my wife would have no money on her.

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Heidi13

Heidi13

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On 12/12/2018 at 2:31 AM, sparks1093 said:

Likely because missing the ship is a rarity, 

Sorry, having actually worked on cruise ships, it isn't rare for passengers or crew to miss the ship. Certainly not every port, but I wouldn't describe it as rare.

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sparks1093 Great Review Rare

sparks1093

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6 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Sorry, having actually worked on cruise ships, it isn't rare for passengers or crew to miss the ship. Certainly not every port, but I wouldn't describe it as rare.

What percentage would you say missed the ship in a port? A couple of passengers out of thousands per month per ship? For a 2000 passenger vessel if 2 passengers missed the ship once every 4 weeks that's .00025 percent. That to me means rare.

Edited by sparks1093
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sparks1093 Great Review Rare

sparks1093

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1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

I would think it higher than that. Try every ship, on every cruise, there would be a few.

But most experts agree that it doesn't happen on every cruise. It certainly hasn't happened on any of the ones we've been on. Even if it turns out to be 20 passengers every two weeks on a 2000 passenger vessel that is still a rate of .005. And that is still a rare occurrence in my book.

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ldubs

ldubs

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Percentage of passengers vs frequency of occurrence are not the same things.   This could happen at every single port and it would still be a very low percentage of the total passenger count.   Why care should be taken when "stats" are used.  

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