Left Behind in Nassau on the Symphony of the Seas!

[mugtech]

5 hours ago, Aquahound said:

I say this knowing full well I'm going against the grain, and I do have my flame retardant suit on (tailored that thing years ago here on Cruise Critic), but I do think its a little childish to laugh at people like this.  I'm not supporting them because they messed up, but they did have to learn their lesson the hard way.  

 

I'll admit....I've heckled pier runners before, but never those who totally missed the ship.  I just can't imagine taking a 6 minute video of someone like this, laughing at them on the video, and then posting it on social media.  

 

I know, I'm in the minority on this thread.  Let me have it.  

They were on the NCL Bliss, had nothing better to do.

[Big_G]

1 hour ago, Reader0108598 said:

I am not judging ..simple, make sure you get back to the ship on time! unless you or your loved one is  in the hospital no excuse.

 

 

 

I wasn't suggesting you were but I may be rethinking that.

[Reader0108598]

12 minutes ago, Big_G said:

 

I wasn't suggesting you were but I may be rethinking that.

I was not speaking to you either just the situation . Hope you have a great night :)

 

Edited February 18, 2019 by Reader0108598

[whyrlygig]

Every cruisers worst nightmare!  I try to be back to the ship a couple of hours before sailaway for this very reason!  I find this type of video interesting to watch but certainly not funny.  I would not wish it upon anyone.  

[mr walker]

I stopped watching the video, as I take no pleasure in someone's misfortune, accepting that it may well have been totally their fault. Some say that missing the ship would be their worst nightmare, but, as terrible as that would be, there are worse things that could happen in our lives. Still, I personally have never enjoyed watching similar videos in the past.

 

We have always been conscious of not missing the ship & mostly have done ship excursions &/or been back well in time. We have never been close to missing the all aboard time previously.

 

On our recent Radiance cruise in NZ, our only real option for our preferred tour in Wellington was with a private operator who 'guaranteed' to have us back in time. It was an afternoon tour, as arrival time into port prevented us taking the morning option. The tour itinerary had us back at ship by 5:30pm which was all aboard time & we told the driver/guide when we joined the tour at 1:15pm that we want to be back by 5;00 pm. He said no problem. We had done our research & at no stage on the tour would we be more than 30mins drive from the ship. This was not a 'ship only' tour as there were others picked up en-route. From the ship was just us & a lovely couple from Southern California. 

 

We left the last stop on the tour [WETA workshops of Hobbit & LOTR fame] at 4:20pm, giving us 40mins to meet our target time of 5:00pm, and 70 mins to all aboard time. Almost immediately we hit traffic, making very slow progress. At times we were barely moving. Turns out that the local authorities had closed 2 lanes of a major 3 lane road for roadworks, coinciding with peak hour & this was something our driver did not know, until we reached that point. By now it was 5:00pm.

 

At one point it was clear that the driver was starting to 'panic' about getting us back in time. We kept going, becoming more and more concerned about being late. I had various scenarios running around in my head, as the next port was on the South Island of New Zealand & we were on the North Island.

 

DW then suggested that perhaps the driver should drop us at the ship shuttle bus stop downtown, rather than try and take us to the ship. He made a few turns and at the next intersection he said, there is a bus still there. He took the corner, pulled up and we raced across the street to get the shuttle bus. Relieved at making the shuttle, we relaxed a little, but the bus just sat there for several minutes waiting for any others, there was just the 4 of us. None came and finally at around 5:15 the bus headed off to the ship, with the driver saying that with the traffic it will take 20 mins to get to the ship 

 

We finally got into the port area & the driver announced that the ship was still there - that was not so funny for us as he intended. To get to the ship the bus had to go past the ship, under a fly-over, back past the ship & finally toward the ship once again. When we pulled up at was 5:35pm - all the barricades etc were gone & we had 200m walk to get to the gangway, which was still in place. We went up the ramps and onto ship & stopped just past security scanners and the 4 of us hugged each other in nervous celebration of making it back 'in time'.

 

Of course our story would have been much better for many of you, it seems, if we had missed the ship & there was video of that for you to enjoy. You could have told us how entitled we were in getting back late & perhaps made fun our clothes etc. I am glad to say that didn't happen, and we have a 'funny' story to tell.

 

Footnote: shortly after we boarded, there was an announcement for two passengers (same last name) to contact Guest Services. I said to DW, "maybe we were not the last 4??". We went up to our cabin & out onto our balcony. The gangway was still in place. Next thing a small bus drives down the wharf & right up to the gangway. Two people get out and go up onto the gangway, and board the ship. They were barely aboard, and the gangway was moved aside. Captain Marek came over the speaker, saying "thanks to Mary & Fred (I didn't get their actual names) for finally joining us, & thanks to all the others that were on time, we are departing now!" Captain Marek also made mention of these two people a few days later, laughing and saying "don't do that again".

Edited February 18, 2019 by mr walker

[tennislvr8]

When I was in Nassau in Nov. You had to have your passport when you left the ship, they atleast should have had theirs.

[tennislvr8]

9 hours ago, Paulette3028 said:

Never will we be close.   If we do a Royal excursion, it is their responsibility to get us back to ship in time, or the ship waits for the excursion to return before leaving. When we do our own (which has become more frequent), we do morning or early afternoon returns to ship to enjoy the ship before everyone has made it back on board.    Our priority is enjoyment, not stress.  

They don't always wait. If they leave you it's their responsibility to get you to the next port. 

[BND]

Not only are we always back onboard an hour or two before departure, if we do a ship's excursion, we always do one that gets back at least an hour or more before departure.  Almost, without exception, those that miss the ship are not on a ship's excursion and think they can cut it close.  This is entirely their fault.  It's not like they were in a group as it was just the two of them.  By leaving them, they are showing others that they cannot return late.  If they stopped and returned, then others would think they could do the same.

[BND]

50 minutes ago, tennislvr8 said:

When I was in Nassau in Nov. You had to have your passport when you left the ship, they atleast should have had theirs.

Nope, you do not need your passport to get off the ship in Nassau.  Been there many times (10+) and there is no requirement for that.  What you need is ships card and ID.  I don't know a single port in the Caribbean that requires a passport to get off or reboard the ship.

[BND]

Never mind

Edited February 18, 2019 by BND

[Cruzaholic41]

I couldn’t watch more than a minute of that video. I was disgusted at the way the video taker was laughing at those people. That video says more about the person taking the video than it does the people who missed their ship. To get pleasure in other people’s misery is just plain sad. 

[ONECRUISER]

8 hours ago, Bailey & Sophie said:

We were on a cruise sponsored partial tour of the Panama Canal through Celebrity. Had delays. The Equinox waited 3 hours for us to get back. 

It's very rare but even Ship sponsored tours have missed the Ship, though can't remember reasons. Cruise paid for travel to get them to next port. I was on Serenade 14 months ago when Bus accident happened with passengers from our ship and Celebrities were coming back from ship sponsored tour. We left a couple behind. One reason as a Single Father traveling with 3 kids that I never went ashore them...

Edited February 18, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[lcpagejr]

1 hour ago, tennislvr8 said:

When I was in Nassau in Nov. You had to have your passport when you left the ship, they atleast should have had theirs.

 

Not true... We never cruise with Passports. Sailed to Nassau twice last year. Just needed Cruise Card and picture ID

[tennislvr8]

1 hour ago, BND said:

Nope, you do not need your passport to get off the ship in Nassau.  Been there many times (10+) and there is no requirement for that.  What you need is ships card and ID.  I don't know a single port in the Caribbean that requires a passport to get off or reboard the ship.

My point was if they had a passport they could have taken it off with them. Most of the people I saw in Nov. were using passports. 

Edited February 18, 2019 by tennislvr8

[tennislvr8]

1 hour ago, BND said:

Never mind

You realized my "facts" on that one was correct huh? 

[roadburner]

True Story:

 

On our first-ever cruise, aboard the NCL MS Skyward in 1979, we sailed out of Miami.  Our first stop was San Juan PR where we booked a ships excursion (didn't know you could book independently) tour of the city of San Juan.  The only pier at that time was a wooden pier in Old San Juan.  On our tour were two couples traveling together who were on their own time.  If the guide said to be back on the bus in 30 min, they were 40 min.  This went on for all four stops until everyone else on the tour were totally fed up!  When the tour finally returned to the ship we didn't hesitate to board and eat dinner.  All aboard was 11:30 for sailing at midnight.  The DH & I were up on deck watching the pulling in of the pier structure, the lines and finally the gangway.  After the gangway was in the captain blew the horn to signal departure.  The doors of the casino at the end on the pier crashed open and the two always-late couples came running out.  By this time everyone on deck knew about them and most everyone on deck waved "good-bye".  They rejoined us the next day in St. Thomas and were never late again.  They also kept a very low profile.  This was before the computerized sea-pass cards and the crew had no way to know that not everyone was on board.  I don't think that the ship would have waited even had they known.

[Mikew0805]

Stopped watching when the laughing occurred. I guess some sicko's are entertained by the misfortune of others. I'm not saying it is not their fault they missed the ship, but it certainly does not cost anyone anything to feel compassion. 

[FLACRUISER99]

7 hours ago, BND said:

Nope, you do not need your passport to get off the ship in Nassau.  Been there many times (10+) and there is no requirement for that.  What you need is ships card and ID.  I don't know a single port in the Caribbean that requires a passport to get off or reboard the ship.

Havana, Cuba

[DISFANS3]

 I guess he forgot his watch...

[BND]

1 hour ago, FLACRUISER99 said:

Havana, Cuba

Very specific itinerary which everyone sailing knows ahead of time has special requirements.

[BND]

7 hours ago, tennislvr8 said:

You realized my "facts" on that one was correct huh? 

No, I realized I misread what you had posted.  But, your statement about Nassau is 100% incorrect.

[BND]

8 hours ago, tennislvr8 said:

My point was if they had a passport they could have taken it off with them. Most of the people I saw in Nov. were using passports. 

Um, no, you said you "had" to have it. There's a difference.

[South Shore 41]

21 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

Maybe they had their passports with them.  I have seen where ships officers hand over passports to late arriving people that they have collected prior to leaving. 

 

Additionally, they will be charged the Jones Act fee when they return to Miami as well.

I have a question - a bit off topic.  This is my first time cruising internationally.  The ship officers keep your passport when you leave the ship?  You do not take it with you?  

[Biker19]

Just now, South Shore 41 said:

  The ship officers keep your passport when you leave the ship?  You do not take it with you?  

Not in the Caribbean, but in a few rare cases, yes. Most of the time, you can.

 

Biker, who foresees this thread going off on a passport tangent.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 hour ago, DISFANS3 said:

 I guess he forgot his watch...

Best post to date in this thread. 👍

 

It's hard to have any empathy for late-returning passengers. While cases may vary, I'd bet lunch money 95%+ of the time it's because of self-induced lateness. A very few cases are because of return transportation delays. Everyone is told repeatedly when the ship departs and when passengers have to be back on board. The Compass also gives this information.

 

Have seen it on virtually every cruise - it's part of the "me generation" mentality that everyone else can wait for me, me, me to get back while I milk every last minute of my time off the ship. Gotta get those last half-dozen selfies...

 

What makes matters worse...is that many times those same people take their time lazily strolling back to the ship's gangway while the Captain is anxiously awaiting to depart...most don't even act as though they're in any hurry. We've even seen some laughing...like their extreme tardiness was a joke. If we had a nickel for every time we've seen that, we could pay for another cruise.

 

Our take is: leave the bozos behind and figure out how they're going to "fix" their own problem  that they created. My time and money is no less valuable than theirs.

 

Whew...felling so much better now... 

Edited February 18, 2019 by CRUISEFAN0001