Missing the ship

[Fogfog]

I will say I fear missing the ship....and we work to make sure we are on ahead of "last call"...

 

Have watched pier runners in some ports

 

Thoughts on this?

 

https://www.cruise.co.uk/bulletin/late-couple-misses-cruise-ship-seconds-cruise-lines-wait/?ocxemail=zcdgkj8ksa1vln7z47lp6ui3lx0h79lwkwtxmq&cid=1005572286&utm_content=XCSFB&eb_position=1&utm_term=whatshotone&utm_medium=email&utm_source=BULLETIN-ALL&utm_campaign=170319A

[tallnthensome]

Bye! A ship of thousands should not wait for 2 people’s ignorance or negligence. 

[SausPud]

Which is why I always use ships excursions. The ship waits (had this twice) or the cruiseline pays to get you to the next port.

[Loracpin2]

31 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

Bye! A ship of thousands should not wait for 2 people’s ignorance or negligence. 

No matter the number, there are countless people who have the attitude rules "do not" apply to them. I still remember a group of 10 people waving at the Sovereign of the Seas as the ship pulled out of Jamaica at 12:30am in January 1988. The ship was to depart at midnight.

[Rob the Cruiser]

No sympathy. 

[hcat]

Ship excursions are the best choice unless you are in walking distance from the ship....has paid off for us more than once!

 

To those left behind other than a med emergency ..bye bye 

If there is such an emergency..contact the port agent asap...

[kenevenpar]

In Bermuda a couple of years ago, we, and all of our fellow "let's see how many are late watchers" saw a lady oblivious to the fact that the Summit was about to leave.  A cab driver took pity, and drove her as far as he could.  The Captain waited a minute or two and allowed her to board.

 

I saw her on deck a little later, and asked if she was worried that she was going to miss the sailing.  "Of course not, they always wait", she said.  I mentioned that she may want to reconsider that strategy in the future.

[sippican]

The ships do not always wait for their own excursions, and sometimes they wait for private tours, if notified,  or even stupid late people. Sometimes they must leave and the decision is out of their control - tide schedules, port rules, etc. On a cruise to Italy - Royal Caribbean left two of its own excursions behind and sailed. Of course they will get you to the next port - as will any reputable tour company as their very existence depends on it. I challenge you to find examples of private tours that missed the ship. If peace of mind means you are willing to pay the inflated prices for big bus tours, large groups and non-flexible tour itineraries for the rare chance you might miss the ship, then ships's excursions are for you. 

[puppycanducruise]

No sympathy.

People need to be responsible for their actions.

 

[Orator]

Always take the name, address and phone number of the Port Agent when you leave the ship. Call the Port Agent if anything happens that might make you late for departure and they will contact the ship. 

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

In actuality, the ship already had waited 45 minutes past all aboard before they left. So the couple (and I think like 4 others) was almost an hour beyond all aboard.

[Host Jazzbeau]

25 minutes ago, sippican said:

The ships do not always wait for their own excursions, and sometimes they wait for private tours, if notified,  or even stupid late people. Sometimes they must leave and the decision is out of their control - tide schedules, port rules, etc. On a cruise to Italy - Royal Caribbean left two of its own excursions behind and sailed. Of course they will get you to the next port - as will any reputable tour company as their very existence depends on it. I challenge you to find examples of private tours that missed the ship. If peace of mind means you are willing to pay the inflated prices for big bus tours, large groups and non-flexible tour itineraries for the rare chance you might miss the ship, then ships's excursions are for you. 

 

In all my years of reading Cruise Critic, I have yet to hear about a single private tour that missed the ship.  Every example mentioned is always about individuals who lost track of time while shopping or (more likely) sitting in a bar.  All the private firms are very clear on their websites that they guarantee getting you back on time.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

31 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

In all my years of reading Cruise Critic, I have yet to hear about a single private tour that missed the ship.  Every example mentioned is always about individuals who lost track of time while shopping or (more likely) sitting in a bar.  All the private firms are very clear on their websites that they guarantee getting you back on time.

 

My first cruise to Alaska on HAL, one of the crew who worked at their shore excursions desk was on the whale watching tour I took (they periodically send shore excursions crew on tours when not full so that they can accurately describe them to guests) and she told us how on an earlier cruise, the excursions to the mushers' camp (sled dogs) got stuck overnight because weather moved in and prevented the helicopters from getting back. There were people from 2 HAL ships - most of which were on HAL excursions, but a family or two had booked privately. When they got down, HAL 100% covered the costs at the mushers' camp for the people on their excursions and had train tickets to the next port for their excursion from one ship and a small boat they had chartered for the excursion from the other ship. The private company did cover the cost of the overnight for their parties, but they had done nothing to figure out how they were getting the parties back to the ship. 

 

Incidentally a couple of years later, I was listening to This American Life podcast, and they did an interview with a young woman from the midwest who had worked at a mushers' camp one summer during college (so much for those being 100% all Alaskan people) and she recounted how there had been a few days where that happened and people had to stay overnight and one time where it was a few DAYS before the helicopters could get back.

 

So while rare, it 100% CAN happen.

[RDC1]

49 minutes ago, sippican said:

The ships do not always wait for their own excursions, and sometimes they wait for private tours, if notified,  or even stupid late people. Sometimes they must leave and the decision is out of their control - tide schedules, port rules, etc. On a cruise to Italy - Royal Caribbean left two of its own excursions behind and sailed. Of course they will get you to the next port - as will any reputable tour company as their very existence depends on it. I challenge you to find examples of private tours that missed the ship. If peace of mind means you are willing to pay the inflated prices for big bus tours, large groups and non-flexible tour itineraries for the rare chance you might miss the ship, then ships's excursions are for you. 

I can give you a couple of cases that occurred on cruises that I have been on.

 

1. Belieze  - A private excursion of 8 people got a flat tire on the way back to port.  

ship held last tender (tender was local ship used due to very long tender distance there) for 15 minutes then left.  Ship pulled passports from safes.  Sent them back in on the local tender.  Passengers rejoined in Roatan on their own dime.

 

2. Cannes - Elderly couple on private excursion missed ship.  Ship lifted anchor and started sailing out.  Couple paid a local ship to bring them out to the ship after communication by radio.  Captain stopped and allowed them to board using tender area.

 

3. Machu Picchu excursion - Over 180 cruise line excursion passengers, and three groups of private excursions (1 4 people booked through Amex, one couple on own, one CC group of over 10 booked through local tour group).  Passengers were on two planes coming out of Cusco.  Second plane had bird strike on talk off and had to abort.  Plane slid off runway and Cusco airport closed for several hours.  Ship waited in Lima for a couple of hours, then had to leave port.  Waited outside port for a couple of more hours then headed out when it became clear that they would not make it back that evening. Decision made to have a special stop in Manta Ecuador.

 

Cruise line (in this case Princess) paid for all ship excursion passengers to rejoin the ship including first class hotels.  The ships excursion passengers rejoined in Manta, the 4 with Amex, and the couple rejoined there as well.  The CC group did not rejoin until the normal Costa Rico.

 

4. Alaska cruise to Skagway.  Private excursion to Haines via ferry.  Bad weather came up ferry could not return to Skagway.  Cruise line excursion also stck.  Next day cruise line excursion flown by charter to rejoin ship in Juneau.  Private excursion had to book commercial on own.

[Steve H]

Was on the Silhouette last week and the ship waited at least 40 minutes for 2 people in St. Kitts .

[Silkroad]

1 hour ago, Orator said:

Always take the name, address and phone number of the Port Agent when you leave the ship. Call the Port Agent if anything happens that might make you late for departure and they will contact the ship. 

 

Great advice. We always do so. While I agree with everyone who says we should each return to the ship by the required time, I try to return well ahead of that time. I’ve seen people struggling to get back to their ships on time after spraining an ankle, having the straps of a sandal break, needing to help a companion who has become fatigued, having had to report a theft at the police station, and/or having been unable to find a taxi. I prefer to board an hour early, and relax with an espresso or glass of wine well before the all aboard announcement.

Edited March 18, 2019 by Silkroad

[Fogfog]

My brother and his new bride were the last ones on the ship at embarkation in Fl --when their orrginal flights were cancelled due to fog.  What a way to start a honeymoon!

They changed airports and flights all around... and knew they would potentially miss the ship.

There was now way to make the ship via driving... too many hours from the Carolinas to FtL

 

Don't recall if it was RCCL or NCL--however --they called from the cab enroute from airport...and were escorted with bags dragging behind them up the gangway....

And the port folks pulled the gangway..off it went.

Literally the last people for embarkation.

They were very  grateful and had been in touch all day with the cruise line

 

I realize this is completely different from the pier runners - "oh they will wait for us" folks.

 

Guess there is a good reason to have your ID, passport and a credit card with you when you go ashore... as you may need it to book a flight/train etc to the next port.

 

 

 

[RDC1]

16 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

My brother and his new bride were the last ones on the ship at embarkation in Fl --when their orrginal flights were cancelled due to fog.  What a way to start a honeymoon!

They changed airports and flights all around... and knew they would potentially miss the ship.

There was now way to make the ship via driving... too many hours from the Carolinas to FtL

 

Don't recall if it was RCCL or NCL--however --they called from the cab enroute from airport...and were escorted with bags dragging behind them up the gangway....

And the port folks pulled the gangway..off it went.

Literally the last people for embarkation.

They were very  grateful and had been in touch all day with the cruise line

 

I realize this is completely different from the pier runners - "oh they will wait for us" folks.

 

Guess there is a good reason to have your ID, passport and a credit card with you when you go ashore... as you may need it to book a flight/train etc to the next port.

 

 

 

I never take my passport off ship, unless it is required by the local country that you have it (Russia for example).

 

Normal procedure for ship is in case of a passenger being late is to go to the stateroom, pull the passports from the safe and give them to the port agent. 

[Fogfog]

19 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

Great advice. We always do so. While I agree with everyone who says we should each return to the ship by the required time, I try to return well ahead of that time. I’ve seen people struggling to get back to their ships on time after spraining an ankle, having the straps of a sandal break, needing to help a companion who has become fatigued, having had to report a theft at the police station, and/or having been unable to find a taxi. I prefer to board an hour early, and relax with an espresso or glass of wine well before the all aboard announcement.

This is me

I worry that missing the ship will be a HUGE hassle... Try to make educated guesses re shore excursions etc

 

While in the Baltics our young adult "kids" and some others in their 18-22ish wanted to go bar-hopping the night before the ship left at early morning. Several of the parents discussed it--and the problem was the ship was "at sea" for 2 days til the  next port so if the kids missed the ship... it was going to be days before they' rejoin the ship...

Several of the parents were willing to let some other parent be the "responsible one" to go with the group to make sure they made the ship in time. DH said--WHY would he want to be "responsible" for that! yikes!  With no other "parents" willing to step up and join the group... our adult-kids were disappointed we veto'd the outing.

 

Fast fwd and last year our adult "kids" went out in Havana about midnight... they were 2 of the last 4 on the ship (at about 5:15am)  before the required time to be aboard at 6am.  (We had told them IF they missed the ship the costs involved in getting back to the US were on them...AND we'd not be amused!)

 

The other 2 guys were LATE (after 6 sometime--- closer to 6:30) and the ship security was NOT happy. The two guys were thoroughly checked .... and I believe the story is--still drunk at 6am+ (according to our "kids"). 

 

I am much happier to be on board, on time, cocktail in hand. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Fogfog]

4 minutes ago, RDC1 said:

I never take my passport off ship, unless it is required by the local country that you have it (Russia for example).

 

Normal procedure for ship is in case of a passenger being late is to go to the stateroom, pull the passports from the safe and give them to the port agent. 

Really? So before the ship left (in the above video) It is likely the docs were retrieved from the cabin (assuming in the safe) and given to the port agents??

Had no idea. Interesting

[RDC1]

2 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Really? So before the ship left (in the above video) It is likely the docs were retrieved from the cabin (assuming in the safe) and given to the port agents??

Had no idea. Interesting

Yes, as long as they can find them.  That is why you always should put them in the safe because that is where they will look for them.

[sippican]

1 hour ago, RDC1 said:

I can give you a couple of cases that occurred on cruises that I have been on.

 

1. Belieze  - A private excursion of 8 people got a flat tire on the way back to port.  

ship held last tender (tender was local ship used due to very long tender distance there) for 15 minutes then left.  Ship pulled passports from safes.  Sent them back in on the local tender.  Passengers rejoined in Roatan on their own dime.

 

2. Cannes - Elderly couple on private excursion missed ship.  Ship lifted anchor and started sailing out.  Couple paid a local ship to bring them out to the ship after communication by radio.  Captain stopped and allowed them to board using tender area.

 

3. Machu Picchu excursion - Over 180 cruise line excursion passengers, and three groups of private excursions (1 4 people booked through Amex, one couple on own, one CC group of over 10 booked through local tour group).  Passengers were on two planes coming out of Cusco.  Second plane had bird strike on talk off and had to abort.  Plane slid off runway and Cusco airport closed for several hours.  Ship waited in Lima for a couple of hours, then had to leave port.  Waited outside port for a couple of more hours then headed out when it became clear that they would not make it back that evening. Decision made to have a special stop in Manta Ecuador.

 

Cruise line (in this case Princess) paid for all ship excursion passengers to rejoin the ship including first class hotels.  The ships excursion passengers rejoined in Manta, the 4 with Amex, and the couple rejoined there as well.  The CC group did not rejoin until the normal Costa Rico.

 

4. Alaska cruise to Skagway.  Private excursion to Haines via ferry.  Bad weather came up ferry could not return to Skagway.  Cruise line excursion also stck.  Next day cruise line excursion flown by charter to rejoin ship in Juneau.  Private excursion had to book commercial on own.

 

Wow, you've been on some unlucky cruises!

I agree with Jazzbeau. In all of my years on Cruise Critic, my own cruises, and those of my clients. I've never heard of a single incident such as these through reputable private tour providers. 

It's certainly not compelling enough to make me want to stop booking or recommending private tours. Kind of like worrying about getting struck by lightening. I stick by my personal opinion, for whatever that's worth, to take my chances on private tours in order to get the most value and quality out of my travel experiences. I have on occasion taken ships' tours in more remote areas, when there was not a viable choice through private vendors.  I do respect and understand those that do not have a comfort level to do so.

[RDC1]

2 minutes ago, sippican said:

 

Wow, you've been on some unlucky cruises!

I agree with Jazzbeau. In all of my years on Cruise Critic, my own cruises, and those of my clients. I've never heard of a single incident such as these through reputable private tour providers. 

It's certainly not compelling enough to make me want to stop booking or recommending private tours. Kind of like worrying about getting struck by lightening. I stick by my personal opinion, for whatever that's worth, to take my chances on private tours in order to get the most value and quality out of my travel experiences. I have on occasion taken ships' tours in more remote areas, when there was not a viable choice through private vendors.  I do respect and understand those that do not have a comfort level to do so.

Just go on a lot of cruises.  Just pointing out it does happen.  Most of the time the people on the ship never hear about it.  For example the only reason I knew about the Belize episode is because one of the couples were our table mates.  The Cannes couple was because in Rome we were on the same excursion as they were and someone noticed that they were the couple being paged for at Cannes.  They asked and were told what happened. The Haines and Cusco events got a lot more publicity.  The funny thing about the Cusco flight is when the CC folks were organizing the trip prior to the cruise one of them posted what can go wrong we are on the same flights as the Princess excursion.

 

It doesn't happen until it does.

[Gonzo70]

I too have never heard of anybody on a private excursion missing the ship (but have heard of people on cruise ship excursions and people off on their own missing the ship). With a little research there is nearly a 100% chance of obtaining a private tour that is both better quality and better value than a ship excursion in the vast majority of ports. With a little common sense there is nearly a 0% chance of missing the ship when doing a private tour. I will take those odds every time. I rarely take ship excursions; while over the years some have been good, too often they have been slow moving with far too many people, no chance of customization and poor value (and some had even bigger issues). Have been much happier overall on private excursions. Time is too short in ports not to take advantage of private tours, thereby maximizing one's experience. The fear factor of missing the ship is so minuscule it should not be a determining factor, but the cruise lines take advantage of anxious cruisers to get them to purchase their overpriced excursions.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We were on a private bear watch in Icy Straight Point and the guide, and another tourist were very blasé about returning to the ship.  The guide just wanted to "try one more spot" and the tourist was "of course the ship will wait for us".  I wanted to strangle both of them.  When we finally got to the port the guide informed us that he could not take us any closer, even though he had picked us fairly close to the pier. Luckily a bus with a ships excursion was still un loading so we knew we would be safe.  The gangway was removed even before we got to our cabin.

This has made me rethink taking afternoon private excursions that guarantee getting back on time.