I almost missed my cruise!

[Elaine5715]

51 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

As someone who works at a cruise ship pier, I know it is helpful if you are running late for a cruise that you let the folks at the terminal know.  Passengers should find the contact phone number in the first couple of pages of their ship boarding info.  While the ship has the final say on when the gangway gets pulled, if the managers at the terminal know that a passenger is on their way, and there is a chance that they will arrive within a reasonable time before the ship is set to sail, then the pier-side managers will try to work with the ship and longshore up until the very last minute before the gangway is pulled. 

 

Sometimes it is passengers arriving and our terminal doors are already locked.  A manager will radio up to the check-in area to see if it is still possible to get the late passengers on-board.  The ship usually has a officer present in the check-in area, especially just before we close down.  If the officer says we can get the late passengers on, the manager at the door will make sure that the late arriving passengers have their citizenship documents/IDs all in order and then we get the passengers up to the security screening asap, then thru check-in and then on to the ship.  Over the years there have been a few times that check-in was already shut down, and the late passengers were checked-in onboard.  As long as we know their citizenship documents were okay, the ship can check them in.  It's rare, but it has happened.

 

The pier-side staff really wants to get all passengers on-board, but sadly it doesn't always work out.

Seattle has the only port I have been able to watch the late comers.  There were four people who were dropped off with their luggage after the doors were locked.  They were quite leisurely as they walked up and then just pounded on the doors with lots of yelling.   The ship was waiting for a crew person but the guests were not boarded.  I had nightmares that night 

[Ferry_Watcher]

24 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Seattle has the only port I have been able to watch the late comers.  There were four people who were dropped off with their luggage after the doors were locked.  They were quite leisurely as they walked up and then just pounded on the doors with lots of yelling.   The ship was waiting for a crew person but the guests were not boarded.  I had nightmares that night 

I remember you posting about this incident.  We have had late passengers 'rush' the doors when a staff person was exiting the locked building trying to get inside in hopes of getting on the cruise ship.  Folks have a hard time understanding why they can't get on a cruise ship (late) when the cruise ship is still at the dock.  As for late passengers arriving via air, I think post pandemic, that 2022 was the worst year for flight delays.  

 

It does help if we know that someone is enroute, and says the taxi driver says 10 minutes out.  Last season we had a couple arrive less than a minute before our terminal doors were to be locked.  We actually told them to leave the luggage because they had to be physically inside the building before the 'hard close'.  They ran for the building, and our staff followed with their luggage.  They and their luggage made it.

 

Also, I have found that some ships are really strict with the 'hard close', and other ships are more flexible.

[soremekun]

4 hours ago, UGACamper said:

Would Fly2Fun have helped in this instance? Looking at booking it for day of flight in July to SFO from ATL. As a novice flyer, even though it’s a couple hundred more than what I would pay normally, I feel like the peace of mind is worth that. 

Yes, they'll try hard to get you to the embarkation port in time to catch the ship.  If not that isn't possible, then they'll get you to the next port the ship will be at.... at least for Royal Caribbean but I think it's the same for Carnival.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Sometimes it is passengers arriving and our terminal doors are already locked.  A manager will radio up to the check-in area to see if it is still possible to get the late passengers on-board.  The ship usually has a officer present in the check-in area, especially just before we close down.  If the officer says we can get the late passengers on, the manager at the door will make sure that the late arriving passengers have their citizenship documents/IDs all in order and then we get the passengers up to the security screening asap, then thru check-in and then on to the ship.  Over the years there have been a few times that check-in was already shut down, and the late passengers were checked-in onboard.  As long as we know their citizenship documents were okay, the ship can check them in.  It's rare, but it has happened.

Happened to me on Princess out of Southampton (UK) last summer, when United had their operational meltdown.  My flight arrived at Heathrow 3:20 late and I missed the last Princess shuttle to Southampton.  Princess EZair told me to take a taxi to Southampton and the ship would reimburse me, which they did... all $400 of it.  When I arrived, check-in was clearly over, and there were just a handful of agents left.  They radioed the ship to see if they would let me board; they asked if I had a US passport, and I did, so they let me board.  They ran all my bags through the carry-on baggage screener (probably just for security theater); I hurried to board the ship, all my bags in hand; and the ship pushed back about 15 minutes later.

 

In hindsight, no one physically checked me in onshore or onboard, but the agents had radioed my cabin number to the ship, so presumably someone on the ship checked me in without me being present.  But I am certain that no one ever checked my passport🤭

 

And yes, I did have travel insurance and also booked airfare through Princess, which guaranteed to pay for me to catch up with the ship at the next port.

 

But I agree the port agents did everything they could to get me aboard, when it would have been easier just to say "Sorry, boarding's over."

[staceyglow]

I can see why some people might risk a day-of flight to a U.S. embarkation port, but IMO it is absolutely INSANE to do that for a European cruise.  My personal experience has been that a significant number of my transcontinental flights have had some sort of significant delay.  I would never fly the same day as my cruise to save $150 on a hotel room - even if I did have trip insurance.  

[sanger727]

Glad you made it. I’ve never had a major flight issue until we used american as part of a package. It was an all inclusive, but we were getting married on the trip and had to arrive 2 days ahead - which was the day we were supposed to fly our. American cancelled our flight and couldn’t get us there until the next day. Luckily, there was a delta flight we just barely made and we had travel insurance.

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Happened to me on Princess out of Southampton (UK) last summer, when United had their operational meltdown.  My flight arrived at Heathrow 3:20 late and I missed the last Princess shuttle to Southampton.  Princess EZair told me to take a taxi to Southampton and the ship would reimburse me, which they did... all $400 of it.  When I arrived, check-in was clearly over, and there were just a handful of agents left.  They radioed the ship to see if they would let me board; they asked if I had a US passport, and I did, so they let me board.  They ran all my bags through the carry-on baggage screener (probably just for security theater); I hurried to board the ship, all my bags in hand; and the ship pushed back about 15 minutes later.

 

In hindsight, no one physically checked me in onshore or onboard, but the agents had radioed my cabin number to the ship, so presumably someone on the ship checked me in without me being present.  But I am certain that no one ever checked my passport🤭

 

And yes, I did have travel insurance and also booked airfare through Princess, which guaranteed to pay for me to catch up with the ship at the next port.

 

But I agree the port agents did everything they could to get me aboard, when it would have been easier just to say "Sorry, boarding's over."

 

So glad to hear that it all worked out for you.  Re the bag screening - definitely not 'security theater' LOL.  Believe me, everyone at a cruise terminal takes security and citizenship documents very seriously.  Thanks for sharing your story - we all love happy endings!

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

As someone who works at a cruise ship pier, I know it is helpful if you are running late for a cruise that you let the folks at the terminal know.  Passengers should find the contact phone number in the first couple of pages of their ship boarding info.  While the ship has the final say on when the gangway gets pulled, if the managers at the terminal know that a passenger is on their way, and there is a chance that they will arrive within a reasonable time before the ship is set to sail, then the pier-side managers will try to work with the ship and longshore up until the very last minute before the gangway is pulled. 

 

Sometimes it is passengers arriving and our terminal doors are already locked.  A manager will radio up to the check-in area to see if it is still possible to get the late passengers on-board.  The ship usually has a officer present in the check-in area, especially just before we close down.  If the officer says we can get the late passengers on, the manager at the door will make sure that the late arriving passengers have their citizenship documents/IDs all in order and then we get the passengers up to the security screening asap, then thru check-in and then on to the ship.  Over the years there have been a few times that check-in was already shut down, and the late passengers were checked-in onboard.  As long as we know their citizenship documents were okay, the ship can check them in.  It's rare, but it has happened.

 

The pier-side staff really wants to get all passengers on-board, but sadly it doesn't always work out.

To quote Jackson Browne from the song The Loadout---"You guys are the champs."

 

He was referring to his roadies, but it applies to you unsung heroes at the check in desks.

[alias47]

If you are flying in the day of, my only two cents is avoid Jetblue like the plague, they are notorious for on-time arrivals / cancellations.  Only 65% of their flights arrive "on time" in 2023, worse of any US carrier operationally speaking.  Of course any airline can mess up, but statistically better off taking your business elsewhere. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

39 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

To quote Jackson Browne from the song The Loadout---"You guys are the champs."

 

He was referring to his roadies, but it applies to you unsung heroes at the check in desks.

LOL.  As embarkation winds down, check-in agents are gradually sent home.  The IT guys from the ship begin to pack up the handheld tablets and start closing down the laptops. All the equipment is packed up and returned to the ship.  Finally, as the 'hard close' approaches, different areas are asked if there are any passengers still in the terminal.  Hearing the answer 'no',  the ship's IT crew members literally cluster around the remaining operating check-in devices, waiting for the terminal mangers to say 'doors are closed'.  The IT crew members pack up the couple remaining tablets and laptops. The Documentation Officer secures all the foreign passports that have been collected and transports them to the ship, and the final people who walk across the gangway before it is pulled are the crew members who support the check-in staff.  The ship sails minutes later.

 

Then, seven days later, we do again.

 

@ontheweb, your concert roadie analogy was a clever one, my friend.  Thanks!

 

"And get up and do it again..."

Edited February 19 by Ferry_Watcher

[Oceans 818]

2 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

In hindsight, no one physically checked me in onshore or onboard, but the agents had radioed my cabin number to the ship, so presumably someone on the ship checked me in without me being present.  But I am certain that no one ever checked my passport🤭

Hi, we didn't have our passports checked on one cruise and when I said something, the response was "facial recognition is a wonderful thing!" We were doing a B2B; same cruise line, different ships.

Our last cruise, the agent actually asked us a lot of questions about our travel habits. We live on the New York/ Ontario border and cross at least once a week. He said it was the first time he'd seen so many crossings. He was young and we cross alot. Family & shopping on both sides, the best of both worlds!

[Haljo1935]

8 hours ago, staceyglow said:

But I bet you didn't miss your cruise!  😃

I didn't but it was close due to flight delays the next morning. It was the 2nd time ever I thought I might honestly miss a cruise. The other was also due to a canceled flight from the previous day. So my "day befores" have been rough.

In addition to going out 2-3 days ahead for European cruises, I try to do non-stops. As much as I don't like the loooong flights, I don’t like the risks involved w/layovers.

[jerseygirlinAZ]

3 hours ago, staceyglow said:

I can see why some people might risk a day-of flight to a U.S. embarkation port, but IMO it is absolutely INSANE to do that for a European cruise.  My personal experience has been that a significant number of my transcontinental flights have had some sort of significant delay.  I would never fly the same day as my cruise to save $150 on a hotel room - even if I did have trip insurance.  

We're going out on the Legend from Southampton this summer.  We are flying straight from Phoenix two days before (technically, we get at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and our cruise leaves on Friday).  My sister wanted to see London and I made sure to tack on a day and a half before the cruise, just in case something happens.  

[johnboy036]

3 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

We're going out on the Legend from Southampton this summer.  We are flying straight from Phoenix two days before (technically, we get at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and our cruise leaves on Friday).  My sister wanted to see London and I made sure to tack on a day and a half before the cruise, just in case something happens.  

The Legend sails from Dover so make sure you go there and not Southampton. 

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

LOL.  As embarkation winds down, check-in agents are gradually sent home.  The IT guys from the ship begin to pack up the handheld tablets and start closing down the laptops. All the equipment is packed up and returned to the ship.  Finally, as the 'hard close' approaches, different areas are asked if there are any passengers still in the terminal.  Hearing the answer 'no',  the ship's IT crew members literally cluster around the remaining operating check-in devices, waiting for the terminal mangers to say 'doors are closed'.  The IT crew members pack up the couple remaining tablets and laptops. The Documentation Officer secures all the foreign passports that have been collected and transports them to the ship, and the final people who walk across the gangway before it is pulled are the crew members who support the check-in staff.  The ship sails minutes later.

 

Then, seven days later, we do again.

 

@ontheweb, your concert roadie analogy was a clever one, my friend.  Thanks!

 

"And get up and do it again..."

I still think you and your colleagues are still the champs.

 

When you say seven days later, we do again, are you saying you only work one day a week?

[Destaw71835]

🍀 

[jerseygirlinAZ]

8 hours ago, johnboy036 said:

The Legend sails from Dover so make sure you go there and not Southampton.

 

Yes, it is Dover. Not sure what I was thinking. We even are going to the castle pre-cruise. Thanks!

[StephPS79]

15 hours ago, sanger727 said:

Glad you made it. I’ve never had a major flight issue until we used american as part of a package. It was an all inclusive, but we were getting married on the trip and had to arrive 2 days ahead - which was the day we were supposed to fly our. American cancelled our flight and couldn’t get us there until the next day. Luckily, there was a delta flight we just barely made and we had travel insurance.

 

Good ol' AA!  We got married on the ship in port in New Orleans last year.  New Orleans makes you appear in person for the marriage license, so even though embarkation was Sunday, February 5th, we planned to head to NOLA on Thursday night, because we had to get to the courthouse on Friday.  Wouldn't you know, our original flight was delayed and we would miss our connection.  They got us on a later flight, and we got to Charlotte (connection), but low and behold as soon as we looked at the board in Charlotte, we saw our flight to NOLA was cancelled.  They said it was cancelled because of "weather," but looking at the board, it was the ONLY cancelled flight.  Of course it was the last flight out that night.  They couldn't rebook us until 10:30PM the next night which meant we would miss the court house.  We got to the hotel that night around 12:30am, and then got up around around 5:00am the next morning to try and get on stand-by.  We eventually were able to get on an 11:30 flight, which would put us in NOLA around 12:30pm (thank god for the time difference!), and then ran to the courthouse.  We made it with about an hour to closing.  Lol.  At least we have a story, I guess.

[Ferry_Watcher]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

I still think you and your colleagues are still the champs.

 

When you say seven days later, we do again, are you saying you only work one day a week?

 

No, I mean that the same cruise ship and crew have returned from their sailing and we are back doing it again.

 

Actually, in Seattle (Pier 91), there is a cruise ship during the Alaska season 6 days a week, doing 7 day round trips.  So Monday, Royal, Tuesday Carnival. Wednesday off, Thursday Carnival, Friday Royal & Celebrity, and Sat/Sundays HAL & Princess.

 

All the equipment we use comes off the ships in the morning, and it all goes back on just before the ship sails.  Each cruise line has a slightly different set up of how passengers are lined up, so the stanchions get moved around late in the afternoon, for the configuration for the for the cruise line that will be there the next day.  And all the unique brand signs are all stowed away in storage closets until that particular ship returns.  Saturdays and Sundays are the easiest since it is just HAL & Princess, so the set up is basically the same on those two days. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, StephPS79 said:

 

Good ol' AA!  We got married on the ship in port in New Orleans last year.  New Orleans makes you appear in person for the marriage license, so even though embarkation was Sunday, February 5th, we planned to head to NOLA on Thursday night, because we had to get to the courthouse on Friday.  Wouldn't you know, our original flight was delayed and we would miss our connection.  They got us on a later flight, and we got to Charlotte (connection), but low and behold as soon as we looked at the board in Charlotte, we saw our flight to NOLA was cancelled.  They said it was cancelled because of "weather," but looking at the board, it was the ONLY cancelled flight.  Of course it was the last flight out that night.  They couldn't rebook us until 10:30PM the next night which meant we would miss the court house.  We got to the hotel that night around 12:30am, and then got up around around 5:00am the next morning to try and get on stand-by.  We eventually were able to get on an 11:30 flight, which would put us in NOLA around 12:30pm (thank god for the time difference!), and then ran to the courthouse.  We made it with about an hour to closing.  Lol.  At least we have a story, I guess.

I hope you have more than a story. I hope you have a successful fulfilling marriage. 😊

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

No, I mean that the same cruise ship and crew have returned from their sailing and we are back doing it again.

 

Actually, in Seattle (Pier 91), there is a cruise ship during the Alaska season 6 days a week, doing 7 day round trips.  So Monday, Royal, Tuesday Carnival. Wednesday off, Thursday Carnival, Friday Royal & Celebrity, and Sat/Sundays HAL & Princess.

 

All the equipment we use comes off the ships in the morning, and it all goes back on just before the ship sails.  Each cruise line has a slightly different set up of how passengers are lined up, so the stanchions get moved around late in the afternoon, for the configuration for the for the cruise line that will be there the next day.  And all the unique brand signs are all stowed away in storage closets until that particular ship returns.  Saturdays and Sundays are the easiest since it is just HAL & Princess, so the set up is basically the same on those two days. 

Ah, I was wondering how you were making a living working one day a week. 🤦‍♂️

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Ah, I was wondering how you were making a living working one day a week. 🤦‍♂️

 

Lucky for me I do it for the fun, the money is secondary.  Although I have had days that I wonder why I put up with some of the nonsense.  But then the next day comes, and all is well.  ;  )

[ontheweb]

59 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Lucky for me I do it for the fun, the money is secondary.  Although I have had days that I wonder why I put up with some of the nonsense.  But then the next day comes, and all is well.  ;  )

I bet you do not turn your paycheck back in. And it is good doing something you can love.

 

Might be interesting if you could start a thread about some of the nonsense you say you have to sometimes put up with. Maybe the header could be what NOT to do at check in. Maybe you could even see about writing an article like that for cruisecritic. (Not for the money of course. I'm not even sure they pay for writing articles.)

[DPTexas]

Last year, we sailed on the Panorama out of CA, flying in from Texas.  We planned (as we always do) to fly in the day before.  Then, the FAA system failure happened a few days or so before our cruise.  That made us rethink our plans, so we flew in 2 days before.  Luckily, our plans were flexible and we  didn't mind having an additional hotel expense for the peace of mind it brought and bought.  Even when sailing out of Galveston, as we usually do, we always drive in the night before.  I know a lot of people can't, but I am so glad we can.

Happy cruising everyone!  

 

[freewilly]

On 2/19/2024 at 9:36 AM, jerseygirlinAZ said:

 

Yes, it is Dover. Not sure what I was thinking. We even are going to the castle pre-cruise. Thanks!

Go to Canterberry  whilst in Dover area. It is a wonderful little place to see.

Edited February 22 by freewilly