Pier Runners on Icon of the seas.

[CruiseMH]

Every person who is able to make it to Miami, find the correct terminal and get checked in and find their cabin should be able to read the clock and should be able to match their personal clock/watch/smartphone..whatever to the correct time to make sure they are back in time.

Thats why i also don`t feel sorry for them at all.

If it is true and they were not in a hurry it seems that they were confident to be on time. SO either they had the wrong time on their devices or they had the wrong "all aboard" time in mind.

 

 

[gerig]

On 3/28/2024 at 8:56 AM, LEMJMcC said:

Would it really matter if the ship was an hour or two late leaving port if the next day is a sea day?  If I was onboard, I probably wouldn't even notice that the ship was late leaving...arriving? yes, but not leaving.  And with the next stop being CoCo Cay, big deal!  I'd much rather give up an hour or two there (or even skip it altogether) than see someone's trip ruined.

It costs the cruise line extra money in port fees. 

[Etta1213]

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

The screen name sort of gives the location away.🙂

😅 I never read it!

[time4u2go]

1 hour ago, gerig said:

It costs the cruise line extra money in port fees. 

No it doesn't. See post #50. 

[Sacruiser62]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:33 AM, Dan83 said:

I can’t go along with this either. The cruise lines sell so so many overpriced and over crowded excursions based on this scare tactic. Although rare, there have been reports of cruise sponsored excursions missing the ship. At some point due to operational necessity or even cost considerations, they will absolutely leave an excursion group behind. Yes the cruise line will pick up the tab for transportation, and if lucky may even provide a small amount of compensation. But someone’s vacation will no doubt be ruined. There’s always some risk to everything we do. And I certainly don’t blame anyone for not taking the “safest” option. But if I limited myself to only cruise line excursions then I wouldn’t be cruising at all.

That is a choice you make.  My.brother does too.  I chose to not have to worry and pay a few dollars more, I'm on vacation!

[scorpluvsdolphins]

On 3/28/2024 at 10:41 AM, chengkp75 said:

This is an urban myth, port dockage fees are generally for a 24 hour spot.

Thanks for the info. 
Doesn’t the USA charge the cruise line for each person that doesn’t return with the ship?

[TheMichael]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:41 AM, chengkp75 said:

This is an urban myth, port dockage fees are generally for a 24 hour spot.

 

I would love to read more about how that works. Is there a full on-call port staff large enough to handle a cruise ship being paid for that 24 hours? Is it midnight-to-midnight, or docking time to the same time the next day? 

 

I find this concept fascinating and it would be great to get a link to official (or at least expert) information.

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, scorpluvsdolphins said:

Doesn’t the USA charge the cruise line for each person that doesn’t return with the ship?

That depends on which port the person got on the ship and in which port they missed the ship. For the OP, no, because the missed port was outside the US.

[gerig]

9 hours ago, time4u2go said:

No it doesn't. See post #50. 

That is not so in all ports as they may incur penalty charges.  The dock workers have to work longer and the pilot boat and crew are also incurring more time.

[MommaBear55]

18 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

At least these folks were stranded in the Caribbean.  Norwegian recently left 9 people behind in Angola.  Were on a late returning non-ships tour.   Tour operator said they notified ship but when they returned despite ship still being tied up at pier captain wouldn't allow them to board.  When Angolan Coast Guard later tried to ferry them to ship they were turned away.

 

https://www.wral.com/story/south-carolina-couple-stranded-in-africa-cruise-ship-left-without-them/21357016/

They are making the rounds of the major news networks this am. The Today show made it seem like it was all NCL's fault, and the two people interviewed took no personal responsibility. 

[bucfan2]

39 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

it was all NCL's fault, and the two people interviewed took no personal responsibility. 

That's surprising...

[Ocean Boy]

39 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

They are making the rounds of the major news networks this am. The Today show made it seem like it was all NCL's fault, and the two people interviewed took no personal responsibility. 

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

[Engineroom Snipe]

2 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

 

If all of the equipment used for tendering was stored and the anchors up, maybe any attempt at boarding was considered unsafe?

 

I cannot imagine what would happen if someone fell into the water during the transfer.

[Mum2Mercury]

20 hours ago, klfhngr said:

That's cliffhanger, but he said my real name. I didn't want to reveal my real name. But it did happen.

I remember your story, and I believe every word of it -- you have no reason to lie to us. 

Two take-aways are:  Keep your group together and allow plenty of buffer time to return to the ship.

17 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

Every person who is able to make it to Miami, find the correct terminal and get checked in and find their cabin should be able to read the clock and should be able to match their personal clock/watch/smartphone..whatever to the correct time to make sure they are back in time.

You make some fair points here.  

11 hours ago, Sacruiser62 said:

That is a choice you make.  My.brother does too.  I chose to not have to worry and pay a few dollars more, I'm on vacation!

Ship excursions vs. private excursions isn't about the extra cost (which is usually more than a few dollars).  It's about private excursions being a superior product:  smaller groups, more control over what you want to do, more motivated tour guides.  

The cruise lines have really sold a line of bull to a lot of people about "the danger of missing the ship" if you take a private excursion.  Most private excursions meet in the morning and get you back to the ship in the early afternoon, leaving you 4-5 hours of buffer time.  And ship excursions don't promise to verify that you personally are on the ship; they just promise the excursion will return to the dock on time; if you drink or shop the couple extra hours away, the ship'll leave you.  

20 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

Hmm, sounds like an interesting story.

[FionaMG]

19 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

At least these folks were stranded in the Caribbean.  Norwegian recently left 9 people behind in Angola.  Were on a late returning non-ships tour.   Tour operator said they notified ship but when they returned despite ship still being tied up at pier captain wouldn't allow them to board.  When Angolan Coast Guard later tried to ferry them to ship they were turned away.

 

https://www.wral.com/story/south-carolina-couple-stranded-in-africa-cruise-ship-left-without-them/21357016/

 

Just wanted to point out that they weren't left behind in Angola; it was in São Tomé e Príncipe, which is a small equatorial island nation located in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Central Africa.

There is no US diplomatic presence in the country; US citizens are served by the embassy in Luanda, Angola, nearly 800 miles to the south of São Tomé.

[FamilyCruiserUK]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

Health and safety. Imagine if someone got injured or fell in. Pilots are trained to board a vessel safely.

NCL would be sued until their eyes bleed so it was safer for the captain to say no. 

 

Now the tour operator should take full responsibility and costs, but i doubt they will. 

 

 

[shipgeeks]

Some of the questions above, about the NCL situation, are covered on the NCL board.

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

The ship was anchored off shore. All of the tender boats were already secured, as well as the dock the tenders used to get passengers on the ship. The only way to get the passengers on the ship was the dick used by the harbor pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs due to the difficulty and risk of getting on and off ships in that manner.

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

The ship was anchored off shore. All of the tender boats were already secured, as well as the dock the tenders used to get passengers on the ship. The only way to get the passengers on the ship was the dick used by the harbor pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs due to the difficulty and risk of getting on and off ships in that manner.

I haven't heard any details like that on the news. 

[BND]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I would be interested to know why, if the coast guard was willing to bring them out to the ship, the captain refused. I'm not judging the decision as I don't know the reasoning. However, I'd like to know the reasoning.

I'd say he didn't want to allow something once that others would expect later. They don't want people thinking they can show up late and expect to board in the future.  

[BND]

26 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

The ship was anchored off shore. All of the tender boats were already secured, as well as the dock the tenders used to get passengers on the ship. The only way to get the passengers on the ship was the dick used by the harbor pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs due to the difficulty and risk of getting on and off ships in that manner.

And one of the passengers was an older woman who barely was able to get on the boat that tried to take them out. No way she could ever climb into the ship.

[klfhngr]

2 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

I remember your story, and I believe every word of it -- you have no reason to lie to us. 

Two take-aways are:  Keep your group together and allow plenty of buffer time to return to the ship.

Thanks Mum, it was all true!

[CruiseMH]

11 hours ago, TheMichael said:

 

I would love to read more about how that works. Is there a full on-call port staff large enough to handle a cruise ship being paid for that 24 hours? Is it midnight-to-midnight, or docking time to the same time the next day? 

 

I find this concept fascinating and it would be great to get a link to official (or at least expert) information.

Most ports charge per docking or to be price per berth usage.

Every port has a limited number of berths. No. of berths x 365 days = max. amount they can have as income.

Thats why they usually charge per day.(midnight to midnight) It doesn`t matter whether a ship is docked from 7 am till 5 pm or from 5 am till 11 pm. Only when the ship e.g. is docking from 8 am till 8 am next day then there is an additional charge.Some ports do charge supplements for arrival/departure during night times(e.g. between 10 pm and 6 am) but this depends on the port fee tariff of each port.

I do know it because i studied a lot of port fee tariffs(because i was curious on how much a average day in port costs) and because of many Q&A`s with captain and other nautical officers.(german market cruise line AIDA does Q&A`s with the captain on almost every cruise)

 

 

 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The ship was anchored off shore. All of the tender boats were already secured, as well as the dock the tenders used to get passengers on the ship. The only way to get the passengers on the ship was the dick used by the harbor pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs due to the difficulty and risk of getting on and off ships in that manner.

OK, I'm still a teenager at heart.  I laughed at this.

[Mum2Mercury]

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

The only way to get the passengers on the ship was the dick used by the harbor pilot, one of the most dangerous jobs due to the difficulty and risk of getting on and off ships in that manner.

I've seen the Harbor Pilot come /go from the ship.  That's something only a young, healthy person can do, and -- if the article is truthful, which is never a sure thing -- this group was far from young and healthy.  What did the article say?  Four elderly, one quadrapalegic, one pregnant woman?  Seems like an unlikely number of medical issues for a group of nine.  

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

I haven't heard any details like that on the news. 

Nor have I.  With the media being what is is, we don't know much for sure.