Ooops(:

I was watching youtube Vlogs and a segment came across showing CRUISE RUNNERS it was funny to watch ( but not so ) just watching all the people running trying to get onboard before the cruise leaves. WHY WHY when know what time you are expected to get back one passenger was so drunk trying to get back that the cruise ship had to get a wheel chair to get him onboard.

What is your take on CRUISE RUNNERS

I was watching youtube Vlogs and a segment came across showing CRUISE RUNNERS it was funny to watch ( but not so ) just watching all the people running trying to get onboard before the cruise leaves. WHY WHY when know what time you are expected to get back one passenger was so drunk trying to get back that the cruise ship had to get a wheel chair to get him onboard.

What is your take on CRUISE RUNNERS

My 2 cents

Pier runners are all about themselves and could care less who has to wait on them. Self entitlement comes to mind.

Sure there are situation that arise that warrant being late back ( ship sponsored excursions, accidents. But that is rare.)

For some people, they have never been to a place like Senior Frogs or Carlos and Charlies... While I could never imagine losing control of my drinking to the point of being barely able to function, sitting in a Senior frogs once I saw behavior by the staff that was really pushing people past their comfortable drinking zone..

If on vacation, and get pushed past what you should have by pushy bar staff, I can see how we end up with some of the drunk pier runners...

For the ones that are just late because they are off shopping or site seeing, I think that is just another example of the me culture that the US has developed in the last 20 years or so...

I agree with the posters above...it is a sense of entitlement. I don't want to be left...even in a gorgeous port, so I am always back to the ship with plenty of item to spare!

I'm sure there are some that do have a sense of entitlement but it could also being hung up in traffic or some other reason. Some people also don't realize that their phone will adjust the time to local time, which can cause some close calls if one isn't careful. We were on a CCL excursion and got back to the ship 30 minutes after the all aboard time.

A pier runner who was drunk?

No, surely not :D :D :D

JB :)

I was watching youtube Vlogs and a segment came across showing CRUISE RUNNERS it was funny to watch ( but not so ) just watching all the people running trying to get onboard before the cruise leaves. WHY WHY when know what time you are expected to get back one passenger was so drunk trying to get back that the cruise ship had to get a wheel chair to get him onboard.

What is your take on CRUISE RUNNERS

My wife and I did am excursion to Megan's Beach in St. Thomas and were talking to a family sitting being us on the shuttle back to the ship (Valor) and they said they had done a Med cruise on CCL the year before and fifteen minutes before departure (4 p.m.). came, they announced about twelve names, for those passengers to call or make teirselves known to guest services if they were aboard, finally at 4:05 they took the gangplank up and the mother said, 'Off we sailed and still they were asking IF those people were aboard'. She said she had a chance to ask one of the bridge officers later IF they ever showed up? She said he sadly shook his head no, that one of the bridge staff asked if they could possibly wait another ten minutes and he said before said officer could even finish the sentence, the captain cut him off with a glare and said sternly he was not gonna punish three thousand people for the deeds of dozen, We said FOUR p.m..,we SAIL!. I thought, WOW! I guess, they'll meet us at our next stop.

Mac

Amazing though, are the passengers who think a ship ought to wait for these stragglers.

Last year there was a viral video where a woman was frantically gesturing to the departing ship that her children were on board. (The children were never alone but left in the care of an uncle and his family.) The man filming the scene can the heard, "That's just not right...He's got to go back for them".

As SmoothFlying pointed out however, three thousand people can't be punished for the deeds of a dozen. If they did wait the extra ten minutes it would stretch into 20, then 30, than an hour, then arrival at the next port is late. Time in port also costs cruise lines thousands of dollars for "parking", security, linesman, and harbor pilots. The rate clock is ticking as they wait.

I was on a World Cruise and when it was time to push off at one of the ports, they were missing three passengers. I recognized one of the names and started looking down the pier to see if they were coming. Just as they started releasing the ropes, the three started running up.

They were caught in traffic and even attempted to contact the port agent for the cruise line but the contact information in our daily schedule was wrong.

Luckily they made it but did get a stern lecture from the head of sercurity. They later proved to security and other officers that the port agent information as wrong.

I will never assume the port agent info is always correct.

On that same cruise, the ship did wait for a ship's sponsored excursion that I was on. They kind of had to as there were over 400 of us on a train trip and was running over an hour late getting back.

Don

On our last cruise, the cruise's excursion was 45 min late. We had the walk/run of shame as the entire port side of the ship watched us on their balconies. The only saving grace is that we saw another bus pulling in just behind so we were not exactly the last bus.

Amazing though, are the passengers who think a ship ought to wait for these stragglers.

 

Last year there was a viral video where a woman was frantically gesturing to the departing ship that her children were on board. (The children were never alone but left in the care of an uncle and his family.) The man filming the scene can the heard, "That's just not right...He's got to go back for them".

 

As SmoothFlying pointed out however, three thousand people can't be punished for the deeds of a dozen. If they did wait the extra ten minutes it would stretch into 20, then 30, than an hour, then arrival at the next port is late. Time in port also costs cruise lines thousands of dollars for "parking", security, linesman, and harbor pilots. The rate clock is ticking as they wait.

In this case the woman could have been on board but chose to go shopping instead. Her husband and children had boarded the ship and she wanted to shop. When the husband realized that sailing was going to happen despite his wife's selfish behavior he chose to get off to go looking for her. He couldn't find her in time so the ship sailed. She is heard wailing something like "my children". The children were left with family and probably didn't even know the plight of the selfish woman except they knew mom and dad were going to be away for the night.

Her dramatics were embarrassing. Maybe she was trying out for a part on a reality show. Let's face it. She couldn't care less about her children being alone. She couldn't care less about holding up an entire ship because she wanted to shop, I would have been cheering the Captain and crew for leaving her behind. At 15 minutes to sail her husband got off with their money and passports.

If some one calls ahead and says they are at the hospital, there has been an accident etc. Okay, I'm willing to wait a little if the Captain can and wants to. No one forces you to drink until you fall over That is your choice. It is not my problem.

Another annoying aspect is when they leisurely stroll back onto the ship even though crew and passengers are urging them to hurry. They are definitely of the me generation.

'Off we sailed and still they were asking IF those people were aboard'.

I am surprised they would still be asking. Not only should the computer system know if they they scanned in their card but exactly when. I've installed enough of these systems to know how easy it is to query the database for activity on a particular card. Bigger issue though is someone actually getting back onboard WITHOUT scanning their card. Paging for the people is sort of admitting their security is weak.

Yes, we always get back in plenty of time to get a good seat for the Runner Show. Some of the best entertainment on a cruise. ;)

...the captain cut him off with a glare and said sternly he was not gonna punish three thousand people for the deeds of dozen, We said FOUR p.m..,we SAIL!....

While I understand that things out of a person's control can and do make people late through no fault of their own, I belong to the camp of "they're not here, leave 'em." Things that are scheduled to happen at a given time should happen at that time, and I've had too many years of nothing starting on time because people know that they can straggle in any old time they like without things starting without them. Hubby and I dropped out of a Neighborhood Watch group, partly due to the fact that a good twenty minutes after each meeting was due to start, the person in charge would be standing there and saying that we ought to wait a bit in case anybody else showed up. One of these years, hubby and I may be left at the pier through some sort of snafu that isn't our fault, but I can't see us faulting the captain for sailing without us.

While in Curacao this past March I was watching from my balcony for runners; we had a good view of the street and boarding area of the pier.

Watched 5 or 6 run to board, but a good 30-40 min after all-aboard we could hear them talking about 3 still missing. We could hear the page on the ship.

Suddenly, we saw FOUR people running. The ship officer on shore could be heard speaking to one of them "who are you, who are you with?" and then "You're very lucky these other people were late too.!"

Turned out the person never had their card scanned when getting off the ship. Perhaps with the crush of passengers getting off, it was missed. Had everyone been all aboard on time except her, she'd have been left behind as according to ship records she never got off.

Over the years we have been on a few ship excursions that did get back to the ship late. We weren't worried as we knew that the ship would wait for us.

But when we go out on our own, we get back to the ship at least an hour early.

And many times we have listened to people's names being called a few minutes before we were scheduled to leave. And the majority of the time the people were already back on the ship.

One time we had a young lady who was working for the first time on a ship -- in the beauty salon. She didn't keep tract of the time and missed the ship. There were several of us sitting in the Ocean Bar and watched as she waved frantically. The next day was a sea day and the following day was Half Moon Cay and the back into Ft Lauderdale. We were out on our verandah when the father brought her back to the ship. He had to pay for hotels, food, clothing and air transportation. A couple of hours later, we saw them leaving the ship and the father was yelling at his daughter. The captain had fired her.

I am always amazed at the people who go by the departure time in their itinerary instead of the All Aboard time posted in the newsletter and at the gangway. For them, if departure is 4pm they don't show up until 4pm and are flabbergasted that the gangway has been pulled in and won't be put back for them.

Amazing though, are the passengers who think a ship ought to wait for these stragglers.

 

Last year there was a viral video where a woman was frantically gesturing to the departing ship that her children were on board. (The children were never alone but left in the care of an uncle and his family.) The man filming the scene can the heard, "That's just not right...He's got to go back for them".

 

As SmoothFlying pointed out however, three thousand people can't be punished for the deeds of a dozen. If they did wait the extra ten minutes it would stretch into 20, then 30, than an hour, then arrival at the next port is late. Time in port also costs cruise lines thousands of dollars for "parking", security, linesman, and harbor pilots. The rate clock is ticking as they wait.

Plus, I have heard (not sure if it's true or not) that in heavily traveled ports, ships are assigned their arrival/departure times and are expected to depart at that time, failure to do so, then they lose that slot and someone can 'jump' ahead of them, their delay in departure means they have to burn extra fuel (which I bet the 'bean counters' at CCL's corp HQ<which is Miami, I think> wanna take out of the captain's pocket) to arrive at the next port in their assigned slot. So, I guess sometimes the captain really doesn't have much choice. I have heard that if you're on a CCL sponsored excursion and for some reason it's their fault you're late and the ship sails, it's up to Carnival to get you to the next port? Not sure if that's true, and luckily have NEVER had to test it. Wheee ! Thank goodness !

Mac

I was on a World Cruise and when it was time to push off at one of the ports, they were missing three passengers. I recognized one of the names and started looking down the pier to see if they were coming. Just as they started releasing the ropes, the three started running up.

 

They were caught in traffic and even attempted to contact the port agent for the cruise line but the contact information in our daily schedule was wrong.

 

Luckily they made it but did get a stern lecture from the head of sercurity. They later proved to security and other officers that the port agent information as wrong.

 

I will never assume the port agent info is always correct.

 

On that same cruise, the ship did wait for a ship's sponsored excursion that I was on. They kind of had to as there were over 400 of us on a train trip and was running over an hour late getting back.

 

Don

While it might be unfortunate that the port agent contact information was wrong, they were still late because of their failure to allow enough time to get back on board.

If the information had been correct, their return would still have been late.

Plus, I have heard (not sure if it's true or not) that in heavily traveled ports, ships are assigned their arrival/departure times and are expected to depart at that time, failure to do so, then they lose that slot and someone can 'jump' ahead of them, their delay in departure means they have to burn extra fuel (which I bet the 'bean counters' at CCL's corp HQ<which is Miami, I think> wanna take out of the captain's pocket) to arrive at the next port in their assigned slot. So, I guess sometimes the captain really doesn't have much choice. I have heard that if you're on a CCL sponsored excursion and for some reason it's their fault you're late and the ship sails, it's up to Carnival to get you to the next port? Not sure if that's true, and luckily have NEVER had to test it. Wheee ! Thank goodness !

 

Mac

Agree, and sometimes departure time is set by the tide. On our Alaskan trip this year the NCL Jewel pulls out of port at 12 noon and we on the NCL Pearl pull in at one.

We have an aft balcony on this cruise and I'm already planning on having a drink and camera ready around departure. A little popcorn would be good for the show too.

Don

We were on a cruise once when my nephew's name was being called. I think our stop was Aruba. There was a small store right at the gang plank. He had quickly got off, ran to the store and re-boarded. I guess cos he wasn't off more then 10 minutes the scan didn't catch him. He had to go to the Purser's Desk to tell them he was on board.

An oldie but a goodie I've posted b4

Sea Story follows:

Dateline...hmmm 1987....

I was Operations Officer on a Coast Guard Cutter working the Caribbean and we were making an R&R stop in Cozumel. Typically, we (@ 210 foot length) were slid into a place on the pier between the revenue producing cruise ships.

About 6pm I was on on board and after speaking to the gangway watch, I went to the bridge to watch one of the adjacent cruse ships leave.

The cruise ship cleared the pier and headed away when I looked down from the bridge wing to see a lady with a shopping bags in either hand running down the pier. She got adjacent to 'my' ship, stopped, dropped the bags & stared at the empty pier the cruise ship had just left.

I called down, "Is there a problem?"

"My kids and husband are on that boat." It was now just a few hundred yards away from the pier.

"Wait there."

I picked up the bridge to bridge radio, "I have one of your passengers."

They couldn't come back to pick her up, but.....

I rounded up a boat crew, gave her a life jacket and launched our fast rescue boat. The cruise ship lowered the same ladder they use for the pilot and the wayward shopper and mother was rejoined with her family.

Somewhere there's a lady with a very special cruise story....my guys felt it was a great change to a boring duty day!

Over the years we have been on a few ship excursions that did get back to the ship late. We weren't worried as we knew that the ship would wait for us.

But when we go out on our own, we get back to the ship at least an hour early.

And many times we have listened to people's names being called a few minutes before we were scheduled to leave. And the majority of the time the people were already back on the ship.

One time we had a young lady who was working for the first time on a ship -- in the beauty salon. She didn't keep tract of the time and missed the ship. There were several of us sitting in the Ocean Bar and watched as she waved frantically. The next day was a sea day and the following day was Half Moon Cay and the back into Ft Lauderdale. We were out on our verandah when the father brought her back to the ship. He had to pay for hotels, food, clothing and air transportation. A couple of hours later, we saw them leaving the ship and the father was yelling at his daughter. The captain had fired her.

They really should have fired her over the phone. To have her and her father spend money on hotels and air travel, and then fire her when she gets to the ship is really not right.

An oldie but a goodie I've posted b4

 

Sea Story follows:

 

Dateline...hmmm 1987....

 

I was Operations Officer on a Coast Guard Cutter working the Caribbean and we were making an R&R stop in Cozumel. Typically, we (@ 210 foot length) were slid into a place on the pier between the revenue producing cruise ships.

 

About 6pm I was on on board and after speaking to the gangway watch, I went to the bridge to watch one of the adjacent cruse ships leave.

 

The cruise ship cleared the pier and headed away when I looked down from the bridge wing to see a lady with a shopping bags in either hand running down the pier. She got adjacent to 'my' ship, stopped, dropped the bags & stared at the empty pier the cruise ship had just left.

 

I called down, "Is there a problem?"

 

"My kids and husband are on that boat." It was now just a few hundred yards away from the pier.

 

"Wait there."

 

I picked up the bridge to bridge radio, "I have one of your passengers."

 

They couldn't come back to pick her up, but.....

 

I rounded up a boat crew, gave her a life jacket and launched our fast rescue boat. The cruise ship lowered the same ladder they use for the pilot and the wayward shopper and mother was rejoined with her family.

 

Somewhere there's a lady with a very special cruise story....my guys felt it was a great change to a boring duty day!

Good for YOU ! Capt. BJ :)

Once again, ( as usual) the ORANGE strip, to the rescue !! But, that's pretty much standard Code of Conduct for the USCG !!

Kudos,

Mac

Last December in St. Thomas we were riding one of the open-air buses back to the ship from town. We got to talking to some of the others on the bus; one couple mentioned the ship they were on (it was NCL). We could see that ship pulling out of port as we drove along the sea.

The couple had no idea when they were supposed to be back on board and were clearly flabbergasted and of course panicky. I have wondered what ever happened to them as the ship was almost out of the channel at that point.

I just can't imagine not knowing and double-checking when our ship sails. We aim to be back one hour before sail-away with 30 minutes prior our limit. We almost never do ship excursions, but in Central America the ship waited at least 4 hours for one of their excursions to arrive. (We weren't on the excursion).