Have you ever missed your ship?

Barring any arrival emergencies, has anyone ever missed a ship in port due to being out on your own for the day?

Just curious as to how often this actually happens? I'd love to hear about the adventures.

I'm preparing for my 11th cruise and I've done plenty of non-ship excursions/ solo-exploring and I've yet to miss my departure.

Barring any arrival emergencies, has anyone ever missed a ship in port due to being out on your own for the day?

 

Just curious as to how often this actually happens? I'd love to hear about the adventures.

 

I'm preparing for my 11th cruise and I've done plenty of non-ship excursions/ solo-exploring and I've yet to miss my departure.

I doubt that you'll many responses saying "yes, I missed the ship". But it does happen.

You can find several youtube videos of people running to catch the ship pulling away.

This has been discussed here many times. I doubt very many will come on bragging about how they missed the ship, although there was one who came on to yell about how the Captain screwed them by sailing away on time, as advertised.

This thread has been around for a while:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2121215

I agree, the more entertaining info will come from a search on YouTube. Missing the ship typically has something to do with adult beverages.

Yuppa - just do a search on dock or pier runners

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Percentage wise it is not common, but if you do a search on YouTube you will see any number of videos by folks on their ship who are all too happy to share the excitement of those who showed up too late to board. :cool:

This question gets recycled about every couple of months.

Sensible people do not end up missing the ship unless they experience some huge mishap.

Most of those who do end up missing the ship (absent the mishap) generally have either overimbibed onshore or forgot to watch the time. Variations of the latter include not changing your watch/phone to the proper local time or not paying attention to the all-aboard time.

Those who make a sensible plan to be back at the ship at least an hour ahead of time, who book well-reviewed private tours, and who always have a Plan B in mind probably make up less than 0.01% of those who get left.

On Mexican trips this was our favorite pass time when leaving Mazatlan. Twice watched half drunk idiots show up at the pier after push back.

Closest we ever came was in Freeport coming back from a ship sponsored excursion. We were 30 minutes past the all onboard time and I believe they pulled the gangway up right after us. We heard the ship calling our bus on the radio for progress reports as we made our way back to the port area.

Have never missed the ship in a port.

But certainly have seen people and crew miss the ship a few times over the years.

Never missed a ship yet... Only time we came "close" was during a ship sponsored tour. (Taking the ferry from Mainland Mexico back to Cozumel)

Very few people miss the ship but unfortunately it does happen.

Key is to never arrive at the last minute and build a lot of pad in your schedule if traveling where there is heavy traffic involved or other issues that could cause this to happen.

Keith

Came much too close on a private (not ship sponsored) tour in Rome - there was a very minor single vehicle accident blocking the on ramp to the Autostrada and everyone had to stop while our bus driver and others got it moved out of traffic. Long story short - we got back to the ship just 10 minutes before the "All Aboard". However, we did pass quite a few ship's tour buses on the way back, so it was reasonably certain we'd be OK. I'd never want to cut it that close again though.

We were in Rome on RCCL shore excursion. The bus driver got lost and we were almost 2hrs late getting back. The ship actually waited for us. The split second we got onboard the ship pulled away. Thank goodness it was not a self done excursion. Would have been a total nightmare.

Have never missed the ship in a port.

But certainly have seen people and crew miss the ship a few times over the years.

Favorite pastime of many people, sit on deck and watch the runners trying to make the ship.

There was a story a few years ago about a woman suing a cruise line because she missed the ship. Appears she was on a private tour and got tied up somehow and called the ship to tell them she would be late. They didn't wait for her so she sued.

This has been discussed here many times. I doubt very many will come on bragging about how they missed the ship, although there was one who came on to yell about how the Captain screwed them by sailing away on time, as advertised.

 

This thread has been around for a while:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2121215

 

I agree, the more entertaining info will come from a search on YouTube. Missing the ship typically has something to do with adult beverages.

OMG!! That is my worst nightmare!! That is why I will absolutely NEVER book an excursion with a third party group. I am generally a very Type A individual anyways, and reading that story about that man cutting it so close to sail away time gave me fits! It’s no wonder he missed his ship! I’m the person that is ALWAYS at the airport at least 2 hours before a flight! And I tell my laid back family that I will gladly be a half hour early for any event than ever be 5 minutes late!

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Would you believe our waiter missed the ship in New Zealand. It was the first time a ship called there after 9/11 and the entire population (it seemed) came out to wish the ship bon voyage. The traffic was unbelievable. Fortunately the next stop was also in New Zealand so he made it back on board.

Another sad story was in Venice. As we were pulling away a water taxi came screaming up to the dock and a couple got out waving and yelling. The ship did not go back for them. And to add insult to injury, the taxi boat was pulled over by a police boat for speeding.

On our very first cruise, we did a cruise line snorkelling excursion in Martinique.

On our return to the ship, our tour boat captain decided to take a detour past a topless beach for a laugh. This made us about 20 minutes late getting back. The ship waited for us to return, but they were none to pleased with the tour boat captain.

Barring any arrival emergencies, has anyone ever missed a ship in port due to being out on your own for the day?

 

Just curious as to how often this actually happens? I'd love to hear about the adventures.

 

I'm preparing for my 11th cruise and I've done plenty of non-ship excursions/ solo-exploring and I've yet to miss my departure.

On our very first cruise (Bermuda) we took a public transportation trip and at a point realized that the ship was due to leave in 45 minutes .To take a bus back would be at least an hour . We tried hitch hiking and were picked up by a resident .We explained our situation and he said he could get us back in time. We got to the ship just as it was about to leave but somehow the guy who took us convinced the Captain to turn back .I have no idea who he was .

Closest we ever came was in Freeport coming back from a ship sponsored excursion. We were 30 minutes past the all onboard time and I believe they pulled the gangway up right after us. We heard the ship calling our bus on the radio for progress reports as we made our way back to the port area.

You can’t miss the ship if you are on a ship sponsored excursion. It has to wait for you. It’s part of the incentive of booking through the cruise line.

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On our very first cruise (Bermuda) we took a public transportation trip and at a point realized that the ship was due to leave in 45 minutes .To take a bus back would be at least an hour . We tried hitch hiking and were picked up by a resident .We explained our situation and he said he could get us back in time. We got to the ship just as it was about to leave but somehow the guy who took us convinced the Captain to turn back .I have no idea who he was .

I’m confused. You said you got back as the ship was about to leave. So why would the ship have to turn back of it hadn’t left yet?

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You can’t miss the ship if you are on a ship sponsored excursion. It has to wait for you. It’s part of the incentive of booking through the cruise line.

 

 

 

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No altogether true. If there are issues with the ship remaining docked (weather, tides, another ship assigned that dock) the ship will leave. But the cruise line will assist in getting those left behind to the next port possible to re-board.

Happened on our eastbound Trans Atlantic cruise a couple of years ago. We had to leave Dublin due to the tides before all ship's excursions were back. All those people were put on the Dublin/Liverpool ferry to catch up to the ship.

No altogether true. If there are issues with the ship remaining docked (weather, tides, another ship assigned that dock) the ship will leave. But the cruise line will assist in getting those left behind to the next port possible to re-board.

 

Happened on our eastbound Trans Atlantic cruise a couple of years ago. We had to leave Dublin due to the tides before all ship's excursions were back. All those people were put on the Dublin/Liverpool ferry to catch up to the ship.

That is my understanding as well.

You can’t miss the ship if you are on a ship sponsored excursion. It has to wait for you. It’s part of the incentive of booking through the cruise line.

 

 

 

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And that is why even after all these years and all these cruises, I will ONLY book a cruise line sponsored excursion. I will gladly pay more for the assurance that my ship will wait for me.

We were late returning to the ship twice, once in Panama with Carnival and the other in Florence, Italy on Princess. This happened on our 1st visit to these ports.

Both times we were delayed by traffic accidents on our return from ship sponsored excursions, and both times the ship waited the extra 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours it took for us to get back to the port..

We will do independent tours in the Caribbean and Mexico where we are familar with the countries from previous visits.

Here’s a good one: if I miss boarding the ship on day 1 from a U.S. port can I board for the first time at the ship’s first port stop if it is also a U.S. port?

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