Beware!! Westerdam Capt. Waits for noboby

[gregdude]

I think you have all missed the most important part to this story, the OP is from California, the me state!! (sorry just had to say it, I actually love California).

[bulgargirl]

I am not normally a harsh person so please understand my reasoning here for what I am about to say....

 

IF the OP was on the Westerdam 14 February 2010 sailing out of Ft Lauderdale and he states he was at the dock in Aruba as the ship left without him, he is out and out a LIAR!! There was NO ONE (NOT ANY PASSENGERS) at the dock other than tthe dock workers themselves!! I know, I was there on the 18th when the Westerdam left Aruba. I was on my verandah watching the entire procedings of undocking!

 

Joanie

 

Joanie - I don't think you are being harsh at all. And the insight that this person that came on here just to complain might not be truthful isn't shocking but is good to know!

 

I only think that the captain's treatment, if accurately reported, seemed harsh to me. But then again, by opinion appears to be the minority.

[Destin Mom]

Agree w/ KAYEF. I have a family member who is routinely late for virtually everything. She gets offended when we cut the cake, serve dinner or order without her. Telling her to arrive hours earlier doesn't work. She is constantly late for flights. She misses many of them. She has been to the gate more than once while the jetway is being pulled back. The standard MO is:

- oh please, you have to help me!

- smile nicely and flash platinium card(s)

- when they refuse, offer bribe

- when that is refused, pull out paper and a pen and write down their names (asking for spelling of last name seems to be the preferred method)

- when person is not impressed with platinum cards or penmanship and cannot be bribed, she becomes irritated. Refuses to fly with, dine at, etc. ever again and will be reporting the entire situation. It is not her fault but rather the airline personnel that won't hold the flight or the maitre d who gave away the table when she was forty five minutes late...

 

Hence 2 posts on cc from this poster. It sounds like the behavior of someone I know. I feel his pain, but it was his own doing.

[NMLady]

Beware cruisers!!! I recently went on a cruise on the Westerdam and in the port of Aruba I was left behind with my wife and 2 kids begging the ship to wait a couple more minuites for me. When we booked this cruise the departure time in Aruba was 5pm but once we arrived it was announced the "All aboard time" was 4:30. The gangway was lifted at 4:41 as outlined in the ship log. What horrible service!! To sail early when a customer is missing from the ship?? I was 5 minutes too late. Granted I should have been more timely but mistakes, accidents do happen. My wife pleaded for them to wait, there was even communication from the port security that I was running to catch the ship and the Captain stated that he "waits for no one". I offered $1000.00 to lower the gangway back down ( the ship was still docked, just untied with gangway lifted) or even tender me out and again the Captain stated that he waits for no one. BEWARE!! Horrible service with no regard to passenger safety. Long story short my wife and 2 kids had 2 1/2 days at sea without me and I had to fly back to Ft. Lauderdale to meet them. Why would a ship sail early when passengers are missing?? This was my 10th cruise and I will never sail Holland America again. Even there corporate customer service was bad with a focus on covering there A$$ and backing the Capt. on his bad decision. Don't be late or this cruise line will leave you, no questions asked!!!

 

ALL cruise lines will do this, not just HAL. I've seen passengers left behind before. You were late if boarding was to be at 4:30pm. They evidently had already allowed extra time by not raising the gangplank until 4:41pm.

Sorry, but you don't get sympathy from me. All passengers are told what the boarding time is and are expected to be aboard on time.

[Copper10-8]

I think you have all missed the most important part to this story, the OP is from California, the me state!! (sorry just had to say it, I actually love California).

 

Nice one, Joysee Boy!:)

[serendipity1499]

I'm kind of trending against the general train of thought here. I do believe if you miss your boat, you, well, miss your boat! BUT - I also think that if there was an easy way to let him on and the captain was just insisting on sticking with the time - that's a little harsh.

 

BUT, the bigger issue is the customer service. I'm going to take the OP at his word (though his word may very well be biased) because I have no other version of events. He complained that customer service was horrible and that HAL was covering its own butt.

 

People speculated on here that the captain HAD to go or that HAL might face serious fines for letting a person on after the gangplank had gone up. Then why not explain that? Why was the only explanation offered just "you're late" and "rules are rules". (Remember, I'm going off HIS version of events).

 

It's quite likely that nothing said would've calmed this guy down. And he certainly didn't deserve airfare or compensation or refunds or anything like that after missing the boat. But if there really were all these little explanations for being so strict on the leaving time as people are speculating here, then just explain that to the guy.

 

If it was simply to teach him a lesson or because the captain felt like it - then I do feel that's a little harsh.

 

Understand what you are saying, but it doesn't work that way. & I don't agree it was vindictive or harsh...There is an old adage- "Time is Money" ..so lets think about the costs involved..

 

First of all he was not a few minutes late..He was 18 minutes late..

Do you know what it costs to keep those engines running for an extra 18 minutes..Fuel is expensive! When a ship is ready to go with engines running, gangplank up, & lines untied, do you know the time & money which would have to be spent to re-tie & once again untie the lines.. The line tenders on the dock would have to be paid again by HAL..They are not HAL's employees..They are Port Employees...

If it were a ships tour Seattle would understand why the Captain was spending the extra $$$ to wait for him.. However, I doubt they would look kindly on the Captain who would return to the dock or wait for one lone passenger who was not on a ships tour..

I'm retired from the International Airline business... At JFK we had passengers who were stuck in traffic, snowed in etc. & had reached the check in counter or even had checked in earlier & were at the boarding gate just after the doors were secured & the boarding ramp was removed from the Aircraft..These passengers sometimes offered the Check-in or Gate Agents, extra $$$ & some even demanded that the doors be re-opened..Guess what? We were not permitted to do so.. It would cost extra $$$ to do what the passengers asked & we could very well have lost our time slot for take off..

Then the Passenger would call our office & literally scream at one of my Agents & demand to talk to a Manager about "Poor Customer Service".. :rolleyes:

We also don't know what the response from HAL actually was..Perhaps they did explain those factors to him ..He could have been very angry & just posted what he thought their response should have been..Also on this thread one of the posters said they were on that ship..They stated that the ship had to leave immediately because of the airport being so close to the pier or they would loose the time slot for departure..,,.

I feel a bit sorry for the OP, only becaause they are now talking about his post on the RCCL board..I doubt he

will come back to tell us what really happened..

 

Cheers...:)Betty

[serendipity1499]

Sorry for the small print..I put my thoughts in Word & copied & pasted it here..Tried to change the font size, but it did not take..Betty

[localady]

I think you have all missed the most important part to this story, the OP is from California, the me state!! (sorry just had to say it, I actually love California).

 

Greg- I am a California Native and have NEVER missed the ship :D ;)

(though at times I have missed the boat!:p)

[Cruising Carol]

I think you have all missed the most important part to this story, the OP is from California, the me state!! (sorry just had to say it, I actually love California).

 

I thought ME stood for Maine. Have you ever been to California?

[GarySuzy]

I thought ME stood for Maine. Have you ever been to California?

 

 

I think your right ME is Maine ;) however CA is so laid back he just doesn't own a watch or know how to tell time unless it is digital not analog.:rolleyes:

[Copper10-8]

I thought ME stood for Maine. Have you ever been to California?

 

It says Manteca, CA (up by Sacramento)

[Himself]

If all aboard is at 5:00PM then the passenger has a beef. If all aboard is at 4:30PM--and I am under the impression it was posted in the gangway, then the passenger has to be on by 4:30 PM and to come along at 4:46 after the gang way is up the PASSENGER is in the wrong and not the captian. When it says all aboard at 4:30, I make it my business to be back on board at 4:00 or 4:15 PM.

[Essiesmom]

Just to explain about the port change on the 7/14 sailing: We were scheduled to be in Aruba on Feb. 17, 1p - midnight. But because there were three other ships in port that day, our times were changed to 3:30pm arrival, as we couldn't dock until someone else left. (Ships scheduled were Eurodam, Enchantment OTS, and Coral Princess). The next day was to be Curacao 8-5. With docking at 3:30p, and shops closing at 5pm, things did not look good...So our captain managed to switch the ports so that we went to Curacao first, on 2/17, from noon - midnight. the next day, 2/18, we were in Aruba 8-5p. Only ship in port with us both days was Ventura. So, looking at the previous schedule for Westerdam, she did the Southern route leaving 1/24, which put her in Aruba on 1/27; Other than our 2/14 cruise, the next cruise to Aruba left FLL on 2/28, putting her into Aruba on 3/3. Sounds like this proves OP is a liar, as Joanie said. Carolyn

[Oceanwench]

The all aboard was 4:30.

The OP said when he booked the cruise,the departure time was 5.

The OP seems to think the all aboard time and the departure time are one and the same.

[Mtn2Sea]

The OP sounds like my boss - always late for meetings he's scheduled. Someone who's late 5 to 15 minutes to return to the ship, absent some legitimate reason (which he didn't bother to announce), is probably late for a lot of appointments. They think the world revolves around them. No sympathy for this guy unless there's a real excuse (and with his wife and kids aboard, I doubt there was).

[travelmatron]

As near as I can count there have been about 114 responses to the OP. I think maybe 3 people have felt some amount of sympathy. If he was looking for sympathy he looked in the wrong place.

[Down-Unders]

To the OP , can't you just feel the love ?

 

 

 

:):):):):)

[suse]

To the OP , can't you just feel the love ?

Yes. But kind of lacking. You know, that sad stuff from the Temptations kind of.

love,

Suse

[Essiesmom]

The all aboard was 4:30.

The OP said when he booked the cruise,the departure time was 5.

The OP seems to think the all aboard time and the departure time are one and the same.

He could not have known departure time was 5pm when he booked. All 2008-2010 cruises on Westerdam in the brochure list port times as noon-midnight. Days/times were not changed until after we left Half Moon Cay on 15 Feb. Carolyn

[cccole]

If all aboard is at 5:00PM then the passenger has a beef. If all aboard is at 4:30PM--and I am under the impression it was posted in the gangway, then the passenger has to be on by 4:30 PM and to come along at 4:46 after the gang way is up the PASSENGER is in the wrong and not the captian. When it says all aboard at 4:30, I make it my business to be back on board at 4:00 or 4:15 PM.

 

What do you do if you are on a cruise line excursion and cannot be back that early? If all aboard at 4:30 means ALL ABOARD at 4:30, do those on cruise line excursions start throwing fits?!!! No...because there are exceptions to the policy and it appears to be somewhat in the captains discretion what to do. I am not saying that the OP is not at fault but when people keep saying that ALL ABOARD means ALL ABOARD, it is really not true. Cherie

[RuthC]

I think maybe 3 people have felt some amount of sympathy.

I'm surprised there's that many.

[suse]

I'm surprised there's that many.

oh dear

[CruiserBruce]

It says Manteca, CA (up by Sacramento)

 

Great John- now all the Sacramento people are going defensive- nobody wants to be associated with this guy!!

 

Should have picked someplace like Lodi- that nobody- except Credence Clearwater Revival fans- have heard of! :D:D:D

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'm surprised there's that many.

 

Me, too. But I suspect the sympathy is despite the OP's lack of responsibility. Some people are just naturally sympathetic even when they're to blame.

 

Even when someone does something stupid, really good people can be sympathetic with the result of that stupidity.

 

But that's not me;)

[pris993]

Beware cruisers!!! I recently went on a cruise on the Westerdam and in the port of Aruba I was left behind with my wife and 2 kids begging the ship to wait a couple more minuites for me. When we booked this cruise the departure time in Aruba was 5pm but once we arrived it was announced the "All aboard time" was 4:30. The gangway was lifted at 4:41 as outlined in the ship log. What horrible service!! To sail early when a customer is missing from the ship?? I was 5 minutes too late. Granted I should have been more timely but mistakes, accidents do happen. My wife pleaded for them to wait, there was even communication from the port security that I was running to catch the ship and the Captain stated that he "waits for no one". I offered $1000.00 to lower the gangway back down ( the ship was still docked, just untied with gangway lifted) or even tender me out and again the Captain stated that he waits for no one. BEWARE!! Horrible service with no regard to passenger safety. Long story short my wife and 2 kids had 2 1/2 days at sea without me and I had to fly back to Ft. Lauderdale to meet them. Why would a ship sail early when passengers are missing?? This was my 10th cruise and I will never sail Holland America again. Even there corporate customer service was bad with a focus on covering there A$$ and backing the Capt. on his bad decision. Don't be late or this cruise line will leave you, no questions asked!!!

 

Sorry this happened. The same can happen on any cruise line.

 

We have been cruising for 30+ years, we always make a point to be back on board an "hour" before the posted time. Better safe then sorry. Like you say, accident and things do happen so you must plan extra time.