Beware!! Westerdam Capt. Waits for noboby

[IRL_Joanie]

....

Just once, it would be so great for someone to 'own their mistake' and take the blame for their own fault. We are always trying to blame someone else. Personal responsibility!!!...

 

Hey Sail, I took the blame for my own stupidity and total blame for my finger on this same cruise:D

 

Joanie

[mnbruce]

 

I must say that my adventures and the experience getting back was far better than being at sea with rude and inconsiderate passengers of HAL. I just felt bad for my wife...She was stuck with you. I would be careful as KARMA could strike and this could be your story. My FAULT 100%. Live and learn. Time to be TRUE and accurate.

 

It does not help your cause to paint everyone here with such a broad brush. Also 99% of the cruise lines passengers never come near this site so to throw them all in one basket is rather ridiculous.

[RuthC]

I guess I'm surprised that some people are that cold.

All of us would be sympathetic had the OP been delayed due to circumstances beyond his control. Most of us would have been sympathetic had he come here to say Boy, I screwed up, and I want you to learn from my experience. But OP isn't doing that.

In four posts he maintains that even though he did do something wrong, the Captain and HAL are at fault that he actually missed the ship. :eek: He shows no remorse. There is no indication that he has learned his lesson, and he will never do this again. And that is why he does not deserve sympathy.

Cold? No. Try "realistic".

[CroneWynd]

I'd like to point out one thing - the person that mentioned that their trains were late, and the ship waited, CALLED THE PORT AGENT well in advance of the ship departing!

 

If something is holding up your return to the ship, like a private tour gone awry, CALL THE PORT AGENT!!! In a legitimate circumstance, the Port Agent can request that the departure time be adjusted slightly, OR can help make arrangements for you to meet the ship at the next port.

 

HAL will wait for HAL tours that are late returning, as that is part of the contract. The ship doesn't disconnect from the pier until those tours are back. But you'd better believe it that the tour operators are in contact with HAL if they are running late!!

 

DH and I generally try to be back on board at least an hour before sailaway, as we like to avoid the rush! :)

[IRL_Joanie]

"Sheeple" I like that, is it in Wikepedia?

 

This post has been great fun. Bottom line - if you are late you most likely will lose!!

There have been exceptions to this but I would never want to test them. Probably the worst place to get left behind is Costa Maya. Miles and miles of surrounding jungles. We were on an X ship watching a Carnival ship broadcasting 2 names continuously for 1/2 hour. Finally the ship left the dock, then, there were 2, perhaps inebriated, men running down the pier after the ship. The ship was perhaps 200 yards from the pier. It then stopped and backed to the pier to pick up these miscreants. We heard that they were fined $500 each.

Everyone on our ship was having a gay old time watching this scenario.

 

Back to the OP, what I don't understand is that the sail time was 5 pm. Why did the captain leave early? We have taken many cruises but don't remember leaving exceptionally early from port departures. I understand it is his prerogative but c'est la vie! The whole scenario sounds fishy.

 

 

The photo of the rock on the sandbar that was posted earlier today in this thread was one reason we left 9 NINE minutes early. The tide was going out extremely fast and we had to get out of there as did the ship behind us. There was also the Airport clearance times which had to be adhered to. Many reasons for the Captain to make the 9 NINE minute early departure that he did, NONE for the one lonely passenger to be so late!

 

Joanie

[mnbruce]

 

Cold? No. Try "realistic".

 

These are two of your contrbutions in this thread. I'll stick with "cold".

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ship didn't sail early---you arrived late.

 

 

 

It is 100% your fault.

 

 

Don't expect to find any sympathy on this board.

 

 

I'm surprised there's that many.

[RuthC]

These are two of your contrbutions in this thread. I'll stick with "cold".

Sounds like someone who makes a habit of returning late. :rolleyes:

[mnbruce]

Sounds like someone who makes a habit of returning late. :rolleyes:

 

care to explain?

[Pam in CA]

So is it false advertising to say the ship "departs" at one time only to find out the "all aboard is different" What does the word "depart" mean in their brochures and advertising?? This is why I challenged the fact that the ship would leave before a published "departure" time even though not all passengers are on board.

Of course there's a difference between when the ship departs and when "all aboard is." Any reasonably intelligent person would understand the difference, not to mention that there are notices in the daily newsletter and announcements when the ship docks. IT TAKES THE SHIP HALF AN HOUR TO PREPARE FOR DEPARTURE. That's the bottom line and something 99.9% of the passengers "got." A ship is not like a plane, train or automobile. You ignored all the warnings and notices, and now you're claiming it's false advertising to give both an all-aboard and departure time.

[luvs2travl]

but I doubt HE ever will. I also doubt that the Captain of the Westerdam spoke to him, or anyone else in his family, in the demeaning manner that he describes. That's just pure hogwash!! :mad:

 

It's obvious that this man has a very inflated sense of his own self worth and no consideration for anyone except hmself. By his own admission, even his wife & kids didn't know where he was. Boy -that's real compassion and concern, huh?

 

There is a wonderful quote (sorry, I can't name the source) that may apply here:

 

"Better to thought an idiot than open your mouth and remove all doubt."

 

I would say that all the doubt here is gone, wouldn't you???;) :D

[serendipity1499]

You "sheeple" are missing the point! Yes I am to blame, no question about it. And for all your questions about what happened to me, that also doesn't matter as the ship or my wife did not know( accident, mugged, kidnapped, shot, drowned, or at the bar??) My question that no one seems to care or understand is why these cruise lines say that they will be in a port and "depart" at a stated time when I guess they know and we know that the time of true departure is either always a 1/2 hour early or at the Captains discretion. Why can't the cruise lines be honest and clear and state they will be in a port at 4:30 as opposed to 5:00. We the "sheeple" lose 1/2 hour of our vacation and even more because some of you paranoid/scared get on hours before "all aboard tome". So is it false advertising to say the ship "departs" at one time only to find out the "all aboard is different" What does the word "depart" mean in their brochures and advertising?? This is why I challenged the fact that the ship would leave before a published "departure" time even though not all passengers are on board. Yes the story is true the ship did change even the date we were to be in Aruba as well as the "departure" time (even though this time means nothing) from 11pm to 5pm. So should the cruise lines be honest with us and publish the fact that the ship actual departs at 4:30 is the true question. The problem seems to be cruise passengers are "sheeple" and are more concerned about eating with the "herd" Baaa! And for those that say they were watching and didn't see me running, that is because I was stopped/detained by Aruba port authority which was communicating with the Captain and ship as they were looking for me. I must say that my adventures and the experience getting back was far better than being at sea with rude and inconsiderate passengers of HAL. I just felt bad for my wife...She was stuck with you. I would be careful as KARMA could strike and this could be your story. My FAULT 100%. Live and learn. So why don't you posters use all this energy to change the cruise industry so they publish true departure times or at least wait until the published departure before they leave a passenger/customer behind. Time to be TRUE and accurate.

 

 

I'm assming that you are an intelligent person but wonder if you read the cruise contract when you made your reservations?

http://nl.hollandamerica.com/ennl/sdbook/view/policies/cruise.jsp

Quote cruise and cruisetour contract

 

HOLLAND AMERICA LINE

300 Elliott Avenue West

Seattle, WA 98119

ISSUED SUBJECT TO THE IMPORTANT TERMS AND CONDITIONS ON THIS PAGE AND THE FOLLOWING PAGES. READ TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCEPTING.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PASSENGERS

5. Change in Itinerary/Cancellation: (a) Although we will use our best efforts to provide you with the Cruise, Cruisetour and/or HAL Land Trips, situations may occur which require that changes be made. By way of example only, we may adjust itineraries and schedules, delay departures or arrivals, or cancel a Cruise, Cruisetour or HAL Land Trip and maintenance requirements, fuel or other shortages, or damage to the Ship, , due to casualty, weather, labor problems, the need to render assistance to others, governmental or insurer directives, passenger or employee injury or illness, schedule delays or changes by third parties, repair other means of transportation, roads, tracks, bridges, docks, equipment or machinery. Furthermore, the Master of the Ship or of any other vessel as well as the operator of any other means of transportation may, in his/her sole discretion, elect not to proceed in the ordinary course. Consequently, we cannot guarantee the itinerary of the Cruise, Cruisetour or any HAL Land Trip (including time of sailing from or arrival at any port or that all ports will, in fact, be called at, or that all places on your Cruisetour or HAL Land Trip will be visited). We reserve the right to provide you with alternative transportation whenever the Cruise, Cruisetour or HAL Land Trip is unable to proceed or be completed in the ordinary course or, in the case of hotels, to substitute facilities of similar category in cases where the planned hotel is unavailable due to overbooking or otherwise. Unquote

As other posters pointed out you are required to be at airline gates approx. 30 to 40 minutes before scheduled departure..Onece the flight is closed out & the doors are closed, they will not be re-opened for stragglers..

Betty

[igraf]

A key point that you are missing is that significant time is required to tie up/untie the mooring ropes and setup and take down the gangway. A cruise ship cannot leave the dock at the drop of a hat.

 

The captain has to begin the undocking procedure at a certain time, and probably realized that there was no longer any time to tie up all the mooring ropes again and reattach to the gangway when you finally appeared. This is why you have to be on board well before the actual departure time.

 

He left when he did because the ship was ready to go. Sitting there for a few more minutes wasn't going to change anything.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

Exactly!!! And not all the peolples were on board!!! Maybe one of the herd get's it???

[Dog Drool]

this thread got me thinking

What if on a tender port you got to the tender line at 4:15 last tender at 4:30 but the tender was full had to wait for the next one? Ship would wait for you right?

One of the private tours I was on part of their spiel was we never missed a ship and in case of emergency we have a contract with a tender operator So in theory a private tender would take us to the ship ,would HAL charge a fee to get us off the tender and on to the boat?

[catl331]

this thread got me thinking

What if on a tender port you got to the tender line at 4:15 last tender at 4:30 but the tender was full had to wait for the next one? Ship would wait for you right?

One of the private tours I was on part of their spiel was we never missed a ship and in case of emergency we have a contract with a tender operator So in theory a private tender would take us to the ship ,would HAL charge a fee to get us off the tender and on to the boat?

More than likely, when they saw that there were too many rermaining to fit on one more load, another tender would be sent back and there would be two at 4:30-ish.

[Oceanwench]

this thread got me thinking

What if on a tender port you got to the tender line at 4:15 last tender at 4:30 but the tender was full had to wait for the next one? Ship would wait for you right?

One of the private tours I was on part of their spiel was we never missed a ship and in case of emergency we have a contract with a tender operator So in theory a private tender would take us to the ship ,would HAL charge a fee to get us off the tender and on to the boat?

 

Several years ago I was in Grand Cayman [i think on Westerdam] and there were 7 or 8 other ships in port that day. Can you say GRIDLOCK??? Our HAL excursion ran late due to the traffic. The tender lines were HUGE ... so there was no way the ship could leave at the all aboard time.

 

HAL personnel who were maintaining order at the dock told us not to panic, the ship would wait until all of us were aboard.

 

Anyone else arriving late - from private tours, from too much partying, whatever - lucked out that day.

[luvs2travl]

this thread got me thinking

What if on a tender port you got to the tender line at 4:15 last tender at 4:30 but the tender was full had to wait for the next one? Ship would wait for you right?

One of the private tours I was on part of their spiel was we never missed a ship and in case of emergency we have a contract with a tender operator So in theory a private tender would take us to the ship ,would HAL charge a fee to get us off the tender and on to the boat?

 

In response to your post, I don't know if the ship would HAVE to wait for you or not. But, here are the first two things I would do before assuming that to be so:

 

1. Research the tour company on these boards or on the Internet to find out what the company's reputation is and how many cruisers would recomend this company.

2. IF the tour company proclaims that they have a "contract" with whomever or whatever to get you back on the ship in case of the tour returning late and causing you to miss the last ships' tender? I would RUN (not walk) to the nearest phone and call that particular cruiseline. I would ask to be connected to the person in charge of their Shore Excursion Department. Once connected, I would relate what the private tour company has "said" they could or would do, by asking the the very question you posed in your post. Finally, if the cruiseline response was indeed , "Yes - we have that agreement with that tour company", I would request them to communicate that response to me, along with their name and postion with the cruiseline, via e-mail, or in writing via snail mail!

 

And that's just for starters. What I wouldn't do is take only the tour company's word that they could and would provide you that service. ;)

Verify - verify -verify! You can't be too careful these days.

[Oceanwench]

These are two of your contrbutions in this thread. I'll stick with "cold".

 

What's "cold" about stating the fact that the OP was wrong? Even the OP admitted it was his fault.

 

No wiggle room on this one ... he was 100 percent in the wrong.

 

If that makes me cold too ... so be it. I'm in good company!

[liketraveling]

Just came across this thread.

 

Last year I was on the Ryndamn in the Sea of Cortez.

 

We took a tour to the San Javier Mission. I thought this was one of the best shore excursions I did.

 

It was a HAL Shore Excursion. On the way back they had the road dug up and the bulldozer had to fix it before we could pass. This was a tender port. We were all anxious and concerned about being on time. Earlier we had a discusion on Ship Shore Excursions Vs Private Shore Excursion.

 

We got back at the time the ship was ready to set sail! Security was waiting for us at the Pier!

 

They do wait for you! If it is a HAL shore excursion.

 

I learned a lesson from that! When planning my excursions, I need to check to see if I have enough time in port to do it privately or go with a simlar HAL Excursion.

 

You take your watch with you if you are doing your own thing!

[Mary Ellen]

mnbruce - You want us to give 'warm fuzzies' to someone who came here just to complain that the Captain of the Westerdam didn't bow to his ignorance (arrogance?), rather than see to the needs (and safely) of his ship, crew, and the other passengers???? :confused:

[LSEA]

care to explain?

 

 

Don't hold your breath.

 

Most posters made a reasonable point about how it was the OP's fault, he was responsibile for getting back to the ship at the "all aboard" time. It is, no doubt about that. And the OP seems to have an "attitude" as another poster pointed out, an attitude which I agree is exasperating. What is surprising is how much delight a small number of posters are getting out of this. I think he has made their weekend.

 

Is it possible that the OP made his story up just for the reaction?

[mnbruce]

What's "cold" about stating the fact that the OP was wrong? Even the OP admitted it was his fault.

 

 

Nothing wrong with stating the OP was wrong,I did so myself. Now to me,maybe not to you,shouting it is cold and serves no purpose . But to each his/her own. I'm obviously in the minority here,but in this case I'm glad of that.

[mnbruce]

mnbruce - You want us to give 'warm fuzzies' to someone who came here just to complain that the Captain of the Westerdam didn't bow to his ignorance (arrogance?), rather than see to the needs (and safely) of his ship, crew, and the other passengers???? :confused:

 

Warm fuzzies? I don't think that's what I expected. Some went in the polar opposite direction though,which is what I was reponding to.

[RuthC]

care to explain?

Your defense of the OP is more like identification than compassion.

[mnbruce]

Don't hold your breath.

 

 

 

The poster seemed to make a comment aimed at me. Just asking for a clarification. I won't be holding my breath, but thanks for your concern though.

[mnbruce]

Your defense of the OP is more like identification than compassion.

 

Please reread my posts, I never once defended him. I just was a little surprised by some of the responses.

 

Like the OP wrongly jumped to the broad conclusion about HAL passengers,you did the same about me.