Do the ships really often leave people behind?

[elcuchio24]

I've always wondered, what's happens if someone is left behind who doesn't have a passport? Like if they were on a carnival excursion, how would that work??

 

If you were on a CCL excursion, they wouldn't leave without you. If you are left in a port without a passport.....well then you're kinda screwed;)

[sparks1093]

what's fun is standing near a beach bar and blowing into a conch shell and watching the super drunks freak out, thinking it's the ship leaving.

 

rofl!

[fergusonvt]

On my first cruise a husband and two children were left behind in Nassau. The wife was on the ship with all their luggage. It was too costly to fly to St. Thomas so they had to go back to Port Canaveral and wait for her. She wasn't a happy camper.

[ibcnusoon]

We left a couple and their infant child in Cozumel on our last cruise. I felt soo bad, cannot imagine leaving an infant or young child behind, I kept wondering if they would have enough formula/diapers to meet up with the ship or fly home.

 

I assume they were delayed because it's very easy to "forget" the time changes. Luckily I had a watch on that had ship time. Every clock we found in Cozumel or when we asked gave us Cozumel time, which was 1 hour behind ship time.

[Athankfulheart]

I'm still wondering what happened to Candice and Albert who were left on Roatan last week on the dream :) We listened to their names on the public address system from 30 minutes before sail away and on for hours after that !

[fergusonvt]

We left a couple and their infant child in Cozumel on our last cruise. I felt soo bad, cannot imagine leaving an infant or young child behind, I kept wondering if they would have enough formula/diapers to meet up with the ship or fly home.

 

I assume they were delayed because it's very easy to "forget" the time changes. Luckily I had a watch on that had ship time. Every clock we found in Cozumel or when we asked gave us Cozumel time, which was 1 hour behind ship time.

 

 

So Carnival doesn't change their ship time to local port time? NCL does and leaves reminders in your cabin the night before the change to and back.

[Athankfulheart]

You will NOT regret it! This is by far the best entertainment on the ship! The best are the "drinking" ports like Nassau. I have always said that they need to start charging people for every 5 minutes they are late.

 

 

We had an aft wrap last week and I can tell you that laying on the deck and watching people returning to the ship "pays for the upgrade" - even when they aren't late :D

[Tbay-eh]

I have a cheap watch I use strictly for when I get off the ship which is set to ship time

[Athankfulheart]

Yes, however, things happen! Accidents, breakdowns, etc. Not willing to take that chance!

 

 

Honestly, we have only ever done NON cruise line excursions. We have always dealt with reputable companies who are well aware that if they ever left a single passenger on the dock, their business would be sunk. In todays day of cruise critic and other online advisory sites - they would never survive if they lost the passengers confidence like that. I don't worry about breakdowns because with a tour company they have multiple vehicles and there is no doubt in my mind that another vehicle would be sent to meet us and get us to the ship on time. The companys that we have dealt with have set a schedule that allowed more than enough time for error. I had a discussion with a guy from Victor Bodden on Roatan - and the thing that is very frustrating to them is when someone INSISTS to stay out later than is wise. It's quite a pickle for the driver who's reputation depends on getting you back to the ship safe and on time, but is also trying to satisfy your wishes as the paying customer. He has to choose between having an angry customer calling his boss, and chancing your late arrival to the pier and the fallout that would come from that.

 

One of the most interesting things about my tours of Roatan and Belize was inquiring about the people who take the tours :rolleyes:

[ibcnusoon]

We were an hour late getting back to the ship in Belize. Thank goodness we were on a ship's tour, I cannot imagine being left behind in Belize City. This is why I would NOT book a 7 hour tour in Belize, or any other island, on our own. Everyone was out on the Lido watching our tender pull up, whistling and yelling. Hey, it wasn't our fault!!

 

I also hear people miss the ship when there are multiple ships in port. They get in a taxi with people, not know that they are on another ship, and ask them when they have to return to the ship. If it's after the stated time that YOUR ship is leaving, you're screwed. Always make sure you know when YOUR ship is leaving!

[ibcnusoon]

I take it as, NO, the ship does not wait for you:

 

Carnival:

 

Norweigan:

[cruisinmimiof3]

I got off the Glory a couple weeks ago. We left 26 people on Grand Turk! I bet most of them were in the pool bar at Margaritaville!:p

[ibcnusoon]

I noticed on our cruise in November that in Cozumel, the bars and shops at the pier close down just before sailaway. That must cut down alot on having passengers miss the ship.

[elcuchio24]

We were an hour late getting back to the ship in Belize. Thank goodness we were on a ship's tour, I cannot imagine being left behind in Belize City. This is why I would NOT book a 7 hour tour in Belize, or any other island, on our own. Everyone was out on the Lido watching our tender pull up, whistling and yelling. Hey, it wasn't our fault!!

 

I also hear people miss the ship when there are multiple ships in port. They get in a taxi with people, not know that they are on another ship, and ask them when they have to return to the ship. If it's after the stated time that YOUR ship is leaving, you're screwed. Always make sure you know when YOUR ship is leaving!

 

Haha, we had the same thing happen at Nachi this year. A couple at the swim up bar all hammered, asked when our ship was supposed to leave, we said 6pm. Perfect! About an hour later in talked to them we realized they were on the Freedom and supposed to leave at like 2pm. Oh man, they realized in time, but that could have been bad.

[fergusonvt]

I take it as, NO, the ship does not wait for you:

 

Carnival:

 

Norweigan:

 

 

And I'm pretty sure that yelling stop, wait doesn't make a bit of difference!:rolleyes:

[TriciaEMTB]

I have a cheap watch I use strictly for when I get off the ship which is set to ship time

 

On my cruise, I set my phone's clock to ship's time and then unchecked the box "Use network provided values" so no matter where in the ocean/port I was, it stayed on ship's time.

[keishashadow]

It does happen, but not often. This is one reason we normally take a ship excursion instead of a private one. If a private excursion is late, you're on your own to get back to the ship or to your home. If you're on a ship excursion, the ship will wait for a certain amount of time but if the ship has to leave, Carnival must pay to catch you up to the ship or home.

 

we were on a CCL excursion in belilze that was almost 3 hours late getting back, still can't believe the ship waited so long for us. I figure since it was a whole bus full they didn't want to pay the overnight hotel/airfare to get us to Cozumel;)

 

I tried to be left behind on Half Moon Cay, but they found me and dragged me back...

smart man, i could live happily ever after in one of the cabanas

[palmtre2]

We were the runners at the dock in Cozumel, and no we were not drinking!!! DH, myself and DD (then 9) rented a Jeep, rode around a bit then went to Paradise Beach. Mommy got a massage, daddy and his princess snorkeled a little, we ordered some nachos and 1 drink each. People started leaving and we decided it was about time for us as well. DH looks at the clock in the Jeep and says we could drive around some, well something bothered me about that comment and I pulled my watch out of the beach bag. We needed to be back at the pier NOW!!! We broke some kind of record getting back - the rental guy was saying just toss me the keys and go. Running through the shops FULL of people with a crying 9 yr old to emerge on the other side and see the lines being hauled from our ship........ Guards had about 40 people standing around them, some for our ship - it seems when they throw the lines no passengers can be on the pier for safety reasons. When the guards gave the ship a rough head count of how many for the Glory were standing there, they put the aft gangway back out and we boarded - with all the geers, wolf whistles and clapping.

First cruise ever and last cruise to not watch the time.............

[ryanpatricksmom]

I got off the Glory a couple weeks ago. We left 26 people on Grand Turk! I bet most of them were in the pool bar at Margaritaville!:p

 

How clueless do you have to be to miss a ship in Grand Turk? It would be like overlooking a ship that was preparing to leave your backyard. :eek:

[raerae]

Haha, we had the same thing happen at Nachi this year. A couple at the swim up bar all hammered, asked when our ship was supposed to leave, we said 6pm. Perfect! About an hour later in talked to them we realized they were on the Freedom and supposed to leave at like 2pm. Oh man, they realized in time, but that could have been bad.

 

We were on the Pride earlier this month and a lady from our group was left in Freeport. We were having lunch and joked about the fact the names of late passengers would be announced shortly....and low and behold it was one of our own. She chose to stay on board when her cabinmate and her family members went to the beach. They returned to find out she had left the ship alone and hooked up with folks from the other Carnival ship and returned with them for their 5PM departure. We departed at 2PM. I think it happens more than we realize!

Cindy ;)

[sparks1093]

We were on the Pride earlier this month and a lady from our group was left in Freeport. We were having lunch and joked about the fact the names of late passengers would be announced shortly....and low and behold it was one of our own. She chose to stay on board when her cabinmate and her family members went to the beach. They returned to find out she had left the ship alone and hooked up with folks from the other Carnival ship and returned with them for their 5PM departure. We departed at 2PM. I think it happens more than we realize!

 

Cindy ;)

 

When I was in the Navy we were in port with a couple of Navy ships and a couple of cruiseships. Heard that a couple of sailors ended up being taken back to one of the cruiseships by a couple of young ladies and ended up getting underway with the cruise ship because they overslept. Don't know if it's true or not but it made for a good story (this was back before the heightened security).

[elcuchio24]

We were on the Pride earlier this month and a lady from our group was left in Freeport. We were having lunch and joked about the fact the names of late passengers would be announced shortly....and low and behold it was one of our own. She chose to stay on board when her cabinmate and her family members went to the beach. They returned to find out she had left the ship alone and hooked up with folks from the other Carnival ship and returned with them for their 5PM departure. We departed at 2PM. I think it happens more than we realize!

 

Cindy ;)

 

I think you're totally right. These people at Nachi were so hammered that they were pretty much just saying to everyone "hey, just let us know when we are supposed to leave, we'll share a cab" Could have EASILY brought them back with us and found that their ship was long gone....

[gfy012]

I noticed on our cruise in November that in Cozumel, the bars and shops at the pier close down just before sailaway. That must cut down alot on having passengers miss the ship.

 

Is this something new?

[MicksMom]

Is this something new?

 

 

We saw this too on our last 2 cruises to Coz, but we were the last ship to leave. Several ships left earlier. By the time we left at 6:00, the shopping area looked like a ghost town.

[FnyFACEnAL]

Tip: Your CCL daily paper has an emergency phone no. on the front page. Take the paper with you when you are off the ship.