Will Cruise Ships Leave Without Me?

[garycarla]

I'm very paranoid about planning for excursions because I don't want to be left behind.

 

From what I have seen/heard - most of the people that are late are not from a delayed excursion, but because they are busy shopping for "- - - -" or at a bar way too long.

[Shelli]

When booking an excursion for our last day in Bermuda on our June 29 cruise, the reservation agent booked us for a three hour excursion that gets us back to the ship thirty minutes prior to departure. I hesitated and questioned what would happen if our excursion was delayed and we were late getting back? I mean look what happened to Gilligan! The agent informed me that "we would be fine, as we had booked through NCL the ship can't leave. If you don't book through NCL they will not wait." I am not sure I want to test this:eek: and we are going to rebook once on board.

 

The reservation agent is correct: if you book an excursion through the ship and the excursion returns late, it's not a problem. The ship will NOT leave passengers behind who booked a ship's tour.

 

(That said, in 16 cruises, I've never booked a ship's tour. And I've never been late getting back to the ship.)

[brucelegs]

One young lady last on our RCCL EOS cruise in Bermuda was very, very, very lucky b/c the Captain waited 15 minutes for her past departure time at King's Wharf (Dockyard) - with the NCL Dawn scheduled to sail 30 minutes behind our ship at 5:30 pm - he came over the PA to announced that one (1) person hasn't returned & they are still waiting for her. All abroad was supposed to be 4:00 pm (3:30 pm for off-duty crew) so the lady we saw running back shortly after the news with a shopping bag had 4,300+ people to be thankful for (pax & crews) - she ran up & security was waiting on the pier to get her up to the Gangway & 30 seconds later, the horn sounded & we're on our way soon with the cables being released on the pier (we had bird's eye view of the whole incident from our starboard window above it all)

 

Tugboat isn't used but rather a smaller & much faster pilot boat to "escort" ships out thru the shallow blue waters to head out to the deep Atlantic - climbing the ladders would be out of the question, I think. But, the EOS has a helipad upfront - or - to get home & the next port being NYC, the young lady could've easily ended up looking at $$ on the next available JetBlue flight from BDA airport instead. (it probably cost more to find/charter a helicopter on the island than to just fly home/to NY)

 

We were on the Dawn and watching the whole thing (it's the voyeur in us)- the cheer upon her arrival was loud ! Very fortunate lady

[kocruiser]

The reservation agent is correct: if you book an excursion through the ship and the excursion returns late, it's not a problem. The ship will NOT leave passengers behind who booked a ship's tour.

 

(That said, in 16 cruises, I've never booked a ship's tour. And I've never been late getting back to the ship.)

 

I agree. We have done 3 RCI (they always wait, no matter what, God love them),1 Princess (wasn't an issue that I remember), and 1 MSC(Yuck, if they missed reboarding it was probably intentional) and most times went off on our own. Basically, be smart, if you go off on your own, plan accordingly. If you are not familiar with the destination, ask your driver how much time he would estimate to get you back at such and such a time, then add an hour. We use this method then head directly to our balcony to toast the day's adventures and the port that we just visited and have show and tell for all the goodies my wife and daughter purchased in port. The more planning you do the less stress you will encounter. That's not to say your entire vacation needs to be one continuos schedule of events. Just plan your excursions and enjoy! This post is coming from a very stressed out person in normal life. In cruise life, I'm a completely different person....Cruuuiisssing Calm:D!

[barbierahrah]

One time in Cabo (you had to water-taxi to shore and back) we were on board enjoying lunch at sailaway. One of the water taxis followed the ship out of the harbor (keep in mind the water was ROUGH out there beyond that point) and I noticed someone waving something off the deck of the taxi. Everyone thought that was so cute that the locals were waving good bye to the ship!! Guess again, it was one of the ship's guests, waving her big sunhat, begging the ship to stop! We were already headed back north towards Long Beach -- and I'll be darned -- the ship STOPPED dead in the water, opened up a large lower door, and pulled the 2 people into the ship! It was crazy. Just getting onto the water taxi in the harbor was scary enough with the swells, and I can only imagine how frightening (and expensive!!) it was on the open seas. I'm surprised our ship didn't tip over with everyone on one side watching the show down below! Everyone cheered for the captain and the naughty couple and they were quite the celebrities. That was 8 or so years ago, but I wish I'd had a video camera and I'm just glad it didn't happen to me.

[mking8288]

We were on the Dawn and watching the whole thing (it's the voyeur in us)- the cheer upon her arrival was loud ! Very fortunate lady

 

LOL ... those loud cheers were really heard that far away/across to the Dawn at Heritage's Wharf. And, the shopping bag that she had with her wasn't even a big one - gosh, did she rush back to Dockyard via a taxi or the usual (bus or ferry) ? for that final 1/4 mile dash, if you happened to see that part of it ...

 

Being only a "few" minutes late ... I supposed there's the very slim & remote possibility that she could've possibly hitch a one-way ride on the Dawn (and pay the applicable fares) On NCL ships, they would start overhead paging the "unaccounted for / missing passengers" long before sailing - although they are supposed to know exactly the head counts since nobody get off/on without swiping the pass via security.

 

 

Off Topic - BTW, 2 Dawn crew members onshore (young Asians & off-duty) minding their own & enjoying lunch at La Trattoria in Hamilton a day earlier pitched in and saved one of our fellow Explorer guests at a nearby table from choking, and then resumed their meal - going above & beyond their with a good deed. We sailed her twice & loved that ship and that "home away from home spirit" as exemplified by those working on her.

[mitsugirly]

It seems like every cruise I've been on in the last couple of years (all NCL) they have made announcements for late passengers either 2-3 ports each cruise. NCL seems to have always waited for them. We've pulled out of dock really late before waiting on passengers. Some I've seen come running down the pier...others never showed. I don't know what type of policy NCL has (and I don't intend to find out) but they sure wait around for passengers all the time (which isn't necessarily a good thing because people will start to think they can come back whenever and the ship will still be waiting on them).

[biker@sea]

On another note D.W. and I talked to a very upset young couple at the Boston cruise terminal that could not board the ship. They had a flat tire on their Volvo putting them way late for embarkation ( I want to say about 1/2 before the ship sailed ) . Sadly they could not board that late. The ship sailed with out them.

[roxette]

If you have your passport you have the option of getting yourself to the next port.

 

If you don't then you have other worries.

The cruise line will give the Port Agent the passports of the missing guests. As long as they keep them in the safe box in the cabin.

[time2cruise1]

The cruise line will give the Port Agent the passports of the missing guests. As long as they keep them in the safe box in the cabin.

 

The telephone number of the port agent is in the Freestyle Daily. Make sure you take it with you when you go ashore just incase something happens.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - Jim

[NJGem]

Every cruise line we have been on has stated that they will not wait for late passengers (of course, this would exclude anyone on a ship's excursion). Normally, I do not book tours through the ship and try to book as early as possible in the day to give us that extra time. If we are on a short port stop I will book a ship's excursion. Many years ago I worked on a cruise ship and that was back in the day when tugs were used. My manager missed the ship and one of the tugs brought her out to the ship. She had to transfer from the tug to the ship and that story was enough to insure that I always pay attention to the boarding time and make sure I am using ship's time. Although once the drawbridge was up at the Port of Miami. We were five minutes late for the staff's assigned returned time and had our pay docked.:confused:

[Karysa]

The cruise line will give the Port Agent the passports of the missing guests. As long as they keep them in the safe box in the cabin.

 

That's what I had always heard and believed until we left Antigua less than 2 minutes late and the next day we found out that our cross the hall neighbors never made it back on board. I would have thought that this would have been discovered prior to sailing away from Antigua. They were still looking for them the next morning to clear customs in St. Thomas. We were shocked by this.

[Bars7816]

This is a classic. The looks on the faces of these two women are just priceless.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXgaIyqMykw

[che5904]

The cruise line will give the Port Agent the passports of the missing guests. As long as they keep them in the safe box in the cabin.

 

I actually hope you are wrong. The reason being, I may already have my passport on me and if I have paid my fair, I am renting that room for the duration of the cruise and no one should be opening my safe while I am still technically in that room.

 

I could see this being so, if the ship was holding the passports, not if it is in my safe.

[Karysa]

I actually hope you are wrong. The reason being, I may already have my passport on me and if I have paid my fair, I am renting that room for the duration of the cruise and no one should be opening my safe while I am still technically in that room.

 

I could see this being so, if the ship was holding the passports, not if it is in my safe.

 

You bring up an interesting point. The way the world is these days I would think that the country that you miss or abandon the ship at has a right to know that you are there. Do they also have the right to know if you have your passport? Is there any small print in the cruise contract that says anything regarding the situation where a passenger does not return to the ship? Personally I would hope that they would go in my safe and leave my passport with the port security. To me it would be bad enough to have to fly to the next port to catch up with the ship I wouldn't want to have to deal with passport issues on top of that. I would think that for security reasons your cabin would be searched just like if you check your bags at the airport and decide not to board the flight.

[che5904]

You bring up an interesting point. The way the world is these days I would think that the country that you miss or abandon the ship at has a right to know that you are there. Do they also have the right to know if you have your passport? Is there any small print in the cruise contract that says anything regarding the situation where a passenger does not return to the ship? Personally I would hope that they would go in my safe and leave my passport with the port security. To me it would be bad enough to have to fly to the next port to catch up with the ship I wouldn't want to have to deal with passport issues on top of that. I would think that for security reasons your cabin would be searched just like if you check your bags at the airport and decide not to board the flight.

 

Well for one thing I only cruise to warm destinations. And I could think of far worse things than being stranded (while waiting for a new passport) on a caribbean island ;). Two I would have my passport on me and as I said, I paid for my room and the ship has no business going through my personal belongs until my paid time is up. They have already checked me out when I did my online check-in, they have checked my passport* getting onto the ship and they've already searched my bags coming onto the ship. *I am required to have a passport because I need one to travel into the States to cruise. But U.S. citizens don't always need a passport for closed loop cruises, so what you are saying they may not have to give in the first place.

 

However, I do agree that the country has a right to know I am still there and by all means the ship should notify whoever they need to, to let them know I did not reboard the ship, but I think they need to do that part anyway.

[sparks1093]

Well for one thing I only cruise to warm destinations. And I could think of far worse things than being stranded (while waiting for a new passport) on a caribbean island ;). Two I would have my passport on me and as I said, I paid for my room and the ship has no business going through my personal belongs until my paid time is up. They have already checked me out when I did my online check-in, they have checked my passport* getting onto the ship and they've already searched my bags coming onto the ship. *I am required to have a passport because I need one to travel into the States to cruise. But U.S. citizens don't always need a passport for closed loop cruises, so what you are saying they may not have to give in the first place.

 

However, I do agree that the country has a right to know I am still there and by all means the ship should notify whoever they need to, to let them know I did not reboard the ship, but I think they need to do that part anyway.

 

It is my understanding that the passenger manifest is provided to the immigration services for the country and if it turns out that a passenger did in fact miss the ship they are in turn notified of that, too.

[che5904]

It is my understanding that the passenger manifest is provided to the immigration services for the country and if it turns out that a passenger did in fact miss the ship they are in turn notified of that, too.

 

Thanks Sparks, I just assumed that but it just seemed logical to me that they would have to.

[Karysa]

It is my understanding that the passenger manifest is provided to the immigration services for the country and if it turns out that a passenger did in fact miss the ship they are in turn notified of that, too.

There are all kinds of reasons one may have missed the ship. I wonder what happens if you don't show up at the port pier after the ship pulls away. Who's responsible to notify your contact people and when?

[che5904]

There are all kinds of reasons one may have missed the ship. I wonder what happens if you don't show up at the port pier after the ship pulls away. Who's responsible to notify your contact people and when?

 

Good question. I doubt NCL notifies anyone since they are only responsible when you are on their ship.

[emcelh]

Good question. I doubt NCL notifies anyone since they are only responsible when you are on their ship.

 

I seem to remember a thread, or maybe a review, within the last year or so, regarding a couple who missed the ship in Mexico and the ship notified some family members (not on the ship) that they were missing.

[sparks1093]

There are all kinds of reasons one may have missed the ship. I wonder what happens if you don't show up at the port pier after the ship pulls away. Who's responsible to notify your contact people and when?

 

Good question. I doubt NCL notifies anyone since they are only responsible when you are on their ship.

 

I recall a thread in the not too distant past where the poster was really upset with the cruise line (it was either NCL or CCL but I want to say NCL) because their elderly parents were left behind in a port (I think the dad needed medical attention). The poster painted a bleak picture of how their parents were treated and that the family did not receive much info from the cruise line, etc. IIRC the poster also took it to the media, which caused the cruise line to issue a press release which of course painted a completely different picture.

 

All I know for sure is that I don't want to find out what they do if you get left behind because you missed the ship;).

[emcelh]

I recall a thread in the not too distant past where the poster was really upset with the cruise line (it was either NCL or CCL but I want to say NCL) because their elderly parents were left behind in a port (I think the dad needed medical attention). The poster painted a bleak picture of how their parents were treated and that the family did not receive much info from the cruise line, etc. IIRC the poster also took it to the media, which caused the cruise line to issue a press release which of course painted a completely different picture.

 

All I know for sure is that I don't want to find out what they do if you get left behind because you missed the ship;).

 

I don't think that was the one I read about (although I think I remember the one your talking about. I found the review I was referring to. Here's the link.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=81967

[DevCruise]

All I know for sure is that I don't want to find out what they do if you get left behind because you missed the ship;).

 

I wouldn't want to find out by being the person on the pier. Could be interesting from the safety of your home computer or the balcony of your stateroom with a drink and camera in hand. :)

[che5904]

I don't think that was the one I read about (although I think I remember the one your talking about. I found the review I was referring to. Here's the link.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=81967

 

Well I guess that answers a few questions. The ship does contact your contact phone # and no they don't go into your safe and remove your passport to leave with the port agent. No NCL doesn't turn the ship around or help you get back on the ship if you do not take the responsibility of double checking watches.