What options are available for abandoned passengers?

[ticktoneer]

Oh DrD - just go away !!!!!!

[critterchick]

That's what I think too. I plan to be back an hour before departure, that way there's plenty of time.

 

I haven't seen a departure time listed in a Cruise Compass in awhile. It show the time for crew and passengers to be onboard (crew usually 30 minutes earlier), and have the same information on the gangway. Although it's usually 30 minutes prior to the departure time shown in your our documents, I've seen the ship depart sooner than the published departure time. All passengers have been onboard, though. I have a hard time believing that, absent an urgent reason to leave the port (weather), they would leave somebody who missed "all aboard" but still on time according to the cruise documents.

[billie5]

Who are these "experts"? Cruise critic members?

 

Anyone who posts on Cruise Critic has to be a member. How else can they post? Obviously, self-proclaimed experts (if they are being truthful) have professional experience in consular affairs.

 

No, I won't get caught up in this endless topic. I won't get caught up in this endless topic. I won't get caught up in this endless topic.

 

Heavens to Betsy, I HAVE been caught up again. :eek::eek:

 

I was at a search committee meeting yesterday, interviewing a candidate from the Northeast. She said that she had just learned it was okay in the South to say something negative about another person as long as you added at the end "Bless his/her heart."

 

So, for those who appreciate only one side of the debate about whether or not to carry your passport with you, Bless your hearts. :):):)

 

Bill

[Trekker954]

Shortly before the Majesty left Nassau last Sunday the captain announced that there were three passengers who hadn't returned and if they didn't arrive within five minutes, they would have to find their own way back to Miami. Since we were in the Viking Crown Lounge overlooking the pool, we decided to stroll to the back of the lounge and see if they made it. Within minutes a couple darted from the terminal building and ran toward the ship. It was a replay of a UTube video I saw some time ago (same dock, as a matter of fact). He kept running as the gap of water increased between the ship and the dock. She gave up earlier. They were dressed in swimwear and carrying those $25 RCI beach towels. Since it was Sunday, the shops closed 3 hours beforehand. How do you "make your own way back" to Miami without your passport, wrapped in a beach towel?

 

Thats not what I heard him announce. It was 11 passengers missing when the time due on board. We then watched and saw twice a golf cart come up to the ship, the first dropped two guys off, the next three (two women and one man). never saw the last six board or even run, as it was security golf carts bringing them to the ship since it was so far away. We had hoped to see passengers running for the ship, but was disappointed with the golf carts. Its pathetic, but very entertaining. How stupid are these people and they even had an extra day in Nassau

 

Everyone is to bring ;photo ID with them and hopefully they had ALOT of money. At least in Nassau, we have US. Customs pre clearance. Hopefully with their drivers licenses and assistance from port security they can make their cases to u.S. customs right there and pay big bucks for a flight home.

[FOXTROT]

As one captain put it " the people chose not to sail with us.";)

[wadekind]

Our ship waited/drifted around for us at Grand Cayman when the cruise line excursion we were on was late. Don't know if this was because we bought the excursion through the cruise line or not. We were never talked to or given a bill for anything. Our parents and grand parents, who did not leave the ship, were freaking out though.

[CARIBBEANBLUESKY]

How hard is it to remember that it's ONLY means "it is?" Or that a plural doesn't take an apostrophe? Even my 10 year old knows that.

 

In your sentence, there is a punctuation error that I am sure even your 10-year-old would spot. It is so amusing when the grammar police, while correcting others, make mistakes. :D:D:D

[poncho1973]

In your sentence, there is a punctuation error that I am sure even your 10-year-old would spot. It is so amusing when the grammar police, while correcting others, make mistakes. :D:D:D

 

Ugh, I don't really want to get into this. However, if you are talking about the question mark being inside the quotes, then you are incorrect. That is exactly where it is supposed to be.

 

Shame on me.

[grand isle joe]

Ugh, I don't really want to get into this. However, if you are talking about the question mark being inside the quotes, then you are incorrect. That is exactly where it is supposed to be.

 

Shame on me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

.......welcome to the club...........................:cool:

[AWOL]

Just thought of another idea for the US Department of State issuing the passport to come up with a Passport micro chip which can be inject in your body and can be scan by a scanner. In that way you don't have to worry about bringing passport with you. :D:D

 

Where would you put the visa stamp. I can think of some interesting places.:eek::eek:

[bigque]

What I can't get a handle on to understand is why people push it to the limit to get back to the ship. I read comments like we try to get back a half hour or an hour before departure. To me that is pushing it close. I always get back at least 2 hours before and then hang out at the pool or do some other activity on the ship till departure. Getting that las little bit of time at the beach or that last drink at some bar or trying to buy that last little trinket is just not worth the chance of missing the ship IMHO!

[fred30]

Many USB Thumb Drives come with 128bit encryption software already installed on them. Since most of us carry these things around they are very easy to get lost and having them encrypted with a password will keep most people locked out.

 

Chances are if someone steals your belongings they won't be going to great lengths to hack into your files. They will just move onto the next victim. They are mostly after cash and credit cards. Now if you are a target of an international spy ring or James Bond you may have a problem.

[JYeagersGrl]

On NCL last fall we left 9 non English speaking Chinese tourists on Bermuda. We waited like 30 minutes I'm guessing only because we were missing 11 originally and one of those missing was a 6 month old child with its parent. She did t even run when she arrived just casually strolled with her kid. The Chinese ppl were traveling with a huge touring group who were devastated and crying.

[Dolby1000]

Wonder if you could take pictures with your IPhone, a little easier to display immediately, but a little harder to carry. :)

 

 

No, don't use the iPhone. It is only protected by a simple 4 number password, very easy to break.

 

Our company doesn't allow iPhones as they are the most unsecure of the smart phone devices. They are not encrypted, so storing information in the cloud is not a good idea.

 

Dolby1000

[Retired LEO]

I've seen many people left behind on embarkation day because they didn't make the 90 minute window.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

I've seen many people left behind on embarkation day because they didn't make the 90 minute window.

 

 

How many threads have we seen about arriving the day of the cruise with just an hour or so to spare???

 

We have never actually witnessed that, but have heard of it on several of our cruises. People fail to realize this rule.

 

 

 

***

[orville99]

Thank you so very much!! I appreciate the detailed instructions. I will copy and paste them and find a card on amazon. Thanks again!

 

 

You can also find them at the pharmacy counter of any major drugstore chain. They were originally developed to store personal medical information.

[critterchick]

What I can't get a handle on to understand is why people push it to the limit to get back to the ship. I read comments like we try to get back a half hour or an hour before departure. To me that is pushing it close. I always get back at least 2 hours before and then hang out at the pool or do some other activity on the ship till departure. Getting that las little bit of time at the beach or that last drink at some bar or trying to buy that last little trinket is just not worth the chance of missing the ship IMHO!

 

I agree with you for Caribbean ports, but if we're in Europe or Australia, we want to maximize our time in port, so are more likely not to get back until 30 minutes before "all aboard." "Stranded" and "Italy" don't make it into the same sentence for me.:p

[sbwhite2]

On one of our cruises many years ago, we were back at the port wondering through the shops when a woman asked me if I was on the ship. I replied yes and she then asked what time the shop was leaving. I told her. She then told me that on her last cruise she had been late getting back to the ship and had been left. She continued on saying that she had such a hard time remembering when she needed to be back on board. HUH??? If I'd already been left once, I sure as heck would make sure I knew departure times on all future cruises and would be back extra early. We wondered on back and boarded. Sitting on the balcony watching the last few minutes of boarding here she came, walking along like she had all the time in the world. Guess she prided herself in always being the last to board.

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

What I can't get a handle on to understand is why people push it to the limit to get back to the ship. I read comments like we try to get back a half hour or an hour before departure. To me that is pushing it close. I always get back at least 2 hours before and then hang out at the pool or do some other activity on the ship till departure. Getting that las little bit of time at the beach or that last drink at some bar or trying to buy that last little trinket is just not worth the chance of missing the ship IMHO!

 

 

I agree with you, these are probably the same type of people that show up just minutes before their flight. Some love to live on the edge and fly by the seat of their pants. :eek: :eek:

 

***

[xxHadleyxx]

What I can't get a handle on to understand is why people push it to the limit to get back to the ship. I read comments like we try to get back a half hour or an hour before departure. To me that is pushing it close. I always get back at least 2 hours before and then hang out at the pool or do some other activity on the ship till departure. Getting that las little bit of time at the beach or that last drink at some bar or trying to buy that last little trinket is just not worth the chance of missing the ship IMHO!

 

Well I think I was one who posted about arriving back at least an hour ahead. have had several stops where we only have 4-5 hours in port. Planning to be on board 2 hours or more ahead of the time would leave precious little time to explore.

Very often we are within sight and walking distance of the ship anyway--in which case think there is not much that would prevent us from making it back in the time we expect.

 

Actually I am one of those must spend the night in the embarkation city the night before a cruse and always at the airport 2-3 hours before a flight people--but I am also realistic about risk and tend to cruse at least party to VISIT the ports--hard to do if you cut your port time in half or more so as to not take a small risk of missing the ship by "only" planning to be back one hour before departure.

[awboater]

If you want to put your data on a flash drive, I would suggest one that has hardware encryption, such as the MIX Stealth USB drives. A lot of government agencies use them (or at least did). Some even use a combination of password and biometric (thumb print) to unlock them.

 

While no drive is impervious to being hacked into given enough time and talent, it is not something a street-corner thug would probably be able to do. You cannot absolutely secure your data with any storage media, but you can at least keep it reasonably safe.

 

http://www.esecuritytogo.com/category.aspx?categoryid=833

[Driftwoodgal]

What I can't get a handle on to understand is why people push it to the limit to get back to the ship. I read comments like we try to get back a half hour or an hour before departure. To me that is pushing it close. I always get back at least 2 hours before and then hang out at the pool or do some other activity on the ship till departure. Getting that las little bit of time at the beach or that last drink at some bar or trying to buy that last little trinket is just not worth the chance of missing the ship IMHO!

 

Lost in the Vatican is more my excuse. Actually, I should say the tour guide messed up. My thoughts are that she ducked out the side door to have a smoke with two of the people on our tour.

 

Who cares why you are late, if you are late you can get left. I will now always have my passport with me unless I am on Labadee etc. I did feel comfortable that my next port of call in Rome didn't need a passport to get there by train.

 

In some ports you only have a short period of time to get from the actual port to the city you are visiting, Critterchick pointed this out earlier. If you got back two hours before the ship leaves port then you will miss the city you are visiting in Europe.

[4x4bob]

Old Joke:

 

One blast of ships horn: Signal the bartender and order another drink.

 

Two blasts of ships horn: Signal the bartender, order another drink and ask him to call you a taxi.

 

Three blasts of ships horn: Signal the bartender, order another drink and ask him for the name and location of a good hotel. Because the ship has sailed.:eek:

 

Bob

[MrsPete]

1. It really isn't hard to pay attention and return to the ship on time. There's no excuse for being left behind -- except for poor planning.

 

I agree with the person who says that "trying to be back" 30 minutes before the ship sails is just a bad idea. Plan to be back 2 hours before "all aboard" time; that way, IF something happens (your transportation falls through, you twist your ankle, you become lost), you may be delayed, but you'll still make it back in plenty of time.

 

And we all know that people don't typically miss the ship because of a crisis; that is, few people are involved in accidents, have their busses break down, or are robbed during those few hours ashore. Instead, most of the people who miss the ship are either drinking or shopping and lose track of time. As I said, no excuse for that.

 

It's up to each of us to be aware.

 

2. Those of you who are fussing over how to encrypt secrets on a phone or a flashdrive are missing the bigger picture: Either of those items can be lost or pick-pocketed.

 

A better plan is to send yourself an email with all those important scanned documents: Your ID, your credit card numbers, your insurance information, etc. If you are in an unlikely emergency situation, someone at a hospital or a police station or the embassy (depending upon your emergency) will let you log onto your email, and you'll have access to everything you need -- even if you have literally nothing in your pockets.

 

This really is a very unlikely scenerio, but it would be useful in a truly dire emergency.