Has anyone ever actually missed the boat in port?

[idkanything]

I'm just curious. I've only booked excursions through Carnival, for the simple reason that I'm terrified of missing the boat! That got me thinking, after all the reading I've done over the past two years (I'm new to this fantastic cruising thing!) I've never actually read anyone's stories of *not* making it back.

 

Maybe there's a story or two of what actually happens to the poor people who don't complete that "long run" before it's too late? :)

 

(25 more days to cruise #2!!)

[susie8862]

OMG....go to YOU TUBE and punch in "Pier Runners" you will see so many of them on video. Cozumel is FAMOUS for pier runners and people missing the ship. I guess it is the tequila.:eek:

[Socref124]

Didn't miss the boat but came very close. Had to run the pier in Nassau because of a mix up on time. They were lifting the gang plank as we turned the corner of the pier and I had to run to get them to wait for us. I could hear people on the Lido Deck yelling Run Forest Run.:o We were in the elevator to our floor and the ship was already moving. Never again.

[ch27088]

A girlfriend of mine was in high school with her class on a cruise (yes it was supervised, hmmm), and her and her friend was actually standing on the end of the pier watching their ship sail away. I don't know what the chaperon did, or told the ships officers, but the cruise ship turned around and got them. They had the worse chewing out from what I understand, but I would have also blamed the chaperon for allowing the ship to take off. I have fear of missing the ship, so that's why we mainly do the beach scene of shop. We are not really excursion people anyway.

[taraleigh292929]

We were in Progresso along side another Carnival ship. As it left we saw a young man running the pier carrying a young woman. Come to find out she had twisted her ankle hiking and couldn't walk back to the ship. After a very lengthy discussion with cruise officials they finally allowed both to get on our ship and meet up with theirs in Cozumel the next day. We watched all of this from out balcony. People on other balconies were offering their rooms and clothes to the young couple. But I have seen more than one get left in Nassau- guess they stayed a little too long at Jose Frogs. Most look like they are having a tough time navigating the pier.

[mzloolue]

I have posted before about my daughter and her friend being left on the dock in Nassau.

 

What do you want to know?

 

It is really scary for your family.

Carnival offers very minimal help.

And it is very expensive.

 

Oh, and watch the taxi drivers in the Bahamas.

They do a thing with tickets and filling the van.

I did not really understand what had happened to cause my daughter to miss the boat until last April when they tried to pull it on my sister and I in Freeport.

But we are mean old women and it did not work so well on us as it did on the kids.

[onthehighseas606]

OMG....go to YOU TUBE and punch in "Pier Runners" you will see so many of them on video. Cozumel is FAMOUS for pier runners and people missing the ship. I guess it is the tequila.:eek:

 

Some of those utubes are hilarious to watch. The funniest part are the people on board heckling! :D

[Cruising_from_swfl]

I was just on the Breeze 3/10-3/16 and we heard that it happens all the time. We had a cove balcony right above the gangway (if that's what it's called,sorry I'm still pretty new to cruising lol) so we were sitting on the balcony watching to see if anyone had to run to the ship. We were scheduled to leave Nassau at 5pm and everyone was supposed to be back to the ship at 4:30. From 4:30-5:30 We watched over 100 people get back on the ship. I don't know if they normally wait that long for people but I think it was because so many people weren't back yet. Towards the end they were carting people back in golf carts. Some people were running and some people were taking their time. There were a couple people laughing and thinking it was funny,talking about how they were "this close". A couple girls that were in one of the golf carts were eating food out of styrofoam containers and this was around 5:15 when the ship was set to leave at 5. There were a couple important looking people and the cruise director Butch standing by the gangway. I guess they were deciding what to do and eventually we left. I can't remember if it was 5:30 or 6. People were saying that a father and his 3 children we left in the Bahamas. I don't know if that's what really happened but I was surprised that it was someone with kids. I hope they had passports and that it worked out for them. I felt really bad for the kids. I expected it to be spring breakers that drank too much.

[livingis2me]

I've heard about a lot of these stories... But, I've always wondered, what happens when those who get left behind have their young kids in the kid's club???

 

Ron

[alligirl78]

I have posted before about my daughter and her friend being left on the dock in Nassau.

 

What do you want to know?

 

It is really scary for your family.

Carnival offers very minimal help.

And it is very expensive.

 

Oh, and watch the taxi drivers in the Bahamas.

They do a thing with tickets and filling the van.

I did not really understand what had happened to cause my daughter to miss the boat until last April when they tried to pull it on my sister and I in Freeport.

But we are mean old women and it did not work so well on us as it did on the kids.

 

Why in the world would they want you to miss the boat??

[Elaine5715]

Loved watching runners in Cozumel when docked downtown. The Coast Guard ship would also cheer on runners. FYI-Ladies, do you know we can see a whole lot from above?

[DISNEY1975]

We were scheduled to leave Nassau at 5pm and everyone was supposed to be back to the ship at 4:30. From 4:30-5:30 We watched over 100 people get back on the ship. I don't know if they normally wait that long for people but I think it was because so many people weren't back yet. Towards the end they were carting people back in golf carts.

 

If it was that many people, maybe it was an entire excursion that got delayed. If you are booked on an excursion through the cruiseline, they have to wait for you.

[Florissouri]

I heard about...We saw people running...There's youtube videos...

 

Am I the only one here that can give a first hand account of missing a ship in port?

 

Nassau? Pffft...That's nothing. It's just a short hop back to Miami.

 

Try missing the ship in Barcelona with your passport locked safely in your cabin safe. Without a passport we could leave Spain, but where are you going to go? No country will allow you into their country without a passport. We kept getting warnings about pickpockets on La Rambla, so since we didn't need our passports to get back on the ship I left them where they would be safe.

 

I was on a transatlantic cruise on the Costa Fortuna and Barcelona was the last port before ending the cruise in Savona. It was a very short stop in which the last shuttle back to the ship was at 12:30 PM, but I thought it was 1:30. While we were walking around La Rambla the Costa Concordia (yes, that ship) had slipped into port as well so as we were getting near the shuttle area we could see a Costa ship. It wasn't until we were driving up in a taxi could we see our ship, the Fortuna, sailing away. I can tell you it's a very lonely feeling standing in a vast, empty terminal with no one around because their job is done, the ship is away, so they went home.

 

Fortunately, Costa's port agent was a trio of wonderful people. They escorted us onto the Concordia to spend a few hours. We helped ourselves to the buffet and explored the doomed ship while the port agents got us a hotel room (which we had to pay for), drove us there and then took us to the US Consulate the next day. The port agents were wonderful people which Costa, Carnival and any other cruise line pay to take care of such incidents. So make sure you always look in your daily newsletter and get their contact information for whatever port you're in.

 

When we got to the Consulate it was very interesting to talk to a group of Americans who had been ripped off, robbed and purse snatched. That was quite a lesson in traveling in a foreign country itself. The Consulate Folks gave us the option of canceling our passports and reissuing them for about $300. That's when the light went on in my head and I told the port agent to have Costa put our clothes in our suitcases, empty the safe and send it back to Barcelona on the Costa Atlantica (Don't ask how I remembered their itinerary but I did) in three days.

 

So...We spent three days in Barcelona with just the clothes on our backs. I was wearing shorts and a polo shirt. It's amazing what you can wash in the sink of your hotel room and dry with a hair dryer. We had no deodorant, no toothbrush, no toothpaste, no shaving cream or razor. Thanks to the hotel and the farmacia down the street that problem was solved and the farmacia also gladly sold our daily medications to us which were also left on the ship.

 

On the fourth day we flew to London from Barcelona instead of from Savona as planned. We lost the money on our hotel reservation in Savona, the flight from Savona to London and had to pay for the new flight. So missing a ship can get quite expensive.

 

The whole ordeal was quite an experience and education, but I don't recommend anyone try it intentionally.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Florissouri

[DISNEY1975]

Why in the world would they want you to miss the boat??

 

 

I thought that too, but reread a couple of times and realized she is talking about the taxi drivers making you miss the boat.

[okgirl]

I have posted before about my daughter and her friend being left on the dock in Nassau.

 

What do you want to know?

 

It is really scary for your family.

Carnival offers very minimal help.

And it is very expensive.

 

Oh, and watch the taxi drivers in the Bahamas.

They do a thing with tickets and filling the van.

I did not really understand what had happened to cause my daughter to miss the boat until last April when they tried to pull it on my sister and I in Freeport.

But we are mean old women and it did not work so well on us as it did on the kids.

 

Will you explain the "thing with tickets" that caused your daughter to miss the ship?

 

My sister and I will be in the Bahamas in a couple of weeks and planned to just taxi around to some favorite places...we're mean old women too, but I need to know what the scam is.

 

And being on a ship sponsored excursion doesn't mean the ship HAS to wait on you. Sometimes they simply can't stay beyond a certain timeframe. I do think that they have some liability to pay for things and make the arrangements for the guests to catch back up or get home.

[Florissouri]

Will you explain the "thing with tickets" that caused your daughter to miss the ship?

 

My sister and I will be in the Bahamas in a couple of weeks and planned to just taxi around to some favorite places...we're mean old women too, but I need to know what the scam is.

 

And being on a ship sponsored excursion doesn't mean the ship HAS to wait on you. Sometimes they simply can't stay beyond a certain timeframe. I do think that they have some liability to pay for things and make the arrangements for the guests to catch back up or get home.

 

If you're on an excursion you purchased through the cruise line and the group has some problems getting back on time the ship will wait on them. That's their biggest selling point.

[Jasonmom]

I heard about...We saw people running...There's youtube videos...

 

Am I the only one here that can give a first hand account of missing a ship in port?

 

Nassau? Pffft...That's nothing. It's just a short hop back to Miami.

 

Try missing the ship in Barcelona with your passport locked safely in your cabin safe. Without a passport we could leave Spain, but where are you going to go? No country will allow you into their country without a passport. We kept getting warnings about pickpockets on La Rambla, so since we didn't need our passports to get back on the ship I left them where they would be safe.

 

I was on a transatlantic cruise on the Costa Fortuna and Barcelona was the last port before ending the cruise in Savona. It was a very short stop in which the last shuttle back to the ship was at 12:30 PM, but I thought it was 1:30. While we were walking around La Rambla the Costa Concordia (yes, that ship) had slipped into port as well so as we were getting near the shuttle area we could see a Costa ship. It wasn't until we were driving up in a taxi could we see our ship, the Fortuna, sailing away. I can tell you it's a very lonely feeling standing in a vast, empty terminal with no one around because their job is done, the ship is away, so they went home.

 

Fortunately, Costa's port agent was a trio of wonderful people. They escorted us onto the Concordia to spend a few hours. We helped ourselves to the buffet and explored the doomed ship while the port agents got us a hotel room (which we had to pay for), drove us there and then took us to the US Consulate the next day. The port agents were wonderful people which Costa, Carnival and any other cruise line pay to take care of such incidents. So make sure you always look in your daily newsletter and get their contact information for whatever port you're in.

 

When we got to the Consulate it was very interesting to talk to a group of Americans who had been ripped off, robbed and purse snatched. That was quite a lesson in traveling in a foreign country itself. The Consulate Folks gave us the option of canceling our passports and reissuing them for about $300. That's when the light went on in my head and I told the port agent to have Costa put our clothes in our suitcases, empty the safe and send it back to Barcelona on the Costa Atlantica (Don't ask how I remembered their itinerary but I did) in three days.

 

So...We spent three days in Barcelona with just the clothes on our backs. I was wearing shorts and a polo shirt. It's amazing what you can wash in the sink of your hotel room and dry with a hair dryer. We had no deodorant, no toothbrush, no toothpaste, no shaving cream or razor. Thanks to the hotel and the farmacia down the street that problem was solved and the farmacia also gladly sold our daily medications to us which were also left on the ship.

 

On the fourth day we flew to London from Barcelona instead of from Savona as planned. We lost the money on our hotel reservation in Savona, the flight from Savona to London and had to pay for the new flight. So missing a ship can get quite expensive.

 

The whole ordeal was quite an experience and education, but I don't recommend anyone try it intentionally.

 

 

Thanks for the first hand account. You have made up my mind as to whether we will carry out passports with us when we get off in ports in Europe. We will have them in a money belt with us (copies left on ship)

[okgirl]

If you're on an excursion you purchased through the cruise line and the group has some problems getting back on time the ship will wait on them. That's their biggest selling point.

 

What they don't say is that they will wait for a longer period of time than they would for a non Carnival excursion.

 

I've been on a ship where an excursion has been left behind. The guests were put on another Carnival ship with a later departure time.

[carolmacey]

OMG....go to YOU TUBE and punch in "Pier Runners" you will see so many of them on video. Cozumel is FAMOUS for pier runners and people missing the ship. I guess it is the tequila.:eek:

 

I'm laughing already. The ONLY port we have even been close to missing the boat was COZUMEL and yes, it was the tequila. I'm sure there must be a Pier Runners video of us staggering down the pier.

[Florissouri]

Thanks for the first hand account. You have made up my mind as to whether we will carry out passports with us when we get off in ports in Europe. We will have them in a money belt with us (copies left on ship)

 

The chances are somewhat remote you may experience a problem, but if you do, having your passports somewhere other than a purse is a good idea.

 

One couple at the Consulate told me how they were driving a rental car after a stop at some tourist attraction when a motorcycle pulled up beside them and motioned that their rear tire was almost flat. The husband pulled over to the side of the road and the motorcyclist stopped as well. While the husband and the motorcyclist were having a conversation at the back of the car another motorcycle pulled up in front of the car, walked to the passenger side where the wife was sitting, opened the door, snatched her purse that was on the floor between her feet, then jumped back on his motorcycle and zoomed away.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Florissouri

[Florissouri]

What they don't say is that they will wait for a longer period of time than they would for a non Carnival excursion.

 

I've been on a ship where an excursion has been left behind. The guests were put on another Carnival ship with a later departure time.

 

Then they weren't actually "left behind." They had the option of an additional ship, but Carnival is responsible for everyone on a ship sponsored excursion.

[abqaiq]

If you leave your passport in your cabin safe, carry a photocopy of it with you when you go ashore. Also, you can scan a color image of your passport and ship's boarding passes, and send it to yourself via email (hotmail, gmail, etc) prior to your trip. That way, you have an accessible copy if the original gets stolen. That makes it much easier when trying to get everything sorted out with the authorities.

 

As far as missing the boat, if you're concerned about it, by all means take the ship's excursions. The ship always waits for them to return. We did that the first cruise or two. For the most part, we now book our own excursions, particularly in Europe. For the same $$, or at least not too much more, you can get a private taxi (don't think of a NYC cab here, think Mercedes car or minivan). They know the time it takes to get back to the port, and we've always gotten back in plenty of time. It's cheaper than the ship's excursions, if you can split the fare with 2 couples or more.

 

On one Med trip, though, my wife's sister and her husband took the train from Nice to Monaco. In most of Europe, train timetables are easy to understand. Not this time! On the return trip, the train stopped at some little station halfway back to the ship, and the next train didn't leave until after the ship did. Another couple on the train had the same problem. They hired a taxi, and told the guy they'd give him a huge tip if they made their ship on time. He ended up getting about 200 euros for a 50 euro trip, but he broke a lot of speed records to get them back in time.

Edited March 26, 2013 by abqaiq

[DebbyDee]

Some of those utubes are hilarious to watch. The funniest part are the people on board heckling! :D

 

Really .... ? Heckling? :rolleyes: I hope this behavior isn't typical of Carnival guests ... if so, we should christen Carnival with a new nickname ... rather than 'The Everyday Man's Cruise Line' ... maybe we should re-name it 'The Pubescent People's Cruise Line"?

[Florissouri]

If you leave your passport in your cabin safe, carry a photocopy of it with you when you go ashore. Also, you can scan a color image of your passport and ship's boarding passes, and send it to yourself via email (hotmail, gmail, etc) prior to your trip. That way, you have an accessible copy if the original gets stolen. That makes it much easier when trying to get everything sorted out with the authorities.

 

 

All that sounds good, but I'm not sure in reality if it accomplishes anything. No country is going to allow you in on a photocopy of a passport, so you would still have to go to the US Consulate and they can pull your passport up in their computer.

[Florissouri]

Really .... ? Heckling? :rolleyes: I hope this behavior isn't typical of Carnival guests ... if so, we should christen Carnival with a new nickname ... rather than 'The Everyday Man's Cruise Line' ... maybe we should re-name it 'The Pubescent People's Cruise Line"?

 

Oh, puh-leeze...

 

Yes, heckling. It must be difficult for you to go through daily life always prepared to be offended by anything and everything.