Has anyone ever actually missed the boat in port?

[Sh1035]

Our entire group was left in the pouring down rain after a carnival booked fishing trip in Freeport . Honestly I don't even think they missed us as we ran to the boat last minute after we found a bus for 20. Last time I ever fell for the crap about ship sponsored excursions. Not to mention the excursion was a bust again as usual.

[MNLIvin]

We missed but it was on the embarkation. Supposed to be in Hawaii right now out of LA. Passports in for renewal and I just figured that since we can just fly to Hawaii with no passport we sure should not need anything. I was wrong. Instead of a balmy 80 degrees in Hawaii I am sitting in below zero weather.

[susie8862]

We missed but it was on the embarkation. Supposed to be in Hawaii right now out of LA. Passports in for renewal and I just figured that since we can just fly to Hawaii with no passport we sure should not need anything. I was wrong. Instead of a balmy 80 degrees in Hawaii I am sitting in below zero weather.

You do NOT need a passport to fly to Hawaii from the US states..Very confused. :confused: (unless you are not a U.S. Citizen of course)

[MNLIvin]

You do NOT need a passport to fly to Hawaii from the US states..Very confused. :confused: (unless you are not a U.S. Citizen of course)

 

Sorry. I thought that since I do not need one to fly why do I need one to get on my cruise. Thus I did not take it or a birth certificate thus I am in MN.

[asalligo]

Our entire group was left in the pouring down rain after a carnival booked fishing trip in Freeport . Honestly I don't even think they missed us as we ran to the boat last minute after we found a bus for 20. Last time I ever fell for the crap about ship sponsored excursions. Not to mention the excursion was a bust again as usual.

 

Did you make the boat? I would love to hear from someone who was on a carnival excursion and missed the boat. I have always taken only carnival excursions since they claim to cover travel if you miss the boat on their excursion. I would stop doing this if I thought this was a fallacy.

[asalligo]

Well I missed the boat once...

 

Posted story: It hurts to much to tell it again

Get to the Cruise the day before - Part 1 - in NCL cruise reviews

 

Which ship, I want to read this.

[sparks1093]

You do NOT need a passport to fly to Hawaii from the US states..Very confused. :confused: (unless you are not a U.S. Citizen of course)

 

As I understand it a roundtrip cruise out of LA to Hawaii has to call on a foreign port to avoid violating the PVSA so a WHTI compliant document would be required (and possibly a passport, I haven't researched this cruise so don't know for sure what documentation is required).

[susie8862]

As I understand it a roundtrip cruise out of LA to Hawaii has to call on a foreign port to avoid violating the PVSA so a WHTI compliant document would be required (and possibly a passport, I haven't researched this cruise so don't know for sure what documentation is required).

I did this cruise. It stopped in Encenada, Mexico. We did not need passports.

I really hope this poster had insurance. That is one expensive cruise to lose $$$ on.

Edited December 14, 2013 by susie8862
xxx

[sparks1093]

I did this cruise. It stopped in Encenada, Mexico. We did not need passports.

I really hope this poster had insurance. That is one expensive cruise to lose $$$ on.

 

But you did need a birth certificate or other WHTI compliant document which MNLIvin unfortunately did not have with them.

Edited December 14, 2013 by sparks1093

[retiredgram]

Which ship, I want to read this.

 

I read this yesterday posted by Java

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1712456

[Joan54]

I spoke with one woman earlier this year who, along with a couple of friends, missed their ship in Nassau. There were three Carnival ships in port and the women were shopping in town. Saw other people with Carnival lanyards and somehow figured that meant they were OK to keep shopping. Didn't realize the ships left at different times.

 

Theirs was gone by the time they returned. Carnival put them our ship. Unfortunately for them, their stuff was in a ship heading back to Texas while we were going to Baltimore.

[MNLIvin]

But you did need a birth certificate or other WHTI compliant document which MNLIvin unfortunately did not have with them.

 

Either a passport (ours was being renewed) or a birth certificate (ours was locked in a bank box on a Sat) We are Platinum as should have known better so no fault of our own. We had just talked a week before how after all our travel we have never had a really bad experience. This started at the Minneapolis airport with my lost wallet-then found to one thing after another. It was to the point where after being denied boarding we went to the Queen Mary, got a room and laughed about it over beer and wings. The entire trip was a unmitigated disaster. A story to share but a expensive disaster.

[billie5]

But what a great attitude. It is your shipmates' loss as well.

[NYOB]

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.

Many private excursions guarantee you will get back to the ship on time. However, not all. I ask one fairly popular company in Barbados (good reviews on Cruise Critic) if they guaranteed getting back to the ship on time and they basically said no. They couldn't control people getting back to their van on time and that could delay everybody, etc. etc., but they had never had that problem. Needless to say, I did not book with them.

[BigBrust]

I was almost a victim of being left behind. We were in Grand Turk 7 years ago- we hung out at Margaritaville all day. My daughter who was 5 at the time, had her pooh bear with her. We took a few pictures on the big chairs before heading back to the ship. We got back about 30 mins before the ship was to leave. We grabbed something to eat, and I took my daughter to the cabin for a nap. No pooh bear. Went back up to my wife on the lido deck- no pooh bear. 12 minutes before launch- I made my way to the gangway- told the officers what happened- all they said was hurry! So, I took my 6'6 285 lb self and hauled ass to Margaritaville, found "poohie" on the chair, ran back, and made it with 2 mins to spare! I had no wallet or passport when I went back, so I shudder to think what would have happened if I missed the ship. Daughter is 12 now, and "poohie" still lives! :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Everyday's a Good Day]

Spending time watching others who are running late. Sounds like a hoot? Not!!!! So many better things to do on a cruise!

[wyobean]

Regardless of what us being said on this thread, having a copy of your passport available does make it easier. I just had a friend lose hers in Mexico and she was very glad she had that copy.

[mpdog42]

Trust me, when you're one of the peeps on board being delayed from leaving because some moron didn't pay attention to the time and holds up the ship's departure, you will join the hecklers. :)

 

This has to be one of the most ridiculous reasons people use to justify being jerks to folks that are late getting back to the ship. "oh you held up our departure", what difference does it make? are you trying to beat rush hour traffic? do you think they won't start the buffet on time? Who cares what time the ship actually leaves port.

 

It really is sad that so many people get so much pleasure out of others misfortune. And then justify that behavior by saying "oh they held up our departure and we couldn't enjoy our cruise because of it".

 

I truly hope those that enjoy making fun of folks being late back to the ship don't ever have an unforeseen problem that causes them to be late......because karma really does come back to bite you.

 

PC...PC..PC..PC

[loxley]

Regardless of what us being said on this thread, having a copy of your passport available does make it easier. I just had a friend lose hers in Mexico and she was very glad she had that copy.

What did the copy do for her?

 

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Pesh]

One of my parents works for Carnival (corporate) and gave me a good tip about this - on port days, the Fun Times lists the contact person and phone number for each port. Take the number with you just in case and call it for help if you get into a jam (running late, stuck in traffic, etc). If I recall correctly it's usually on the back page toward the bottom in smaller print.

[ccdaniel2707]

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.

 

 

[emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji106]

[ccdaniel2707]

Don't be late and you won't be heckled.

 

Now there is a big difference between the pier runners who have balloon hats, boas and plastic neon yard glasses and the couple who had the broken leg.

 

That being said, one of the great joys of cruising is watching people run, stumble and make fools of themselves, because they can't tell time.

 

-F-

 

Amen:D:p

[cherbear4000]

Both times we were running late, it was with ship sponsored excursions. Coming back from an excursion in Belize, we were an hour and a half late. We were 20 minutes late from an excursion in Grand Turk. Both times the ship was there waiting. All of the private excursions we have taken have made it back in plenty of time. I always use a ship sponsored excursions if I want to do something that is far from the ship. I do take private ones or go off on my own if I am staying nearby and I make sure we will be back in plenty of time to allow for unexpected delays.

 

My sister, her husband and their older kids were on a ship sponsored excursion while her younger kids stayed on the ship. At departure time, I hear her name being paged. I went to guest services to inquire and they were paging her since she hadn't picked her kids up from camp. I explained she was on a ship sponsored tour and asked if it was running late. They checked and excursion was running late by an hour. Camp Carnival kept her kids at no charge until she got back. She did ask what would have happened to the kids had she of been late because of her own fault or missed the ship entirely. Camp Carnival would have taken care of the kids 24/7 until she returned and she would have been charged hourly or anyone that was listed as being authorized to pick her kids up from camp (which myself and some other family members on board were) could have taken the kids.

[MsSoloTravel]

I remain amazed that this completely false information continuously reappears on Cruise Critic, especially as it is always pointed out to be incorrect.

 

On a cruiseline excursion, they DO NOT have to wait for you, and frequently do not. There are any number of reasons they will not, or can not, wait. The remaining itinerary, navigational challenges (even including low bridges !) which require departure in fixed time intervals, port schedules and requirements. While the decision is generally up to the captain, the final decision rests with the port authority.

 

What cruiseline excursions guarantee is that the cruiseline will take full responsibility to return you to your cruise, even if it requires overnighting and flying to a further cruise destination.

 

Of course, ships do delay departure to wait for returning cruiseline tours when the captain decides it is feasible, as is often the case.

 

 

You will continue to see it as long as Carnival states it on their website. They "guarantee" the ship will be in port if your excursion is late. And "we can assure you you're ship will be waiting for you when you return."

 

So, if what you say is true, that they do not have to wait and frequently do not, then they are missing a few asterisks on their website.

[undercat]

One of my parents works for Carnival (corporate) and gave me a good tip about this - on port days, the Fun Times lists the contact person and phone number for each port. Take the number with you just in case and call it for help if you get into a jam (running late, stuck in traffic, etc). If I recall correctly it's usually on the back page toward the bottom in smaller print.

 

This! On our Glory cruise I took photos of that contact info from the daily FunTimes to keep on my phone while in port. The contact info is also in the Hub app but the app doesn't work while in port unless you're standing next to the ship IIRC. A screenshot of the info in the Hub app would work just the same.

Edited February 20, 2016 by undercat