How often has your ship departed late?

[land lover]

Responsing to a thread about a ship having to wait for us before sailing...I thought this might be an interesting poll.

 

On our 2 most recent sailings our ships have been about an hour late...Is this typcial in the industry now?

[geoherb]

On Princess, we've had two ships that left about an hour after scheduled and two that left on time. That's from the embarkation port. Most of the time, we've never noticed any delays in leaving from the other ports on our cruises--except in Ketchikan, when we were an hour late.

[land lover]

I mean at the embarkation port...thanks geo/herb:)

[cattman]

Of 13 cruises w/ Princess, more often than not... my May 7 Sun departure from LA was 2 hours late because of a crew member gone AWOL

[14A04]

On my May 27 Cruise to Alaska aboard the Celebrity Mercury we left two hours late, the ship came in on time that morning however it was delayed getting to passengers off of the ship due to an issues with it clearing customs, it had to do with a passenger on board and I was told she was not answering the phone in her cabin and they could not locate her. That was what I heard, I have no official word on that. Anyways the ship left 2 hours late and did not have all of the supplies on, they ran out of a few food items, first lemons, then potatoes. Not a big deal, they ended up picking up a few things in Skagway for the gift shops and some food items in Ketchikan.

 

I've left late once or twice on Princess as well out of Port Everglades, I don't remember what the reasons were for that.

[bardgal]

Never on Princess. 2 out of 3 cruises on Carnival.

[Cruise Junky]

We left really late once on RCI...we were supposed to leave at around 5 and didn't end up leaving until 10 ish..... big problem with the airlines and guests flying in. I actually thought it was nice that they held the ship, we didn't lose any time as Key West was our first stop.

[land lover]

On our cruise last fall we were delayed leaving NYC..I was disappointed because you I couldn't get a good photo of lady liberty, to dark...but the city lights were beautiful......Our delay was due to late passagers.

 

And when we went to Alaska my DH, I and another couple held up the departure for an hour(due to mech. airline problems) we had princess air.

[CL-JW]

We've been on two cruises and both times we've departed later than the scheduled itinerary. But . . . who cares - we're on a cruise. Just glad to be there!:)

[grandmaa]

We were on the Golden Princess May 8 Transatlantic cruise and it left NY a day late as there was a storm in the Atlantic that prevented the ship from arriving on time in NY. ..Princess put up the passengers at various hotels in NYC providing the transportation to and from the hotel to the pier. They handled this problem very professionally, gave ship board credit to each passenger and a return of 1/14 cost of the cruise. Good PR on their part.

[bethaniesmom]

left new orleans a couple of hours late because of fog in January....fog like you have never seen before....gooe thing they have satellites to navigate by, or whatever it is they use.....

[MichTraveler]

On the Sun Princess in May, we left Vancouver 4 hours late. They were feeding us, so we didn't care much :D It didn't delay our first port call either, so no harm. The Captain mentioned that due to the change in time, we were cruising past one of the points that often has whale activity during the morning light instead of night -- giving many the opportunity to see whales there.

[Casshew]

Just once on Disney... it was a good 2 - 3 hours late departing

[Princess Chatterer]

Really late embarking San Diego/Ensanada on the Dawn Princess due to customs, allegedly, keeping all passengers from disembarking in San Diego until around 11 a.m. while they searched for a passenger that was hiding.

 

About an hour late departing St. Lucia on the Sun because one of the two Princess adventures ashore excursion boats broke down and the other excursion boat didn't want to leave them behind. Princess held the entire ship up until we returned to the dock. The captain was mad because this cost Princess extra docking fees.

 

Sometimes cruise ships will run behind schedule due to medical evacs.

[yancycruiser]

Two cruises out of Ft Lauderdale in January delayed two to four hours due to many cruisers arriving late due to bad weather in the Northeast. We sure didn't mind waiting for them - since we would want them to wait for us. It didn't affect our cruise experience at all since we were on board and having a great time.

[nancyrg]

We sailed on the QM2 out of NYC in October 04 and our 5pm departure turned into an 11pm departure-something about needing additional fuel. Since there were no ports, it did not matter.

 

Once, in Juneau on Princess, my dad & I were on a Princess shore excursion that arrived an hour late back to the ship-they held the ship for the 9 of us, but they did not seem too happy with the tour operator, who was pretty nervous when she brought us back. The head of the shore excursions was waiting on the gangway for us, and they had her drop us right at the gangway. About 2 minutes after we baorded, we left the port.

[iancal]

I never worry about leaving late, my only concern is arriving on time,or close to it.

[Host Caroline]

Diamond left Seattle 1.5-2 hours late which probably contributed to late arrival in Juneau and some getting tours cancelled... so lots of people were not too happy ..... why we always fly in day before...

[susancruzs]

17 cruises and only a few late departures, weather related waiting for passengers that booked cruiseline air. Port arrivals/departures onboard aren't a major concern for me really, I figure usually something the cruise line doesn't have alot of control over. I've had ports cancelled, things changed over the years and don't get what the big fuss is now with people getting so upset.

 

The only one that really bothered me was in Venezuela, I felt really bad for two girls left behind. We took a bus tour and 2 girls from the ship asked to ride in with the bus. When we arrived, they were dropped off, told when/where to meet the bus, exactly what time and off they went. When our tour was over, we waited, finally called the ship and were told tidal conditions, bring us back, forget the crew, its late already. We arrived an hour after posted sailing time and the girls were left there. Told to make their way to LA to pick up their belongings. It was upsetting I thought they'd get back to the ship at the next port but nope, Princess said no.

 

Susie

[Nessi]

We left five hours late on the Carnival Triumph. At first the announcements claimed we were waiting for late passengers. I knew better, because there was thick black smoke coming out of the left funnel (whatever it's called) and none out of the right. Finally the Captain announced that they had to do some repairs. It was a little unnerving that the ship had engine trouble. Once we finally sailed, though, everything went great on the cruise.

[Druke I]

Like Iancal above, late departures don't seem to bother me - all part of the travel experience.

 

Being late to port of disembarkation, on the other hand, can be a problem. Our last trans-Atlantic, on Golden Princess, Aug 02, was six hours late into NYC due to storms mid-Atlantic, and lots of people missed flights etc. Princess stepped up to the bat, and made alternate arrangements for us, including meals, hotels, and new flights.

 

Travel can be an adventure.

[sbrady88]

usually they depart early which can be annoying too.