I wanna hear horror stories of getting left at port

[JUGGER]

For our upcoming trip, I would like to save some money and do our own excursion in Cozumel, but my DH wants to just stick with Carnival's excursion to be safe. He's afraid of something happening and us not getting back to the ship and getting left behind. I'm thinking that I'm sure that happens occassionally but not that often. However there are 4 of us (a child, and an elderly dad), so it's not just the 2 of us to think about.

 

So anyways, have you ever been left at the port? What was involved with you getting back to the ship or home? Is my DH being smart about this?[/quote-----HI----THIS IS FROM--IRENE AND JOHN--57 CRUISES WITH CARNIVAL--AND 4 MORE COMING-----REGARDING YOUR NOTE------BEING LEFT AT THE PORT--IS THE LEST TO WORRY ABOUT------WE ALWAYS BUY OUR TOUR TICKETS FROM CARNIVAL----DON;T --AND I REPEAT --DON;T GO OFF BY YOURSELF-----WE CAN TALK FROM EXPERIENCE-----THE ONLY THING THAT SAVED OUR GROUP--IS THAT WE - THE HUSBANDS WERE ALL RETIRED MILITARY AND TOOK THE SITUATION IN HAND---BUT IT WAS SERIOUS------IRENE AND JOHN----RETIRED MILITARY--24 YRS---ARMY---REMEMBER--

[Lovefuninthesun]

I read on here that you should make photocopies of your passports and take those off the ship with you. How accurate is that?

 

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The state department says you should take your actual passport with you, leave the copy in the safe in your cabin.

 

I have an acquaintance that missed the ship once and did not have his passport on him - had left it on the ship!:eek:

[MzBhavn]

Of all the ports, Cozumel is one of the best and easiest ones to do on your own. Just keep your watch on ship's time and go for it. I have always done this port on my own, rented a Jeep and explored the island twice, taken a taxi to a beach bar and back, and done the Bar Hop Bus.

 

Jules!!! Hey stranger. I hope that all is well with you. We are going to miss you this year :(

[jsfromsc]

If you're going any great distance from the pier, I'd book with Carnival. I don't trust vehicles to not break down or other mishaps. I have no sympathy for drunks who miss the ship, but for people that have unforeseen mishaps, I do. Although, I have to admit I find those "missed the cruise ship" videos on YT to be pretty funny. :D On our upcoming Baltic cruise we have booked some private tours that are either short or when we're booked overnight in port so that there is no chance of our missing the ship. We saw some nice tours to Berlin that were cheaper than Carnival's price, but they wouldn't get us back to the port in time. This way, whatever happens, Carnival has to make it right. If you think Caribbean shore excursions are pricey, you should check out the European ones! Yikes!

[mamajules]

Jules!!! Hey stranger. I hope that all is well with you. We are going to miss you this year :(

 

Hi Iris - great to hear from you!! Will miss cruising with you all this year too :(. Heard the Breeze is awesome. Wasn't planning on a cruise this year, but prices so good on the Fantasy and Charleston is an easy drive for us, so my son and I are doing this one. You and your friends should consider the Sunshine with all of us next September. The Island Hoppers and others from our last cruise are going.

 

Hope all is well with you and the other ladies. Tell them all I said hi!

[Green4me]

One trip away from PLatinum with Carnival, seven Princess, a few RCL, Celebrity and Disney. Family of five, never used the ships tours for many reasons you can research here. Even 12 day on Magic in Europe, trains and private bus charters with groups met here never had an issue, just have to plan and leave time for what ifs. I do';t care if they use scare tactics to say you will mis te boat or they won';t let you off until the ship tours leave, Rubbish IMO

 

Now if you like over crowded tours and boats slam packed with people and over paying......:rolleyes:

 

Regardless, enjoy :)

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

One trip away from PLatinum with Carnival, seven Princess, a few RCL, Celebrity and Disney. Family of five, never used the ships tours for many reasons you can research here. Even 12 day on Magic in Europe, trains and private bus charters with groups met here never had an issue, just have to plan and leave time for what ifs. I do';t care if they use scare tactics to say you will mis te boat or they won';t let you off until the ship tours leave, Rubbish IMO

 

 

Regardless, enjoy :)

 

FYI, some excursions are exclusive to cruise lines. This was our experience. called the tour directly, said we would have to book thru the ship. We even had a tour company taking down our credit card DYING to get us that particular excursion, there just were NO SPOTS to sell us. The cruise line had them ALL. But we were happy, we got 3 spots and were the first ones there that day! So sometimes, you don't have a choice if its an excursion you want. Just fyi.

[golfadj]

You can go on your own in Cozumel. We have taken a taxi to Chankanaab park for the last two Cozumel cruises. I would go back in a minute. Cost about $7-9 each way for taxi and $25 to get in the park. Food incredible. Snorkeling amazing. Even caught a sea lion show. We told the taxi van driver when to come get us, he was right on time, made it back in time to shop a bit, no problems.

 

Coz is probably the easiest port to do on your own, its kinda like going to Daytona. ALWAYS make it the goal to be in that line to embark with at least 30 min before the All Aboard time, or at least that's what we do.

 

I agree with the previous poster. I think Senor Frogs is where they all end up!

 

Having said that, I have tried booking tours through other companies. When I booked thru priceline or shoreexcursionsgroup.com, we had a great trip. Others, we did not get what we were promised. But the ones I have booked with RCCL, CCL, and DCL all turned out to be some of the most memorable excursions I have ever taken. Some excursions you MUST absolutely book through the Cruise Line (as in, they buy up all the reservations. This literally happened to us! But it worked out because they made sure they had 3 spots for us. We paid about $20 more pp but they arranged a private ferry to pick up just their cruisers and we were the first to arrive on the island. So upcharged? Yes. Would I do it again? In a new york second!)

 

If it works for you great but we find ship tours to be more expensive, more crowded and not as good as the ones we vetted in port of call pages here.

[mephistoles]

Oh dear..... I'm beginning to wonder if I should cancel our tour. We're doing the Phil Lafayette Ochos Rios/Taste of Jamaica tour and I have done research on it and so far have not read anything negative but I'm so afraid that something may happen & we'll get left behind....

[golfadj]

Oh dear..... I'm beginning to wonder if I should cancel our tour. We're doing the Phil Lafayette Ochos Rios/Taste of Jamaica tour and I have done research on it and so far have not read anything negative but I'm so afraid that something may happen & we'll get left behind....

 

Relax. These tour guides depend upon word of mouth for much of their business and get lots of business from people on CC. If they made a habit of getting back late and getting their customers stranded how long do you think they would stay in business??

[bluejay555]

We were the last passengers to board at Cozumel. It was kind of scary, but makes for a fun story :) we booked a cooking class through Carnival (which was a blast!!) And they just kept feeding us alcohol! They got us back to the pier in plenty of time, but my drunk husband just had to buy this giant butt-ugly statue of the Predator (that movie with arnold Schwarzenegger??) and I got bored waiting and wandered (staggered) to the next kiosk and we somehow lost each other. In the frantic search, we could here the ship horn and it was right at 5 when we spotted each other and ran down the pier. Carnival employees met us and asked if we were Mike and Emily, and seemed irritated with us...cant imagine why! :)

 

Later that night we were discussing it with a bar tender and he said usually usually with a no-show, the room steward will search your room for your passports and leave them at the pier for you. Comforting....

[Sh1035]

All I need is my cell phone or Internet access and I can pull up any document I need. Not carrying them on a boat, the beach,ocean,pool,back street ghetto, etc.

[StillPooh]

All I need is my cell phone or Internet access and I can pull up any document I need.

That won't get you on a plane back to the states, if you miss the boat.

[Raring to go]

We almost never book through the ship. You pay an unbelievable mark up compared to what it costs you when you book yourself. The only time I ever was late back to the ship was when I was on a ship's excursion (nearly 2 hours late). Security called our room several times (I guess there was a lack of communication) asking my husband if I was back on board yet. Every time he told them I was on an excursion sold by the ship. It seems strange that they didn't know that in the first place! We just allow a sizeable amount of time between the time we should be back to the ship and sailing.

[cruizinisthebest]

The state department says you should take your actual passport with you, leave the copy in the safe in your cabin.

 

I have an acquaintance that missed the ship once and did not have his passport on him - had left it on the ship!:eek:

 

Ok I had it reversed. Thank you for a helpful answer.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[Sh1035]

That won't get you on a plane back to the states, if you miss the boat.

 

Either would standing there in my swimsuit and flip flops with 57 bucks and a yard of whatever. That would just mean I have proof, now time to extend this party!!! It will get me cash and a room. For a week.

 

Last carnival. Crappy excursion I took we all stood in the rain for an hour waiting for our bus back to the ship. We ended up all grabbing cabs back and the boat was still there. We complained and they had no answers, the bus was just Mia. No refunds,apologies,etc. Well worth the mark up bull chit worry you sales pitch.

[Hstergo]

Which is the reason we never get off the ship without our passports and a credit card. If the worst were to happen, at least we'd have options.

 

What do you do if those items get lost or stolen while onshore ?

[HarpHarp]

What do you do if those items get lost or stolen while onshore ?

 

They same thing I'd do if they were lost or stolen anytime. Go back to the cabin, get one of my copies of the cc & passport with the reporting phone #s on it and make some calls.

 

The passport will be flagged and you should be able to get confirmation to get back in the country.

 

That being said, I carry a copy in a waterproof pocket if I'm beaching it or doing some other active excursion & leave the passport in the safe. I had my drivers license laminate melt in Belize, & it was totally unusable.:o Glad I had my passport to get on the airplane. I have a travel purse that goes with me the rest of the time. In it goes the passport, credit card & atm card, different from the ones my DH is carrying, AND the back page of the daily activity sheet, which has the name & phone # of the port agent to call in case of problems.

[StillPooh]

What do you do if those items get lost or stolen while onshore ?

Short of being robbed at gunpoint, that wouldn't be a concern. We even purchased a waterproof waist bag for snorkeling. :cool:

[bruisin4cruisin]

I like using Carnival for the longer or further out excursions....just in case. My DW always looks at reviews of the private excursions before making decisions, and we have always had good luck.

As far as Cozumel goes, as long as you don't leave the island, any tour is a safe bet. Book with Carnival if you chose, there is nothing wrong with that.

 

Oh....side note. I prefer getting money back from Carnival if there is a weather issue than a company I only have an email for, but that is me.

[vacruizer]

A good hour after we sailed from Belize last January, we watched a small boat pull up next to the moving ship and two people climbed up a rope ladder in the dark to get on the ship. :eek: Not my idea of fun. This wasn't the pilot boat - this was two passengers who missed the ship.

 

I had a close call in Grand Cayman on our first cruise. First time outside the U.S., first port - booked independent to do the stingrays. Our tour was a mess. It was a reputable operator highly recommended here but they completely mixed up ship and port times and put us on the tour with a second ship that had two more hours in port than we did. 1/2 hour before the last tender time, we were still out on a boat on the other side of the island. The operator kept blowing us off and saying "island time." We finally boarded the bus, got back to Georgetown, and had to get the driver to pull over and let us off (along with the other few folks from our ship) so that we could run across the street and onto the tender. We caught the second to last tender back and by the time we got to the ship and took our stuff up to our room we were sailing. Scary.

 

I've done independent tours since then, but only if the allow at least 3-4 hours once back at the ship. The Grand Cayman one was supposed to allow beach and shopping plus an extra hour so they really messed things up.

 

Surprisingly, the Carnival tours I've done have been very good quality and we have enjoyed them. We do tend to book off the beaten path type tours like hiking and history stuff so they tend to be small groups even when we use Carnival tours.

[mzloolue]

Cozumel is probably the easiest of all ports to do something without booking with Carnival.

There are many taxis and the rates are preset.

 

I know about missing the boat.

Not me, but my 20 year old daughter and her friend.

They did not wait even one minute.

It was Nassau.

FYI, some cab drivers in the Bahamas play some games.

I did not understand what had happened to my daughter until they tried to pull it on my sister and me last year.

It did not work with us because we are mean old ladies and not young girls.

 

As for my daughter, the taxi drivers refused to take her back to the ship until they had the van full.

She was about 15 minutes too late.

But she did have her passport and a credit card.

 

It is very expensive.

She went from Nassua to Miami, Miami to San Juan, and from San Juan to St Maarten. It was $400 per leg or $1200 for each of them. Plus hotels and food and car.

Unfortunately she did not have her phone with her and we did not know where she was.

It was not much fun for her dad and I.

[Fun@Sea4Me]

This didn't happen to me, but a guy we met on one of our cruises.

 

My DH and I booked the Xunantunich tour in Belize. My DH and I were on the very first tender that left the ship and we were the very first two people off the tender at the pier. Standing at the pier was an American guy with his sail and sign card. He was covered in blood and had a busted nose and two black eyes. As everyone disembarked the tender, he got on. My DH and I thought it was very odd that we were the first people getting off the ship, yet he was already there.

 

It so happens that several flights were canceled as we tried to return home and many of us were in the airport hotel booking rooms. The guy was there also. My DH walked up to him and told him we had seen him in Belize and were wondering the entire cruise what had happened to him. Well, turns out while in Cozumel he turned his phone on. Guess he didn't realize his phone would show Cozumel time and not ship time. He missed the ship! He tendered to the mainland and hired a cab to drive him to Belize City. During the night, the cab driver fell asleep and hit a dump truck head on! To make it even worse, he had a wife and baby on board!

 

True Story!!!!!! Lessons: Always go by ship time, keep somebody with you who is sober enough to get you back to the ship, and if you hire a cab driver, make sure he has some coffee!

[jlk806]

This trip we only did one excursion through Carnival (ziplining), and on that same day after returning from ziplining we halled a taxi to a nearby beach (St Kitts). In St Thomas, Barbados, & St Maarten we took private taxis to beach, and in St Lucia we did a privately booked Catamaran excursion (through our cruise critic roll call) who picked all of us up right from the pier and returned us there as well. We had no trouble. Just make sure you have a watch with you that is on ship time and allow PLENTY of time to account for traffic, etc. (Cell phones arent always accurate in the islands our phones kept losing signals and changing the time on the display.

[dadroy]

On my first cruise, a Carnival booze cruise (3 day to Ensenada Mexico) we stopped at Senior Frogs for a drink before heading back to the ship. A young girl was semi-concious and a group of guys picked her up and carried her back to the ship.

 

I talked to them when we back on board ship, kind of joking their girlfriend was a cheap date, they said they had seen her onboard but did not know her. I think had they not grabbed her up, she would have been left.:eek: