Pier runners

[Mikew0805]

Not into watching "Pier Runners" who have had a problem of some sort getting back to the ship on time. It would make me feel sad and hate it for them.

LuLu

 

Same here. Not sure why so many get a kick out of someone else's troubles.

[Mellowjourney]

They will not always wait for you, but they will always accommodate you.

 

I was on an Alaskan cruise on Royal Caribbean back in 2006 and some people were on a dog sledding excursion where they flew you into the glacier by helicopter. The weather turned and they couldn't get off the glacier; the ship left and the next day they flew them to the next port of call to meet up with the ship after spending the night on the glacier with the Eskimos.

 

Now that's what I call an excursion!

 

I wish I could be this lucky. How freakin' cool! Memory of a lifetime.

[Tommy3putts]

Senor Frogs is not your friend...

 

 

 

Same here. Not sure why so many get a kick out of someone else's troubles.

 

 

 

Sometimes the "troubles" are self induced. Shamefully I get a kick out of watching folks who take a leisurely stroll back to the ship as the gangway is being pulled onto the ship.

 

There was a great thread a year or so ago from a gentleman who got left behind. That will convince anyone not to take getting back to the ship for granted.

[BillOh]

Based on comments on here I decided to YouTube videos of pier runners.As I do not wish to be one of them nor see myself running for the ship on YouTube, how early do you recommend we be back at the ship prior to sailing time?On all our other cruises we have always aimed to be back 1.5 hours early. Only time late was on a royal organised tour.Any amusing comments on pier runners? Are you a pier runner?

 

 

Pier runners, that are the most notorious that I have ever seen, are at Cozumel and were hanging out near the pier drinking and forgetting the ships time vs port time. But at this port I've also seen the notorious of the notorius that know they are late, and walk down that 1/4 mile long pier with the, "I can see the ship, it can see me, it won't leave. There were a bunch of us on our balconies and pool deck watching them when the ship's crew decided to hurry them up by picking up the gang plank and pretending to stow it. (This was 40 minutes after all aboard time)

 

A couple of people have mentioned barely making it back on official excursions, but I remember the advice of the Captain on Oasis who said, "Take the compass with you and if your running late, call the port number. We are more likely to wait if we know you are coming"

[papaflamingo]

I'm a 1.5 hour to 2 hour return guy. If I book a third party tour I want it back to the ship at least 2 hours before sailaway in case of any issues. We did a tour of Ephesus in Turkey in 2015. It was a long tour and went quite a distance from the ship. The tour companies are outstanding in getting you back as it's their "bread and butter." We arrived at the pier 1 hour before sailaway, 1/2 hour before all on board. It did bother me a bit, but it was a fantastic company, and really I didn't worry too much. During a Captain's Corner one trip the Captain said that they will call tour groups, cab companies, hospitals and the police if people are missing. If they can find them and they're say 5 to 10 minutes out, they'll wait. If they can't locate them.. tough luck. But that was THAT Captain. If a tour company calls the ship and they're closing in, ships are likely to wait. But I would never count on that.

We left a woman in San Juan a few years ago. Ships time was 1 hour AHEAD of local time. She had been shopping and strolled up as we were leaving the pier. I'm guessing she was on "local" time, not "ships" time and thought she was easily on time. But the ship blew the whistle many times (they'll do that) to alert missing passengers, and finally left.

In July we were in the Baltics. We left a couple of passengers in Tallinn, Estonia. The Captain announced it and also announced that they safely met the ship in Stockholm the next day. So, with the advent of electronic boarding, the ship knows who's on board and who's missing. In the old days, they didn't know. It's cut way down on the number of people who get left behind, and more and more ships will wait for a few minutes to a 1/2 hour. But don't count on it. :)

[twofastdogs]

Its funny now...

 

In March we were on the Freedom in Grand Cayman. Took an independent jet ski tour. Had an amazing day. So amazing that it took longer than our guide thought. We were on the other side of the island. It was like something out of Amazing Race. We got back to the pier with literally no time to spare. And it is a tender port. I like to be back on 1-2 hours so I was way out of my comfort zone. We came running into the tender area and imagine our delight/surprise that there were at least 500 people still in line for the tenders. We got on the last one. But those 15 minutes in our guides jeep I would never want to relive again.