Has anyone ever missed the boat?

[Captain Crunch]

At a port call. Do you know of anyone that was ever late returning from a port call that they missed their cruise ship?

[mrchips14]

Last year, a few of us were on top at sailaway from one of the ports ( don't remember which ) and watched a couple running around like chickens without their heads. The ship was already a few hundred yards of the dock.

 

Once in St. Lucia people took private tour to other end of the island to see the pitons, there was a major car accident on the only road thru the island and they all missed the boat.

 

Whenever I book a private tour I always make sure I have a few hours leway just in case.

 

For this reason alone I book most of my tours thru the ship. You pay a little more but peace of mind.

 

Very few people do miss the ship, but for those that do it is a very expensive mistake.

 

Have fun and dont worry, jusst keep an eye on the clock.

[helicopter]

In 2000 aboard an NCL ship we had left the port in cozumel and were probably 2 miles from it when they announced that we would be stopping and waiting a few minutes for someone that had missed the ship (the pilot boat was bringing the passenger(s). Well we all thought it was a bunch of young people that had to much to drink and missed the ship. People were all over the decks waiting to see who it was, and up pulls the pilot boat with this 30ish looking woman just waving and smiling.

 

In 2003, we were on the Rhapsody and the ship should have left port about fifteen minutes prior, but we kept hearing these same 6 names being paged (over and over). My sister-in-law and I were in the Windjammer eating and from where we were sitting we had a clear view of the gangway. We never saw anyone come on the ship and after about another 10 minutes the ship left. Rhapsody waited about 20 minutes longer than it should have for the people then BYE BYE.:(

[truffles2]

They repeatedly called for 4 pax in Key West a few weeks ago (for a 2 PM departure)--a married couple from deck 4 and two other women. The ship sent people out into the streets looking for them and they found the women but I never did see the couple come on board. We were about 15-20 min. leaving as it was...

[dougp26364]

I've seen people miss the ship on both Alaskan sailings we've been on. I've only heard of others missing the ship so no first hand knowledge of it. In Alaska, they sent the pilot boat out with the couple who missed the boat and they had to climb up a small ladder welded to the side of the ship to get in. It did NOT look like it would be a lot of fun. The waiter on Legend told us it was approx. a $500 trip on the pilot boat but I have no way to confirm that figure.

 

Needless to say, I'm pretty anal about getting back to the ship early. On our Med cruise, there were two ports that the ships shore excursions got back late. Since we were on RCI excursions, we didn't worry about it. I believe those ports were Rome and Livorno if memory serves me correctly.

[wrp96]

On my 1st Voyager cruise, we were on the very last tender back to the ship in Grand Cayman (they held it for us - we were over an hour late getting back to the ship from a ship's excursion). As we pulled away from the pier, we saw several groups of people running down the tender pier and waving and screaming and yelling for us to come back. We didn't go back and the ship started moving away right after we got back on board. We left at least 6 people. The next day in Cozumel we left even more people behind. I was just grateful to be on a ship's excursion so they held the ship for us.

[sailingawaysoon]

Are you saying if you book an excursion through the ship, they'll wait for you if you are running late?

[Nliedel]

I have stood on the deck and watched people come in late. That's a hoot.

 

The ship is supposed to wait for people who booked shore excursions with them if those excurions are running late. I am just guessing here but in return for the lines selling your tour I bet you pay STIFF fines if you get the passengers back late, since the ship cannot leave when scheduled and will have to pay additonal port fees which are calculated by the minute and can be very high.

[Stanley]

On our Med cruise 7/04 on Celebrity the ship left 2 women behind. It was in Malta. There was a very long walk/run behind a cyclone fence that ran along the ship. Then you had to double back on the other side of this fence to get to the entrance of the ship. There were hundreds of us on the upper deck screaming for the women to run, run, run. Next thing we knew, the ship started mioving. These 2 women had just gotten to the security gate and the ship didn't wait. It was SO sad but knowing what the walk back to the ship would be like they should have been in a taxi not on foot. We all said we hoped they had their passports with them. We never carried them around with us but now, if we are not in US territory, then we carry them. I can't imagine what it was like or what the cost was to get to the next port. The cruise lines do have agents at each port to handle these tings and I hope I never get to see the inside of one of their offices.

[Murphy]

The ship had pulled away from the dock once in I want to say Cozumel, but don't quote me. All of a sudden I saw a pilot boat pull up next to the ship. I thought they were going to guide us out of the harbor. No, wait a minute. Look straight down. We could see our ship's crew open the door we had used to go to shore and drop a rope ladder out. The pilot boat pull right next to us and two people climbed the rope ladder to get back onboard the ship. We asked about it later and were told they paid $300 to be driven the short ride in the pilot boat to our ship. YIKES!!!! Made me realize I never want to get back late!

[KKeeganS]

We were on our balcony in St. Thomas waiting for the sail away and watching the last minute stragglers head back to the ship. We realized we were running about five or ten minutes late leaving port when we saw an older couple heading down the pier. As anal as I am about getting back to the ship early, I started kind of panicking that the ship was going to leave these folks. They didn't seem at all concerned, just strolling up the pier. When they reached our balcony, the gentleman pretended to be pulling on the giant rope holding the ship next to the dock while his wife took a picture :eek: . My husband and I were rolling with laughter (and snapping our own pics because we couldn't believe it!). They made the ship with time to spare. Not sure what we were waiting on, but glad those folks made it back on board!

 

On our first AOS cruise, two girls we shared a cab with to Palm Beach in Aruba ended up missing the ship much later that night. They did catch up with the cruise eventually, but I think it took them a couple of days (and goodness knows how much cash).

[El Tipo Calvo]

$300 - $500 for the pilot boat? :eek:

 

I've always carried $200 hoping it would be enough to hire someone to take me to the ship. Guess the "Oh Sh*t" price has gone up!

[alprice]

Last fall on the Mariner leaving St Martin the captain came over the intercom and announced that 2 people were left on the island.....then he said that since he was in a good mood and we had time he would wait for the pilot to bring them to the ship - then he said everyone to the starboard side of the ship so we can cheer them on as they get in the ship! It was funny and Captain Johnny is the best!!!!

Not sure how much they paid for the pilot though.

[ladylawyer]

$300 - $500 for the pilot boat? :eek:

 

I've always carried $200 hoping it would be enough to hire someone to take me to the ship. Guess the "Oh Sh*t" price has gone up!

 

Too Funny!!! I almost missed the ship in Victoria, BC ... shopping and trying to use up all my Canadian money. Trust me, I was running :eek:

 

Good idea about bringing a passport on foreign ports. When I was going to school in England I was pickpocketed and lost all my ID (including my passport). The good news was that I was living in London and had a place to stay while my mother and boyfriend were sending my birth certificate and old passport (it was a race to see which arrived first), so I could go to the US Embassy and get a new passport. So, this is a double moral: 1. Carry your passport in foreign ports; and 2. Guard it with your lives.

 

Wrona, good to see you post. Good luck on the BE. We're all pulling for you.

[MLG4MEE]

During our Alaska cruise a few years back a couple missed the ship in Skagway, They had to fly into Juneau to catch the ship the next day. I don't know how much the flight cost but I'm sure in wasn't cheap.

[plarimer]

Our son and his friend (ages 19 & 16) almost missed the ship in Nassau. They wanted to buy a souvenir and lost track of time. When they didn't show up for lunch my friend and I were hanging over our balcony while our husbands went down to the gangway. We saw the kids and they were running!!!!

 

They were the last two people on board before the gangway was pulled. After we chewed them out, we had quite the laugh, and then we made plans if this kind of thing ever happened again.

 

They would have been left with their bathing suit and towel and about $20 cash. Our ship had a day at sea the next day on its way back to Baltimore.

 

The next cruise for them was in the Med. and they made sure they were on board at the right time!

[dougp26364]

$300 - $500 for the pilot boat? :eek:

 

I've always carried $200 hoping it would be enough to hire someone to take me to the ship. Guess the "Oh Sh*t" price has gone up!

 

In our case, that's what the waiter said. You can probably take the figure with a grain of salt but, I don't want to find out what it really costs by having to hire a pilot boat to get me out the the ship.

[montekat]

We have never missed the ship. My husband would have a heart attack! One thing to be careful of is the time. Sometimes the ship will change their time to the local time, othertimes not. They will tell you ahead of time if you need to change your watch. Don't always rely on the local clocks in the ports; you could be off by an hour!

[Wildroze]

Once we had to sail out of Bermuda early because of high winds. There was a couple who had stayed on the island overnight and they did not know about the early departure and the ship left without them. After we were out of the channel the captain announced that we would be staying put for awhile till the passengers arrived by pilot. The seas were pretty rough and they looked pretty green when they finally got onboard.:o

 

Another sailing we left Bermuda and the Captain announced we were waiting for the Commediene. The pilot brought him out. :D

 

Another time we were sailing away in Jamaica and a tour boat brought this rather heavy older woman who was wearing a dress back to the ship. I felt sorry for her, they had such a difficult time getting her onboard. :eek:

[BobBeaSea]

Yup! In Nassau '93, were were about 300 ft. away from the dock and a couple was waving frantically at the ship. There were no boats around and the Captain was NOT going back. It was the last night of the cruise, I imagine they caught a plane back to Miami to get their luggage the next morning.

[twinmom38]

Reminds me of the " I Love Lucy" episode when she missed the ship and they helicoptered her out !! What a riot !!

[Treven]

On our Med cruise 7/04 on Celebrity the ship left 2 women behind. It was in Malta. There was a very long walk/run behind a cyclone fence that ran along the ship. Then you had to double back on the other side of this fence to get to the entrance of the ship. There were hundreds of us on the upper deck screaming for the women to run, run, run. Next thing we knew, the ship started mioving. These 2 women had just gotten to the security gate and the ship didn't wait. It was SO sad but knowing what the walk back to the ship would be like they should have been in a taxi not on foot. We all said we hoped they had their passports with them. We never carried them around with us but now, if we are not in US territory, then we carry them. I can't imagine what it was like or what the cost was to get to the next port. The cruise lines do have agents at each port to handle these tings and I hope I never get to see the inside of one of their offices.

If I'm off the ship, my passport is in my pocket.

 

Coming back from an excursion to the summit of Mauna Kea on Hawaii (a ship purchased excursion), the driver of our van was driving (a lot faster than the speed limit, shall we say) like a bat out of hell to get us back to the ship. He did say that there is a real hefty fine for their little company if the ship has to wait for one of their own excursions to get back.

[blackpool belle]

On the Golden Princess last year, 2 couples got left behind in Rotterdam. They had gone to Amsterdam under their own steam and had got caught in very heavy traffic on the way back.