We Missed our cruise ship in port... here is our story!

[llkoolj40]

2 hours ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

I was a consular officer, the person at the embassy who helps you get a new passport. I’m so glad this turned out OK for you and that you both maintained a sense of humor and adventure during your travails! I would like to add a couple of items to this discussion: the most important one is to always travel with a passport. Bad things really do happen, with alarming regularity, which is why we have consular officers posted in most countries to assist American citizens in distress. Proving your citizenship is the first step to professional assistance when anything happens, including being victim of a crime (or committing one, in which case the US government will monitor your case), having a medical emergency, etc. All US travelers should register their travel plans online with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at the State Department’s website— this streamlines assistance and enables the embassy or consulate to reach out to you in an emergency. Cruisers should also keep in mind that there is not an embassy or consulate on every island or at every port— you may need to travel to another city, island or even country for assistance, which can be extraordinarily difficult without a passport. Registering via STEP can facilitate assistance in challenging situations.

 

It sounds as though you both kept very cool heads in dealing with this, and had the resources to navigate the situation. And now you have an entertaining adventure tale for life!

Does having a copy of your passport help in this situation? I have always heard about just taking a copy of your passport with you.

[llkoolj40]

Wow! Thank you for sharing this story and being so resourceful! I don't think I would have been so calm. This has been a great lesson to share and I will take your advice of carrying my passport.

 

[HowardK]

The important thing in all of this is you are safe and well. And now, you will know for next time. 

I often carry my passport card with me (it was an extra fee) and keep the original passport in the safe but take a copy of my birth certificate with me as well as my insurance card and some cash and a credit card. 

Reminds me of a story from my carefree uncle Ray Sevens way back in the 80's- he missed his port in Barbados due to far too much rum-figured the best thing to do was just hang out and drink more rum on the beach for a few days since he needed to get away from his job and wife for a while.

Luckily, he was always paranoid and had his passport (which is why i carry the card) and money on him. His wife was mad that it cost him an extra few $k to come home but it was his favorite adventure. 

[Bebop1088]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I am glad I always take a ship excursion so I can get back with others.

If I walk around nearby by I do so for only a few hours.  But then again, I know when I get off the ship what time to get back on.

Was interesting that no one went to their room to remove things like paperwork.  

We did take a cruise excursion for our deep sea fishing in the morning. It was an expensive excursion and therefore there was not a large group of people. The captain of the small boat we were on was unsure of the ship sail time himself. We made a mistake, as people do by not verifying time and we accept that. We are by no means placing our irresponsible actions on NCL. But we were also surprised that the port agent was not even notified prior to the ship sailing and to our knowledge the port agent was unable to get in contact with the ship as they did not answer the phone the three times he called them in our presence 

[Bebop1088]

4 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

Keep in mind that if someone steals your credit card (or clones it or whatever), then you can work with the charge card company to sort it out, while your regular funds sit there for your use.  The card issuer will usually send (or overnight) a new card to you while they work on this for you.

IF you have money stolen through your debit card, there may or may not be similar protections, BUT... your bank account might be drained, and then what would you use then or in an emergency?

 

You can get a guaranteed card (you put money in the account or such) and work your way up.  If you have a good salary, no problem.  If you've got a credit union, it's probably even easier.

 

GC

The joy of the cashapp card and the reason I love it is that if stolen the thief will only have access to the money I’ve put there for use. Adding money is a three second process, instant and free from my linked bank but can only be added through the app or online which requires authentication and security questions. Our finances were the easiest of our headaches. Between us we were able to enjoy our self’s without pinching Worrying about money. Although having the money we had won in the casino on the ship would have been nice we elected to leave that in our stateroom that day. 

[Old & Retired]

Expensive lessons.

[Sea Monster 2]

2 hours ago, llkoolj40 said:

Does having a copy of your passport help in this situation? I have always heard about just taking a copy of your passport with you.

Sure, any specific info helps if you’ve lost your passport.  A photocopy is useful in terms of them having precise info with which to work, but is not itself proof if identity or citizenship— it will make it easier for them to acquire that proof for you. STEP also puts you and your info on their radar should anything go wrong. 

[LisaLisa87]

Wow — what an experience! I’m impressed with the way you handled everything, and reaching out to Atlantis and then not checking out when you left for the airport were strokes of genius. What concerns me is that the powers that be on the ship were apparently unaware that you hadn’t reboarded. How does that happen?? 

[blueslily]

9 hours ago, Markanddonna said:

Senor Frogs must have lots of experience with passengers who miss the ship. What a hard lesson to learn.

 

One suggestion is to always carry the daily planner while in port. It has the all board time and the number of the port agent.  Your experience hopefully taught others.

 

Yep, I always take the daily paper as well. Passport as well. And never leave not knowing a definite all aboard time. Interesting. 

[blueslily]

9 minutes ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Wow — what an experience! I’m impressed with the way you handled everything, and reaching out to Atlantis and then not checking out when you left for the airport were strokes of genius. What concerns me is that the powers that be on the ship were apparently unaware that you hadn’t reboarded. How does that happen?? 

 

The staff on the ship did not know that they had not reboarded? 

[brad0576]

10 hours ago, Bebop1088 said:

 I have always heard the calls before the ship departs on the ship looking for those who have not made it back, I never wanted to be one of them, yet here we are!

 

Sorry that happened to you  - 

 

December 2019 I was on the Breakaway out of Port Canaveral - We live in Orlando so just had a friend drop us off around noon and were on the ship in no time.  

 

Our first stop was Spice H2O  - and there was already a family group that was out of control in one of the hot tubs - completely wasted and it was 4 hours until departure.  Every ship has at least 1 group like this, and barely on the ship we already found them lol.

 

Fast forward a few days to St Thomas - multiple names are called for almost an hour after our posted DEPARTURE time - and finally we depart late.  about 30 minutes later I hear the lead trainwreck in this group complaining to others on how the staff was so rude to them when they got onboard - they were not that late and who cares we are only at sea the following day.  

 

The funny thing was when they tried to order drinks apparently they can been cut off for the remainder of the trip - they looked miserable on the following sea day.... I found it deserving.

 

While you were not in that situation...be glad you didn't have to pay the consequence.

[Bebop1088]

8 hours ago, LisaLisa87 said:

Wow — what an experience! I’m impressed with the way you handled everything, and reaching out to Atlantis and then not checking out when you left for the airport were strokes of genius. What concerns me is that the powers that be on the ship were apparently unaware that you hadn’t reboarded. How does that happen?? 

I saw on the cruise facebook group that the ship did attempt to page us on board as part of their protocol. But did not follow up in any other method with the cruise agent or with us directly. While we were going from the embassy to the passport photo store I called NCL myself to notify them of the situation and try to determine what options or assistance they could provide. Which was essentially none. 

[Bebop1088]

10 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

Expensive lessons.

This will sound silly but I actually think it was less expensive than being on the ship. I say this because the ship on this particular sailing had very little activities to entertain you. The ship also did not stop in any other ports on the trip back like scheduled so I would have ended up burning money playing in the casino, or bingo. We were lucky to secure relatively inexpensive flights home and since out flight was delayed 4 times and then ultimately cancelled before being rebooked the airline compensated us in addition to the fact that we did not use their hotel accommodations. 

 

[Bebop1088]

8 hours ago, brad0576 said:

 

Sorry that happened to you  - 

 

December 2019 I was on the Breakaway out of Port Canaveral - We live in Orlando so just had a friend drop us off around noon and were on the ship in no time.  

 

Our first stop was Spice H2O  - and there was already a family group that was out of control in one of the hot tubs - completely wasted and it was 4 hours until departure.  Every ship has at least 1 group like this, and barely on the ship we already found them lol.

 

Fast forward a few days to St Thomas - multiple names are called for almost an hour after our posted DEPARTURE time - and finally we depart late.  about 30 minutes later I hear the lead trainwreck in this group complaining to others on how the staff was so rude to them when they got onboard - they were not that late and who cares we are only at sea the following day.  

 

The funny thing was when they tried to order drinks apparently they can been cut off for the remainder of the trip - they looked miserable on the following sea day.... I found it deserving.

 

While you were not in that situation...be glad you didn't have to pay the consequence.

To my knowledge we did not cause any delay to the ship departing the port or inconvenience to the other passengers (other than them having to hear our name called over the intercom on the ship). The ship left on time right at 2:00PM it did not delay waiting for our arrival or we would not have missed the boat since we were waiting for our check when it departed. Even a 15 minute wait and we would have been late but on board. That being said I wouldnt expect them to wait for us unless they knew they might have needed to. I can see if we knew were were late and somehow contacted them the captain would make that decision but it was not the case with us. 

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, sfaaa said:

Great job Girl. You handled the situation extremely well.  May be you should go into crisis management.  I would have a nervous breakdown at the pier followed by PTSD if this happened to me.

I also would have been going crazy, and DW would be trying to calm me down.

[Markanddonna]

A hard learned lesson. Let's hope many can learn from your experience. As an experienced cruiser, I'd like to think I wouldn't make those mistakes, but I also went into Nassau without my passport or the daily planner with the port number. After not cruising for two years, I discovered I'm getting rusty!

[Just Jo]

16 hours ago, Yesimapirate said:

I'm glad you made the best of it but I'm also glad you wont be in my traveling party!

 

This was a mistake they're both likely never to make again, and they also sound like the perfect people to have in your traveling party - people who can make the best of a terrible situation.

 

@Bebop1088 Thanks for sharing!

Edited March 22, 2022 by Just Jo

[nalrudaini]

Kudos for not losing your cool.

 

The on-board time is posted in several places (including elevator).  But I always do is set my alarm for one hour before the on-board time.  I also have a clock widget on my mobile that's called "Ship Time". 

[weltek]

21 minutes ago, nalrudaini said:

Kudos for not losing your cool.

 

The on-board time is posted in several places (including elevator).  But I always do is set my alarm for one hour before the on-board time.  I also have a clock widget on my mobile that's called "Ship Time". 

Good idea for that clock widget!

[Bebop1088]

21 minutes ago, nalrudaini said:

Kudos for not losing your cool.

 

The on-board time is posted in several places (including elevator).  But I always do is set my alarm for one hour before the on-board time.  I also have a clock widget on my mobile that's called "Ship Time". 

I understand the time postings, and frankly we somehow had in our brain the sail away time was 4:00PM. I am not sure why we thought that but it is why we did not push or question the time when we couldnt log into the app and were not stressed throughout the day. It is no excuse, but it is just how it was for us and a mistake we wont be making twice. 

[ppcox]

You did a great job making the best of the situation. Thank you for sharing and giving us all a different perspective of passengers that miss the ship.

You showed more resilience and organisational skills than most people so well done.

[sparks1093]

Thank you for sharing this, especially with all of the detail. 

[GeezerCouple]

Also very nice you had that special hotel rate.

That made it very easy to keep the extra night just in case - and *very* good planning with that!

So glad that it ended so well, given the situation.

But it *is* a bit worrisome that Security wasn't tasked with removing a few things from your room/safe, like passports (and hopefully any medicines sitting right there?).

Some of our meds would be a top concern if they all sailed away without us, although we always do carry an bit of an extra supply with us when we leave the ship "just in case".

 

Tricky about the passports.  Some people prefer not to carry them at all times when traveling, lest they get stolen.  We've tended to keep ours with us with us whenever traveling overseas, but not always...

 

We probably should have gotten passport cards along with our passports.  Would a passport card make it any easier to get home (should passport go missing) vs. having a copy of the passport?

 

GC

[bstel]

21 hours ago, Sea Monster 2 said:

All US travelers should register their travel plans online with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at the State Department’s website— this streamlines assistance and enables the embassy or consulate to reach out to you in an emergency.

 

Cruisers should also keep in mind that there is not an embassy or consulate on every island or at every port— you may need to travel to another city, island or even country for assistance, which can be extraordinarily difficult without a passport. Registering via STEP can facilitate assistance in challenging situations.

 

I was going to bring up these 2 points as well.  You were lucky you were in Nassau and the Consulate is so close.  If you research the consulate offices locations, via the State Department website, it is quite eye opening how far some of them are from the port.  Some are right there as well.  Imagine being on Bimini.  You would have to get transport from there to Nassau.

 

I usually always do the STEP process and print out the consulate office locations, phone number, and office hours for each port.  you never know.  and this only takes about 15-20 minutes to complete.

 

and if you bring your phone with you, take pictures of all the info, including your passport, that way you have it all, even if you lose or someone steals your passport.

Edited March 22, 2022 by bstel

[Bebop1088]

16 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Also very nice you had that special hotel rate.

That made it very easy to keep the extra night just in case - and *very* good planning with that!

So glad that it ended so well, given the situation.

But it *is* a bit worrisome that Security wasn't tasked with removing a few things from your room/safe, like passports (and hopefully any medicines sitting right there?).

Some of our meds would be a top concern if they all sailed away without us, although we always do carry an bit of an extra supply with us when we leave the ship "just in case".

 

Tricky about the passports.  Some people prefer not to carry them at all times when traveling, lest they get stolen.  We've tended to keep ours with us with us whenever traveling overseas, but not always...

 

We probably should have gotten passport cards along with our passports.  Would a passport card make it any easier to get home (should passport go missing) vs. having a copy of the passport?

 

GC

When we were initially left, as I do with pretty much everything I went to google and all my research showed that this was something the cruiselines did. Although us missing the ship was our own negligence it could have been anything, an injury or emergency that caused someone the miss the ship. The port agent seemed equally surprised by it.

In our stateroom right in my purse (left right on the bed) was my full wallet, with social security card and other IDs) and in our bathroom right on the shelf was my contact lenses and medication. I would not have expected them to leave our cash in the port, although mine was in my purse it was hidden away in a side pocket and his was in his luggage. 

There is a comment from someone who worked at an embassy that had some really good information in it on this thread that is certainly worth reading and would help with the information about passport cards. I do as standard practice have photos of my Drivers license and Vaccine card on my phone and I took pictures of my boyfriends before the trip as well which was handy since currently nassau is still operating under strong covid protocols and it was needed at both hotels we stayed in while there.