Returning after ship's departure on a port day

[lynncarol]

It's been a number of years but we missed a Celebrity ship's departure from England after our flight from Pittsburgh to Philly (then on to London) was cancelled due to weather. I had booked all air travel through Celebrity and naively thought they would take care of it as now we had to take three legs of flights to get to the next port in Oslo but Celebrity had only authorized 2 legs. Hah!  Celebrity said as it was the airline's problem, the airline needed to fix it. Only through the grace of a real sweetheart at the air counter did we make it to Oslo a day late.  Celebrity had given us the number of their port agent there, but he never answered his phone.  Finally the Oslo airport tracked him down and finally, he picked us up. Then when we tried to board in Oslo, since we had no ship card, the port authorities wouldn't let us in (and the port agent was nowhere in sight).  Fortunately, there were 4 other folks in the same situation at the port and after we all threatened a big riot, they contacted the ship and someone eventually came and let us onboard. Moral...try not to miss a ship departure under any circumstance. 

[Texed]

16 minutes ago, lynncarol said:

Moral...try not to miss a ship departure under any circumstance. 

So far, we have been successful.  😀

[mandream]

On 2/5/2023 at 1:35 PM, soniam said:

I don't even understand how we ended up late. I think some people were dawdling, some people had to use the bathroom at the last minute and there was only 1, and the zipline part was just slow. I just remember waiting around a lot for other people.

 

And this is why we almost never do ship excursions.  Book with a reputable operator with good reviews and don't worry about it.  Yes, there is a chance something might happen and you could miss the ship.  If this will stress you, then by all means consider alternatives.  But it sounds like your tour operator has you covered in the very unlikely event that you happen to miss the ship.

 

Good luck!

Mike

[Obobru]

Go for it and don't worry it's the fear the cruise lines depend upon to sell their massively overpriced excursions. Reputable independent operators are going to ensure you get back on the ship or cover costs for you to get to the next port just the same as the ones the cruise companies use and you will likely have a better excursion as the cruise companies use the cheapest operators designed for mass market. 

[red919]

Thanks...so many have chimed in with such helpful and thoughtful posts for which I'm greatly appreciative. 

 

A few thoughts:

 

1.  I do find it ODD that there have been NO posts from anyone who has actually missed the ship on a port day, but then again, perhaps they're too embarrassed to post....

 

2.  I find it even MORE ODD that after THREE tries with Celebrity, I could not get a definitive answer.  

I emailed the Emergency Team who came back with the following reply:

 

Thank you for your email… We’re sorry to inform you that we will no longer allow cruise passengers to pre-plan early debark or late embarkation for any of our ships.

 Many countries continue to implement travel restrictions like denying non-citizens from entry, closing their borders for the safety and security of our guests, all requests to modify the guests port of embarkation/disembarkation will be denied.

 

I responded by thanking them and then restating I was asking about "ACCIDENTALLY missing the ship on a port day" and was told it would depend on the EXACT ship, date and port.

And when I gave them the EXACT ship, date and port, they STILL could not give me an answer.  

I then wrote back to remind them the port in question is in the SAME country as port of debarkation and they still did not have an answer. 

I find this hard to believe.  There must be some sort of rules in place should this happen.  

 

I might start a thread with different wording, hoping of course to hook a few pier runners...😉

 

Thanks again!

 

 

[DCPIV]

59 minutes ago, red919 said:

I do find it ODD that there have been NO posts from anyone who has actually missed the ship on a port day, but then again, perhaps they're too embarrassed to post....

 

You're probably correct about that, and there's also the case that (while it happens) it's rare enough.  You'd need to find someone who missed the ship, knew about Cruise Critic, and felt the need to post.

[zitsky]

On 2/6/2023 at 4:19 PM, Obobru said:

Go for it and don't worry it's the fear the cruise lines depend upon to sell their massively overpriced excursions. Reputable independent operators are going to ensure you get back on the ship or cover costs for you to get to the next port just the same as the ones the cruise companies use and you will likely have a better excursion as the cruise companies use the cheapest operators designed for mass market. 

I didn’t know I book ship tours because I’m afraid.  On my next two cruises I am doing a mix of ship and private tours.  But I’ll be sure to know what time they get back.

[Mark_K]

On 2/5/2023 at 12:45 PM, Jim_Iain said:

We have done hundreds of private tours mostly in Europe and never had a problem, not even a close call.    The tour operations life depends on making sure they aren't the cause of missing a departure.  Of course things can happen.   

 

I always plan our tours so we will be back to the ship about 1 1/2 hours before sailing.   Yes you can join the ship again at the next port.   Just make sure you don't miss the last port before a TransAtlantic (LOL). 

 

In the daily planner for each port they list the Port Agent as well as contact for things like the U.S. Consulate or Embassy.    I usually take a picture just in case.

 

 

Unless things have changed, you can’t do that between two ports in Italy.  They have/had a cabotage law similar to the PVSA.