Is whether the ship can leave you based on port?

[Eli_6]

When we were on our last Carnival cruise a couple of weeks ago, the ship waited an hour past debark time for two people.  I know because I was sitting on my balcony during the time.  I was actually surprised the ship was waiting because I always hear about pier runners and have heard stories about people being left. We were in Cozumel in this instance.  It seems like if the two people were on a Carnival excursion, there would have been more than two late people...  It made me wonder if some of these stories were cruise line folklore.  Admittedly, I have never actually known anyone who was left.  

 

Then, I saw on another cruise line's board that a ship had waited 2.5 hours past sail time for a passenger.  The suggestion was made when someone asked the question of "Why didn't the ship just leave?" that the ship could not leave because the port the country was in (in that case, St. Maarten) had a law that a ship could not leave a passenger in that country unless the person's passport was left with port officials.  Thus, the ship waited until they found the person.

 

Anyone know?  

[Mic101680]

As far as I know, they absolutely can and will leave you behind. Every case I know of, the cruiseline does send someone to the stateroom to locate passports/travel documents to leave with the port officials or embassy if the decision is made to leave someone behind.

And it's absolutely possible they were the only two on a particular excursion. I've shown up to quite a few over the years where it was me and one other person. I guess it's up to the tour operator though on whether they will cancel it if there isn't a minimum amount of people.

 

[sanger727]

The ship can and will leave you if needed; what if the people never came back? I've seen the ship wait before. I think that if you call and say you are running late and they have flexibility in the sail times to wait they may. Just the luck of the Captain's decision. 

 

If you get stuck in a country without your passport, you would just have to deal with immigration officials and deportation. 

[hard_eight]

They could have been on a Carnival sourced excursion that was delayed.

[staceyglow]

Personally, I would rather not test it.  🙂

[klfrodo]

Possibilities why the ship may have waited?

Crew members who had a valid excuse. Entertainment staff who are contracted but leave a ship in one port and fly to another to join another ship (thinking comedians here). and let's face it, all men are created equal, some are just more equal than others (thinking celebs, people who know people in the corporate world, billionaires, etc.

[hard_eight]

1 minute ago, staceyglow said:

Personally, I would rather not test it.  🙂

For sure!

[Bound4Bermuda]

Curious whether the kids’ club is open on port days? That’s just the first scenario that came to mind if their young child[ren] were on board, they might not leave parents behind. Then again, that’s a pretty good reason why the kids’ club might NOT be open, as it isn’t safe to have the parents completely off site and unreachable from their kids.

[Dippy Dawg]

14 minutes ago, Mic101680 said:

Every case I know of, the cruiseline does send someone to the stateroom to locate passports/travel documents to leave with the port officials or embassy if the decision is made to leave someone behind.

 

 

So with that being said - I guess the safes are not that safe then.

[Elaine5715]

2 minutes ago, Bound4Bermuda said:

Curious whether the kids’ club is open on port days? That’s just the first scenario that came to mind if their young child[ren] were on board, they might not leave parents behind. Then again, that’s a pretty good reason why the kids’ club might NOT be open, as it isn’t safe to have the parents completely off site and unreachable from their kids.

Disney does and charges the left behind parents an hourly child care rate

[Elaine5715]

2 minutes ago, Dippy Dawg said:

So with that being said - I guess the safes are not that safe then.

Security can always access safes

[nimbex1970]

If you read the fine print in any excursion, if there is a delay, Carnival will promise to get you back to your ship asap, that doesn't mean wait for you at the port.  There are several options:

 

1. a large ship sponsored tour was delayed

2. ship issues (documentation, papers or propulsion)

3. Not cleared for departure due to delays of other ships

4. The pilot was delayed

5. who the heck knows?

 

[Elaine5715]

One of the factors is the docking fees.  Ports charge overtime fees and likely some Captains have more leeway.  Harbor pilot schedules matter.  Fuel burn to next port and distance matter 

[nimbex1970]

In almost 20 cruises, I have seen many a folk make a mad dash to the port, only to miss the ship sail off.  It's almost funny, but not really. Medical emergencies are handled differently, They know WHO isn't onboard and will leave you in a heartbeat.  The ship pays port fees and there are fines for delays. 

 

There is an obvious algorithm as to what the ship's captain will allow per circumstance.  For example, my mom fell on port and broke her hip in New Brunswick, her travel companion, needed to get back to the ship to get their passports, they gave him a 15 minute leeway for the ship departure.  Luckily he made it. 

 

Too many variables to say, but the staff told the companion, that there are plans in place for various scenarios, running to the ship without calling them, isn't one of them.  Port security number is helpful to have on your phone, should you have concerns with this.  They have a direct line to the ships captain. 

[paulco]

Also the tides matter in certain ports.  Seen ships wait,  seen em hand off passports to the port agent .   High anxiety!!!

[RenoNanaOz]

47 minutes ago, Bound4Bermuda said:

Curious whether the kids’ club is open on port days? That’s just the first scenario that came to mind if their young child[ren] were on board, they might not leave parents behind. Then again, that’s a pretty good reason why the kids’ club might NOT be open, as it isn’t safe to have the parents completely off site and unreachable from their kids.

I can't imagine leaving my kids on board and going into a Foreign Port

[dbrucern]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

When we were on our last Carnival cruise a couple of weeks ago, the ship waited an hour past debark time for two people.  I know because I was sitting on my balcony during the time.  I was actually surprised the ship was waiting because I always hear about pier runners and have heard stories about people being left. We were in Cozumel in this instance.  It seems like if the two people were on a Carnival excursion, there would have been more than two late people...  It made me wonder if some of these stories were cruise line folklore.  Admittedly, I have never actually known anyone who was left.  

 

Then, I saw on another cruise line's board that a ship had waited 2.5 hours past sail time for a passenger.  The suggestion was made when someone asked the question of "Why didn't the ship just leave?" that the ship could not leave because the port the country was in (in that case, St. Maarten) had a law that a ship could not leave a passenger in that country unless the person's passport was left with port officials.  Thus, the ship waited until they found the person.

 

Anyone know?  

I actually know of a couple being left in St Maarten and a family being left in Nassau on Christmas Eve (they were trying to wave the ship down as it was pulling away)

[EngIceDave]

I believe a lot depends on the next day's itinerary. How far to the next stop? 

[BTromboneFrack]

Many years ago, I watched a couple try to get to the ship just as it was departing.   They missed the ship by only about 30 seconds.   The ship had pulled out and was about 10 feet from the dock, but kept going. We then saw the couple get on a pilot boat and then get on our ship as we turned out to sea.   I do believe this was Cozumel - 1988 on the Holiday.

[EngIceDave]

Watching pier runners is one of my favorite things on a cruise

 

I watch videos of them to prepare myself

 

 

[Eli_6]

@EngIceDave  I admit that the reason I was hanging out on my balcony was that I was hoping to see someone make a mad dash to the ship...

[ultrafighter]

3 hours ago, Bound4Bermuda said:

Curious whether the kids’ club is open on port days? That’s just the first scenario that came to mind if their young child[ren] were on board, they might not leave parents behind. Then again, that’s a pretty good reason why the kids’ club might NOT be open, as it isn’t safe to have the parents completely off site and unreachable from their kids.

It is.  I know I'm opening myself up to judgment (but I really don't give a rip) by admitting that we've had a kid in Camp Ocean while we got off in a port.  I don't know if they would've held the boat had we been late, but that's a plausible theory.

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, ultrafighter said:

It is.  I know I'm opening myself up to judgment (but I really don't give a rip) by admitting that we've had a kid in Camp Ocean while we got off in a port.  I don't know if they would've held the boat had we been late, but that's a plausible theory.

Nope. If Disney will depart without parents on board, so will Carnival.  

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Security can always access safes

And that is a good thing. If you cannot get your safe open due to either a malfunction of some sort or you screwed up setting the combination or you just plain forgot, there has to be a way to get into your safe.

[Vacationdreamer<><]

13 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

Watching pier runners is one of my favorite things on a cruise

I’ve been a pier runner and to the day I have palpitations when I remember the fear. 
I thought I was being smart keeping my phone on home time to communicate with my family, but when I used WiFi in a port it must have changed to local time.  I was still doing the mental math of adjusting for the difference between home and ship and caused us to get back to Roatan port with seconds to spare.  

it was horrible. 
 

I hadn’t been off drinking, nor had fallen asleep somewhere.  My iPhone messed me up.  It was so awful. It took 12 hours to mentally stop shaking and I didn’t even enjoy the rest of the cruise.  Total fun-sucker event 😜