Ever Miss the Ship? We Did.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Do you think returning to the ship an hour before departure is cutting things a bit short?

An hour seems fine, but I know I did worry when we were in Bergen last summer. We still had 2 things on our wish list, but I thought we were cutting it close to do either. But DW insisted we go to the funicular. We lucked out and the hop on hop off bus only came minutes after we left the attraction. (IIRC, it ran every half hour.)

 

I pointed out to DW that we only made it back on the ship maybe 15 minutes or so before all aboard time. Her answer was there were plenty of people on the line behind us.

[kitkat343]

3 hours ago, PATRLR said:

 

 

I'm in the US and my Verizon plan includes calling to/from/in Canada.  And I don't think I have any special plan (but maybe I do). 

 

The 10 dollars per day travel pass means that your phone gets the same amount of data and calling limits as you would with your regular plan in the US to call or surf the web in another country.  There's a list of countries it works for is on Verizon's website.  On my phone, this feature is automatically turned on - whenever I travel to another country I get a text from Verizon asking if I want a travel pass.  You should contact Verizon to see if you need to request the travel pass or if it is automatically an option.  

Edited Thursday at 07:01 PM by kitkat343

[PATRLR]

31 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

The 10 dollars per day travel pass means that your phone gets the same amount of data and calling limits as you would with your regular plan in the US to call or surf the web in another country.  There's a list of countries it works for is on Verizon's website.  On my phone, this feature is automatically turned on - whenever I travel to another country I get a text from Verizon asking if I want a travel pass.  You should contact Verizon to see if you need to request the travel pass or if it is automatically an option.  

Yes, I have the Travel Pass for travelling outside North America and use it regularly.

[graphicguy]

I can say with all confidence, traveling internationally for work for 30 years, I never, ever lost my passport.  I make certain, always, that it's on my body somewhere.  

 

On a cruise, I make a copy of it and stick it in the cabin safe in case mine gets stolen.

 

In over 20 cruises, I've never, ever missed the ship.  I always check ship time.  I always have a watch and/or phone set to ship time.  If an excursion (especially an independent one) can't get me back 2 hours before all aboard, I don't take it.

 

Rented a car once, in Cancun.  Regardless of what the car's clock said, I always depended on my watch/phone set to ship's time.

 

As you can tell, it's a tough sell to say "well the rental car's clock was wrong" as a legit excuse to miss the ship.  You can try to see if insurance will cover you.  Would like to know if they do, actually.

 

Regarding having someone (crew) on board inform someone that you missed the ship, that's a tough sell, too.  Conversation would go something like this I would imagine...

 

"hi, this is the ship's Customer Service Manager calling to tell you (insert your names here) didn't board the ship when we sailed away from (insert country/city you missed the ship here).  

 

-"No, we don't know where they are. They just didn't board by 'all aboard" time'".

 

-"No, we don't know where they went.  They didn't tell us."

 

-"We don't know what to tell you.  They missed the ship. We don't know why.  We don't know where they are.  We have no idea if or when they might show up again."

 

 

[kitkat343]

I guess we are all officially invested now.  I have absolutely no idea if trip interruption would cover this situation, but please let us know after you have submitted your claim.  And if its of any comfort - it's really a question of when  I do something similar and miss a ship.  I just hope it's in Canada and not somewhere like St. Petersburg or mainland China.  Good luck!

Edited Thursday at 08:15 PM by kitkat343

[CruiseMH]

20 hours ago, JSar said:

 if I fail to return to a ship, at what point would the ship acknowledge that I am missing and attempt to reach out to me and notify emergency contacts? 

......

So - once again - at what point does NCL or other cruise lines follow up?

.....

 it definitely SHOULD happen. WHEN would it happen? 

 

 

 

A really good question and i would also like to know that cause i find it interesting but i assume that no cruise will give you an answer on that question. This is one of a few topics where cruise lines don`t really like to talk about in the public.

[CruiseMH]

On 9/25/2024 at 7:52 PM, ronandannette said:

 

interestingly, it is now 23 minutes past the intended departure time from St. John. I am listening to the Captain announce he is waiting for the last passengers to cross the gangway. We were 4 minutes late. {{sigh}}

 

thats why it is so important to call the port agent or the ship itself in case of a return after the all aboard time to let them know that you are late. If you tell them where you are or when you will be returning they can check whether they can wait for you or not wait. If the captain knows you will be 15 minutes late then he can adjust the processes(if he wants to). If he doesn`t know whether you will arrive in 10 minutes or in 5 hours he might leave on time.

Maybe the guests they were waiting for have called the ship and so the captain decided to wait for them.

In case of OP this was of course not possible because if you don`t know that you will be late then you can`t call the ship or can call them only too short in advance.

 

 

[tinawhitecar]

I can see why the OP was perplexed that NCL did not follow up to see if they were ok when they reboarded in Halifax. 

What if the OP was a victim of crime causing him to miss the ship.

 

I just completed my first solo cruise last week on this same itinerary (Gem) It sounds concerning that I went “missing” no one would attempt to look for me. (Yes, I know its my responsibility to get back to the ship but things happen) 

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, tinawhitecar said:

I can see why the OP was perplexed that NCL did not follow up to see if they were ok when they reboarded in Halifax. 

What if the OP was a victim of crime causing him to miss the ship.

 

I just completed my first solo cruise last week on this same itinerary (Gem) It sounds concerning that I went “missing” no one would attempt to look for me. (Yes, I know its my responsibility to get back to the ship but things happen) 

If there was a crime, help me understand what the ship would have done to help?  They can tell the port where you did not re-board that the last they knew of your presence is when you checked OUT OF the ship.  After that, they have no idea where you went.

 

Ship personnel have no authority at the ports.  That's why they make it a point to let you know if you do something like...oh, I dunno, get caught with cannabis.....they can't help you.

 

The cruise ships are not responsible for the passengers.  They have some responsibility to keep you safe ON BOARD.  But, when you get to a port, you have to take care of yourself.  That includes, getting back to the ship on time, regardless of the reason you missed the ship (like having a rental car with a clock not set to ship's time).

 

 

[IAcruising]

2 hours ago, tinawhitecar said:

What if the OP was a victim of crime causing him to miss the ship.

 

What if they were just passed out in a bar? Are you expecting the ship to go out looking for them?

 

I don't get your point.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Thursday at 11:26 PM by IAcruising

[UKstages]

4 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

The 10 dollars per day travel pass means that your phone gets the same amount of data and calling limits as you would with your regular plan in the US to call or surf the web in another country.

 

verizon travel pass is great and i use it often when the cost or convenience compares favorably with changing out a SIM card.  but the data is not the same as my regular USA-based plan.  verizon will throttle you after the first 2 GB of high speed data in each daily session.  they then switch you to 3G data. you can buy additional high speed data if you like. this typically only becomes an issue if you're sending a lot of videos or photos via text message.

 

pro tip: the session "day," while 24 hours, does not begin at midnight and end at 11:59 PM. it ends 24 hours after you turn on your phone and begin your travel pass session. you can use this to save money in two ways. if your port call doesn't begin until, let's say 2 PM, when you arrive the next morning in another port at 6 AM, your travel pass is still active. you don't begin a new session just because you traveled to a different country! if you turn your phone off before 2 PM, you will have had the use of your phone spanning two calendar days, but  only pay for one travel pass day. alternatively, if you wait to turn your phone on in a new port to begin a new travel pass session, you can postpone the hour at which you have to turn it off the next day in another port.

 

on a 12-day cruise, you might be able to spend just $70 or $80 instead of $120.

[debenson0723]

And here is another thing about the Verizon Travel Pass...if you don't use it for a month, you get to bank that month for when you do need it.  I did not cruise internationally for 9 months, so when I went to Dubai for 10 days, I had 9 days 'saved' that I could use while there. Between those 9 free days and using my 24 hours in the manner that was suggested by @UKstages, I paid nothing the whole time I was there. Service was excellent, also. I don't even think about NOT using my phone when traveling internationally anymore. I don't send large videos or even a lot of photos via text so never had to pay for additional data.

[PATRLR]

10 hours ago, UKstages said:

pro tip: the session "day," while 24 hours, does not begin at midnight and end at 11:59 PM. it ends 24 hours after you turn on your phone and begin your travel pass session. you can use this to save money in two ways. if your port call doesn't begin until, let's say 2 PM, when you arrive the next morning in another port at 6 AM, your travel pass is still active. you don't begin a new session just because you traveled to a different country! if you turn your phone off before 2 PM, you will have had the use of your phone spanning two calendar days, but  only pay for one travel pass day. alternatively, if you wait to turn your phone on in a new port to begin a new travel pass session, you can postpone the hour at which you have to turn it off the next day in another port.

Be careful, if you leave your phone cellular enabled for 24 hours and 1 minute, you'll have started a second day's session.  For that reason, I always go back into airplane mode when I no longer need cellular service regardless of the timings. 

Also, I may be completely mis-remembering or confused here but if you start your Travel Pass in some port, then leave the port and get out to sea and your phone is still on, won't you connect to the ship's cellular network and that wouldn't be included in the Travel Pass (so, you would then be roaming)?  For some reason I have it in mind that it's very important to make sure you are in airplane mode when on the ship, regardless of Travel Pass.

 

Edited Friday at 09:59 AM by PATRLR

[purpleally]

On 9/25/2024 at 11:33 AM, laudergayle said:

Most concerning for me is that NCL didn’t retrieve their Passports and leave them with the Port Agent.  I wrongly assumed this was a SOP for those who have failed to reboard.  
 

OP…happy you made it back onboard. I agree with you that someone on the NCL staff should have made contact with you.  It’s as though they never knew you were left behind.  

Same country so didn’t need passports?

[BirdTravels]

The onboard personnel should have summoned the OP to the security office and lectured them on the importance of being back to the ship before the all aboard time.

 

Late passengers place an enormous burden on the ship. The Captain is forced to make that decision to leave a passenger behind, which is a lot of paperwork, reporting (yup, the missing passenger is reported to the local country immigrations as have illegally entered their country), and coordination. The 2000 other passengers onboard are having their vacation delayed. The cruise line is incurring $10's thousands paying port personnel overtime to wait to release the ship and paying for additional fuel to sail faster to the next port to make up the time spent at port. Shops and the casino can't open inconveniencing passengers and costing the vendors revenue. As a shareholder of cruise line stock, I would be elated if the cruise lines would hold late passengers liable, adding the costs of being late to their room bill. 

Edited Friday at 12:29 PM by BirdTravels

[DCGuy64]

Regarding insurance claims, a few points are in order:

 

1. Insurance companies, before they will issue payment for a claim, want evidence, as in written documents. They aren't going to pay out because you call them and say "we got stranded at a port and had to fly/drive to the next one." They will demand documentation.

2. In case anyone attempts to lie (for instance, to say something wasn't their fault, etc.), be aware that lying on insurance forms in order to get a payment you aren't entitled to is a felony. You don't want to get into legal trouble because the facts of the case likely wouldn't support your claim and you try to pull a fast one by making things up to appear more sympathetic.

 

When we had to cancel a vacation package in 2020 (including airfare and all-inclusive hotel reservations) due to Covid, the insurance company wanted LOTS of documentation: positive tests, original booking emails, copies of the reservation showing the cancellation policies, proof of our payments, etc. We had to document EVERYTHING. It took 2 months to get our money back, but I'm glad we had insurance.

I highly doubt OP is trying to do anything wrong, so this post isn't directed at him/her. It's just a reminder that the process of filing a claim, having it approved, and receiving a payment is quite complicated. It's much more than a matter of "we missed our boat and we want compensation."

 

 

[BirdTravels]

Once upon a time (and I have cruised for a long time), you never had people showing up late (after all aboard time). Today, people feel entitled and think that the ship will wait for them. Every week, there is another long thread on someone being left behind. 

 

On a recent cruise (August 2024), all of the passengers in the photo below are showing up 15 minutes after All Aboard time. The ship's crew is busy trying to tear down port setup and get the ship ready for departure, which they can't do because the dock and gangways filled with late passenger. 

 

Edited Friday at 12:49 PM by BirdTravels

[mjkacmom]

10 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

And here is another thing about the Verizon Travel Pass...if you don't use it for a month, you get to bank that month for when you do need it.  I did not cruise internationally for 9 months, so when I went to Dubai for 10 days, I had 9 days 'saved' that I could use while there. Between those 9 free days and using my 24 hours in the manner that was suggested by @UKstages, I paid nothing the whole time I was there. Service was excellent, also. I don't even think about NOT using my phone when traveling internationally anymore. I don't send large videos or even a lot of photos via text so never had to pay for additional data.

My entire family has had travel pass for many years, never turn it off. My adult kids do most of the international travel, so they just keep it on knowing they’re going to be texting and using internet a lot. We’ve never been given a credit. Two just went to Italy in august for a couple of weeks (but didn’t overlap), I got a $10 charge each day.

[schmoopie17]

On 9/26/2024 at 7:54 AM, graphicguy said:

 

I have a cheap Timex I use to set to ship time when I cruise.  I've had it for years.  It's never failed to let me know what ship time is when I set it.

 

If it's that old, just make sure it has a fresh battery 😁

[Capitan Obvious]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

The onboard personnel should have summoned the OP to the security office and lectured them on the importance of being back to the ship before the all aboard time.

 

Late passengers place an enormous burden on the ship. The Captain is forced to make that decision to leave a passenger behind, which is a lot of paperwork, reporting (yup, the missing passenger is reported to the local country immigrations as have illegally entered their country), and coordination. The 2000 other passengers onboard are having their vacation delayed. The cruise line is incurring $10's thousands paying port personnel overtime to wait to release the ship and paying for additional fuel to sail faster to the next port to make up the time spent at port. Shops and the casino can't open inconveniencing passengers and costing the vendors revenue. As a shareholder of cruise line stock, I would be elated if the cruise lines would hold late passengers liable, adding the costs of being late to their room bill. 

 

Given that empathy can go both ways, perhaps the people who missed the ship should be reaching out to the GM and/or Captain upon their return to apologize for their lateness.

[graphicguy]

14 hours ago, IAcruising said:

 

What if they were just passed out in a bar? Are you expecting the ship to go out looking for them?

 

I don't get your point.

 

 

 

 

 

I've seen more than my share of passengers passed out in local bars in Cancun and Cozumel....literally.  I guess it is kind of accepted in those locales.  Often wondered what the wait staff does with them?  Guessing they try to roust them to get them in a taxi?  Boot them to the street?  Let the Federales gather them up and give them "accommodations" for the night?

 

That would be a conversation worth hearing when the passenger calls back home looking for bail money.

[ronandannette]

20 hours ago, Middleager said:

Car and home insurance are indeed covering your possible mistakes for burning down your home, or at fault accidents, but to a limit.  If someone keep having house fires or keep getting into at fault accidents, we all know insurance companies have stopped taking on those clients.  Trip/travel insurances can cover flight cancellations or delays, beyond your control, not your fault. 

 

We've had a transatlantic cruise that had 7 sea days, which became became 9 sea days due to a cancelled port. 

If someone missing the ship at the last port because they were at fault (confused with time, got drunk, overslept, and whatever reason they can find, not the ship's fault), and gets covered for the expenses of 9 days of hotel/meals, flights, that'd be really special.

Please let us know if you get compensated, because you can teach all of us how to have long extra vacations (in Azores, Canary Islands, Hawaii), because we missed the ship's last port.  And share that insurance company with us, so we can all get coverage for as accidentally missing the boat.

Car and home insurance rates are calculated on a variety of factors specific to the individual and can be denied entirely or cancelled by the carrier if excess claims are made. Travel insurance (non-medical) largely requires no pre-qualification and there are many companies that sell it. I don't know if they share records on anybody's previous claims.

 

I'm not sure I'm reading this right but are you suggesting we orchestrated this little escapade with the intention of conning the insurance company out of the cost of a late-night drive across a strange highway in the dark and a single night in a cheap hotel? That is truly hilarious! 🤣

17 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

I guess we are all officially invested now.  I have absolutely no idea if trip interruption would cover this situation, but please let us know after you have submitted your claim.  And if its of any comfort - it's really a question of when  I do something similar and miss a ship.  I just hope it's in Canada and not somewhere like St. Petersburg or mainland China.  Good luck!

I just got off the phone with the travel insurance people - the coverage is through Manulife. The phone agent couldn't find an exactly perfect match for the circumstances (I told them the truth, didn't try to spin the reason for the delay) but did find some verbage on "unspecified perils". He took the claim and said it will now undergo a "Claims Review" process and we may be asked for more details. It will then either be qualified or disqualified. Seems fair enough to me.

3 hours ago, purpleally said:

Same country so didn’t need passports?

Yes, but really that's just a fluke. Had we been foreign and left standing there without Passports, we would NOT have been able to rent a car or board a plane. Thinking about that kind of bothers me. And if we'd had the presence of mind, we could have asked the Port Agent but we were pretty rattled. It would have been nice for him to have mentioned it. And I wonder now what would have happened to our papers and belongings if we had NOT caught up with the ship? 

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

The onboard personnel should have summoned the OP to the security office and lectured them on the importance of being back to the ship before the all aboard time.

 

Late passengers place an enormous burden on the ship. The Captain is forced to make that decision to leave a passenger behind, which is a lot of paperwork, reporting (yup, the missing passenger is reported to the local country immigrations as have illegally entered their country), and coordination. The 2000 other passengers onboard are having their vacation delayed. The cruise line is incurring $10's thousands paying port personnel overtime to wait to release the ship and paying for additional fuel to sail faster to the next port to make up the time spent at port. Shops and the casino can't open inconveniencing passengers and costing the vendors revenue. As a shareholder of cruise line stock, I would be elated if the cruise lines would hold late passengers liable, adding the costs of being late to their room bill. 

Best as I can tell, none of those "worst-case" scenarios actually happened. Sail-away time was 4:00 pm and the ship had already raised the gangway and were pulling lines 17 minutes before that. We watched them sail out. It didn't seem like they were very late, although they were later leaving from both Halifax and St. John than the published time.

38 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Given that empathy can go both ways, perhaps the people who missed the ship should be reaching out to the GM and/or Captain upon their return to apologize for their lateness.

{{shrug}} Perhaps if anybody would have been willing to actually speak with me about it, discussions could have been had. As it was, all I got was basically silence from the person at Guest Services and a case number written on a business card to follow up with NCL shore-side.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

If it's that old, just make sure it has a fresh battery 😁

Actually, it's a self winding mechanism.  I power the watch. 😉

[Capitan Obvious]

49 minutes ago, ronandannette said:

And I wonder now what would have happened to our papers and belongings if we had NOT caught up with the ship? 

 

Ship's security enters your room (with a witness) and they inventory and pack up everything in the room. All of the items are then shipped to your home address...at your expense.

[ronandannette]

13 minutes ago, Capitan Obvious said:

 

Ship's security enters your room (with a witness) and they inventory and pack up everything in the room. All of the items are then shipped to your home address...at your expense.

OK but that would not be at all helpful if one needed their Passports to get to the next port or home. Our only saving grace was that we are Canadians and were in Canada. If worse-had-come-to-worse, we could have gone straight home from Nova Scotia, but without the Passports we wouldn't have been able to get back into the States to meet the ship in Boston or get on our pre-paid return flights from there.

Edited Friday at 04:07 PM by ronandannette