Anyone ever miss the boat?

[prarie cruiser]

Many, many people book their own independent tours. I happen to think the Princess tours, while maybe higher priced, are well worth it and enjoy them. I also book some of my own tours and enjoy those.

 

If you choose to book independently, if you are late to the ship, the ship will leave you behind and not think twice about doing it. It costs the ship company big bucks for every minute they are in port and they are not going to shell out those bucks while continuing to wait for you. I have seen lots of people left at the pier and only once did I see the ship really, really make an effort to get everyone back on board, and that was shortly after 9-11 happened and conditions were different then. If you are not on the ship now, then you better have alternative plans.

 

That said, if you use your head and your watch, booking independent can be a good alternative. Allow extra time to get to the ship, take your cell phone, cash, credit card, and at least a copy of your passport. Have the port's authority number to call (posted in Princess Patter for the day) and call it if you are going to be late at all. For heaven's sake, don't decide to take a short nap on the beach and sleep through the ship leaving. Also, know the exact time the ship is leaving and communicate that until it is understood by your tour guide. They will sometimes tell you the ship is leaving at a different time and THEY DO NOT KNOW THE TIME--THAT IS UP TO YOU!!!!!

 

Mostly, just go and have a good time!!!!

[alw1977]

I guess it is risky, but I don't like ship-sponsored excursions, so I just go on my own. We just plan ahead and try to get back to the ship 1-2 hours before departure. This usually isn't a problem if your ship leaves at 6PM. Most Caribbean islands are relatively small and traffic isn't a huge issue, but you do need to plan appropriately on islands like St. Martin. We know that island so well that a traffic jam isn't an issue - we can turn back and drive around it. Or, we just hit the French side early and plan to be back on the Dutch side (where ships dock) at 3pm or so. Just be smart and pay attention. I say no problem doing it. I think most people who miss boats are getting drunk or just not paying attention to time. My 2 cents - lots of people will disagree with me, but that's what I do.

[prarie cruiser]

Oh yeah, I meant to tell my own getting back to the ship late story. Its really not too exciting. I was in Juneau a couple of years ago and took a Princess arranged whale watching excursion. It was absolutely wonderful! However, we got back to the dock at just about the time we were supposed to be back to the ship. There is always a half hour before the ship actually pulls away, so no one was concerned. We loaded onto the buses and all the buses pulled away except mine.

 

My bus just would not start. Knowing we were on a Princess sponsored tour, I was not concerned, just tired and hungry. Long story short, due to no other buses being available at the moment to transport us, we waited over an hour (and well past the scheduled sailing time) for our bus to be repaired and start back to the ship. The ship had to wait, as we were a Princess tour. It may not have chosen to wait if we had been on an independent tour.

 

That same sailing I saw people left on the pier at Victoria on the last night of the cruise. Of course, that was not a real big deal, they could just catch the ferry to Seattle, but one man left behind was sort of funny, as he was too busy talking on his cell phone to get back on the ship, then got upset when it sailed off without him!!

[Widespreadpanic]

The bottom line seems to be to pay attention to the time and don't push the envelope. Apparently a lot of the people who missed the boat were shopping, drinking, and/or not paying attention. This won't be our case, we just want to enjoy a non-Princess tour for the day. Thanks for all your replies!

[tONYpAL85]

Honestly, how big of a risk is it? If you're sober, responsible, and on a tour with GREAT reviews I dont think you're going to get left. But if your husband is worried, then it might not be worth it. It's a small tour with only six passengers. How is the traffic in St. Thomas? Has anyone had any problems with this port directly? We took tours not through the ship on our cruise last year (western caribbean) and left a large enough window and really enjoyed it. The tours aren't as crowded and they aren't as expensive.

[cntrydncr1]

As a new cruiser to when going to Hawaii I arranged air through the cruise line and made the mistake of not flying in a day early. We thought the 4 hours leeway time in our schedule would be enough but we were delayed by 4 1/2 hourd due to bad weather. Even though we were booked through the cruise line, the ship did not wait for us. We watched the ship sailing away from the air. Had to be flown to the 2nd port the next day. Fortunately all expenses were paid but we still missed a whole day of our cruise. fortunately that line is now defunct. That same trip we also had no luggage for 2 days and the ship broke down! Murphy's law in action!!!

[WCAB]

I've wished a few times that the ship had left someone behind when I am standing on deck at port and see a cab pull up 1/2 hr. after the time we should have left and the people, obviously intoxicated take their time making it on board.

 

Carol