Left behind?

[noblepa]

... If your pp gets ripped off with your hard earned $$$ and/or other valuables on a shore excursion by some street thug in Naples, Caracas, St. Petersburg, downtown L.A.:rolleyes: or wherever, you could quite possibly run into some difficulty with the boys and girls from U.S. Immigration when you attempt to reenter the good ol' U.S. of A ...

 

Yes, your return to the US would be complicated, but at least you would be standing on US soil at the time. I'd much rather be discussing the situation with a US immigration officer, in English, at a US port, than having the same discussion with a foreign immigration officer, who may or may not speak English, in a foreign port, or trying to convince a ticket agent at a foreign airport to sell me a ticket without proper identification.

 

On our next cruise, in April, I plan on taking a photocopy of our passports, but leaving THAT locked in the safe. I will take the original pp's, one credit card, our ship's ID's and a moderate amount of cash ashore with me. If I lose the pp, hopefully the photocopy will help in obtaining a replacement when I get home. As I said, at least I will be on US soil.

 

I look at it this way: yes, I could lose the pp, but that could happen on the way to the airport to catch my flight to embarkation. It is a required document that does me absolutely no good if I don't have it with me when I need it. Its just something I have to be very, very careful with.

 

That's just my humble opinion. YMMV.

 

Paul Noble

[fann1sh]

Another alternative (the one I use) is to leave behind on the ship the minimum ID needed to get back into the USA by sea - wihich is a certified birth certificate plus photo ID - and take the passport with me. I'm also going to apply for a NEXUS pass (fast track international land crossing) which encodes my thumbprint biometrically, and certifies I've passed security clearance for minimum security risk - $50, good for 5 years.

[cruznon]

Last Dec., we were in Costa Rico on the Galaxy. Docked on the opposite side of the pier was the Arcadia. Both ships were nearing departure time and both ships' decks were filled with passengers laughing and talking between ships. (Three days before Christmas and the Panama Canal the next day--everyone was in a great mood!)

Our ship waited an extra 45 minutes after scheduled departure time, finally lines were released. We were about 10-12 feet from the pier when a group of about 8-10 were running toward us waving and yelling madly. One woman raised her arms and yelled, "Stop. Come back!"

Passengers on the Arcadia began appauding and cheering "Nicely done!" Aboard the Galaxy more cheering and laughter. A person on the pier led them to a small boat close by. The ships slowed as the small boat brought them out to the ship. On the top deck all rushed to the other side to watch them climb the rope ladder. The main question most pax had was: "I wonder how much THAT small trip will cost those latecomers?"

[noblepa]

A couple of years ago, my DW and I were on the Carnival Glory (before we discovered HAL) in Cozumel. Departure was scheduled for 5:00pm. I believe that the ship stayed on Florida time (EDT), but Cozumel is on central time.

 

Anyway, we got back to the ship in plenty of time, and I went to the observation deck on the wings above the bridge to watch our departure. 5:15 and we're still tied up, although they have singled up the lines and pulled in one of the two gangways. Finally, the lines are cast off, the gangway is pulled in and the thrusters begin pushing the ship away from the pier.

 

The ship was perhaps 15 feet from the pier when, suddenly, a woman comes running down the pier, pushing a stroller, screaming "stop, stop!!!". A few feet behind her was a little girl, crying and yelling "Mommy, Mommy!!!". A few feet behind HER was a man, carrying several shopping bags, apparently full of souvenirs.

 

The was another Carnival ship on the other side of the pier, so there were still some white-uniformed Carnival officers with walkie-talkies on the pier. Apparently one of them called our ship, because, much to my surprise, the ship stopped! The thrusters reversed and we actually returned to the pier. The gangway was quickly shoved out, the three of them boarded and we left again, this time for good.

 

I never heard their story, and if it hadn't been so potentially disastrous for them, it would have been hilarious!

 

I don't know what part of "be back on board by 4:30" they didn't understand. They were the only ones, so I assume that it was not a ship-sponsored tour.

 

Paul Noble

[HighSeas77]

I think the moral of this story is not to miss the ship in the first place...just a thought.

 

A couple of things to note.

 

a. If you are on a HAL booked excursion, the ship will wait until you return to depart...even if it is a couple of hours. Not the case on privately arranged tours...though some think so.

 

b. If you arrive a few minutes after sailing, it is possible to jump on the pilot boat and rejoin the ship...though they generally charge $150 per person in Canada and the US.

 

c. Don't miss the ship....what a waste of your vacation time. Just think of all those meals you miss :)

[noblepa]

I think the moral of this story is not to miss the ship in the first place...just a thought.

 

A couple of things to note.

 

a. If you are on a HAL booked excursion, the ship will wait until you return to depart...even if it is a couple of hours. Not the case on privately arranged tours...though some think so.

 

Of course, no one WANTS to miss the ship, but it can happen through no fault of your own; illness or injury. But, yes, in general, I agree. We always plan to be back to the ship more than an hour before sailing, or at least in the immediate vicinity. We're also careful to make a note of any difference between local time and ships time.

 

Even on a ship-sponsored tour, they won't wait indefinitely. If the schedule to the next stop is tight or bad weather is approaching, the captain may choose to leave without you, even knowing that you are not back.

 

Some tours involve long bus rides, of up to three hours. If one of those buses breaks down, or there are traffic delays, you could easily be several hours late returning to the ship.

 

Even if you miss the ship due to staying a little too long at Margueritaville, you don't want to compound the problem by making it even more difficult to get home.

 

Paul Noble

[ekerr19]

I have heard from a ship security officer we've cruised with several times that there is only one port where the ship is required to wait until all pax are back on board - St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

We got our own Visas on our trip to Russia and got delayed - the traffic was horrible, and we we stuck on the same bus as a few crew members. We all decided to get off the bus and run - we had to go through port security and I guess they thought DH was trouble as the questioned him in Russsian for about 15 minures (we had no idea what the problem was or what they were asking) and fortunately, they finally let us go. We made it back to the ship with only minutes to spare, only to find that security had dispatched officers from the ship into town to pick up stranded pax from a tour. This is when we met this officer and how we came to know the policy - of course that was July 2001 - before 9/11, things may have changed, and I'm sure there are other ports visited (especially since HAL acquired the Prinsendam and it can get to places the bigger ships can't) that fall into the same category.

 

Every time we see this officer on a ship, he asks if if we've been to St. Petersburg lately, lol!!!

[jcrandle]

Yes, your return to the US would be complicated, but at least you would be standing on US soil at the time. I'd much rather be discussing the situation with a US immigration officer, in English, at a US port, than having the same discussion with a foreign immigration officer, who may or may not speak English, in a foreign port, or trying to convince a ticket agent at a foreign airport to sell me a ticket without proper identification.

 

On our next cruise, in April, I plan on taking a photocopy of our passports, but leaving THAT locked in the safe. I will take the original pp's, one credit card, our ship's ID's and a moderate amount of cash ashore with me. If I lose the pp, hopefully the photocopy will help in obtaining a replacement when I get home. As I said, at least I will be on US soil.

 

I look at it this way: yes, I could lose the pp, but that could happen on the way to the airport to catch my flight to embarkation. It is a required document that does me absolutely no good if I don't have it with me when I need it. Its just something I have to be very, very careful with.

 

That's just my humble opinion. YMMV.

 

Paul Noble

 

Great theory, however, in practice, airlines will not board passengers who do not have appropriate documentation to be admitted to the destination country (passport, birth certificate, visa, whatever is required). The reason is that if they transport a pax to the destination, and there is no valid documentation, the airline is responsbile to return the pax to the point of origin.

 

Think about the last time you made an international flight. The airline verified your documentation, not only for ID, but also to be sure that they wouldn't have to return you to your origin, perhaps at their expense.

[cruzincurt]

So, I take it from your comment that unless you are returning back to the US via the ship, you better have your passport at the airport.

[Chivalrygirl]

I have come late to this thread but I have very much enjoyed reading the various comments. I have seen the ship wait and have be waited for myself when on a ships excursion, however it has reminded me of something that happened many years ago. I don't believe it would happen today because of all the security measures in place. Thinking of someone missing the ship reminded me of the time when the ship I was on found an extra pax on board.

I was on board the Shaw Savill & Albion vessel Northern Star bound for Southhampton. We were 3 hours out of Papetee having sailed at 6 am, when the captain announced that we were turning back to Tahiti to off load a stow-a-way. Boy did that ship buzz for a few hours. It transpired that a crew member had brought a young lady on board and they had overslept. :D She was bundled eventually onto a pilot boat and wizzed back to land. I am pretty sure it was very much against the rules for crew to bring woman on board and take them to their cabins, but hey rules......and there is another thread where all the argument started over smuggling a bottle of rum :) lol

[navybankerteacher]

Another alternative (the one I use) is to leave behind on the ship the minimum ID needed to get back into the USA by sea - wihich is a certified birth certificate plus photo ID - and take the passport with me. I'm also going to apply for a NEXUS pass (fast track international land crossing) which encodes my thumbprint biometrically, and certifies I've passed security clearance for minimum security risk - $50, good for 5 years.

 

You had better re-think that alternative -- starting in January, the birth certificate will not suffice --- only the passport will getr you back into the US -- from ANYWHERE!