Anyone ever seen anyone miss the boat?

[Cruzin' Rob]

Has anyone ever seen anyone miss the ship before? We were in St Marten back in March docked next a Carnival Ship. They were getting ready to leave, it was very close to them departing and there were several people down the dock running to the ship. They then started pulling all the gangways and only had one little gangway left and there were still people running to the ship. It got to be real funny because there was a small crowd on our ship starting to yell at the people below running to the ship. Everyone was yelling ‘HURRY, RUN, THE SHIP IS LEAVING, RUNNNNNNN, HURRRRYYYYYYY”. It was very funny. No one missed the ship, but there were some that were very close to missing it.

 

Has anyone ever seen anyone miss the ship as you were sailing off or docked next to a ship that was leaving and a passenger was on the dock who missed it?

[Straughn]

Last March on a Radiance cruise, we saw two people miss Galaxy as it left Nassau for Baltimore. We had been on our balcony watching the ship depart and saw the Galaxy crew pull up all but one small gangway (crew entrance we think). There were two crew members ouside who were clearly waiting for someone or something. The ship was scheduled to depart at noon and around 12:10 they took in the remaining gangway and started to pull away. About 10 minutes later these two folks came running up the dock frantically waving and yelling. The female ran all the way to the end of the dock, the male could not keep up with her. She jumped up and down and waived but with no luck. By now the ship is several 100 yards away and it just kept on going. They were visible on the dock for about a half hour and were seen talking to RCCL staff who we think sent them to the port agent. We wondered exactly what happens in this situation-suppose their passports or other identification were on the ship. You just can't jump on a plane and fly back to Baltimore without ID. What happens when the ship docks in Baltimore? How do you get your things back from your cabin? I felt bad for them and of course don't know what the circumstances were that caused them to be late.

[Beelady]

We were in Bermuda last year on the Grandeur's repo cruise from Boston. Half an hour before departure, they started paging the same names over and over on the PA system. We had a balcony on the pier side, so we were watching for the late-comers. One by one, individuals came running up to the ship, and by departure time, there were only 2 names that they were still looking for. We departed maybe 10 minutes behind schedule, as there were no more passengers running for the ship.

About a half hour later, as Bermuda was now behind us, a pilot boat approaches us. It pulls up alongside the Grandeur, and two people clutching large shopping bags appear on the deck of the smaller boat and transfer onto the Grandeur. Everyone watching from their balconies and from on deck applaud!

Don't know what that rendevous must have cost those folks, but I bet it wasn't cheap. Hope the Bermuda bargains they were shopping for were worth it!

[cherith]

We were on a Transatlantic sailing in 2002 and left at least one person behind in EVERY port. One poor woman's husband didn't make it back when we left Tenerife, and our next port was San Juan, Puerto Rico. . .The guy just went home apparently. Can you imagine what a flight would have cost between those ports?

[Murphy]

I don't remember what port it was at, but we were on our balcony once and watched the pilot boat speed up to our ship, pull up next to it and two people climbed a rope ladder to board. Our ship may have slowed down some, but it kept moving the whole time!

[springtxbill]

In march leaving San Pedro on the Vision we pulled backed off the dock a few feet and I saw they were doing something with the gangway at the dock and were starting to push back to the dock. Two teenage girls rushed across the gangway and the ship was back underway. Guess they were saying goodbye to their boyfriends or something. That would have been a nice way to start a cruise!! :D

[Alexis]

Many years ago we left one of the islands and a woman and her two young children got out of a cab on the dock as we were pretty far out. The ship continued to move at a slower pace as the woman and kids got into a pilot boat by the dock and were brought alongside the ship. They had to jump into the large opening in the lower deck. Crew members were there to assist them, and all went well. I would not like to think of what would have happened if they missed the large opening. She was the talk of the ship for the rest of the week because everyone was on deck to see them.

[Tromler]

On our last cruise....while in Nassau, a woman came running up the pier screaming "captain, captain....stop the boat....." of course the boat didnt stop.

 

She then ran up and down the pier screaming that she had no money and had no way to get back home.....

 

Not sure what happened to her....but she didnt get on the ship.....

[bplazo]

Two years ago on the Voyager two people missed the ship (we were in Jamacia). The captain turned the ship around to retrieved them. I was suprised that they did this because we were about one-half hour out. There was mention that they were in a bad part of town and that they didnt have their passports or credit cards with them.

 

The captain also said that he would not do it again and if anyone else missed the ship they would have to make they own way back. Everyone one was on their balconies and on deck cheering when they boarded. They hid their faces when boarding

[GreggNKara]

That voyager cruise was my honeymoon. I remeber being in the shower wehn all the water began pooling to one side. I realized they were turning around and then the wife and I went out on the balcony and saw a fishing boat pull up beside the ship. The crew of the voyager lowered a rope with a life jacket attached and they picked up this poor guy who was visiting family in Jamaica. I remember distinctly someone yelling to "tie the rope around the guys neck" when they were hoisting him up. Ill never forget it ever...We have the pics to prove it, but no scanner to post them.

 

G-

[cindybythebeach]

I was on the Grandeur in June and we left two people in Freeport. They arrived at the dock just as the ship was pulling away. Everyone was to be back on board by 2:30 for a 3:00 departure and they arrived at 3:01. One of the women was waving and yelling and then just fell to the ground. The next day during his nautical notes talk the Captain said there is always a Royal Caribbean representative at the pier in case this happens. He said they will make arrangements for them to fly to the next port or home in this case since it was the last port. The cruise line also will arrange for you to get your belongings. Wonder what that cost them though.

 

Cindy

[Family of 14]

We saw a couple with a stroller being left on the pier a few years ago. It was really sad to see.

 

We wondered exactly what happens in this situation-suppose their passports or other identification were on the ship.

That's why you should always carry your passports, ID, cash, credit or travelers checks with you and don't leave it in the safe.

 

The passengers luggage is gathered up and stored at home port until the late passenger claims it.

[bermudashorts]

I thought for sure on my second crusie my friend and I were goners.

We were docked at the dockyard in Bermuda shopping.

If you have even been there you know how careful the little old ladies can be packaging you purchase.

(at least back then before they developed the area.)

She took forever folding and individually wrapping the tshirts in the paper.:eek:

All nice like. I wanted to yell at her to just throw it in the bag but didnt..lol

I kept looking at my watch... finally she got done and we raced to the end of the dock.

We just made it to our cabin and the the ship was leaving.

Paniced isnt he word.

[Firefighterhoop]

I have seen several, the one that comes to mind is on the Adventure when we were in Aruba (Late port, in port until 0100) For those who dont know the outlay, Carlos N CHarlies is abuot 2 blocks from the port. It is packed until midnight when the mass heard of people make their way to the ship. As we are pulling away at about 110am, some guy makes a b-line out of the bar to the port...we see him running the 2 blocks and can faintly hear him yelling and see him waiving his hands. The port patrol people picked him up and gave him a ride somewhere.

 

No luck for him, we left. You would think he would have gotten the hint when everyone else left the bar over an hour before that somthing was up!

[gypsygirl]

The more of these posts I read, the more I decided to post a reply. I just cannot feel sorry for the majority of those people. We always get back to the ship at least an hour before sailing. There usually is no excuse for arriving late.

[lisajoy]

I agree Gypsygirl. Everyone knows what time to be back on the ship. Part of our group decided to book an excursion through other sources then RCCL and was 10 minutes late getting back to the ship. We were just getting ready to pull out when they came running down the dock. It was very funny watching them run faster then Smarty Jones.

[Lynnees]

The time is posted on the return to the ships, usually at least a 1/2 hour before sailing time. I agree, I feel no pity for those who think the rules don't apply to them.

 

We've seen this happen a couple of years ago. One of the hosts was on the same ship. (Grandeur) The brought the person out to the ship on the pilot boat. I was told the only reason they even did this was because her 12 year old child was on the ship. (This also begs the question, why was a 12 year old left on the ship alone while mom went scuba diving?)

 

Family of 14 - I would never advise people to take all their cc's, money, etc with them. That is far too risky. It should only be necessary to take some money, a cc and some form of ID.

 

Marilyn

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Great stories!

 

Has anyone ever experienced a time change due to weather....storm or hurircane warnings and the Captian needs to pull out early and passengers are not on board? How do they notify everyone...almost impossible???

I'm sure it's happened sometime somwhere.....?????

 

***

[mert461]

On the July 5th Enchantment of the Seas cruise my sister-in-law and Neice were being paged to call the Purser's Desk (leaving Belize). DH & I were on a family reunion cruise, 26 people in all. We had a balcony cabin and went out to see what we could see. My BILs on either side of us were also on their balconies. We said, Oh no! they missed the ship! The captain, CD and Compass all said to keep your watches on the ship's time, not Belize's time so that you didn't miss the ship. But, NOOOOOO, our family couldn't do that! At dinner that evening the two in question appeared at the table. They said the pilot boat brought them to the ship and the ship slowed down (which we had felt) so that it could catch up. They said they were shopping and thought they had an hour left.

 

The next night was our last night. My husband saw the CD (Matt Baker) on deck and asked him to work a joke about his sister and neice into his intro of the evening's entertainment. So after dinner, Matt told a joke saying that the two people (named them!!), who had missed the ship would now have $2,500 added to their stateroom accounts for additional transportation (or something like that). Both my SIL and neice slowly sank in their seats and everyone laughed and applauded. It was great! :D

 

Donna

[dad son team]

Missing the ship is always one of my biggest fears. I would be mortified. The lesson to be learned here is to alway carry enough documentation to get to the next port if you need to. Passport(or at least a photocopy of the info. page) in a waterproof baggie and a credit card with enough credit to pay for hotel and air for you and your party. Actually, it is a good idea to always carry a copy of that passport page anyway just in case you were to loose your passport, or get robbed, in a port. It would probably save some agravation down the road.

[stretch]

My DW and I had the priviledge, along with about 2/3 of the pax on our side of the Explorer, of watching a young couple walk slowly down the long dock at St. Thomas. We were at the very end, out on our balcony, having a drink and watching the stragglers. The two ships in front of us ( a Carnival ship and the Celebrity Galaxy I think) had already pulled out and we were down to one last gangway. Anyway, this couple kept walking toward that last gangway, stopped, looked up and realized that this was not their ship. They were supposed to be on the Celebrity ship that was now spinning around and about to head out of the port. They walked back forward a few yards, started making hand gestures at eachother, then the man walked to one side of the dock, the girl went to the other for a few minutes then they got back together. By this time, their ship was heading out, we were pulling away from the dock and at least 2/3 of the pax on our ship (Explorer) were yelling advice to them like "swim for it", and "go see the guy on the forklift, he's got a life jacket". I had no idea why they were late, neither had any bags with them, she didn't even have a purse with her.

I did get a really good picture of their ship sailing into the sunset and after alot of coaxing, did get them to wave goodbye to us.

I was told by the CD on our ship that if this happens, to go to the port office and try to make arrangements with the Harbor Pilot to take you to the ship but it's up to the Captain if he will slow down or even authorize them to approach the ship.

Moral of the story. Don't be late! If you book your own excursions, it's your responsibility to get to the ship on time. Personally, I'd never cut it closer than say 45 minutes and that is if you aren't going to stray out of sight of the ship.

Stretch

[mirock99]

We were in Bermuda last year and the ship was leaving a day early to get ahead of yet another hurricane that was brewing. The captain had decided we would leave around 4:30'ish. At 2:00 everyone on the island of Bermuda was rounding up passengers. The stores were all notified, restaurants, bars, ferries, etc. People were going to the beaches with bullhorns, cab drivers were giving free rides back to the pier. Most people made it to the ship, but some did not. We watched people drive up on scooters and just abandon them on the dock (arrangements of course were made to have them picked up later), it was crazy. From what I understand the last few passengers that didn't make it, they packed their stuff up and left it on shore. Don't know what happened to them. The ship didn't leave until 6:00 that evening. Some who were left behind came in a boat which came out and met us later on that night. I have no idea who would pay for that, but it was crazy. Wouldn't want it to happen to me.

[Lizcourt]

Actually, it happened on the 7/2 Voyager sailing. Before we pulled out of Freeport, a couple of passengers got paged several times over the PA system. We pulled out about 15 minutes late, but they still must not have made it, because my mother and sister watched from their balcony after we had left the port as the pilot ship pulled along side and two people -- obviously passengers -- got on board the Voyager from the pilot ship. We heard later they misjudged the traffic and the time it would take to get back to the ship.

[colette5479]

My hubby saw a drunk couple being left at the peir in Cozemel. The man was so drunk he kept falling down and laughing hysterically while the woman would pull him up and hit him at the same time, making him laugh even harder. The sight made my hubby laugh till he cried. But I have no idea how the people got home.

 

I hope stories like this make people realize they ARE NOT the exception to the rule, that the rules apply to EVERYONE!! My biggest pet peeve are people who constantly run late and I would be mortified if this happened to me!

Getting off my soap box now......

[christineann]

We did the Western Itinerary on the Voyager last year (left on or about June 4), and passengers missed the ship at every port except Labadee. After the captain slowed the ship and allowed the late passengers to board in Jamaica, there were numerous announcements and comments by the waitstaff and entertainers that the captain did not have to do that and would probably not do it again, but we did it in every port.