getting left behind & costs

[WILLVINO]

We were on the Crown in December. In St. Lucia we left a couple behind and we saw them take the pilot boat and catch up with us in the open ocean. The ship had to come to a pretty close of a complete stop as we were going at a pretty good rate since we had already left the bay area. I have read that the pilot boat charges them but was wondering if the cruise ship also does a penalty of some kind since I would assume it would take some extra energy thus cost to stop and start the engines..

 

Just wondered.. I am always amazed at how many passengers are late or are called through the speakers - we have seen people left behind before but this time was the first that we actually saw someone get the pilot boat and get on the ship..

 

Just curious..

[CRUISEVIEW]

We sailed on RCCL Sept 07 and two women showed up on the pier in Bermuda right after we had pushed away from the dock. A tugboat picked the up and brought them to the ship, got as close as it could next to the ship, and and, after some urging, they had to jump from the tug onto the ship and the crew's outstretched arms. At dinner that night, some veteran cruisers noted that they can be charged a fee by the operator of the tug; and noted that whether or not the cruiseline penalizes such passengers is decided on a case-by-case basis depending on the circumstances, and is usually at the discretion of the captain/cruiseline. BTW, while the errant passengers were standing on the pier waiting for some type of resolution/rescue to happen, fellow cruisers were on their balconies yelling some scolding and scalding remarks at them("Swim!" "Buy a watch!" "You're on your own now!" "Learn to tell time!").....it was quite interesting and somewhat amusing to watch.....

[chrysalis]

We saw that last year on the Sun in Martinique....the couple "caught" the pilot boat after it had brought the pilot back ashore., and as they approached the ship were waving as though they were celebs.....if they only knew what people on the deck were saying about them. Never did hear if they were charged a fee.

[Bucky3]

Have no idea what the expenses might be, but we have seen this happen more than once. Twice we saw people arrive as we were leaving the same Mexican Port. Believe me, that was quite enough for me to make sure we never miss the boat! The late people had to climb up a swaying rope ladder to enter the ship! I'm not sure if these people were crew or passengers.

 

Then in Kauai one time there was an accident on the only highway from the North Shore. Some Princess excursions were held up. Apparently ships are required to leave the Kauai dock/harbor area before sunset, so our ship left and anchored out beyond the breakwater for a couple of hours. The ship sent tenders to the pier to pick up the many stranded passengers. It was already totally dark at night, the water was turbulent, and watching those people board the ship from the tenders was something I would not want to do either! All three of these times our balcony was right above where the late passengers boarded. It was quite exciting to see!

 

There was another exciting? occurence about the Kauai situation. We were sitting on our balcony on Caribe Deck when all of a sudden we saw these two huge lights approach from the sky. We were apparently anchored right in the flight landing pattern for the interisland airplanes. As the plane approached we became increasingly scared as the plane was very low and getting lower. The Kauai runway was just a very short distance from us. We decided there was nothing we could do but were happy to be a few decks down from the Sun Deck - can't imagine what it would have been like up there 'cause we could all but see the passengers inside that plane as it roared over us! I guess that's about the most exciting/scary happening on any of our many cruises!

[chrysalis]

here is a photo....

[MercedMike]

LOL -- in St. Martin, the ship sails straight out from the dock for a long way. Once we were on our balcony, and saw a small boat approaching fast. A young blonde gal was frantically waving. The boat came alongside the ship, and the girl climbed up on the rail, holding on with one hand and trying to hold her miniskirt down with the other. We saw probably twenty or more hands reaching out to help her aboard! I am sure the crew got a big charge out of catching her as she jumped. A huge cheer went up from the balconies. She certainly provided that day's entertainment for the passengers!!:D

[Pam in CA]

I've seen people left behind quite a few times. One time, four people were left behind in Barcelona and had to make their way to Cannes to catch up with the ship. It happens all the time. Not sure why people can't tell time or take those chances but they do.

[northwoods2]

A couple years ago in the Rome port of Civitavecchia the boat waited on the pier for a long time after scheduled departure and then finally pushed off. We were maybe 50-100 feet off when a family of 5 came flying down the pier in a taxi. The ship actually pulled back to the pier. (Note: this family was near us in the dining room and always showed up a hour or more after the seating time) I always wondered if there was an additional docking charge since we had to pull back to the pier.

[FredS]

I have seen the ship put back in from about 50 feet out from the pier to pick up people that were late. Also in Barcelona a couple missed the sailing and caught up at the next port. They said they had read the time for sailing from the wrong Princess |Patter. They had read the time for the day before but had not checked what it said about the port so missed that they were reading the wrong day. Always keep the current Patter separate from the old ones.

[Crzn-Life]

In September we were delayed leaving Grand Cayman because of late passengers. The captain was livid and made no bones about it during his announcements regarding why we were late. A couple of days later we had the opportunity to have lunch with the captain and during our conversation we asked him why he didn't just leave them behind. He explained that British admiralty law requires that a ship cannot leave any British port (which of course includes the Caymans) unless all passengers that arrived on the ship are onboard. He said the USA has a similar law appling to American ports. It's only in other countries that they can and will leave late passengers behind. Any late passengers are responsible for paying any costs incurred in catching up with the ship. The ship will always wait for passengers on a delayed ship sponsored tour.

 

He said as a general rule that if it will just be a matter of minutes and there is plenty of time between ports, they will wait. If however, it is a tight schedule and the delay would create additional costs such as higher speeds to make the schedule, they are more inclined to leave the missing passengers.

 

In July while on another Princess cruise in the Mediterranean we were delayed a few minutes leaving Civitavechhia waiting for a passenger who was enroute to the ship via taxi. We waited because the taxi driver called with an ETA and it was only a few minutes. The passenger had to pay the taxi fare from Rome to Civiavechhia. Then while on a ship tour in Florence we had to wait for two couples to rejoin the tour. Those of us that were waiting expressed our displeasure to the guide who told us that she had to call for permission before she could leave without them. She made the call, received permission to leave them and we were in the process of leaving when the stragglers showed up. They were quite surprised to find that they were almost left behind and would have been responsible for getting themselves back to the ship in Livorno before it sailed.

 

Best advice: take a ship tour. If you're on your own and are delayed, call the ships rep in the port. That information is in the Patter.

[paul929207]

About 15 years ago, the Island & Pacific Princess were in Kusadasi, Turkey. A teenage girl got on the wrong ship and watched as her sailed. Finally, realized she had missed her ship. They had the pilot boat come back, pick her up & take her to the ship. I heard there was no charge since the security people did not chack her crusie card carefully. This was before the current electronic system.

[jean s]

We were on a cruise in Alaska and in one of the ports took a shore excursion to the Yukon. We wiere in off road vehicles and the terrain was very very rough. The couple in front of us tipped their vehicle and were both injured. The tour guide took the injured couple in his vehicle. We (there were 6 couples) headed back to the port and the injured couple was taken to the hospital. Because of the accident and all the confusion it led to we were probably an hour late for the ship. Thank goodness it was a ship sponsored tour and the captain delayed the sailing.

[starsjohn]

We were on a ship sponsored tour in Barcelona and were over 2 hours late back to the ship because of a horrific accident on the road back to the city. The Grand waited but the Captain was furious with the shore excursion staff. We overheard part of the chewing out they got, and it was not nice! After that experience, we use the ship excursions on a more frequent basis.

[jetskier]

When NCL changed their rules for the new Custom's rule fixing to take place they added a new statement for Ports of Call.

 

"In addition, in all ports of call, it is also the guest's responsibility to be back onboard the ship no less than two hours from the ship's scheduled departure time. Please be aware that shipboard time may differ from the port of call and it is the guest's responsibility to follow the shipboard time.

 

In the event a guest misses the ship, it will be the guest's responsibility to pay all expenses incurred to rejoin the ship. Expenses may be substantial and could include food, lodging, airfare, car rental and other fees not listed."

 

This ought to make it more likely for the passenger to be charged if they are late.

Dave

[Pam in CA]

In September we were delayed leaving Grand Cayman because of late passengers. The captain was livid and made no bones about it during his announcements regarding why we were late. A couple of days later we had the opportunity to have lunch with the captain and during our conversation we asked him why he didn't just leave them behind. He explained that British admiralty law requires that a ship cannot leave any British port (which of course includes the Caymans) unless all passengers that arrived on the ship are onboard. He said the USA has a similar law appling to American ports. It's only in other countries that they can and will leave late passengers behind. Any late passengers are responsible for paying any costs incurred in catching up with the ship. The ship will always wait for passengers on a delayed ship sponsored tour.

This is interesting information. When we were about to sail from Montevideo last February, the Captain got on the PA system and told us that we'd be leaving a little late because another ship was leaving late and it was closer to the entrance to the harbor (we couldn't get past them.) He said that was good news for the passengers who couldn't tell time and sure 'nuff, about 20 minutes later, two taxis raced up with the six missing passengers. We left right after they boarded but they were definitely going to be left behind if we'd been able to get underway on time. Because our next port was "iffy" that we'd make it and then there were several sea days, they would have missed almost half the cruise and had to fly to Argentina.

[JackWP]

Over the years, we have lost count of the times we have been late returning from ship sponsored excursions. Most were not very late, but once in China we got back about 3 hours late and one bus load was an additional hour behind us. Last August in Alaska one of our tours didn't return until 1/2 hour after the posted time for the last tender. We have never missed the ship and do not want to miss in many of the countries we have visited. This means for our own comfort level, we always take the ship's tours.

[jrw]

While I was in Alaska in June 1999, we were delayed quite a long time leaving Juneau. Numerous pages for 2 passengers, to no avail. Later there was another announcement stating we'd be leaving shortly & that they had gotten news that the 2 missing pax were killed in a helicopter crash @ Herbert Glacier. All of the Princess helicopter tours were cancelled that day due to fog (including ours), but this was an independent tour. The HAL ship docked next to us also left without their 4 pax, who were also aboard the chopper. Very sad announcement to have heard.

[caribill]

When NCL changed their rules for the new Custom's rule fixing to take place they added a new statement for Ports of Call.

 

"In addition, in all ports of call, it is also the guest's responsibility to be back onboard the ship no less than two hours from the ship's scheduled departure time. Please be aware that shipboard time may differ from the port of call and it is the guest's responsibility to follow the shipboard time.

 

If a ship is in port for 8 hours, that cuts 25% of the time available on shore instead of the old 30 minutes which was 6.25%

 

If a ship is in port for 6 hours, that means 1/3 of the time there is lost.

[BJS]

Over the years, we have lost count of the times we have been late returning from ship sponsored excursions. Most were not very late, but once in China we got back about 3 hours late and one bus load was an additional hour behind us. Last August in Alaska one of our tours didn't return until 1/2 hour after the posted time for the last tender. We have never missed the ship and do not want to miss in many of the countries we have visited. This means for our own comfort level, we always take the ship's tours.

 

I've often thought we were alone on this experience. We also have arrived back at the ship, while on a ship's tour, more than once after it was to have sailed. Traffic accidents, flat tires on the bus and various other traffic related problems. Our experiences were from 1/2 to several hours late. The ship and tour guides have been in constant contact during that time.

 

We also find it very comforting to always take ship's tours. Fortunately with all that we have taken there have not been more than one or two that we were not pleased with and for these we have received monetary compensation. Knowing the ship will wait and that the cruise line has screened the tour operators and hopefully they are some of the best available does add to the comfort.

 

I often wonder about those that are left behind and the reason for it hoping that nothing more than a lack of judgement as to the time was the reason.

 

.

[cruiserbryce]

I dont think you'll ever see a fee actually posted...doing so would establish a precident for what would happen should you be late...I think they would much rather everyone get back to the ship on time and leave extraordinary circumstances to be resolved on a case by case basis

[Ocean Spirit]

When we are on the NCL Wind last January we were at Fanning Island and we had to wait over 2 hours for a missing passager. They had to put out a search party for her. She went for a bike ride and lost track of time.... The captain stayed since no other ship would be returning to the island for 2 weeks. Of course there are no hotels on the island.... in fact they only had 2 trucks on the island, 1 nurse, 1 post master and 1 policeman and a bunch of open air huts.

[jalpert]

Just some quick clarification for a first time cruiser if possible. As long as I am back at the pier waiting for tender before the ship has left I'm okay, right? If I show up 5 minutes until go time and I have to wait for tender, they aren't going to leave I hope. I'm well aware that I shouldn't cut it that last minute, and I don't intend to, just curious on how it works.

[coiran]

Just some quick clarification for a first time cruiser if possible. As long as I am back at the pier waiting for tender before the ship has left I'm okay, right? If I show up 5 minutes until go time and I have to wait for tender, they aren't going to leave I hope. I'm well aware that I shouldn't cut it that last minute, and I don't intend to, just curious on how it works.

 

NO - be aware of the posted time of the last tender - it is usually about half hour before the ship pullsm out - you may wind up waiting for the tender from the next Princess ship that arrives.

Ron

[mii]

I will also add to Coiran's post that the Princess Patter will have that information for ports that are tendered. They always state the last time the tender will leave.

 

Marilyn

[Pam in CA]

Just some quick clarification for a first time cruiser if possible. As long as I am back at the pier waiting for tender before the ship has left I'm okay, right? If I show up 5 minutes until go time and I have to wait for tender, they aren't going to leave I hope. I'm well aware that I shouldn't cut it that last minute, and I don't intend to, just curious on how it works.

You should always allow at least 30 minutes (preferably an hour) before the last tender is scheduled to leave. So many things can go wrong that you have no control over that could cause you to miss the last tender: traffic jams, flat tires, timing errors, etc. You're in a foreign country and unless you're very familiar with it and know your way around, I wouldn't take a chance because the ship WILL leave without you.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that before the ship sails, they have to take the last people back to the ship, break down the dock embarkation area, breakdown the ship embarkation area, lift the lifeboats onto the ship, raise the anchor, etc. All of that can take 30 - 60 minutes before sailing time. Once that last tender leaves the dock, they are not going back because of all that has to be done to prepare for sailing.