getting left behind & costs

[Sauvignon]

Maybe I ought to explain again, I'll keep it simple this time.

 

Marziquita says that by their own error they were late ( leave aside their opinion regarding compensation that is just ridiculous)

 

The ship left without them, good, that is what ought to happen.

 

Marziquita claims they were not given any advice or assistance in making onward travel arrangements.

 

Very simply I think that this failure on the part of the cruise line's port agent reflects badly in the cruise line.

[pg.]

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.

 

What a stupid captain,, why yell at staff for something beyond ANYONES control. Honestly,, who can admire such a man?

[1025cruise]

I thought I read that if the ship is going to leave someone, they have security go through the safe looking for passports and credit cards to leave with the ship's agent on shore.

[Sauvignon]

I thought I read that if the ship is going to leave someone, they have security go through the safe looking for passports and credit cards to leave with the ship's agent on shore.

 

That would indeed make a lot of sense and would be very helpful.

 

It is perhaps more surprising that they don't use the errant passengers' stupidity/misfortune as an opportunity to make some money. The cruise company could make onward travel and accommodation arrangements, charge appropriate booking fees and take a commission on the deal.

[billet]

I thought I read that if the ship is going to leave someone, they have security go through the safe looking for passports and credit cards to leave with the ship's agent on shore.

Yes the passengers credentials (if they can be found) are left with the Ship's Agent. Security did this for us in the Caymans when my mother ended up in hospital. Fortunately they held the ship for 4 hours because the hospital kept forecasting my mother's immediate release (caribbean immediate turned out to be much longer than North American immediate). The Port Agent gave me here passport back before we caught the very late tender with the security people.

[snowman]

Careful here folks.

[paul929207]

I know that if Princess has a passenger's passport and they will miss the sailing, the passprt is left with the port agent.

[RickEk]

Maybe I ought to explain again, I'll keep it simple this time.

 

Marziquita says that by their own error they were late ( leave aside their opinion regarding compensation that is just ridiculous)

 

The ship left without them, good, that is what ought to happen.

 

Marziquita claims they were not given any advice or assistance in making onward travel arrangements.

 

Very simply I think that this failure on the part of the cruise line's port agent reflects badly in the cruise line.

 

This is probably a good reason to carry a Patter with you when going ashore. They always have their port agent listed and, in case you miss the ship, at least you know who to contact. I'm surprised that Carnival's port agent didn't help Marziquita more... or maybe he just didn't know who to talk to...

 

 

That would indeed make a lot of sense and would be very helpful.

 

It is perhaps more surprising that they don't use the errant passengers' stupidity/misfortune as an opportunity to make some money. The cruise company could make onward travel and accommodation arrangements, charge appropriate booking fees and take a commission on the deal.

 

Puhlease... :rolleyes: They already have the passenger's fare and I'm sure the onboard charges are still collected. The cruise lines aren't that evil... :)

[Princess Chatterer]

The ship will always wait for passengers on a delayed ship sponsored tour

 

Not always.

 

A Princess ship left behind a Princess skiing excursion in New Zealand that got stranded in a snow storm. On the other hand the Sun Princess waited an hour and a half to depart from St. Lucia because my excursion boat towed another excursion boat back to the harbor due to a broken down motor. The Captain was not pleased and we missed dinner but not the ship. I saw a taxi come screeching up to our Venice dock once as we sailed away. Too bad.

[rpach10115]

You know, with all the good/bad banter, and sometimes rightfully so, about the higher prices that cruise lines charge for the same tours that can be booked on your own:

 

CONSIDER THE EXTRA COST "Hold the ship" Insurance!!!!!!

[sredheada]

It cost us $4,000 to get the five of us home from Cozumel, and we missed the last half of our trip in what was a desperately needed vacation.

 

We are talking to "Guest Care" but it appears we are getting nowhere. I would be so greatful to get any help.

 

While I am sure this was a horrible experience I doubt you are going to get much sympathy here. I am sorry but it is your responsibility to know the time and the time difference if any. Think of it, the other 2000 people on the ship got back in time and didn't get the time wrong.

 

Which would you have rather paid $4000 to get you home or $5000 in fines because the ship was late leaving while waiting on you?

[donna5]

Me and four other friends were left behind by the Carnival Inspiration last weekend. We knew the time to be back on board was 6:30pm, with a 7pm sailing departure. We did not know, however, was that local time and ship time would be different. We missed the ship by maybe 10 minutes at the most. This information was not disseminated on Carnival's website, on our fun pass materials, etc.

 

Even though this was our first cruise, I actually don't have a sour taste in my mouth about cruising at all. However, I do have a bad taste in my mouth from the way we were treated at the port, and the lack of customer service from there on out. We were left in Mexico, and Carnival did not know if we have the means to get home, or anything. We also asked repeatedly what we could do to get back on the ship, and we were told, nothing...go to the airport and fly home. Obviously this is not the case, judging by the rest of this feed. We asked that our friends be notified on board (we were a group of 11, 5 of us missed the boat, 6 were still on), and this never happened. Our emergency contacts were not notified or anything. Not one helping hand was offered to us, we were pretty much kicked down the pitch black streets of Cozumel with nothing but the bathing suits on our back.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions on what to do from here? We would be pleased to see anything back from Carnival, even if that meant a credit toward a future cruise. It cost us $4,000 to get the five of us home from Cozumel, and we missed the last half of our trip in what was a desperately needed vacation.

 

We are talking to "Guest Care" but it appears we are getting nowhere. I would be so greatful to get any help.

 

Normally in the daily activity paper such as the Princess patter, it will have a note to the time of arrival and departure. The port paper has the address and phone number of the port office that the cruise uses. It would be hard to believe that there was no notice of any kind of the time difference since as someone else posted that everyone else made it to the ship on time. How did they know about the time difference? Maybe your group just didn't pay any attention to the materials you received or any announcements. Carnival does not owe you anything. You have learned an expensive lesson hopefully.

[Roses2]

- Time changes are announced in the Patter and reinforced with a card to the cabin left by the steward.

 

- Time to re-board is listed in the Patter and reinforced by a sign posted at the gangway.

 

To fail to know the time to re-board is totally incomprehensible.

 

Unless there is illness, injury, or accident ashore - no one who pays even the slightest attention has any excuse for missing the time to re-board. The responsibility is theirs and theirs alone.

[paul929207]

OK so we have flogged the punishment aspect to death.

 

But Sh!t happens, so there needs to be a system in place to deal with that... my earlier post refers. If someone is left behind, then they should be assisted. I am just left wondering who is more stupid, those who miss the boat or those who think they would never miss the boat!

There is a system in place to help passengers who miss the ship. It is the cruise lines Port Agent. On Princess, the agent's name, address and phone number are in the Princess Patter on the day(s) the ship is in port.

[Sauvignon]

- Time changes are announced in the Patter and reinforced with a card to the cabin left by the steward.

 

- Time to re-board is listed in the Patter and reinforced by a sign posted at the gangway.

 

To fail to know the time to re-board is totally incomprehensible.

 

Unless there is illness, injury, or accident ashore - no one who pays even the slightest attention has any excuse for missing the time to re-board. The responsibility is theirs and theirs alone.

 

Yes you are absolutely right, the responsibility is theirs'

 

However it is only human to offer assistance in time of need isn't it??

[bhopal21]

Princess does offer assistance. The missing passengers' passports are left with the port agent so that they are able to travel/get home.

 

What else would you expect a cruiseline to do?

 

Mike:)

[Sauvignon]

Princess does offer assistance. The missing passengers' passports are left with the port agent so that they are able to travel/get home.

 

What else would you expect a cruiseline to do?

 

Mike:)

 

Thank you for asking.

 

If I were responsible for a cruise line I would ensure that the ship left port at the allotted time, so as not to inconvenience those onboard.

 

I would ensure that any passengers left behind were accommodated and had assistance with onward travel - at their own expense - and preferably able to re join the ship.

 

I would ensure the company made onward travel arrangements at the expense of the passenger but would take booking fees and commission.

 

I really don't understand why people are getting so upset by this thread. if the ship leaves on time what is YOUR problem.

 

As I said I am not sure who are more stupid, those who are late, or those who think they would never be late.

[RickEk]

Thank you for asking.

 

If I were responsible for a cruise line I would ensure that the ship left port at the allotted time, so as not to inconvenience those onboard.

 

I would ensure that any passengers left behind were accommodated and had assistance with onward travel - at their own expense - and preferably able to re join the ship.

 

I would ensure the company made onward travel arrangements at the expense of the passenger but would take booking fees and commission.

 

I really don't understand why people are getting so upset by this thread. if the ship leaves on time what is YOUR problem.

 

As I said I am not sure who are more stupid, those who are late, or those who think they would never be late.

 

Well, I think the point is moot on this board. The person who got everyone's panties in a bunch was Marziquita and they were traveling with Carnival. So the poor service that was experienced by them once they were stranded was Carnival's or Carnival's agent's fault....

 

Yes, the ship, more often than not, sails on time. Yes, the passengers are well informed as to when the ship leaves. Yes, it's the passengers responsibility to be back on time. Yes, they should accept the consequences if they do miss the ship and they should be able to get adequate help from the cruise line's agent at the port... what else can be said? :)

[Roses2]

Certainly each of us has opinions and these boards offer a great opportunity to express those opinions.

 

In the main folks choose their words so as not to offend anyone. Some times some folks go beyond good taste in their choice of words.

 

This thread appears to have engendered wide divergence of opinion and overly heated choices of words to express individual feelings.

 

Of course, that is just my opinion.

[Sauvignon]

Well, I think the point is moot on this board. The person who got everyone's panties in a bunch was Marziquita and they were traveling with Carnival. So the poor service that was experienced by them once they were stranded was Carnival's or Carnival's agent's fault....

 

Yes, the ship, more often than not, sails on time. Yes, the passengers are well informed as to when the ship leaves. Yes, it's the passengers responsibility to be back on time. Yes, they should accept the consequences if they do miss the ship and they should be able to get adequate help from the cruise line's agent at the port... what else can be said? :)

 

 

A shame, it says a lot.

 

Thanks

[Sauvignon]

Certainly each of us has opinions and these boards offer a great opportunity to express those opinions.

 

In the main folks choose their words so as not to offend anyone. Some times some folks go beyond good taste in their choice of words.

 

This thread appears to have engendered wide divergence of opinion and overly heated choices of words to express individual feelings.

 

Of course, that is just my opinion.

 

 

nice :)

[bhopal21]

A shame, it says a lot.

 

Thanks

 

Yes it says that we are all adults and should be responsible for our own actions and not expect others to compensate for our errors or shortcomings.

 

If I were to miss the ship it would be time to suck it up and either catch up with the cruise or head home.

 

It really is that simple, no need to imply otherwise.

 

Mike:)

[cruisemom42]

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.

 

.

 

As one who has taken a LOT of private tours or DIY in ports, I have to wonder if sometimes the tour guides/operators on ship-sponsored tours just worry less about being back on time because they know the ship will wait for them. In Egypt, for example, our guide dawdled in several places (including the sponsored shopping stop) where we lost time, causing us to be late back to the ship.

 

Also, if there is a traffic accident that significantly backs up traffic, anyone on a private tour is likely to arrive back at the port at the same time as a ship-sponsored tour. In fact, they may arrive faster as most private tours I've taken or heard about actually plan to have you back to the ship sooner than the ship-sponsored tours, to be on the safe side.

[awhcruiser]

You will get no compensation as it was your responsibility to be back on the ship on time..I believe the time to be back on board is posted in the Patter as well as whether or not you need to follow ships time or local time.

 

Me and four other friends were left behind by the Carnival Inspiration last weekend. We knew the time to be back on board was 6:30pm, with a 7pm sailing departure. We did not know, however, was that local time and ship time would be different. We missed the ship by maybe 10 minutes at the most. This information was not disseminated on Carnival's website, on our fun pass materials, etc.

 

Even though this was our first cruise, I actually don't have a sour taste in my mouth about cruising at all. However, I do have a bad taste in my mouth from the way we were treated at the port, and the lack of customer service from there on out. We were left in Mexico, and Carnival did not know if we have the means to get home, or anything. We also asked repeatedly what we could do to get back on the ship, and we were told, nothing...go to the airport and fly home. Obviously this is not the case, judging by the rest of this feed. We asked that our friends be notified on board (we were a group of 11, 5 of us missed the boat, 6 were still on), and this never happened. Our emergency contacts were not notified or anything. Not one helping hand was offered to us, we were pretty much kicked down the pitch black streets of Cozumel with nothing but the bathing suits on our back.

 

Can anyone offer any suggestions on what to do from here? We would be pleased to see anything back from Carnival, even if that meant a credit toward a future cruise. It cost us $4,000 to get the five of us home from Cozumel, and we missed the last half of our trip in what was a desperately needed vacation.

 

We are talking to "Guest Care" but it appears we are getting nowhere. I would be so greatful to get any help.