I am Certain Princess would act differently

To this other cruise line that saw a mother pleading at dockside as ship was leaving port with her two children and husband on board.....left her stranded because she was late arriving. Yes I know everyone is told when to be back on board...there could have been an explanation for her late return.

This is where Princess would have picked her up.

We don't know the whole story. Nassau is a small island to begin with and there is plenty of time to get back to the ship on time. I'm not sure why she ventured off on her own without her children. It's a shame, but this does happen. If you aren't back on time- forget it. They say 30 minutes before scheduled departure for a reason. I am sure that they did hold up the ship, once they realized a passenger was not on board. We don't know how much time had elapsed.

If the ship had already pulled away from the pier, there certainly would have been no returning, be it Princess or any other line.

here is some more of the story.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3561131/Dramatic-moment-distraught-mum-dropped-knees-sobbed-cruise-ship-Nassau-sailed-away-children-board-arrived-late-port.html

Princess would of done the same thing. I saw two people miss the ship in Portugal on my last Princess cruise.

A 30 minute delay due to late passengers boarding.

To condemn the woman before an explanation is very wrong.

Things can happen.

both ways.

Sorry to see this however no cruise line will wait if you are late unless you are on a ships tour and that it late returning.

I wonder how this turned out and how old the kids are.

OP the hubby also missed the ship. He got off to look for her and then they both were bumped.

Big question is why was she late??

When I was on the CB in January at Cozumel, they called off the names of 5+ passengers just before we were to leave port - twice as I recall, and we waited until 30 minutes after our designated leave time. Then I saw a group of women running from the port shop area toward the ship and we waited until they were on board. I'm actually surprised they didn't leave.

When I was on the CB in January at Cozumel, they called off the names of 5+ passengers just before we were to leave port - twice as I recall, and we waited until 30 minutes after our designated leave time. Then I saw a group of women running from the port shop area toward the ship and we waited until they were on board. I'm actually surprised they didn't leave.

Cozumel is notorious for late passengers. "Carlos and Charlie's" may have something to do with it...

Disney will not cruise with children left on board and no parent/guardian on board. They will, however, bill the parents for any excess port charges incurred. They will also leave if adults with no children on board are late.

The late passengers can arrange a small boat to take them to the ship and will then be transferred from the small boat.

We've learned that if there is a message made at departure time "Will a member of the Smith family from deck 6 please contact Guest Services immediately" this is the code to watch the dock to see if the late party comes racing up.

Most lines will wait only for a cruise line sponsored excursion that runs late. There is a reason for "All Aboard" time.

Big question is why was she late??

The article linked to in #4 from the Daily Mail (not a newspaper with the highest reputation for accuracy) says that the woman was late back from an excursion and the ship had waited for a while. It also says it's believed that the children had other relatives onboard.

I have seen Princess leave without passengers onboard -- an entire family came running up to the ship as it was pulling away from the dock in St Thomas. The man of the family dropped everything he was carrying and just bolted, leaving his wife and two young children on the dock ... alas, it was too late. Prior to this little show on the pier, there were announcements requesting several passengers to report to the guest services desk. At one point in time, they do have to go as the charges keep racking up the longer they stay in port. I have never ever seen any cruise ship turn around the ramps have been pulled and the ropes have been taken down.

While this is unfortunate, the cruise line did the right thing. I know others that consistently run late for everything, pounding on the doors at a business that has locked their doors, bringing their kids in to school late each day and pleading to get on a plane that has already locked their doors. These people should probably not choose a cruise for their vacations. They have been known to wait a reasonable amount of time but so many things are affected down the line that it is not fair to the company or fellow passengers to not respect the schedule that is provided.

I have seen passengers that have quickly hired a water taxi to the ship that picks them up if still within a protected area....kind of like how the pilot boards while in port. Hopefully, this family had this opportunity as who is obligated to watch the children in the case that they weren't able to make it back onboard? I imagine the children's club could go a great deal of it, but the parents should probably be responsible for payment for their after hours babysitting time.

I still wonder if with all the time changes that occur while onboard a cruise ship, that this was the reason for not getting back on time. Who knows??

I've seen many times people coming back late and they just kind of saunter to the ship. Everyone is yelling for them to run, but they just walk normally. It's so arrogant.

They must have a complex where they think they are so important and the ship would never leave them.

Why is it that everyone else can follow the times and be back on the ship?

Video of this event is over on NCL page. It has been reported that the father came back to the ship and left the children on board thinking the ship wouldn't sail without the parents and got off of the ship. Also the woman was laden down with shopping bags. No idea why she didn't return to the ship at the same time as rest of family. Maybe it was an unfortunate mistake! I almost missed the last tender at port once as my phone changed tme zones when I was in port without realising it.

We were once treated to a very stern announcement from the captain at our second port, along the lines of "If 2500 people can make it back on time, there is no excuse for 2 who can't."

The Princess policy is slightly different. If the family of four had been traveling with other responsible adults, the children could have remained onboard, as appears to have happened here. The children do not have to be related to the adults, but they do need to be traveling together.

If the children would have been left alone onboard, without a responsible adult onboard, Princess would have put them ashore to be with their parents. This policy may seem harsh, but it is the better choice between two evils. It is part of the reason why Princess requires passports of minor children traveling with only one adult; they don't want to leave minor children stranded without an adult.

On Princess, the father could have discussed the options prior to leaving the ship to find his wife; I suspect he could have done the same on Norwegian.

A ship leaves port and cruises at a set speed to get into the next port on time and I once read that if a ship leaves say 30 mins. late it has to increase speed to arrive on time and that can cost a lot of money in extra fuel consumed to make up for lost time.

Ship captains do not always have a choice of whether they can remain at the dock or even return. There are many factors besides schedule including tides, currents, other ships docked, etc. It's not like pulling into a parking space and deciding when to leave.

The onus is totally on the late mother. Why should she be considered more special than the other 2-3k pax who were onboard the ship. As we all know, the customary 30 minute requirement is there for a very good reason, and it's not to inconvenience this one woman, or couple.

Hopefully the info that there were other relatives onboard so the children weren't totally alone was correct.

Many years ago (1955)` WE were going on the Lurline to Hawaii from SF; my dad wanted to save money on parking so he took our car to his school which was a few miles away. Somehow he did not make it back to ship before we sailed (streamers and all that good stuff:)). I watched as he ran down the pier (35 as we have used until recently in SF) and the ship had already pulled away using tugs. Somehow he was able to catch a ride on the pilot boat and they brought him to the ship:confused:. My first cruise and wonderful memories to share some 60+ years later.

Our experience with Princess is that they seem to be very good about waiting for people who are tardy. Obviously they are not go to wait forever but they seem to exhibit some amount of tolerance. However, on our last Celebrity cruise, which I admit was a few years ago, there did not seem to be an tolerance at all, if the ship was scheduled to leave at 1700 it left at 1700 not at 1705.

I found it a heartbreaking video to see The Mother drop to her knees as

the ship pulled away. I DO believe it was HER own fault.

Yes, she was loaded with shopping bags. Whether she lost track of time?

or whatever happened? We don't know yet, and maybe never will.

What I found SAD about the video.....as the Wife on her knees & husband walking up to her....

the ship is starting to sail away as people on their balconies watched...... the CREW from Dock is Leaving!

They are walking away, like their Job is done, and they are going home!?

Why didn't ANY of them stop to console this couple, or Offer to help?

Like take them to a Phone to Call for a Pilot boat? Call the ship?

Anything?

There must be something they could have done, than just IGNORE them & walk away!

THAT really Bothered me.

c

I found it a heartbreaking video to see The Mother drop to her knees as

the ship pulled away. I DO believe it was HER own fault.

Yes, she was loaded with shopping bags. Whether she lost track of time?

or whatever happened? We don't know yet, and maybe never will.

 

What I found SAD about the video.....as the Wife on her knees & husband walking up to her....

the ship is starting to sail away as people on their balconies watched...... the CREW from Dock is Leaving!

They are walking away, like their Job is done, and they are going home!?

 

Why didn't ANY of them stop to console this couple, or Offer to help?

Like take them to a Phone to Call for a Pilot boat? Call the ship?

Anything?

There must be something they could have done, than just IGNORE them & walk away!

THAT really Bothered me.

 

c

They didn't do anything because they knew that the ship's agent would be taking care of them.

On the second half of our recent Royal (April 2) B2B cruise we left 50 passengers and at least some of them saw the ship sail away. We were at the CC sail away at the Outrigger bar having a good time and didn't notice if we waited past 4:00. If we did delay I don't think it was more than 30 minutes.

They boarded in St. Thomas 3 days later. We talked to one of them at Bellini's bar the day they boarded.

When we got back to Port Everglades it came into play. While getting coffee at IC we saw a large group at Vines. I asked a white shirt with a radio and she said that was the group who boarded in St. Thomas and that they needed to clear customs first before anybody else. Thinking some of them had an ax to grind with Princess I thought some would show up late. To their credit they all showed and we were off the ship (walk off A) by 6:35 AM and at the gate at FLL by 7:05 AM.

Several of my cruises with Princess we have waited for late passengers.