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JUST Home from Crown ! They DO leave passengers behind !


DENNAS

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Had a great cruise. LOTS of FUN. Loved the food and pretty much loved the whole trip. No complaints at all. Crew great, very attentive.

Princess Cays, Curacao and Aruba. I LOVED Aruba. Enjoyed a lovely day at Palm Beach, near the RIU Palace, where we rented chairs and an umbrella.

 

OKAY, so after a nice day in Curacao, everyone is due back to ship at 9:30. Ship to depart at 10:00. Right around this time, we hear "the call" of 4 girls names from two cabins, one on Aloha deck and one on Emerald Deck. About 10 min later, we hear the same 4 names and then again around 10:00. Lots of folks are talking amongst themselves and others, wondering if these 4 girls have made it back on board. We happened to be out on the Promenade during this time, admiring Curacao at night and wanting to see a night-time sailaway. People are now gathering out on the different decks to see if they are coming back. NOTHING. Now of course, the talk is really ramping up. Around 10:10 or 10:15 I will say, the pilot boat unties the heavy cords and the ship starts to back away from the dock. A friend in out group starts YELLING, "I see them, I see them, they are running to the ship !" At that point you can really hear people from the ship all starting to see them too and yelling different things. We see three of the 4 running up the concrete docks, the 4th held back a bit... whether she just couldn't keep up or felt "it was too late" she missed the boat, or, perhaps got very upset and just stopped? We don't know. Needless to say, it was heart-wrenching seeing these girls standing there watching the boat pull away. NO, the ship did NOT go back.

 

I did ask two mornings later, at the shore excursions desk where two women were working and not waiting on anyone, (Pursers desk was crowded and I didn't want to bother the folks hard at work....) if they made it to the ship. YES they did, they flew from Curacao to Aruba the next day and got on the ship. It's a short flight.

 

I have NEVER seen this happen before and hope I never see it again. I'm sure it was an awful feeling for the girls, thank God there is a hotel right there and perhaps they stayed there. I also heard from another employee that two passports were found IN THE CABIN so I am wondering how this factored into them getting back on board. I mean, they all did come back... pretty quickly, without two having passports with them.

 

Anyway, just wanted to share this with you all....... and thank Goodness for them, they were all safe. I hope they can laugh about it some-day....

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I have NEVER seen this happen before and hope I never see it again. I'm sure it was an awful feeling for the girls, thank God there is a hotel right there and perhaps they stayed there. I also heard from another employee that two passports were found IN THE CABIN so I am wondering how this factored into them getting back on board. I mean, they all did come back... pretty quickly, without two having passports with them.

 

Anyway, just wanted to share this with you all....... and thank Goodness for them, they were all safe. I hope they can laugh about it some-day....

 

I've seen it a number of times.

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Yes it happens. Two years ago on the Ruby TA the captain left 2 people in Venice, 2 at another port and our last stop but crossing the Atlantic the Arozes he left 4 people. We stay aboard and did the Caribbean on the Ruby and he left someone at every port. The Captain left right on time at every port.

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I really have no sympathy whatsoever for people who miss the ship. They know exactly what time they have to be back on, and it really isn't that hard to keep to that time.

It is simple:

 

  • Know what time the ship is supposed to leave, and get back half an hour before that time at the very least.
  • Make sure all your watches/phones are set to ship time. I know one guy who very nearly missed the ship because he decide to use his phone, which he had forgotten to change.
  • Don't get drunk! You will end up being part of the infamous 'running of the drunks' in Cozumel :D
  • If you take a tour not organized with the ship, make sure it isn't scheduled to get back 15 minutes before the ship leaves, because it's sod's law that you will get stuck in traffic on the way back.

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I have to say - this does happen & ops need to pay attention.... However, once in St. Thomas the ship was waiting for a couple, announced their names.... waited, waited. Finally we left port but we could see them running down the pier... The Captain (now Commodore) said we would be delayed a few minutes and sent one of the tenders back to pick them up!!! We all gave them a real hoot & hollar when they got back to the ship... they were so lucky!!!:)

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LOL Littlesteelo!!! I love that, the "Running of the Drunks" in Cozumel!! That is one of our favorite ports for just that reason, and we have seen some crazy people running and swaying their way back to the ship at that port. We also have seen very drunk folks being wheeled back in wheelchairs with their ambulatory friends not much better off.

 

We have seen people left at the dock as we pull away, in a few different ports of our travel. It is always safe to get back at least 1/2 hour before they tell you because that must be the worst feeling to see the ship sailing away without you.

 

One time, we were on the Star from Sydney to Los Angeles. In Fiji, we were on a bus with about 60 very fun and crazy cruise critic roll call friends on a tour NOT purchased through the ship. We were about 10-15 minutes late when we finally arrived back and had to dodge our way through the military marching band to board. It seemed as if the whole ship was on that side watching the band and we had many shouts, laughing and clapping from the other passengers. We just kept telling ourselves that certainly the ship would not sail off without that many passengers...... but we will never want to cut it that close again!!!

 

Peggy

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After 23 cruises with Princess this does not surprise me, when ever we have a balcony overlooking the port side of the ship we spend the 15 minutes before the ship is due to leave until we actually leave watching the people running to get to the ship before it leaves. It never ceases to amaze me how many people leave it until the last second to get back. We always know when someone has been left behind because we hear the name being called out right up until the ship finally leaves. In St Thomas we actually watched a missing passenger strolling down to the dock waving to the departing ship. on our first cruise at Cozumel the ship left 2 hours late without 2 passengers, their family were on the ship and protesting loudly about how unreasonable the captain was to leave without passengers.

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Know what time the ship is supposed to leave, and get back half an hour before that time at the very least.

 

If you take a tour not organized with the ship, make sure it isn't scheduled to get back 15 minutes before the ship leaves, because it's sod's law that you will get stuck in traffic on the way back.

 

Not quite.

 

Passengers are asked to be on board 30 minutes before the ship is supposed to leave.

 

Always aim to be back on board 30 minutes before that if you are not on a Princess tour.

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We were in Kauai, Hawaii and it was a tender port. The ship left two folks behind. As the ship made way through the narrow port entrance, we saw the couple waving from the dock. Soon, they were aboard a private boat and racing to the ship where they did board out in the open sea. When it's time to go, it's time to go!

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Yes it happens. Two years ago on the Ruby TA the captain left 2 people in Venice' date=' 2 at another port and our last stop but crossing the Atlantic the Arozes he left 4 people. We stay aboard and did the Caribbean on the Ruby and he left someone at every port. The Captain left right on time at every port.[/quote']

 

 

that's right! I remember that. The couple left behind in Rome missed the train back to the port.

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On the Emerald Princess in June 2009 we had cast off all lines at the dock in Tallinn about 20 minutes late with 4 passengers not on board. I watched from my balcony as a man ran down the pier, spoke to port security, got into a car that careened back down the pier and loaded 3 more passengers - including one in the hatchback - and then careened back to the ship. In the meantime a gangplank had been placed but there were still no lines securing the ship. It was quite a maneuvering feat - and there was no doubt that we were going to leave without them.

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I've seen it a number of times. As Bill says, plan on being back on the ship a minimum of 30 minutes before the time passengers are asked to be onboard. That way, you have at least a little wiggle room if you are delayed.

 

I've seen people running to the ship, getting to the ship via pilot boat and having to jump across into the ship, you name it. The worst situation I've seen people put themselves in was years ago on a Sun Princess cruise from San Juan to Acapulco. Back then, there was no stopping in or near the Canal so if you missed the ship, you'd missed the rest of the cruise. Two couples went to the beach in Isla Margarita, a Venezuelan island with very, very few flights to Caracas and no where else. It was our last port before the Canal. They missed the ship and I have no idea what happened to them but it must have been an extremely expensive beach break.

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Seeing people running up the dock, hitching rides in trucks, golf carts, whatever is not unusual. We saw a fellow actually jump aboard as the ship started pulling away from the dock. It looked pretty dangerous, but he made it.

 

We were late getting back from a ship excursion in St Kitts. Our driver set land speed records trying to get us back to the ship on-time, only stopping for a dog and an older lady that was taking her time getting across the road.

 

We were late, but the ship waited. They began casting off the lines as soon as we pulled up to the ship.

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If they were on the dock and the captain could see them he should have waited or at the least launched one of the rescue craft. If not on the dock then go ahead and go, but to leave them is just plain wrong and the captain should be ashamed of himself, and if I saw him anyother time on the crusie I would make sure he knew what I felt about the poor job he did and how little he felt about the saftey of his customers on the dock. He would have a rather worn out ear to be sure........:eek:

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I really have no sympathy whatsoever for people who miss the ship. They know exactly what time they have to be back on, and it really isn't that hard to keep to that time.

It is simple:

 

  • Know what time the ship is supposed to leave, and get back half an hour before that time at the very least.
  • Make sure all your watches/phones are set to ship time. I know one guy who very nearly missed the ship because he decide to use his phone, which he had forgotten to change.
  • Don't get drunk! You will end up being part of the infamous 'running of the drunks' in Cozumel :D
  • If you take a tour not organized with the ship, make sure it isn't scheduled to get back 15 minutes before the ship leaves, because it's sod's law that you will get stuck in traffic on the way back.

 

 

Of course, I do not know this, but our group "thought" that perhaps there was drinking involved...... but THAT was our opinion only. Also, there is a casino attached to that hotel, right off the dock, so maybe they got caught up gambling?

 

I got into a discussion at the International Cafe, (which is PHENOMENAL by the way... but I digress...) with an older gentleman, who COMPLETELY felt it was PRINCESS' FAULT for having itineraries that leave ports THAT late in the evening.

I said, very politely, "Sir, I beg to differ, they were all ADULTS who KNOW what time to be back on board." I was not going to argue, everyone has their own opinions... and I had the feeling he had the strong opinion that Princess should leave any port at 5:00 each day...lol.

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I have to say - this does happen & ops need to pay attention.... However, once in St. Thomas the ship was waiting for a couple, announced their names.... waited, waited. Finally we left port but we could see them running down the pier... The Captain (now Commodore) said we would be delayed a few minutes and sent one of the tenders back to pick them up!!! We all gave them a real hoot & hollar when they got back to the ship... they were so lucky!!!:)

 

 

Is it the Captain's decision then to GO or NOT GO back? Crown didn't. We thought perhaps penalties to go back to the pier... since they have to leave at a certain time. OR perhaps liability if they sent a tender/pilot boat to get them and then one of the girls "got hurt" passing from the tender back onto the ship and wanted to sue? We talked about this quite a bit that evening and the next day. Lots of questions, but no real answers.

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I really have no sympathy whatsoever for people who miss the ship. They know exactly what time they have to be back on, and it really isn't that hard to keep to that time.

It is simple:

 

  • Know what time the ship is supposed to leave, and get back half an hour before that time at the very least.
  • Make sure all your watches/phones are set to ship time. I know one guy who very nearly missed the ship because he decide to use his phone, which he had forgotten to change.
  • Don't get drunk! You will end up being part of the infamous 'running of the drunks' in Cozumel :D
  • If you take a tour not organized with the ship, make sure it isn't scheduled to get back 15 minutes before the ship leaves, because it's sod's law that you will get stuck in traffic on the way back.

You've provided our belly laugh of the day! "Running with the drunks ... " Spring Break is the best time to see it :-)
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It sounds like the Captain allowed a bit of extra time before leaving port. Unfortunate for the girls involved but they probably won't do that again.

 

If I'm not on a ship's sponsored tour I typically like to get back to the ship about an hour before departure. Gives me a chance to go to my cabin, drop off anything I might have purchased, have a snack,and go up on deck and get a foo foo drink for sailaway.

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