Getting back to your ship late!

Hello fellow cruisers,

Ok, I wan't to hear your stories about scrambling to get back to the ship on time after your day out at port. Who out there has been left behind? I am scared to book an excursion on my own (not through the cruiseline) for fear of missing the departure time. I know that if your excursion is late on one booked from the ship, they will wait for you. I also just want to hear your horror stories. Thanks, Seashore

There was a couple on our cruise aboard the old Star Princess who didn't get back in time in Martinique. I cannot think of a worse place to be stuck.

The money they supposedly saved by booking an excursion on their own was more than offset by what they had to pay to hitch a ride on the pilot boat to get back on the ship.

Tom <--- Curmudgeon of the Seas

Eleven cruises so far. Up next:

Shhhh, it's a surprise!

And then:

Carnival Spirit 12/10/05 Mexican Riviera

Perhaps something else in the works as well. Watch this space.

Dance like it hurts, love like you need money, and work when somebody's watching.

Don't be afraid, just be smart.

If you are in port for 8 hours & want to go on a tour that's 7.5 hours long, book through the cruise.

If the tour is 1-4 hours, go in the morning & you'll have a 4 hour window to mkae it back. That should be do-able.

Most taxi drivers & tour companies are very aware of the times. At 3:30 in St. Thomas I started to worry. The driver chuckled & promised to take a route so I could always see the ship. He kept telling me to look at the moorings b/c no one was taking them off yet.

Trish

I have done 10 cruises. Three were over 7 days and 1 was a 4 dayer. Thus I have over 30 port stops and can count on the fingers of 1 hand the number of cruise line excursions I have purchased (not 1 good experience). Never had a problem even after a car crash in St. Kitts on a holiday. I just allow plenty of time. Generally plan on being back aboard 1-2 hours before sailing. Just like getting to the airport these days.

Holly

M/S Boheme 11/69

Rhapsody 2/77?

Azure Sea 3/89

Panama Canal 11/90

Mexican Riviera 3/98

Carnival Triumph 12/99

Carnival Spirit 12/01

NCL Dream 11/17/02

Celebrity Mercury 6/1/03

carnival Victory 3/28/04

I've seen more people be late to catch the bus on tour and forces the rest of us to wait for them then people missing the ship. All the locals know you have to catch the ship and if they miss it is a bad report forthem. They know we talk about them so is to many have problems they are out of business. Most tour operators will get you to the ship on time. Most of the people I know who missed the ship went to a shopping mall or Carlos and Charlies establishment and did not watch time/got drunk.

As the above poster stated, pertend its the airport and be back an hour before you need to and youwont be late. Make sure you know ship time not shore time (sometimes an hours difference).

Hopfully a Hawiian Cruise

 Until we sail away on the ocean blue

Navigator of the Seas Western Crib 08/03

Dawn Princess - Eastern Carb 01/03

Dawn Princess Panamal Canal 11/02

Plan according to the numbers of hours you have in port.

Allow yourself a couple of hours to be back at the ship before it sails. It also gives you a chance to visit the vendors by the pier if you happen to be in a port where there are pier vendors.

We have been on many, many cruises and have seen people brought out to the ship as it was leaving via various means and quite costly.

Also we have seen quite a number of people left at the pier and didn't catch the ship till the next port - very costly.

Just this past November a bunch of we CC's were having a cocktail in the Ocean Bar on the Maasdam as the ship was leaving St Thomas. A girl who worked in the spa missed the ship. One our CC's took a picture of her standing on the pier and crying. Our next port of call was Nassau before we pulled into Ft Lauderdale. She caught up with the ship at that time. It is up to the captain to decide whether a crew person keeps her job. We were standing out on our verandah when her father arrived to take her home. Needless to say she fired. And her father was reading her the riot act. He picked up a pretty expensive bill for his daughter - food - clothes - hotels - and one air from St Thomas to Ft Lauderdale.

We seemed to hear a list of passenger names at each port just before departure asking for them to call the reception desk. Are these people that did not make it back to the ship on time?

Either that or their key card didn't scan properly and the computer still has them as being off the ship. More likely than not, it's a computer glitch and not all those people still being off the ship.

Darcie

Its serious business to be late for the ship. On my med cruise last year we left out of venice. There was a woman who did not plan well and got to the venice peer too late! She hired a water taxi to chase the boat but no luck. They would not stop to let her on for security reasons. She had to spend an extra 2 grand to take a plane and a ferry to one of the greek isles plus hotel costs to meet up with the boat 2 days later!

as others have already said, just takes some common sense and a little planning. We find it much more enjoyable to book tours on our own along with the couple we travel with. No unhappy kids, squabbling spouses or waiting on the bus for latecomers. Just allow adequate time for problems and if you are going quite a distance from the port or on a tour that will take up most of the day, then perhaps consider the ship tours.

And if you or your spouse are a chronic worrier then simply take the ship tours and be safe and reassured. As for us, if we only had ship's tours as an option we either wouldn't go out on as many islands or would cruise less

Different strokes for different folks.. *S*

We were on a ship that left 2 ladies running to catch the ship. Sorry, the ship left port and stopped about 1/2 mile from shore. The pilot boat was sent back for them at a cost of $1,200 for each of them. Stopping the ship and waiting cost money.

They were just lucky they send the pilot boat back for them.

Besure you have at least 1 hours before ship sails.

I took an independent tour on one of the islands and I too was one of many passengers running to get up the gangway before they pulled it up. Never again!

On the RCI Grandeur this summer, it seemed as though the ship had to wait in each and every port for passengers who were late getting back. In Key West, especially, quite a few late passengers casually strolled (and I mean "strolled"...no one was doing any running) to the pier as long as 45 minutes after the time we were told to return. But, the ship never left anyone. A group of us stood on the top deck "steaming" about the fact that we had made sure to get back on time when it appeared not to have been necessary. We all would have loved to have stayed in Key West longer.

In Cozumel, I heard that one passenger who got arrested was left but I don't know if that was true.

I asked a crew member about whether they ever left late passengers and was told that they frequently had to wait in ports because the company "practice" was to wait as long as possible. But, he also said that the times passengers are told to return to the ship really are set earlier than necessary so even if they have to wait, the ship won't be late getting to the next port.

We usually do some ship excursions and some on our own: but always research the islands we are going to and see if getting around is hard or easy. We like to do our own thing when possible. We do use some care in planning however such as:

We always try to plan our route so that we head to the furthest point first and work out way back as the day progesses - that way if something arises (problem) we are closer to the ship and in a better situation to get back.

We always plan our itinerary with the ships suggested time for being back on the ship even tho we know it is somewhat flexible as posted in the previous post.

If you just use good judgement and PLAN PLAN PLAN you should have no problem heading out on your own.

I'll never forget the two passengers we left behind in Cozumel screaming for the ship to wait as we sailed away. Carlos and Charlies strikes again. ;)

I feel comfortable making our own plans for port activities as long as we have time to be back a couple hours early. This give us time to either check out the area around the ship and shop or to return to the ship early and chill by the pool before everyone gets back onboard. If there is something we want to do that might make it a close call or involves long distance transportation to the activity we choose a ships tour just for the security of knowing the ship will wait if we are late. If you read carefully the ships tour descriptions before sailing and research things you are interested in on the ports of call board, it helps in making a wise decision if it would be good to book that ships tour or to do something on your own.