Ever missed the ship?

[wife2b]

TGIF!!! Passing time at work :D

 

Has anyone (or anyone you know) ever missed the ship due to traffic/flight delays, missing documentation, etc.? I'm sure some of you have interesting stories...

[ibcnusoon]

TGIF!!! Passing time at work :D

 

Has anyone (or anyone you know) ever missed the ship due to traffic/flight delays, missing documentation, etc.? I'm sure some of you have interesting stories...

 

 

Does the Cruise Ship Wait for You? I think NOT!

[wife2b]

:eek: Those poor people.

[RumpunchGirl]

Well, we didn't miss the ship but came very close! In Grand Cayman, where we were in port from 8 am thru 3 pm, we booked a tour that went to Stingray City and then snorkeling at a reef. This was on our own, not through the ship (for the life of me I can't remember the name of the company). The tour was 3 hrs. Transportation to the Marina was included and pickup at the pier was 8:30 - 8:45, a 15 min ride to marina. It was supposed to start at 9 am.. We hurried off the ship on the first tenders and got on shore by 8:30 and found our tour's van. But there were other passengers they were waiting for from other ships and we left late. So right away we were watching the time. When you here the term 'Island Time' they aren't kidding! We left late, we stayed at Stingray City longer than they originally said. We were snorkeling when my DH look at his watch and noticed the time. If we would have left right then we would have been fine but the captain and crew were in not hurry. There were several other people from our ship on the tour. We were all begging them to take us back. We needed to be on board by 2 pm and it was now 1 pm. We know it was a 40 min. ride on the boat back to the marina, then another 15 min. minimum to port. We finally got back to the marina and the van to take us wouldn't leave until it was full. On the drive back to the port, there was a traffic accident on the 2 lane road (one lane each way). Traffic came to a stand still and we finally had to get out of the van 1 mile away. We ran barefoot (it's hard to run in flipflops) to the port. We got there at 2:30. But, lucky for us there were 7 ships in port and all needed tendering and every thing was behind schedule so departure was pushed back an hour. It was very stressful and now I'm very careful about which tours I book on my own. You just can't predicted the unknown. It was a lesson learned!

[Cruzin2paradise09]

WOW - that video was impressive and there were definitely two very ticked off people. HOWEVER, since it was just two of them, I think it's safe to assume that they were off on their own .... therefore, there would have only themselves to blame for not watching the time.

 

I'm not better than anyone - just incredibly paranoid! We have done things on our own off the ship and our rule of thumb is: if the cruiseline says to be back on board no later than 3 pm .... we give ourselves a 'curfew' of 2 pm. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Now, that being said, on our last cruise, Crown Princess 2007, DH and I were on a ship-sponsored excursion in St. Thomas, the full day Champagne Catamaran Sail. There were 49 of us and all were on the Crown Princess. The captain of the catamaran was a 'substitute' and we should have known from the start this would become a challenge.

 

Had a great day snorkling and partying in St. John but we had to be back by 3 (I think). In a nutshell the captain started heading back later than he should have and wouldn't use the motor, just the sails ... All 49 of us at one time or another, said he needed to pick up the pace as we would be late .... oh and were we late .... the ship was 'in the starting block' and ready to move as soon as we got back .... We got to the marina where the ship docked as well thank goodness.

 

I told DH that we needed to MOVE IT when we got back - there was NO WAY I would personally be the last person back on board. While running down the dock, I hear my name .... I look up and some of the fine people from our CC group were on the top deck yelling to us - holy moly - I was mortified - but I laughed anyway. ;)

 

Thank goodness this was a ship sponsored excursion - we were about 20 minutes past when the ship was to set sail. From what we were told, if a ship does not depart when they are scheduled to, the port can and will fine the cruiseline. In our case, we were told that those fines would more than likely be passed on to the tour operator - I would imagine that somebody lost their job over this.

 

Be careful when booking your excursions outside of the cruiseline ... they won't wait if you are late ...

[wife2b]

Well, we didn't miss the ship but came very close! In Grand Cayman, where we were in port from 8 am thru 3 pm, we booked a tour that went to Stingray City and then snorkeling at a reef. This was on our own, not through the ship (for the life of me I can't remember the name of the company). The tour was 3 hrs. Transportation to the Marina was included and pickup at the pier was 8:30 - 8:45, a 15 min ride to marina. It was supposed to start at 9 am.. We hurried off the ship on the first tenders and got on shore by 8:30 and found our tour's van. But there were other passengers they were waiting for from other ships and we left late. So right away we were watching the time. When you here the term 'Island Time' they aren't kidding! We left late, we stayed at Stingray City longer than they originally said. We were snorkeling when my DH look at his watch and noticed the time. If we would have left right then we would have been fine but the captain and crew were in not hurry. There were several other people from our ship on the tour. We were all begging them to take us back. We needed to be on board by 2 pm and it was now 1 pm. We know it was a 40 min. ride on the boat back to the marina, then another 15 min. minimum to port. We finally got back to the marina and the van to take us wouldn't leave until it was full. On the drive back to the port, there was a traffic accident on the 2 lane road (one lane each way). Traffic came to a stand still and we finally had to get out of the van 1 mile away. We ran barefoot (it's hard to run in flipflops) to the port. We got there at 2:30. But, lucky for us there were 7 ships in port and all needed tendering and every thing was behind schedule so departure was pushed back an hour. It was very stressful and now I'm very careful about which tours I book on my own. You just can't predicted the unknown. It was a lesson learned!

 

OH MY :eek: I'm glad things happened to be delayed!

 

Completly agree with carefully picking independent excursions. We went cavetubing through an independant company in Belize after hearing rave reviews of these guys. They cut it SO close with time but kept reassuring us we would make it back to the ship on time because they do this all the time and had never been late dropping of cruise passengers. They were right, we made it on time- granted, we were the last group to get back on the ship with only about 11 minutes to spare :eek: It was a fun tour, however, a very stressful ride back!

[crusinpsychRN]

Only in the bad dreams before the cruise.

[ctkathchick]

My sister missed the Miracle this past June.She had checked before she left to be sure that she had her passport which she did but she then placed the passport in her Kindle and proceeded to leave home with us in the Limo.When we arrived at the terminal at around 11:30 am she realized she had forgotten her passport with the Kindle at home.she had her Drivers licence with her but not her birth certificate.To make things even more fun my Aunt could not find her luggage.Fortunately the limo driver was still with us so he drove my sister back to Ct.to get passport and luggage.When she got back home the luggage was not there so she had to drive to another town to find our Aunts luggage.So now she finds the luggage gets her passport and starts driving back down to the peir which she still should make it to the ship with about an hour to spare.She is driving on the highway with monsoon rain and gets stuck in traffic for aq car accident.She makes it past that problem and is getting closer and then there is another accident in which they shut the highway for about 2 hours.A tree had fallen onto a car.What made things even worse was that our ship was about an hour or so delayed that day because some passengers mistakenly sent ther luggage onto the glory which was leaving the same day.Needless to say she was unable to make the ship and had to catch up 3 days later in Puerto Rico which did not go so well either.Carnival said that when we docked in P.R. they would send the list down immediately to Pirt Authorities and the people who were boarding would be brought on to the ship.Well surprise,surprise my sister and the others were not allowed to board untill well after all the passengers had debarked to shore amd even then noone from the ship went to getthem I ended up doing it.I brought my sister and the others back to the ship and got them on.All in all it was not fun.It really in the end was my sisters fault although if my Aunt had not forgotten her luggage my sister may have been able to board initially.But here is something not quite right Carnival rightly did not refund money to my sister for missing 3 days but they did dock her the 3 days on her cruise history HMMM.don't quite think thats right.On another note the other people who were late they missed the ship because the flight which was booked by Carnival was late.They were offered to take another cruise at a different time or be refunded for the missed days and flights to P.R. and Hotel were paid. They had made arrangements for family to watch the kids so they just went late rather than inconvience family again.Oh well thats our story.We did have a welcome aboard party for my sister when she got on.

[yogimax]

Had a direct flight LGA to FLL, with the cruise leaving Miami.

 

Plane landed at LGA and blew a tire. Delay... Then discovered second tire was flat... more delay.

 

We boarded with 5 minutes to go before sailing. This was before tighter security regulations.

[gelo7]

WOW - that video was impressive and there were definitely two very ticked off people. HOWEVER, since it was just two of them, I think it's safe to assume that they were off on their own .... therefore, there would have only themselves to blame for not watching the time.

 

I'm not better than anyone - just incredibly paranoid! We have done things on our own off the ship and our rule of thumb is: if the cruiseline says to be back on board no later than 3 pm .... we give ourselves a 'curfew' of 2 pm. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

Now, that being said, on our last cruise, Crown Princess 2007, DH and I were on a ship-sponsored excursion in St. Thomas, the full day Champagne Catamaran Sail. There were 49 of us and all were on the Crown Princess. The captain of the catamaran was a 'substitute' and we should have known from the start this would become a challenge.

 

Had a great day snorkling and partying in St. John but we had to be back by 3 (I think). In a nutshell the captain started heading back later than he should have and wouldn't use the motor, just the sails ... All 49 of us at one time or another, said he needed to pick up the pace as we would be late .... oh and were we late .... the ship was 'in the starting block' and ready to move as soon as we got back .... We got to the marina where the ship docked as well thank goodness.

 

I told DH that we needed to MOVE IT when we got back - there was NO WAY I would personally be the last person back on board. While running down the dock, I hear my name .... I look up and some of the fine people from our CC group were on the top deck yelling to us - holy moly - I was mortified - but I laughed anyway. ;)

 

Thank goodness this was a ship sponsored excursion - we were about 20 minutes past when the ship was to set sail. From what we were told, if a ship does not depart when they are scheduled to, the port can and will fine the cruiseline. In our case, we were told that those fines would more than likely be passed on to the tour operator - I would imagine that somebody lost their job over this.

 

Be careful when booking your excursions outside of the cruiseline ... they won't wait if you are late ...

Wow...

[yst347]

Ever miss the ship?..........Almost every weekend when I turn on the Galveston.com cruisecam. :(

[rtfnl]

Ctkathchick, that's sad that Carnival docked your sister for three days. My dad and I had to get off the of the Legend in 06 and missed three days which we were credited and refunded cruise fares plus my mom's who stayed on the ship. "Lost" medical solutions that were delivered to the ship.

I almost forgot, orignially we were told that dad and I would be reimbursed for days missed on the ship which I told them that was fine. We guess that Carnival found about 9 boxes with yellow, green, or red tape that read Baxters as to why we were given refunds.