All aboard! How close have you cut it?

[DMH15]

Too old! Too cheap! Too neurotic! Too out of shape to be a runner!

 

 

Post of the day! Maybe because I resemble that remark. :)

[abe3]

I always check the schedule online before I leave, check the dailies before I get off the boat, and lastly look at the sign leaving the boat telling you what time to get back and make sure my watch is correct with port time.

 

I have never been a runner to the ship and always make it back at least an hour before sailing.

[jaja]

Too old! Too cheap! Too neurotic! Too out of shape to be a runner!

 

:D:D:D

 

Me too!

[skyfire53]

The only time we were close was when we got iced in in Dallas going to Miami...had to drive to Austin and fly in day of the cruise with plane change in Atlanta and had checked luggage...landed in ft Lauderdale instead of Miami....we got on the ship just in time for muster...never want to do that again!!!!

[dijid]

I'm a very conservative person, but I have to admit I almost missed embarkation once. We were sailing the med out of Barcelona and had driven to the port (lived in Europe at the time). Spent the day enjoying Barcelona and looked at my watch and realized we were past the time we'd set aside for sightseeing. So we hiked it back to the car that was parked at the pier and grabbed our luggage.

 

I'd researched ahead of time and knew that there was a bus that would take us to the ship. So we waited by the sign. And waited. And panic set in as it never came by. Then we asked around and were told the ship was just "over there" and that we could walk it. So we started walking. It wasn't too long before we saw the ship. And that it was going to take a long walk - with a very steep uphill ascent over a bridge - to get there.

 

Taxis were going by, but none of them would stop as they had passengers. Did I mention we had three kids with us ages 6, 8 & 10 who had just spent the day walking all over Barcelona and were now being forced to take this giant walk with their luggage in tow? And that it was sunny and we were overdressed and sweating like you wouldn't believe? My stress level was through the roof, but in the end we made it to check in as they were closing it up.

 

Never again will I cut it that close.

[Silver Sweethearts]

We flew from Honolulu to Papeete (there is only one non-stop and it only goes once a week so we did not have any choice) to catch the Paul Gauguin. Even though the flight was due in just about when the ship was to sail, we were assured (in writing) that the ship would wait for all guests coming on that flight. As it turned out, the flight was delayed in Honolulu and we were about two hours late getting to Papeete. Then there was the wait for luggage and getting through the formalities of entering French Polynesia. We finally exited the terminal to see a driver holding a Paul Gauguin Cruises sign. He said we were the only guests arriving from Honolulu that night and drove like crazy to the ship. The staff on the dock grabbed our luggage and us and ran up the gangplank - and literally raised the gangplank behind us. We were about three hours late by then and it was approaching midnight, but they kept their word. It was a dramatic entrance, to be sure, but not something we would suggest if given a choice.

[All-ready2cruise]

 

Taxis were going by, but none of them would stop as they had passengers. Did I mention we had three kids with us ages 6, 8 & 10 who had just spent the day walking all over Barcelona and were now being forced to take this giant walk with their luggage in tow?

Never again will I cut it that close.

 

And never will you forget that wonderful cruise you took with your " 6, 8 & 10 who had just spent the day walking all over Barcelona" so long ago... no matter how long ago it gets.

 

wonderful memories are made from some amazingly stressful moments, but wonderful they will always remain.

 

Cheers,

good memories

[Fitzyk23]

We always are back on the ship in plenty of time........except for this one time in St. Thomas. We got stuck in horrible traffic that would just not move and we were biting our nails. When we got to the dock we were running[/ as fast as we could as we heard our names being called from the ship! Oh.... and our little boy was on the ship in the kid's camp!!!!:eek:

 

Now this has me curious. Let's say worst case scenario, you were in a car accident. What do they do with your kid? Leave him w/ the port authority? Leave him on board as an unaccompanied minor?

[BamaVol]

We flew into the port the night before our first cruise. Spent the next day in Miami and headed for the dock by mid-afternoon. But I got lost and drove over that darn bridge twice, tried to park at RCCL HQ employee lot and finally showed up 20 minutes before embarkation. Cool on the outside but sweating bullets inside.

[gymbomb]

I plan to be back on the ship at least 30 minutes before the all aboard time. Usually it ends up being more than that, especially if I am not on a ship excursion or just walking around in the immediate vicinity of the port.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[df5250]

Now this has me curious. Let's say worst case scenario, you were in a car accident. What do they do with your kid? Leave him w/ the port authority? Leave him on board as an unaccompanied minor?

 

A couple of Bermuda trips ago on the Dawn, a couple was late returning and the Captain waited. He announced the reason was a missed Ferry from St George and a minor child on the ship alone!

 

 

To the topic....

If not on a ship excursion, I am conservative and try to get back about an hour before All Aboard Time, but when on a ship excursion I don't even think about it.

 

I was on two RCCL ship excursions during the same cruise on different islands and the excursions returned extremely late! The ship waited; We didn't run, but were certainly heckled to do so by our fellow cruisers. It was my first experience, so I was a little stressed!!

But on the last two Bermuda Cruises I took Catamaran excursions on the afternoon of departure day. We returned minutes before All Aboard time and were some of the last few (20) passengers (and crew) to board!! You can hear the crew talking about how many people left to board!! I never even worried about the ship leaving, but others on the excursion did!!

[bearette]

I was on the last tender on my last cruise with ten minutes minutes to spare. The line was very long so we walked the nearby shops. We got in a now empty tender with about ten other people. It waited until fifteen after last tender time before it got the all clear to leave.

I have walked up and had them pulling it up a few people behind me, but I am always in the port area 30 minutes before, just dinging around the shops waiting for shorter lines. I don't like to be late so I'm last minute but a safe last minute.

[dijid]

And never will you forget that wonderful cruise you took with your " 6, 8 & 10 who had just spent the day walking all over Barcelona" so long ago... no matter how long ago it gets.

 

wonderful memories are made from some amazingly stressful moments, but wonderful they will always remain.

 

Cheers,

good memories

 

Definitely have lots of good memories from that cruise. But when we start planning another cruise, my kids always bring up that neverending walk to the ship in Barcelona! We laugh about it now, but I don't think they'll ever truly let me forget that I made them carry their suitcase for miles...uphill. (And something tells me that years from now it will be "up hill. Both ways. In the snow.")

[Barb Nahoumi]

Always aim to be back around a hour before unless on a ship trip x

 

So do we, and we always book ship trips when the port-stay is short.

[nbsjcruiser]

Not a runner, more of a hobbler. We were in Nassau in 2010. I got hit by a wave on Cabbage Beach and ended up breaking my collar bone. Hustled back to the ship (Carnival Destiny) and was sent to the hospital. Got xrays and tests and was told I'd be in a sling for a couple months but I was good to travel. I immediately looked at the clock - 4PM. Ship leaves at 5. We paid our bill (got reimbursed via insurance for it) and called a cab. We arrived at the dock and got checked in through the welcoming area. I looked at my watch - 4:50PM. Told DW to run to the ship and I'll hobble my way there - I figured if she got there first she could hold them up. I eventually showed up, in a johnny shirt, arm in a sling, torn MCL and at least one broken rib. I hobbled on to the ship, looked at the clock - 4:59PM. DW heard someone say, "pull up the walkway, if he can make it on time we're not waiting for anyone else". They literally pulled the gangplank up behind me. Saw the ship's doctor who took the letter from the hospital and advised that I have a drink or two :-). Never one to go against doctor's orders, I immediately turned to DW and said "You heard her, lets find the bar".

Edited August 26, 2015 by nbsjcruiser

[4gomez]

All-ready to cruise

TOUCHE'

At the moment it would NOT be nice, but the experience would be etched somewhere in the corners of your mind. We came close, it was classic.

[jazzmanfive]

Hi

We were in La Rochelle about 6 years ago I think on a rccl ship, anyway we decided to get the local bus to the nearest decent sized town for a morning walk about,which we did.The ship was not departing until 5pm so we stopped in town until 1pm.The journey took around 45 minutes getting there so we assumed it would be a similar time back.

The bus stop timetable was not too clear so we thought we would ask the locals what bus we needed to get back to the port,unfortunately we did not make too much headway here(I am pretty sure the french have never forgiven us for getting in first, with the majority of the civilised world speaking english they hate speaking it).) and so we thought we would ask each bus driver as they turned up if they were heading anywhere near the cruise port.One driver said yes so we hopped on board,we were in his hands.

Well about one and a half hours later we were at the port,THE BUS PORT!

We got off and realised we were near the coast and maybe if we walked along the edge we could see our ship,about 15 minutes later we did it was on the other side of the bay miles away.Where we stopped was a very small out of town area with one cafe,we went in and asked if they could call a taxi for us which they did and we had a drink while we were waiting.It was now about 4.15pm and time was getting tight.The taxi turned up about 4.30 and we were on our way,the driver spoke english which was a relief and we explained our predicament,he told us we were about 25 minutes away and it would depend on the traffic as the only route back to the cruise port was through the town and it was leaving off work time,kudos to him as he put his foot down and we were making good time but sure enough as soon as we hit the town it was clogged with cars and we were going at a snails pace.

He said we were not far away but could not be sure if we were going to be on time as the traffic was bad,at this point he got his phone out and phoned the port to inform them that he had two guests in his cab for the rccl ship and would be maybe 5 minutes late and to please wait.

We actually arrived one minute passed five as he took us straight to the gangplank where the crew were waiting for us,needless to say we were the last onboard.The taxi driver was our french hero as we had no passports and not a great deal of money on us as it was supposed to be a short morning stroll.I paid the taxi driver double and very nearly kissed him on both cheeks(a la french) but my englishness got in the way.:o

So yes i suppose i am a runner!

Jazzman:)

Edited August 26, 2015 by jazzmanfive

[HarpHarp]

The only time we were late was in Venice. We were back to the dock in plenty of time, but the Italian customs & security officials were working very slowly though a very long line, since there were multiple ships in port.

The cruise lines, at least NCL & Carnival, sent out representatives to take names. Half way through the wait, the fog rolled in & we were 2 hours late leaving anyhow.:rolleyes:

[Barb Nahoumi]

The ship will wait if one of its tours is delayed. For those on private tours, not.

[Bluetail48]

Reading through these posts has been informative and interesting. I do hope we don't run into any of these issues on our next cruise!

 

A little background information: I am a basket-case when it comes to traveling. I'm the one who, when we land in our connecting city, insist on going to the next gate to ensure that nothing has changed, because it so often does. And I insist on arriving to the airport at least 2 hours before my flight, no matter how big or small the departure city is.

 

My husband, 18-year old daughter and I were on the Jewel for our first cruise 2 summers ago. Having never cruised before, we read all the tips about the ship waiting if it's their excursion and booked all of ours through NCL. We only had 6.5 hours in Juneau and not only did our tour start late, it was running behind. Our guides hustled us back to the ship but there was trouble with the screening machines, so the lines were really backed up. Because we still had to go back to the Sawyer glacier to keep our schedule, they finally decided the heck with the screening...show your card, get on the ship and hopefully nobody brought on anything they ought not to have. Missed opportunity there!

[cincicruisers]

I will say the NCL Star looked splendid in the distance as we watched her sail away....... We laughed a lot, one of those laughs that just won't stop, to the point of tears. I'm sure we indulged in another couple more rounds. It happens....... Hi ho.

 

Can you share the details? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Fred Quimby]

I love watching the pier runners!

 

Edited August 27, 2015 by Fred Quimby

[Bitterman]

Last time in Bermuda we stayed in the Dockyard area on Friday and were back onboard about 2:30 for the (then) 5:00 departure. :-)

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[maywell]

I love watching the pier runners!

 

 

This should had been in the background -

[Budget Queen]

OK, I have almost missed ships three times, out of 108 cruises, getting back to the port after departure time. :) Tasmania, Livorno and Grand Cayman. All independent traveling. By some miracle, I made it on all the ships.

 

 

I haven't repeated this "problem" in the past several years, and plan on avoiding it, in the future. I don't have the anxiety that some may have, I always have my passport and credit cards with me. I can zed fare flights if I have to. :)