Pier runners...Please share what happens next.

[cruzeluver]

Well those posters that appear to enjoy laughing at and stating they have zero sympathy for those left behind also presume to know the reason the person(s) were late. Says even more about those posters. Whatever.

 

To the OP : I have no first-hand knowledge or experience (thank goodness) but do know that those who miss the ship have their passport or other documents left with a pier representative,

Edited June 9, 2017 by cruzeluver
spelling

[Kartgv]

Like another poster here, we've been on ship tours that were late (over an hour late in one case) getting back to pier twice - obviously beyond our control, but there were people out on balconies cheering as well as booing as we got to the ship. I do have sympathy for some that come running, obviously distressed and embarrassed. The ones that make me angry are the ones who come slowly meandering towards the ship, loaded shopping bags in hand, completely oblivious to the delay they've caused to 1000's of passengers and the ship's schedule. We've seen one or two that continue this pace even after being approached by a ship's representative and told that they needed to hurry.

 

One of our tour late arrivals was a tour in Australia that included a couple of wineries. To make matters worse when we got back to ship, each person was handed a gift bottle of wine as we got off the bus. So...not only did we each have to check in to the ship, but the boarding crew now had to decide what to do about the wine that we technically weren't supposed to keep. They ended up ignoring it to save time.

[donaldsc]

Do you suppose her husband felt the same way...? EM

 

We have a friend who will be late for her own funeral. They once had a trip to Hawaii. Because she was consistently late. one time she got to the airport after the boarding gate closed. They missed their connecting flight and their first day in Hawaii. She never did that again. Not my problem if the husband felt badly that his wife missed the ship. The 2 of them need to work out their tardiness issues. If it happened to her, maybe she would not pull that stupid stunt again.

 

DON

[sfaaa]

. Laughing at someone else's misfortune shows a total lack of character and decency.

 

One person's self inflicted misfortune is another person's free entertainment. Don't screw up or be late and no one will laugh at you.

[cruzincurt]

So the urban legend is that they go to your cabin, open the safe, and search for your passports. Assuming you are due back on board 30 min before casting off , so when do they do this? 30 min, 15 min, or right at scheduled sail time?

 

I've watched many people show up in that 30 min period. Certainly they haven't dispatched tens of crew members off to the cabins just in case?

 

Seems to me if would take time to determine what cabins to go to, get there, open the safe, search, close the safe and get down to the gangway. Lots of minutes.

 

 

 

Sent from my B3-A30 using Forums mobile app

[navybankerteacher]

If, in fact, safes are actually opened for passports of the MIA, it would not take that long. 15 minutes before sailaway a firm list of the few no-shows could be available - with their cabin numbers. A couple of teams could cover a number of them in that 15 minutes - remember: no "search" would be involved: open safe, remove passport if present, close safe, report to control before proceeding to next cabin.

 

Only very rarely would there be more than three or four cabins to hit.

[pedirn]

So the urban legend is that they go to your cabin, open the safe, and search for your passports. Assuming you are due back on board 30 min before casting off , so when do they do this? 30 min, 15 min, or right at scheduled sail time?

 

I've watched many people show up in that 30 min period. Certainly they haven't dispatched tens of crew members off to the cabins just in case?

 

Seems to me if would take time to determine what cabins to go to, get there, open the safe, search, close the safe and get down to the gangway. Lots of minutes.

 

 

 

Sent from my B3-A30 using Forums mobile app

 

On our last cruise...Crown April 2017..that is exactly what happened. DH is an amateur radio operator and carries small handhelds with him when we travel. These he programs to the ships frequencies and listens to communication from the different crew departments. Can't remember the port but I think it was Antigua, seven passengers did not show up. They kept calling their names. Then we monitored communication from bridge to security. Security was dispatched to cabins to retrieve the passports. Guess the bridge did not think security was moving fast enough because they kept telling them to move faster. Only some of the passports were found as they only look in the safe. What passports were found were turned over to port agent and we left seven passengers on the island.

[CruiseGal999]

I never thought of it, but there could have been a few pier runners on my recent cruise. As we prepared to leave Cuba, the GS were calling names of missing people. They were called several .... meaning 5 or 6 times. Then all announcements stopped and we were under way. Don't know if the 'missing' passengers made it on board, or not. I always assumed the people were on board.

[Nic6318]

One person's self inflicted misfortune is another person's free entertainment. Don't screw up or be late and no one will laugh at you.

 

 

Hi there

 

So as you went through life, every time you screwed up you expected someone would be there to laugh at you. Wouldn't want to waste a good laugh. Really...pretty sad.

[sfaaa]

Hi there

 

So as you went through life, every time you screwed up you expected someone would be there to laugh at you. Wouldn't want to waste a good laugh. Really...pretty sad.

 

Welcome to the real world. Why do you think America's funnest videos and Jerry Springer type reality TV shows have such a big following? You may find this sad. But many people feel otherwise.

[Capt_BJ]

As far as I am concerned, that was a total waste of taxpayer money. She knew what time she was supposed to be on board. She was late because shopping was more important than promptness. Leave her behind. She deserved it.

 

DON

 

OUCCHHHH ... let's see how many different replies I can come up with:

 

1. As to cost: we were there and I used the duty section. Estimated fuel cost on the boat .. $2

 

2. As mentioned there was a training component. Every day a CG ship in port it runs a drill for the duty section. One of these is rescue and assist. One of these scenarios calls for launching the rescue boat.

 

3. When a United States Vessel - A Coast Guard Cutter falls under this description - is in a foreign port it is a representative of the United States and should act accordingly. Is this help a positive PR event for the US? I think so .....

 

4. The cost of this event versus the many 'tow a broken <not US> vessel back to port' or helo lift a cruise casualty (at no cost to the family but $1000/hour plus to the US) is a comical question. {Those are not stupidity you might say? You didn't sit on my side of the situation!!!!}

 

5. If it was a member of YOUR family and a US Navy or USCG or US ARMY (yes these exist) failed to offer help, what would you be saying????

 

6. Years ago the CG was sued to stop doing 'free towing' as it interfered with the growing 'towing companies' like SEATOW. CG agreed and left non emergency towing to commercial companies UNTIL it was realized that doing no 'easy' towing afforded few training experiences to handle 'bad' towing .... so now CG does some towing for free .... for training

[SantaFeFan]

If, in fact, safes are actually opened for passports of the MIA, it would not take that long. 15 minutes before sailaway a firm list of the few no-shows could be available - with their cabin numbers. A couple of teams could cover a number of them in that 15 minutes - remember: no "search" would be involved: open safe, remove passport if present, close safe, report to control before proceeding to next cabin.

 

Only very rarely would there be more than three or four cabins to hit.

 

Plus, the crew have radios. If one of the late passengers suddenly appeared, a simple call out on the radio would hold the search for passport for that person. It isn't rocket science.

 

But, there will always be those who in spite of countless posts describing the process will refuse to believe that it happens. Not sure why they insist on acting that way.

[PTMary]

Welcome to the real world. Why do you think America's funnest videos and Jerry Springer type reality TV shows have such a big following? You may find this sad. But many people feel otherwise.

 

LOL! Using Jerry Springer to legitimize a type of behavior is a new one for me. :rolleyes:

 

What is truly sad is what you choose as examples to support your argument that laughing at people's mistakes is somehow acceptable. That is about as low as one can go, actually.

[Sequim88]

I don't know who takes "fun" at watching folks almost miss the ship...that's just cruel!

 

Pure Schadenfreude. Happens a lot.

[lady_cruiser]

And there are the people who are purposely late. On our last cruise we watched a young couple strolling down the pier. Stopping every minute to look over into the water. The closer they got, the slower the immature guy got. Stopping to dance, turning around and around and waving his arms in the air. This was the first time that I witness the whole ship being quiet. No one was cheering nor jeering. When he got near one of the ship's officers we heard him say, in a rather loud obnoxious voice, "are we the last ones onboard"? When the officer told him "no" he said a cuss word. That's when everyone around us starting clapping. That inflated his balloon.

[NurseDave]

Several recent threads on this. Try a search...EM

 

Actually not a recent thread of people that missed the ship and then posted what happened to them after. How are the "try a search" responses ever helpful???

[cruzeluver]

How are the "try a search" responses ever helpful???

 

 

They aren't. But its a good way to get your post count up (yep, some actually care about that) along with other useless replies like "welcome to CC".

 

 

Additionally, the search feature here is antiquated as all get out. You can comb through pages of results and still not find what you are looking for.

[Red Oak]

OUCCHHHH ... let's see how many different replies I can come up with:

 

1. As to cost: we were there and I used the duty section. Estimated fuel cost on the boat .. $2

 

2. As mentioned there was a training component. Every day a CG ship in port it runs a drill for the duty section. One of these is rescue and assist. One of these scenarios calls for launching the rescue boat.

 

3. When a United States Vessel - A Coast Guard Cutter falls under this description - is in a foreign port it is a representative of the United States and should act accordingly. Is this help a positive PR event for the US? I think so .....

 

4. The cost of this event versus the many 'tow a broken <not US> vessel back to port' or helo lift a cruise casualty (at no cost to the family but $1000/hour plus to the US) is a comical question. {Those are not stupidity you might say? You didn't sit on my side of the situation!!!!}

 

5. If it was a member of YOUR family and a US Navy or USCG or US ARMY (yes these exist) failed to offer help, what would you be saying????

 

6. Years ago the CG was sued to stop doing 'free towing' as it interfered with the growing 'towing companies' like SEATOW. CG agreed and left non emergency towing to commercial companies UNTIL it was realized that doing no 'easy' towing afforded few training experiences to handle 'bad' towing .... so now CG does some towing for free .... for training

 

 

 

SEMPER PARATUS

[Bizmark'sMom]

As far as I am concerned, that was a total waste of taxpayer money. She knew what time she was supposed to be on board. She was late because shopping was more important than promptness. Leave her behind. She deserved it.

 

DON

I have several friends who are career Navy;

That rescue boat and crew get run on various exercises anyway - it may as well be for something useful. There is also a lot of value for the crew to work with a civilian who has no idea what she is doing.

 

The Navy is going to practice plucking people off of mountain tops and ship decks. They're going to practice water rescues. They'd rather head out and help people who are actually in trouble. It's better practice for them and a lot more interesting. It doesn't make a dent in the budget, because those boats and helicopters were going to run anyway.

 

I'm sure the same is true for the Coast Guard, and the other armed forces.

[CruiserBruce]

While I agree, after 35 years of active emergency services, the resources...boats, fire engines, etc, are going to be training and active out there, returning someone to a ship takes that resource out of service, and will delay their response to a true emergency. And there are rarely a surplus of emergency response resources.

[Capt_BJ]

While I agree, after 35 years of active emergency services, the resources...boats, fire engines, etc, are going to be training and active out there, returning someone to a ship takes that resource out of service, and will delay their response to a true emergency. And there are rarely a surplus of emergency response resources.

 

I don't follow your train of thought at it appears to agree and then change sides. Truth is a simple matter of 'priority of mission' come in to play. We may like to think that a helo, or a fire truck, or a CG vessel is just sitting in the station waiting for an emergency but this is seldom the case .. they have other work to do. It may be a patrol looking for pollution, a fire unit doing checks of buildings and businesses in their area, training at a field location, or for a CG cutter a law enforcement matter. Then a call comes in for a rescue .... priority of mission applies and the other is stopped and the response initiated. The helo looking for an oil slick in the harbor diverts to do a hoist, the cutter on routine patrol or maybe doing a public relations demonstration changes course, the fire truck responds from where they are .... odds say 50% of the time the response will be FASTER as the resource is already in the field.

 

In my specific example the ship was in a R&R mode with a 2 hour recall in effect. The duty section responded in minutes while our 'by the book' time was 2+ hours in case of an actual call ...... Same as an off duty trooper driving home who sees a traffic accident and stops to help because "that's my job" even tho I'm off duty.

[Bonnie J.]

We met an older lady who has 'missed' the ship. She and her husband had been on a tour. They got back and she wanted to shop, he didn't. So, he got back on the ship. When she got back to the pier, she thought she was on time, but she wasn't. The ship was WAY out there!

 

She was taken to a hotel she had to pay for hotel and dinner and breakfast. The next morning she was taken, by sea plane, to the next port, Half Moon Cay!

 

She met her husband there and it cost her $1800 to miss the ship! But they are still sailing but they make sure they never miss the ship again!

[navybankerteacher]

I have several friends who are career Navy;

That rescue boat and crew get run on various exercises anyway - it may as well be for something useful. There is also a lot of value for the crew to work with a civilian who has no idea what she is doing.

 

The Navy is going to practice plucking people off of mountain tops and ship decks. They're going to practice water rescues. They'd rather head out and help people who are actually in trouble. It's better practice for them and a lot more interesting. It doesn't make a dent in the budget' date=' because those boats and helicopters were going to run anyway.

 

I'm sure the same is true for the Coast Guard, and the other armed forces.[/quote']

 

October 1963 - ships of USN Amphibious Squadron 4 on Caribbean training deployment were diverted to Haiti to assist isolated coastal communities after Hurricane Flora.

Hundreds of tons of emergency supplies were delivered by landing craft over the beaches. Yes, some cost to US of goods, but valuable operational training on planning , mapping, and delivering a "landing force" on short notice - plus good will.

[sparks1093]

I don't follow your train of thought at it appears to agree and then change sides. Truth is a simple matter of 'priority of mission' come in to play. We may like to think that a helo, or a fire truck, or a CG vessel is just sitting in the station waiting for an emergency but this is seldom the case .. they have other work to do. It may be a patrol looking for pollution, a fire unit doing checks of buildings and businesses in their area, training at a field location, or for a CG cutter a law enforcement matter. Then a call comes in for a rescue .... priority of mission applies and the other is stopped and the response initiated. The helo looking for an oil slick in the harbor diverts to do a hoist, the cutter on routine patrol or maybe doing a public relations demonstration changes course, the fire truck responds from where they are .... odds say 50% of the time the response will be FASTER as the resource is already in the field.

 

In my specific example the ship was in a R&R mode with a 2 hour recall in effect. The duty section responded in minutes while our 'by the book' time was 2+ hours in case of an actual call ...... Same as an off duty trooper driving home who sees a traffic accident and stops to help because "that's my job" even tho I'm off duty.

 

All I can say is Bravo Zulu (hope that means the same thing in the USCG that it meant in the Navy:D).

[champagne123]

We met an older lady who has 'missed' the ship. She and her husband had been on a tour. They got back and she wanted to shop, he didn't. So, he got back on the ship. When she got back to the pier, she thought she was on time, but she wasn't. The ship was WAY out there!

 

She was taken to a hotel she had to pay for hotel and dinner and breakfast. The next morning she was taken, by sea plane, to the next port, Half Moon Cay!

 

She met her husband there and it cost her $1800 to miss the ship! But they are still sailing but they make sure they never miss the ship again!

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Edited June 10, 2017 by champagne123
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