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Bus will miss ship departure in Costa Rica tonight!

oakridger

By oakridger,
in Holland America Line

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Guest ldtr

Guest ldtr

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, sndral said:

The ship leaving by a certain time such as the case here where there was a deadline for transmitting the Panama Canal or as a PP posted due to tidal limitations at a port then yes, the ship will leave irrespective of whether the late passengers are on a ship’s tour or a private one. Likewise delivering documents & the like to shore. My understanding was that w/ ship sponsored tours, the ship will wait for late returning tours absent unusual circumstances (indeed that happened on one of my ship sponsored tours - our bus made it back an hour after scheduled departure & the ship was waiting for us.)

The difference in this case would be on what happens after the ship leaves - I assume (but don’t know) that HAL is paying the Marriott Hotel bill of those 41 people & will arrange & pay for their transit to rejoin the ship as well as dealing w/ the paperwork involved. My understanding is those on a private tour would be on their own & have to pay their own expenses to get back to the ship.
I’m not a terribly experienced cruiser, though, & would be interested to know whether I’m correct in my assumptions about the differences in handling ship v. private tours in these situations.

Was on a South America cruise on Princess. The second of 2 planes carrying people on the Machu Pichu excursion had a bird strike on take off from Cusco and had to abort take off, skidded off runway and closed the Cusco airport until the next day.

 

On board were about 30 guests on a Princess excursion, 3 guests that booked the excursion through Amex, and a number of CC members that booked the excursion on their own.

 

Princess put up the people on their excursion in 4/5 star hotels, took car of all travel, and had them meet up with the ship that made a special stop in Manta Ecuador. The Captain and senior officers were on the dock to welcome them back on board.

 

Amex took care of the people on their tour and also got them to Manta to meet the ship.

 

The CC  folks were totally on their own for all arrangements and finally met up with the ship at the scheduled stop in Costa Rica. All travel and expenses were what they could arrange at their own expense.

 

I remember the discussion when the CC folks were organizing their tour. One comment was what could go wrong they were on the same plane as the Princess excursion.

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oaktreerb

oaktreerb

Posted
Posted (edited)

A few years ago we were on a ship tour to see the beautiful scenery and gardens in Puntarenas and experienced a torrential rain as our bus returned us to the ship.  It was a scary ride down the mountain and our bus driver said torrential rains are common in the afternoons.  I was afraid the bus would slip off the road and we would be hospitalized in Costa Rica.  According to our guide Costa Rica has an excellent health care system and if we had an accident we would have been well taken care of. 

 

Too bad this tour missed the ship but it sounds like a dangerous situation and it needed to be handled with utmost caution.  

Edited by oaktreerb
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Beejay4016

Beejay4016

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, ldtr said:

Was on a South America cruise on Princess. The second of 2 planes carrying people on the Machu Pichu excursion had a bird strike on take off from Cusco and had to abort take off, skidded off runway and closed the Cusco airport until the next day.

 

On board were about 30 guests on a Princess excursion, 3 guests that booked the excursion through Amex, and a number of CC members that booked the excursion on their own.

 

Princess put up the people on their excursion in 4/5 star hotels, took car of all travel, and had them meet up with the ship that made a special stop in Manta Ecuador. The Captain and senior officers were on the dock to welcome them back on board.

 

Amex took care of the people on their tour and also got them to Manta to meet the ship.

 

The CC  folks were totally on their own for all arrangements and finally met up with the ship at the scheduled stop in Costa Rica. All travel and expenses were what they could arrange at their own expense.

 

I remember the discussion when the CC folks were organizing their tour. One comment was what could go wrong they were on the same plane as the Princess excursion.

Hm, definitely a lesson to be learnt there. I'm always a tad dubious about private tours - they may be great, and they may be cheaper, but only until something goes wrong.

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ontheweb Holiday Sharing Rare

ontheweb

Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, ldtr said:

Was on a South America cruise on Princess. The second of 2 planes carrying people on the Machu Pichu excursion had a bird strike on take off from Cusco and had to abort take off, skidded off runway and closed the Cusco airport until the next day.

 

On board were about 30 guests on a Princess excursion, 3 guests that booked the excursion through Amex, and a number of CC members that booked the excursion on their own.

 

Princess put up the people on their excursion in 4/5 star hotels, took car of all travel, and had them meet up with the ship that made a special stop in Manta Ecuador. The Captain and senior officers were on the dock to welcome them back on board.

 

Amex took care of the people on their tour and also got them to Manta to meet the ship.

 

The CC  folks were totally on their own for all arrangements and finally met up with the ship at the scheduled stop in Costa Rica. All travel and expenses were what they could arrange at their own expense.

 

I remember the discussion when the CC folks were organizing their tour. One comment was what could go wrong they were on the same plane as the Princess excursion.

Interesting, definitely something to think about. I'm sure they were only considering getting back to the ship.

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oakridger

oakridger

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The captain just announced that the 41 tour pax are flying to Panama City then will transport to Colon where we will briefly stop to pick them up. I’m so glad the can get back today and don’t have to wait until Friday when we get to Aruba!  I’m sure they will have stories to tell about this mess! It seems to me that HAL has taken good care of them.   ~Nancy.   Ha ha. Oops, scubacruiserx2 posted same time as me.  Great minds!

Edited by oakridger
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scubacruiserx2 Holiday Sharing Rare

scubacruiserx2

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 minutes ago, oakridger said:

The captain just announced that the 41 tour pax are flying to Panama City then will transport to Colon where we will briefly stop to pick them up. I’m so glad the can get back today and don’t have to wait until Friday when we get to Aruba!  I’m sure they will have stories to tell about this mess! It seems to me that HAL has taken good care of them.   ~Nancy.   Ha ha. Oops, scubacruiserx2 posted same time as me.  Great minds!

 

Amen Nancy ! Sorry 41 passengers .

Edited by scubacruiserx2
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Essiesmom "Live from...." Rare

Essiesmom

Posted
Posted

It’s too bad they couldn’t have bussed them to the Gatun Yacht Club, where they usually drop off the excursions on partial transits…but in this case, used the tenders to pick them up, and they could have gone through the Gatun Locks on the ship.  EM

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oakridger

oakridger

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The Captain did mention that the Panama government had okayed a mid canal pick up but because they canal was at max capacity today, the timing couldn’t be worked out. Apparently they tried to get them on sooner. He didn’t specify exactly where they would have done that but your suggestion makes sense. 

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CruiserBruce

CruiserBruce

Posted
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1 hour ago, Essiesmom said:

They could also have bused them right up to the lock side and boarded.  I know they could do that, because when the cams have been focused differently, I have watched them take off medical emergencies.  EM

I suspect the key there is the word "emergency ".

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Guest ldtr

Guest ldtr

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I expect if there was anyway they could have made the timing work they would have.  After all they are making a special stop in Colon, along with the associated costs, to pick them up.

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Arizona Wildcat

Arizona Wildcat

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Posted

Glad all was OK.  We had transfers and flights booked to San Juan.  The cruiseline simply put messed up and when bad weather cancelled our flight we missed the ship.  Arrived in San Juan alone.  Booked a hotel and got a cruiseline rep 8am next morning.  They arranged a flight to Barbados and 2 nights hotel there along with meal and taxi vouchers.

Was interesting.

On the tour involved in this mess the rains blocked the road to the port.  OK going the other direction so drove to a Marriot safely.  Not in danger.

Indeed on a private tour always think about how far to venture on your own and always take a copy of your passport- DW carries 3 day supply of meds in a baggie in her purse too.  You never know what can happen

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Dismomx5

Dismomx5

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Indeed on a private tour always think about how far to venture on your own and always take a copy of your passport- DW carries 3 day supply of meds in a baggie in her purse too.  You never know what can happen

Wise idea, one that I will implement in the future. Thank you. 

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