Reflection delayed sail away from Cozumel for almost 90 minutes due to missing passengers

[AnnaNicole]

This past week, as the title states, Celebrity delayed our sail time by 90 minutes waiting on seven passengers who were late returning to the ship.   Passengers were due back by 4:30.   Sail away at 5:00.   We eventually left at 6:30 without the missing passengers.  I was a bit surprised they waited that long.   I have been on around 30 cruises and I think maybe once or twice we were very briefly delayed.    The cruise director stated (on stage) they have no idea what happened to the people.   Is it common practice to wait on a late group of people for that length of time?  

 

Over a decade ago, we were on a Royal Caribbean sponsored shore excursion (Sting Ray City) in Grand Cayman.   A group of us almost missed the ship because RCCL's tour operator *forgot* to pick us up and transport us back to the ship.   After waiting two hours on a dock, we were able to secure alternative transportation.   There were no available taxis in the area.  It wasn't walkable to downtown.  A kind angler helped us out.   We were a group of about 15-20 passengers.   I am guessing if we didn't make the ship, RCCL would have realized the problem.  At least, I hope so.   

 

 

 

 

[harrywpb]

At the 9:00 show Rich ( Cruise Director ) announced that they were on a private excursion but they are all ok. 

Edited December 24, 2022 by harrywpb

[cruisestitch]

It is not common practice but if it doesn’t delay arrival at the next port, the Captain can wait, especially as it’s the holiday 

[rmalbers]

I had it happen once when leaving from NJ.  They waited hours for hundreds of people transferring from the Queen Mary II to X.  With that many people involved obviously it was an easy decision for X.  The only downside was it was dark and very late when we left so we didn't get the Statue of Liberty drive by.  

Edited December 24, 2022 by rmalbers

[NCteacherlovescruising]

I was on this cruise as well. I recall him saying we left 7 passengers behind, but missed the part about the private excursion. How would he know they are ok if we left them behind?

Edited December 24, 2022 by NCteacherlovescruising
Typo

[CHEZMARYLOU]

8 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I was on this cruise as well. I recall him saying we left 7 passengers behind, but missed the part about the private excursion. How would he know they are ok if we left them behind?

Perhaps they talked to the port agent when they finally got to the dock.

[helen haywood]

We’ve been on several sailings where the ship delayed departure for a couple of hours due to a late return from a ship sponsored excursion.

[AnnaNicole]

52 minutes ago, helen haywood said:

We’ve been on several sailings where the ship delayed departure for a couple of hours due to a late return from a ship sponsored excursion.

Waiting for a ship sponsored excursion makes sense to me.   I always thought you were on your own with a personally planned excursion.   The missing passengers still had not returned by 6:30.   That is two hours late, at a minimum!   

[Georgia_Peaches]

Dang!  Hate it for the 7 passengers. Kudos to Celebrity for waiting as long as they could. Can’t be easy missing the ship…especially at the holidays. Can only imagine the dialogue occurring btwn the passengers and the excursion provider. Hope they found them decent accommodations. 

[prmssk]

Although, I've been on ship sponsored excursions that were late (including one in Cozumel where a huge ferry full of excursion passengers was late) and the ship waited, I have never seen a Captain wait more than a few minutes for people touring on their own.  On another line this year, there were three passengers late at Cozumel (by just 10 minutes or so) and the Captain was blowing his horn at them as they strolled down the pier so I do not think he was happy.

 

There are costs associated with staying longer along with potential issues rescheduling the local pilot and getting to the next port on time.  I'm surprised the ship waited an hour and a half for private excursion passengers!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I can see the ship waiting if there was a report of an accident or medical emergency and it was unclear if the late passengers were involved. Once things clarified the Captain could make the necessary call to stay or sail.

[AnnaNicole]

1 minute ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I can see the ship waiting if there was a report of an accident or medical emergency and it was unclear if the late passengers were involved. Once things clarified the Captain could make the necessary call to stay or sail.

The cruise director mentioned on stage (7pm) that they did not know what happened to the passengers.  Another passenger mentioned that he said they were ok at the 9pm show.

[Tigerfnan23]

We were recently on a cruise that delayed leaving port for over an hour due to some passengers being delayed due to a car accident causing a major traffic delay on the only road coming back to the port.  Don't know if they were on a ship or private excursion though.  

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I was on this cruise as well. I recall him saying we left 7 passengers behind, but missed the part about the private excursion. How would he know they are ok if we left them behind?

On a Royal cruise the day after we had a Q and A with the Cruise Director where he said that " the ship rarely left a anyone behind" we left 4 members of the ships orchestra. Crew members were taking bets on wether they would be allowed to rejoin at the next port, be sacked on the spot and be refused boarding at the next port or be allowed to reboard but have their contracts terminated at Southampton. The smart money was on the last option as the ship needed the orchestra. Unfortunately as the incident happened towards the end of the cruise we never did hear the final outcome but they were allowed to rejoin and performed for what was the last night of the cruise. 

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, AnnaNicole said:

Waiting for a ship sponsored excursion makes sense to me.   I always thought you were on your own with a personally planned excursion.   The missing passengers still had not returned by 6:30.   That is two hours late, at a minimum!   

That's why it is essential if you book a private tour to ensure that the Operator will pick up the costs of getting you to the next port. One reason we always book with Toursbylocals as this is included in their standard prices.

[AnnaNicole]

14 minutes ago, the penguins said:

That's why it is essential if you book a private tour to ensure that the Operator will pick up the costs of getting you to the next port. One reason we always book with Toursbylocals as this is included in their standard prices.

That's good to know.   Thanks for sharing.

[phoenix_dream]

Whether they will wait or not depends on the circumstances.  The reason they are delayed, how many passengers are involved, whether they are contractually able to stay longer at the port, the time necessary to get to the next port and on and on.  I've seen it happen a few times over the years.   A long time ago we had a very delayed departure sailing from Puerto Rico as several flights were delayed getting into SJU and dozens of passengers were affected.  But no one should ever count on the ship waiting, and should plan accordingly.

[Lastdance]

Things happen, but rest assured most tour guides(the good ones)can contact the ship. 

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said:

I was on this cruise as well. I recall him saying we left 7 passengers behind, but missed the part about the private excursion. How would he know they are ok if we left them behind?

I would expect when they did show up at the pier they contacted the port agent to arrange their rejoining the ship at the next port. The port agent would have contacted the ship.

[hcat]

We were  left waiting at a distant  Beach Club on St Maarten  for over an  hour....abt 10 of us,  It was a ship's excursion but some  flim flam was  going on between 2 drivers.  We had the  club  call the Port Agent.. and they did what was needed to send out another van..   we were told the ship would have waited but we made it back in time..

 

That's why we prefer ships excursions unless we can walk back on our own..that's a lesson learned when NO taxis were available from our location..  long walk but we did it!

 

  And we take our passports with us..just in case!

 

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by hcat

[songbird1329]

We were on a ship sponsored excursion last week in Panama.  155 of us in five buses.  They held the ship for 90 minutes until we got back.

[mpdog42]

Most likely this had to do with Tulum, CI, and the Water Shuttle!

Edited December 25, 2022 by mpdog42

[the penguins]

9 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Things happen, but rest assured most tour guides(the good ones)can contact the ship. 

So can every passenger. The ship publishes the name and phone number of every port agent in the daily planner and we take the details with us. 

[cruisegirlppp]

16 hours ago, the penguins said:

That's why it is essential if you book a private tour to ensure that the Operator will pick up the costs of getting you to the next port. One reason we always book with Toursbylocals as this is included in their standard prices.

Thank you for this information, it is very helpful as we are looking at excursions for upcoming South America cruise and have been hesitant to book private tours as we usually do in Europe. 

[cluso]

Most times, the Captain's don't have the option to wait if missing cruisers are on their own private outings.  In many busy ports, overtime at the dock costs thousands of dollars per minute, screws up arrivals/departures of other marine traffic, and dock worker's schedules/overtime.  Logistics is a big factor: scheduling the delivery, loading and unloading of supplies.  In smaller ports, not quite as intense.