Don't miss all aboard

[CNSJ]

Reading the stories today about the NCL Passengers who missed last tender at an African port visit.  

It seems they had to chase the ship to catch up.  Sometime I book HAL tours when the ramifications of missing the boat are extreme.  Having to get from Zeebruge to Rotterdam, or Crete to Santorini is easy.....but remote parts of Africa.....I'll take the HAL Guarantee.

 

From the Guardian:  

In a statement, a spokesperson (from NCL) said: “On the afternoon of March 27, 2024, while the ship was in São Tomé and Príncipe, an African island nation, eight guests who were on the island on a private tour not organized through us missed the last tender back to the vessel, therefore not meeting the all aboard time of 3pm local time. While this is a very unfortunate situation, guests are responsible for ensuring they return to the ship at the published time, which is communicated broadly over the ship’s intercom, in the daily print communication and posted just before exiting the vessel.

“When the guests did not return to the vessel at the all aboard time, their passports were delivered to the local port agents to retrieve when they returned to the port, as per the regular protocol. Our team has been working closely with the local authorities to understand the requirements and necessary visas needed for the guests to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call. Given that these guests were on a private tour and did not return to the ship at the communicated all aboard time, they are responsible for any necessary travel arrangements to rejoin the ship at the next available port of call, per our protocol.

[1ANGELCAT]

It’s going to be on ABC World News Tonight as just announced.

[Wehwalt]

There is a rather lengthy discussion on the NCL board that seems to be generating as much heat as light.

[melodyesch]

Will HAL wait for you if you’re on an independent excursion?  How do they have any idea when/if you’ll return?

[3rdGenCunarder]

27 minutes ago, melodyesch said:

Will HAL wait for you if you’re on an independent excursion?  How do they have any idea when/if you’ll return?

 

No. They will wait for their own tours unless conditions, such as tides, force them to leave. They're in contact with their vendors so they know what's going on with late tours.

 

If you're on your own or an independent excursion, I guess you could try to contact the ship via HAL's emergency number or the port agent, but I don't know if it will do much good. It isn't just the schedule to get to the next port. It's also the dockworkers, the pilot, possibly tugs standing by if currents are tricky. Delaying all of that costs money. 

[Crew News]

42 minutes ago, melodyesch said:

Will HAL wait for you if you’re on an independent excursion?  How do they have any idea when/if you’ll return?

The answer is "No".

 

A dense fog rolled into Juneau Alaska a few years ago and those passengers with excursions requiring air transport for both glacier hiking and Taku Lodge had to be left behind by two HAL cruise ships needing to meet the channel tide.  The former spent the night in an emergency tent on Mendenhall Glacier and the latter were accommodated by Taku Lodge.  Of the 43 left behind, 34 on HAL excursions were transported by HAL-chartered plane and boat to catch their respective ships.  Nine on private excursions were on their own to catch up with their ships.

 

From that experience, I learned to pay the few additional dollars for HAL excursions as insurance that if left behind, HAL will cover all the expenses to get me back to the ship.  I also learned that any life-critical meds should accompany me on any excursion.

 

Juneau no-fly zone

Edited April 3 by Crew News

[Blackduck59]

This is an unfortunate situation for those left behind, but a VERY valuable lesson for all. We don't and never will know the whole story. What appears on the surface may or may not be correct.

On the surface it seems this group took it upon themselves to book a private tour. Unfortunately none of them seemed to have a proper understanding of needing to be back for the last tender run. Somewhere along the line someone should have looked at their watch and said "WE have to head back NOW". They are on some tiny island off the coast of Africa, it's very important to not miss the boat. There should be a certain expectation that adults will be responsible for there own actions.

[Dancing Shoes]

4 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

It’s going to be on ABC World News Tonight as just announced.

It was just a blurb.  The tour operator let them down and the cruise line is looking like the bad guy. I would not want to be in their shoes.  

[syesmar]

On average, approximately how many passengers get left behind per 7 nights while sailing? I understand it probably varies greatly by destination and other factors, but am curious.

[syesmar]

Does anyone know if the departure time changed from the original itinerary? I’ve witnessed fellow passengers who were unaware when times got adjusted, despite announcements and signage. I’ve also witnessed passengers who would go by an itinerary’s departure time forgetting that All Aboard is earlier.

[sandiego1]

We only booked independent tours for the last world cruise, including many in Africa. We and our tour operators were all aware of all aboard time. We ensured that we had plenty of time to get back to the ship before it left. We always had a buffer for traffic or other issues. One of our strategies is for a tour with multiple stops is to start the tour at the furthest stop and work back toward the ship whenever possible. And if we were running late, we’d skip a stop and insist that we head back to the ship.

[sciencewonk]

3 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

This is an unfortunate situation for those left behind, but a VERY valuable lesson for all. We don't and never will know the whole story. What appears on the surface may or may not be correct.

 

We do know the whole story.  They were late for the ship.  The ship left.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the couple was late returning to their van at their distant spot. You will notice that they do not blame the tour operator in their statements. They only blame the cruise line for following the well-publicized rules. I almost always book independently, and I always insist that we be back one hour before the all-aboard time.     

 

The rest of the story will come out now that 6 guests are back onboard.   Apparently the lead couple may choose to not return......

 

 

 

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

This site has more pictures of the passengers and other details.....

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13260825/Australians-left-stranded-Africa-cruise-ship.html

[Blackduck59]

21 minutes ago, sciencewonk said:

We do know the whole story.  They were late for the ship.  The ship left.

I'm not sure why you chose to quote me and then edit my post to make it seem that I was making excuses for these people missing the boat. You could have made your point without dragging me into it.

We do not know the whole story and never will.

We do know they were late for the final tender. We do know the ship left. We also know that it was the group's responsibility to be on time. We also know that the de facto leaders of the "Group" are having a hard time taking responsibility for the poor decisions they made.

[ellieanne]

4 hours ago, melodyesch said:

Will HAL wait for you if you’re on an independent excursion?  How do they have any idea when/if you’ll return?

No.
On my very first cruise, we left 2 passengers on the dock in Boston. Everyone on the ship was waving to the two late passengers. They were not on a group excursion, but ashore on their own and the ship did not wait for them. There had been pages for the passengers for about 20 minutes prioir to the ship leaving, but they were standing open-mouthed on the dock as the ship was pushing away. (Boston was the last stop before the end of the cruise in New York the next day. I heard later they beat the ship to New York and were able to re-board to pack to leave the ship.)

I was on a ship-sponsored shore excursion in Portland, Maine and that excursion was delayed getting back to the ship. The ship waited for that tour, though everything had been pulled in but the gangway and ship staff were on the dock to hurry the delayed guests aboard.

These two experiences are why I always use ship-sponsored shore excursions to go ashore in new ports, and many times in busy ports.

[casaloma]

23 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

This site has more pictures of the passengers and other details.....

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13260825/Australians-left-stranded-Africa-cruise-ship.html

Quite an interesting story.  Like others here, I am highly paranoid about return times and never push the limits.  And I would never leave the ship without a debit card.  Like one of the passengers, I also travel on a scooter and that makes me even more conservative.  I'm not sure what else the cruise line could have done.  That's a pretty sophisticated itinerary so it's hard to believe they were all cruise newbies.  

[The-Inside-Cabin]

4 minutes ago, casaloma said:

Quite an interesting story.  Like others here, I am highly paranoid about return times and never push the limits.  And I would never leave the ship without a debit card.  Like one of the passengers, I also travel on a scooter and that makes me even more conservative.  I'm not sure what else the cruise line could have done.  That's a pretty sophisticated itinerary so it's hard to believe they were all cruise newbies.  

The lead traveler was an experienced NCL cruiser - reports that this was their 3rd NCL cruise this year.      "They're frequent Norwegian Cruise Line passengers. In fact, they’ve already traveled with them three times this year."  

 

https://wpde.com/news/local/couple-stranded-african-island-norwegian-cruise-line-passengers-abandoned-ship-captain-allegedly-denies-reentry-so-tom-and-prncipe-coast-guard-south-carolina-march-29-2024

[cruiser man 60]

Doing an independent tour in ports like Rome, Barcelona etc are fine as it’s very easy to get to next port if absolutely necessary as normally only short journeys from major cities. However doing independent touring small isolated islands is just asking for trouble as only limited infrastructure.

We have done independent tours all over the world including Caribbean, ANZ, ASia etc with no issues but never in isolated areas.

[ski ww]

That was a very expensive lesson to learn.

[jlawrence01]

Random thoughts:

 

1) On my first (and last) NCL cruise, they were pretty adamant as to what time that the ship would be leaving and the time you needed to get back.  However, time after time, that was ignored and you could see 50-75 strolling casually through the cruise port 30 minutes after departure time.

 

2) I nearly always take 3rd party excursions from very reputable operators using companies that have several vehicles in the area.  And I schedule them very early in the port stop.  If you head out at 8 am on a two hour excursion and your return time is 5 pm, I do not think I have much to worry about.

 

3) A lot of ports have fleets of taxis or have attractions that are within two miles of the port.  Again, there is pretty limited risk.

[kazu]

8 hours ago, melodyesch said:

Will HAL wait for you if you’re on an independent excursion?  How do they have any idea when/if you’ll return?

 

There is a port agent contact in every port - and it is provided to every passenger.  Contacting the port agent is the best way to get the information to the ship, I believe.

 

Technically, the ship will not wait for you if you are independent but I have seen the gangway not pulled up at all on board time if people are missing on the odd occasion (but only for about 10 minutes).

 

I book mostly independent tours (well researched with reputable companies) and like @The-Inside-Cabin we are back an hour before all on board time.  IME, it’s the ship’s excursions that are late, not the independent tours.

 

[jakkojakko]

9 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

There is a rather lengthy discussion on the NCL board that seems to be generating as much heat as light.

And yet that cannot be found anymore! Ncl forcing CC to remove?

[CNSJ]

There is something to be said for having some cash USD$ and widely accepted credit cards whenever you go ashore.  Depending on the port, I also take my passport.

 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

There is a port agent contact in every port - and it is provided to every passenger.  Contacting the port agent is the best way to get the information to the ship, I believe.

 

Technically, the ship will not wait for you if you are independent but I have seen the gangway not pulled up at all on board time if people are missing on the odd occasion (but only for about 10 minutes).

 

I book mostly independent tours (well researched with reputable companies) and like @The-Inside-Cabin we are back an hour before all on board time.  IME, it’s the ship’s excursions that are late, not the independent tours.

 

My experience with late arrivals - 

 

Short Caribbean Cruises - zero tolerance - 

Other shorter cruises - It depends but not much slack

 

Longer cruises - 3 weeks plus - they will tend to wait IF they know where you are and your ETA, and they can wait without being late to the next port, missing the navigation window, or incurring extra costs.

 

If you are late - contact the ship and let them know your realistic ETA - If they know where you are they MAY wait - if they don't know where you are - they will probably not wait.

 

Avoid taking last-minute dock tours that venture far from the port.  

 

I maintain a 1-hour buffer before all aboard in normal ports—it may increase to 90 minutes or 2 hours in ports with risky conditions and wild traffic variations—e.g., Beijing to Tianjin—a 2-hour buffer. Easy ports like Papette with next port Mooera—one hour....

 

Small islands off West Africa - where you venture over 1 hour from the tender pier - 2 hours buffer...

 

Ship tours will often cut it close - I never risk it with an idependent.   

 

Check travel times using Google maps - If things are going slow - ABORT and turn around.....

 

Here is my guess about this group:   I suspect they were the cause of the late arrival - not the operator - I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised to learn they were hiking to a water fall and it took longer than they thought and were late getting back to their van.  

 

Edited April 3 by The-Inside-Cabin