Left behind?

[barante]

Have any of your folks ever missed the ship? If so, what happens when people usually don't carry much more than their ship's card and wallet, and the passport and cash are safely locked in a room safe?

How can such a largely undocumented person get from one Caribbean island nation to another?

Any one care to share some war stories about a memorable vacation?

[FRANKIEDNYC]

:) There is a cruiseline's agent in every port. The name adress and phone # is usually posted in the daily schedule. If you make note of this before you go ashore, and miss the boat, you can contactthem and they will help make arrangements to get you to the ship's next port of call. I believe you would have to fly there. I saw an elderly couple once miss their ship in Alaska , after the husband chewed her out for "you and your damned shopping" a local offered to take them to the agent and told them they would have to take an air taxi to the next port. At their own expense of course

[paljoeysmom]

Bring a copy of your passport with you EVERYWHERE.

[jetskier]

Bring a copy of your passport with you EVERYWHERE.

 

A copy of your passport will not do you a bit of good. It must be the original document in order to purchase airfare.

Dave

[Copper10-8]

Never happened to us but, like Frankie D in NYC mentioned, if it were to happen, we would make a bee-line to HAL's port agent for his assistance. Closest we've seen folks come to that were two young ladies who obviously spent too much time ashore in Ensenada, Mexico either shopping or at Pappa's & Beer.

They came running up the pier, bags in hand yelling and screaming when Viking Serenade was a good fifty feet away while manouvering into the harbor channel on her way out to sea. (Had to be a pretty sh#%&tty feeling). The authorities there (could have been the port agent who had something to do with that also) wound up putting those two individuals on the pilot boat and that's how they came onboard:rolleyes:

[OceanLiner]

We were on the Volendam in March at St. Thomas. The Volendam was scheduled to leave at 5pm and the NCL ship docked at the end of the pier was scheduled to leave at 4:30pm.As I was standing at the dock at 4:15pm I got the idea to walk over to the NCL ship with my wife and kids and watch it cast off. How often do you get to stand next to a large ship and watch it leave?Turns out that the NCL ship was scheduled to leave at 4:00pm and someone was missing. As myself and family are casually strolling along the dock at 4:15pm the passengers on the NCL ship start yelling at us to hurry up and get on. It started with one aggravated woman, then two, and then the whole side of the ship errupted. We really didn't know what was happening until the head of security and an NCL officer came over to us and we assured them that we were on the Volendam. Everyone got a big kick out of the whole thing.Meanwhile the NCL ship was still missing one passenger and at about 4:30, at the far end of the dock, was a small red image of woman running with SERVERAL shopping bags. The port security zipped over to her in a golf cart and picked her up and delivered her to the gangway. Everyone on the ship cheered like mad, we waved goodbye, they waved goodbye, and the amazing site of a huge ship moving away just a few feet away from us was worth the whole day.The head of security told us several stories about passengers being stranded, but the most interesting thing he told us was about the captains of the ships. He stated that everything depends on the captain. That some will leave exactly on time regardless of how many passengers are missing, that some will wait and wait if even one person is missing, and that most are in between. We went back to the Volendam at about 4:40pm and there were 12 people still on shore. They arrived back in a bus at 4:45pm and the ship left right away!

[OceanLiner]

Almost forgot this one! I'm going to leave out the port and dates, and the ship was not HAL. We were on a junket with 300 other award winners. We tendered into a port with large local tenders, went to see the sites, tendered back to the ship, had dinner, and retired early to our suite. The ship was scheduled to depart at 11pm.At about midnight there was this loud thump and the ship rocked. Turns out that the captain realized that about 50 of his passengers were missing and reports came back to him that they were all partying on the beach at the local bar. SOOOOOOO, he sends for a local tender to get them. The local tender crew had also been partying that night and they miss-judged the whole speed distance thing and glanced off the side of the ship. Luckily no one got hurt or fell in the water, and our ship did not suffer any real damage.It turns out that ALL of the missing passengers were from my group and not one of them was seen on deck the next day until well after lunch.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have seen several people miss the ship.

 

We would not think of cutting it that close to getting back to the ship.

 

The only time we arrived after the ship was shceduled to depart was when we were on a ship's tour and the ship had no choice but to wait for us and 6 others.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The ship's agent is also listed on the Port & Shopping sheet that you get for each port.

 

Be cerain to always carry a copy of that when you leave the ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

And should you miss the ship -- be certain that the credit card you are going to use to buy plane tickets, food, some necessities, maybe a hotel room is not a debit card and there are sufficient funds in your account to cover this emergency.

[OceanLiner]

Have seen several people miss the ship.

 

We would not think of cutting it that close to getting back to the ship.

 

The only time we arrived after the ship was shceduled to depart was when we were on a ship's tour and the ship had no choice but to wait for us and 6 others.

At one time I agreed with the concept that the ship would not leave us behind if we were on an excursion sponsered by the ship. But since talking to the security team at St Thomas it has become clear to me that you only have a better chance of not being left behind and that it is really up to the captain as to when the ship departs. The St Thomas guys told us about one incident where over 100 people were stranded when the excursion buses did not make it back on time.......and then or course the ship that stayed several hours waiting for one person.......there is no definite course other than making sure you are on the ship.

[kiberkid]

A few years ago when we were on Carnival. In Costa Rica we took a tour of the Rain Forest. Thank heavens it was a Carnival Excursion as the we got back to the ship 30 minutes after sailing time (60 minutes after boarding time). I am not sure the ship would have waited that long for us if it had been a private tour.

[MercedMike]

LOL --

 

Once in St Maarten we had quite a show.

 

Quite a few people were on their balconies or on deck when a small boat whizzing out from shore neared the ship. Standing on the front of the boat, holding on for dear life, was a young blonde girl, being held by a crewman of the boat! They pulled up to the ship, with the young blonde holding on with one hand and trying to hold her short skirt down with the other! By now there was a cheering crowd on the deck watching. The blonde was grabbed by the small boat's crewman and literally tossed across to the ship -- where I am sure there were plenty of eager deckhands waiting to grab her and haul her aboard! It was really a delightful thing to watch -- and I am pretty sure that shopping, drinking or any other onshore attraction will not tempt that blonde girl again!

 

>:-)

[AirGorilla]

If you choose to not take a credit card with you when you go ashore, make sure that you have memorized the number, expiration date and security code.

 

This could come in very handy if you miss the ship, and need to book passage to the next port.

[kstemple3]

Just last month we were three hours late getting back to the ship. A 3 p.m. sailing time turned out to be after 6 p.m. Of course, that could have been because there were 2 bus loads of us late. There was a bad accident on the highway that closed the road to all traffic for close to 3 hours. Luckily for us we were just about to leave the plantation we had visited when the road was closed, so we stayed there. We could have been sitting on the bus on the highway.

[Lee77]

We were standing at the rail watching the pilot boat bring 2 late passengers to the ship. The fellow standing next to me said they would be charged a hefty fee. He thought something like $300 each.

CAn anyone verify this?

[cruzincurt]

If it happens to you, and you left your passport safely locked in the cabin safe, wave bye-bye and thank those on the cruisecritic board that advised you to leave the passport in the safe.

[fann1sh]

We were standing at the rail watching the pilot boat bring 2 late passengers to the ship. The fellow standing next to me said they would be charged a hefty fee. He thought something like $300 each.

CAn anyone verify this?

 

On Maasdam in 2002, Nassau - 2 latecomers were put aboard by the pilot boat. Met one of the pax later and IIRC it was $1,200-1,500 for the 2 of them (doubled their cruise cost).

[Enchanted]

At one time I agreed with the concept that the ship would not leave us behind if we were on an excursion sponsered by the ship. But since talking to the security team at St Thomas it has become clear to me that you only have a better chance of not being left behind and that it is really up to the captain as to when the ship departs. The St Thomas guys told us about one incident where over 100 people were stranded when the excursion buses did not make it back on time.......and then or course the ship that stayed several hours waiting for one person.......there is no definite course other than making sure you are on the ship.

 

True, but it's my understanding that if you book a tour from the ship and they decide not to wait for you, then it is HAL that pays for and makes arrangements for you to catch up with them.

 

I'm sure i don't really need to ask this BUT... can someone please correct me if i'm wrong? If so, i see no benifit to booking through the ship.

[sparkly]

One Christmas cruise,a father was frantic as his 2 twenty something sons were not aboard to sail from Cozumel. no need to say where they were!:rolleyes: Lots of drama! The boys were going by the time on their cell phones which automatically adjust to the local time zone, not ship time. The Dad had to pay to fly them to Miamithen on to Jamaica! Lucky kids, I would have said " Tough luck! Get thee home and I will see ya'all later!" It must havecost a fine sum of money!

[jetskier]

If it happens to you, and you left your passport safely locked in the cabin safe, wave bye-bye and thank those on the cruisecritic board that advised you to leave the passport in the safe.

 

What is bad also is that the person giving the travel talk onboard the ship also will tell you to leave the passport onboard. This is all fine if you make it back to the ship on time. BUT if you dont, you will have wished you had it.

 

The passport rule has gotten so bad that they are requiring workers on oil rigs that are out further than 60 miles to have to have them.

Dave

[jcrandle]

On one of our previous cruises, the CD was giving his first port talk, and posed the question to the audience, "Who will the ship wait on?" Most speculated the captain, but the CD assured us that the first officer was fully qualified and legally able to replace the captain, if he was unable to serve. He then stated that since we were a relatively small ship, and carried only one ship's doctor, that regulations required that a doctor be on board, and the ship would wait for the doctor.

 

He then cautioned us if we were on a shore excursion, to try to be on the same bus as the ship's doctor.

[Pam in CA]

I've often seen people left behind. Usually, it's people who went on their own to a beach or a bar and lost track of time. Last year, we left two couples behind in Barcelona. They took the train overnight and were at the dock in Cannes to meet the tenders to get back to the ship.

 

With the new passport regulations, I can't imagine anyone cruising without a passport or a credit card. You won't be able to fly to another country or even home without a huge amount of hassle. Please don't listen to anyone who says you don't need a passport until 2008 if you're cruising the Caribbean/Mexico/Canada. You're really asking for trouble if you cruise without a passport.

[Copper10-8]

If taking your passport with you on your shore excursions as opposed to leaving it in your cabin makes you feel better, by all means, please do it! More power to you! Taking it with you or leaving it in your safe both have pros and cons. If your pp gets ripped off with your hard earned $$$ and/or other valuables on a shore excursion by some street thug in Naples, Caracas, St. Petersburg, downtown L.A.:rolleyes: or wherever, you could quite possibly run into some difficulty with the boys and girls from U.S. Immigration when you attempt to reenter the good ol' U.S. of A (or really any other country except maybe a select few:eek: ). Would love to hear from a pax such a scenario actually occurred to!

Along the same way, if you don't take it with you off the ship and, god forbid, you get stranded on Christmas Island, you could encounter those same issues when trying to get back to home sweet home. Bottom line is, in both scenarios I would expect HAL (and any other cruise line) to intervene on your behalf with INS (Dept. of Homeland Security and/or similar services in your home country if you're not ein Amerikaner) both at your embarkation port or arriving airport (if you got ripped off) or via their port agent (if you got stranded).

Once again, it is a personal decision until that time that HAL (and other lines) make taking your pp ashore with you mandatory! Last time I checked, unlike your ship I.D./key card and one form of personal identification, they do not so I guess taking your passport is not that high of a priority to them as of right now;).

Isn't cruising great?

[jetskier]

With the new passport regulations, I can't imagine anyone cruising without a passport or a credit card. You won't be able to fly to another country or even home without a huge amount of hassle. Please don't listen to anyone who says you don't need a passport until 2008 if you're cruising the Caribbean/Mexico/Canada. You're really asking for trouble if you cruise without a passport.

 

Pam,

You make an excellant point. With the new regulations requiring a passport for LAND and AIR travel to USA, you would be in a big bind if you did not have a passport. So basically if you missed the ship and DID NOT have a passport issued, you would not be able to fly or drive back to the USA. You would have to go to the nearest consulate and then wait a couple of days for a passport to be issued.

Dave