The ship will wait for you if your late...

[JTJ]

We (GF & I) almost missed the Crown last week, had a flat in rental jeep in Aruba (natural pool area), the ship was supposed to leave at 17:00, we got there at 17:30 and it was pulling away. The Captain sent the pilot boat to take us in, had to climb the rope ladder. Tryed to tip the Pilot & Crew but they would not take $ said this happens all the time. We had our passports with us though.

[nrdsb4]

yes, that's the post I was referring to. I wish I could find it. I think they had to pay for everything and she was having trouble getting reimbursed. I read so many threads, I can't keep them straight. I just remember thinking that I had always thought that if it were a Princess excursion, they would wait.

 

Guilty also.:D

[GloriaF]

ashore ~ just in case we have to catch up to the ship on our own. We never plan to be late back, but the unforeseen does happen. It would be horrible trying to prove who you were and that you could pay for transport without those things. I don't even want to think about it. :eek:

 

I do recall a ruckus on this board a while back when a couple of pax claimed they had been left while on a ship sponsored tour. It may have been the scuba one mentioned above. But once the whole story was out, it turned out that couple had departed the tour in town for some shopping and the rest of the tour had returned to the ship. Thus putting them on their own.

[spongerob]

The scuba one was from a Carnival cruise. The threads keep getting yanked...:rolleyes:

 

GloriaF, that's why I posted the warning I made earlier in the thread. I was on a tour where two guys wanted to leave to go to a bar they'd heard about, and there wasn't much time to get back to the tender dock. Our tour leader (golf pro on the ship) did his best to convince them to stay, and warned them that the ship would not wait for them. He later told us that he'd get in trouble regardless since everyone on the tour was his responsibility.

[Pam in CA]

We (GF & I) almost missed the Crown last week, had a flat in rental jeep in Aruba (natural pool area), the ship was supposed to leave at 17:00, we got there at 17:30 and it was pulling away. The Captain sent the pilot boat to take us in, had to climb the rope ladder. Tryed to tip the Pilot & Crew but they would not take $ said this happens all the time. We had our passports with us though.

Yes, this does happen all the time. People on their own don't plan enough time to get back to the ship in case of a mechanical or other delay. They think that because the ship sails at 6PM that they can give themselves just enough time to make it back by 5:30PM. These are the ones who get left behind (not to mention those who want one more drink before heading to the ship.)

[bunduo]

In Europe, we hired a driver who said that all the independents keep an eye/ear on the ship-sponsored tour buses. They know they have to leave before the last tour bus. As long as they are in front of them, they are ok. The driver said, in all his years, he has never had someone miss the boat. He did say he was late twice because of bad accidents on the highway but the ship waited because the buses were also delayed.

[cruiserjanet]

In Kauai last year, a couple had been hanging out at the beach and never checked their watch. They got chewed out by security and officers for holding up the ship. The couple then started swearing at security. One of our tablemates saw the whole thing. He said they were quite mean to security and everyone on that side of the ship was yelling at the couple for being inconsiderate. We left 40 minutes late.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I remember a thread earlier this year when a couple was coming off a ship tour but managed to get separated from the group. They got left behind. Their reason seemed a bit strange.

 

A couple of years ago, some couple (I think on a RC ship) went to a beach and fell asleep. They were depending on a taxi to get them. They also didn't bother to check on the ship's time. They blamed RC for getting left behind.

[japester]

Take any port you like...but just for arguments sake let's say Cozumel!

 

A port already under pressure from having most of its piers wiped out in the hurricane...eight ships in the harbour...some tied up and some tendering.

 

During the week Dec 4th to 10th cruise ships depostited a total of 80,000 passengers on that Island. For the sake of argument let's say that all the ships that week carried 3000 passengers each...that means that about 27 ships came and left.:eek:

 

It is the Harbour Master who oversees the port...the coming and going of ships...and when he says leave...they leave! They leave if they are Carnival, RCCL, HAL..and yes...they leave if they are Princess!

 

So while the Princess policy is that no passenger on one of their excursions gets left behind ...remember it is the Princess policy, not the policy of the Harbour Master of Whatever Port! He doesn't give a damn!:eek: He's got boats to move and that is what is going to happen!

 

Tom:)

 

I hope people pay special attention to your post, Tom, since it cuts to the crux of the matter. The ship cannot always wait---whether you are on a ship-sponsored excursion or not. If other ships need to get in, your ship may sail. If Princess will be fined heavily for staying past their scheduled time, they will weigh that against the cost of chartering a private boat for you or paying for airfare to the next port.

 

Princess does not word this guarantee well. In reality, they should say that they will make every effort to get you back on board if on a ship's excursion, not that they won't leave.

 

Jape

[chasetf]

I remember a thread earlier this year when a couple was coming off a ship tour but managed to get separated from the group. They got left behind. Their reason seemed a bit strange.

We get separated from the tour lots of times. :) When were opt to depart the tour in town' date=' instead of taking the bus back to the ship, we are at that point on our own. We are responsible to find our own transportation back to the ship. If we are late, then we are responsible for the consequences.

A couple of years ago, some couple (I think on a RC ship) went to a beach and fell asleep. They were depending on a taxi to get them. They also didn't bother to check on the ship's time. They blamed RC for getting left behind.

Gee.... some folks that cannot take responsibility for their own actions. :( Seems to happen a lot nowadays. :mad:

[pmarshll]

We (GF & I) almost missed the Crown last week, had a flat in rental jeep in Aruba (natural pool area), the ship was supposed to leave at 17:00, we got there at 17:30 and it was pulling away. The Captain sent the pilot boat to take us in, had to climb the rope ladder. Tryed to tip the Pilot & Crew but they would not take $ said this happens all the time. We had our passports with us though.

 

We have pics of you and your GF on the pier and also on the pilot boat if you want it as a memory.

 

I will email it if you want - pmarshll@comcast.net

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

On the dec 3-10 Caribbean Princess sailing, 2 ladies were 25 minutes late. The ship kept paging them over and over on the intercom. Finally a we will be departing at 6 o'clock announcement was made.

We were on my mom's balcony watching and wouldn't you know it...at 5:55 a taxi came zooming all the way to the end of the long St.Maarten pier and they ran on the ship. Everyone on their balconies cheered and clapped.

[Pam in CA]

I remember a thread earlier this year when a couple was coming off a ship tour but managed to get separated from the group. They got left behind. Their reason seemed a bit strange.

You're right. They got off the bus and "were polite," letting everyone get ahead of them on the way to the dock and the tender. They got separated from the others on the tour because they were being polite and wound up at the dock for the tender well after the last tender was loaded, everything at the ship's dock was put on the tender, and made it's way to the ship. I don't know about you but I've taken many, many ship's tours and even in out-of-the-way countries, the bus or van has dropped us off right near the tender dock -- never more than a 5 - 10 minute walk. And, in my experience, it takes a good 15 - 20 minutes for the ship's staff to clear off all of the tender disembarkation equipment and load it on the tender. How they could get so far behind the others on their bus for that 5-minute walk merely because they were "being polite" and letting the others get ahead beats me. They blamed the cruise ship for leaving them behind, saying that they should have known they were coming from the bus and waited. The whole thing was very weird because they were livid that they had been left behind and took no responsibility for that.

[ehogan]

If you are not on a ship excursion and are late, the ship WILL leave without you. I have seen it happen on several cruises. First they page the missing passengers (in case they have somehow slipped back on board without putting their sign and sail cards into the reader) then, if you are lucky they may wait a half hour, but there are no guarantees. On our last cruise, 4 passengers were left behind in Naples and had to find their own way back to Rome. They spent the night in the very scary Naples train station.

 

If you are on a ship excursion that is scheduled to return you to the ship, they will wait unless there are unusual circumstances.

 

This is why I usually pay the extra for the ship excursion, especially if I am in a port I am unfamiliar with, or if the next day is a sea day, or if you will be in another country the next day. If you do decide to take a private excursion, leave lots of time to get back to the ship.

 

Always take the number of the ship's representative at the port with you when you go ashore and if the next port is in another country, make sure you also take your passport.

[Shogun]

Hi There,

 

A few years ago we took a taxi to a beech on one of the islands as was the norm you agree a time for the taxi to come back and get paid he came back, we had to walk until we found a local bar told the barman our story and he asked if some one would take us to our ship, we were so happy when one bloke said he would help out we paid him more than we would have paid the taxi driver we were just so happy to see the ship.

 

 

On Tortola we lost one person, the ship put out his name loads of times , lifted all the gang ways except a little one, blew the ships horn a few times, now the peir is quite long and there is quite a distance a mile or so from the docks out side gates so you have a very good view of who is coming.

 

He was spotted running to the ship then stopping then running as he got closer everyone start clapping etc he was met by ships officers and marched away.

 

But we did wait quite a while for him.

 

Aagin in Europe this summer we were late leaving port a few times due to tours getting back late but by no more than hour.

 

yours Shogun

[catzcrazy]

We were on a Princess ship excursion to St. John and our excursion was the last one back. nearly a half hour late. The ship did indeed wait for all of us (there were more than 30 people).

 

When we pulled in to the docks, I knew the ship was waiting for us - the dock was absolutely empty. You have no idea how I thanked goodness we were on a ship tour!

 

I always book my excusions through the ship - I am just too paranoid to do one on my own and take a chance on being left at the Port. :)

[JTJ]

pmarshll, sent you an e-mail, I love to see the pics now that its over. That was a trip jumping on to the side of the ship from the pilot boat with rough water from both wakes. GF is a fireman so she is used to that kind of thing but it was a first and hopefully last for me.

[cusyl]

On a cruise earlier this year a woman got a cell phone call from her daughter to tell her that she was not on the ship, but caught in heavy traffic. Against the crew's wishes she got off the ship and waited on the dock for her. They did NOT hold the ship for them. However, after leaving the dock a little boat pulled up and the ship stopped. Both women had to climb a rope ladder to get onto the ship.:eek:

[FLACRUISER99]

On the dec 3-10 Caribbean Princess sailing, 2 ladies were 25 minutes late. The ship kept paging them over and over on the intercom. Finally a we will be departing at 6 o'clock announcement was made.

We were on my mom's balcony watching and wouldn't you know it...at 5:55 a taxi came zooming all the way to the end of the long St.Maarten pier and they ran on the ship. Everyone on their balconies cheered and clapped.

Same thing on my Caribbean Princess trip last Sept. So the answer to the OP question is Maybe if your Lucky. The late person was not on a ships sponsored tour.