Left behind?

[hank56]

I am not quite sure why people would boo latecomers....it seems so mean. You're on vacation, it's not harming you in any way to slow down and let them catch up. Certainly if they had to pay $2500 to get a ride to the ship, they were punished.

 

It seems people these days are getting more and more mean spirited, and that makes me sad.

 

It seem people theses days are more "all about me" they show up when THEY want and people who don't hold them accountable are enablers. Late for Dining room, late for appointments etc. we all know people like this. I will go out on a limb here, most people getting back to the ship "late" are due to their own actions, maybe a little booing will help speed them up next time. I doubt it.

[Sue L]

I am not quite sure why people would boo latecomers....it seems so mean. You're on vacation, it's not harming you in any way to slow down and let them catch up. Certainly if they had to pay $2500 to get a ride to the ship, they were punished.

 

It seems people these days are getting more and more mean spirited, and that makes me sad.

 

We had a Carnival Captain announce in Cozumel for everyone to go to the side of the ship that faced the pier (pre-hurricanes) and "let the stragglers no how we felt about them holding up the ship" He called it the "five O'clock follies" Sure enough about 20 people came stumbling down the pier towards the ship. One guy was being pushed by his friends strapped to a hand truck. They were all bombed from visits to the various bars on the island. Everyone on the open decks and balconies were cheering and or booing the stragglers.

[janabelle61]

My experience has been that they will wait if you're on a ship-sponsored excursion - at least for awhile. If you go on your own, you are on your own and may have to deal with the consequences if you're late.

 

On our recent New England cruise, our excursion (we booked through the ship because we were concerned about time) was late due to bad traffic in Halifax. The ship waited for us and we were hurried onto the ship as soon as we got back with the gangway closing behind us.

 

A couple of years ago, in Villefranche, the usual announcements were made trying to locate about 6 people. The captain finally announced that he hoped they enjoyed their train ride to Barcelona because we were sailing and could not wait any longer.

[FiremanDan]

One of my greatest joys is to stand on deck and watch the pier as we prepare to sail away. There are countless times when you see a cab pull up and people are running and/or crawling. Some people just can't understand that the big white hotel they're staying in moves and it moves on a schedule. In conversations with ship staff I learned that this happens more then most people would believe. The 3 and 4 day party cruises to Mexico are the worst.

[MakinGold]

On board Mariner in September, as we were pulling out of Labadee and our room phone rings. DH answers it. It is a security person.....MAKING SURE HE IS ON THE SHIP!

 

Well he is ... obviously. BUT, had he not been on the ship what would they have done? Have you ever been left behind...what happens? I mean, we were already moving away from Labadee!!!

 

I guess when he got on the ship his card went in backwards and bing'd instead of bong'd.

 

Regardless of what some people have stated on here, the cruise line does have some responsibility to keep up with its passengers. You are probably right, that somehow, when reboarding the ship, your DH did not get properly binged or bonged, so they showed him as "missing," hence the call to the stateroom.

 

They may not be required to hold the ship for you, but they will still try to account for you, and would probably provide some help to get you back aboard, if you were left behind. (Though it may be at your expense.) I don't know exactly what they would have done, if DH were not there, but it would likely have initiated some kind of effort to find him, whether it was Labadee or any other port.

[Amlee]

I am not sure what was up with our Mediterranean cruise this past September but we did not always leave port on time......and then we would hear announcements of names that I assumed were people not on board.. One time we got back from a RCCL excursion late and just about made it... I wonder if they would leave people who have paid for an excursion with their cruise lines....really can they just leave a whole group of people out there on a sponsored excursion???

 

I can't vouch for RCI, but I can for Disney. I booked an excurison with them in St. Lucia. After booking I found out that close to 300 people had booked the same thing. While they did break the groups up, we basicly were all at the same places at them same time. Some of us leaving as others were getting there. When we left, I told the group I was with, that we wouldn't make it back in the 6 hour alloted time frame. No way! We were in the first group to leave, we got back to the ship, an hour after we were set to leave port. Suppose to sail out at 5pm, arrived back at the pier close to 6pm. It took another good 2 hours before the others made it back. It was a huge miscalulation on Disney's part.

[CaesarsNcruisin4me]

To see if you're going to be late for dinner?

:D

 

Hey its entirely possible..........on one of my cruises my headwaiter called my cabin many times during dinner to see where I was. He thought that I missed the ship!:p Of course I almost did.:o Then I went to the dining room to find my friends and realized that I had missed dinner and they didn't save me anything.......so I stole the headwaiters salad so I wouldn't go hungry. LOL!

[lucky99]

I am not quite sure why people would boo latecomers....it seems so mean. You're on vacation, it's not harming you in any way to slow down and let them catch up. Certainly if they had to pay $2500 to get a ride to the ship, they were punished.

 

It seems people these days are getting more and more mean spirited, and that makes me sad.

 

 

Yes and more and more people are inconsiderate of the other 2,000 people on board.

[Gracie115]

I know its true too! On Jewel in 2006 we were almost 2 hours late getting back and the ship was supposed to have sailed after the first hour. We were on an RCCL sponsored excursion and there was an auto accident which delayed everyone. They had to send special tender to pick us up and bring us to the ship. So they will wait when they know it's from an RCCL excursion.

[ronandannette]

Here's what I don't get: If a passenger is not able to disembark at will without penalty (the Jones Act or some such - correct me if I'm wrong please), why is it different if the ship just leaves them? Would there not also be some possible (although maybe farfetched) security and/or immigration implications (not talking personal safety here) if someone was to just walk off a ship and disappear into a foreign country?

 

I'm not opening debate on whether or not it's right for a ship to sail at it's appointed time or whether it's solely the responsibility of the passenger to be on board - of course it is, no question. I'd just like some clarity on this other issue please.

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

[Amlee]

Here's what I don't get: If a passenger is not able to disembark at will without penalty (the Jones Act or some such - correct me if I'm wrong please), why is it different if the ship just leaves them? Would there not also be some possible (although maybe farfetched) security and/or immigration implications (not talking personal safety here) if someone was to just walk off a ship and disappear into a foreign country?

 

I'm not opening debate on whether or not it's right for a ship to sail at it's appointed time or whether it's solely the responsibility of the passenger to be on board - of course it is, no question. I'd just like some clarity on this other issue please.

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

 

On my last cruise Celebrity British Isles/Western Europe, I booked an independant tour in Dublin. I knew I would be cutting it way close so I made arrangement just in case to catch the ship at the next port (Belfast). I went down EARLY expecting to have to get my passport stamped or to talk to customs. I went down and explained what was going on. The lady at Guest Services called down to someone and asked what do I need to do. I was told nothing, to have a good time. I was floored that it was that simple. Lucky for me, I made it back with about 15 minutes to spare and the only people behind me was the crew.

 

But I have to wonder just how much trouble I would have had at the border.

[cruisnfool]

I imagine the left behind people may either be newbies that don't think the ship will leave without them or drunk or stupid.......

 

I need to quit taking a nap when I return but instead watch the antics pier side!

[broberts]

My first cruise. In St Thomas, about 45 mins. before the scheduled departure time they started paging a friend who was onshore. Turns out she was the only one not aboard and I guess the ship wanted to leave early.

[DEBCAT65]

I am not quite sure why people would boo latecomers....it seems so mean. You're on vacation, it's not harming you in any way to slow down and let them catch up. Certainly if they had to pay $2500 to get a ride to the ship, they were punished.

 

It seems people these days are getting more and more mean spirited, and that makes me sad.

I agree to some extend, but, I feel that it is even more "mean spirited" to hold the whole ship up. Even though we just sat off the coast for the entire next day, all of the other passengers made sure they were on the ship by the designated time.

 

It has to do with respect to your fellow cruisers. These were probably the same people 45 mins late to dinner.

 

Kathy, we were on this cruise with you. I do not know if you realized that there were 2 people we were waiting on. It was quite funny when they were "booed" because they held everyone else from sailing.

 

Deb

[lucky99]

Here's what I don't get: If a passenger is not able to disembark at will without penalty (the Jones Act or some such - correct me if I'm wrong please), why is it different if the ship just leaves them? Would there not also be some possible (although maybe farfetched) security and/or immigration implications (not talking personal safety here) if someone was to just walk off a ship and disappear into a foreign country?

 

I'm not opening debate on whether or not it's right for a ship to sail at it's appointed time or whether it's solely the responsibility of the passenger to be on board - of course it is, no question. I'd just like some clarity on this other issue please.

 

Happy Sails,

 

Annette

 

 

If a ship had to wait for every late passenger they would all still be sitting in some port some place. Everyone is told in plenty of ways both in writing and many, many announcements what time the ship will leave. If some people found out that ship could not sail at 4:30p.m. unless they were personally on board they would stroll up the gangway at midnight drunk out of their minds and say, "OK, I'm here now lets go".

[Mackey712]

Thanks everyone for this information......I knew they would not leave people on RCCL sponsored excursions... we made it back by the skin of our teeth, but not in time to have dinner in the dining room, there was just no time to get in that room and change into fancy duds for formal night..

[DonnaK]

I have read on these boards of the unlikely occasion where cruisers on a ship-sponsored excursion were late and did miss the ship. While the ship did not wait, the cruiseline was responsible for getting the cruisers to the next port.

 

 

This is correct. The ship does NOT have to wait for you if you are booked on a ship-sponsored excursion, but it will assume responsibility for getting you to meet up with the ship afterwards, so you are not on your own, at your expense.

 

The reason the ship cannot wait is that it pays a port tax to dock or tender there, and if it doesn't leave at the designated time, they will be charged a stiff penalty. That's why sometimes the ship will slow down and pick up the passenger coming off a tender or police boat, but it couldn't wait at the pier for them. (I imagine that the times it does wait, it has to get special permission from the port authority)

[Gracie115]

I just can't imagine "booing" someone cause they missed the boat and found a way to "catch" it. My DH and I watched a couple catch up to the Summit after we left St. Thomas. They were on a small motor boat and had to jump to the ship, we, and MANY others were CHEERING them on. NOTHING they did disturbed ANYONE's vacation and in fact their race to the ship and leap on board provided a little early evening entertainment.:D

 

Sorry but I think it's mean-spirited too.:(

[CaesarsNcruisin4me]

This is correct. The ship does NOT have to wait for you if you are booked on a ship-sponsored excursion, but it will assume responsibility for getting you to meet up with the ship afterwards, so you are not on your own, at your expense.

 

The reason the ship cannot wait is that it pays a port tax to dock or tender there, and if it doesn't leave at the designated time, they will be charged a stiff penalty. That's why sometimes the ship will slow down and pick up the passenger coming off a tender or police boat, but it couldn't wait at the pier for them. (I imagine that the times it does wait, it has to get special permission from the port authority)

 

Thats actually not true. I was told by Capt Rune (Captain of the Radiance at the time) that the ship pays one fee for port tax and that covers them for the day. It doesn't matter if they are docked for 4 hours or 18 hours the price is the same. At the pier they can sit there for hours extra if they like as long as it doesn't go into the next 24 hour period and as long as the local pilot is available.

 

Tendering is different however as they have to arrange for the tender boats for specific hours. Most ships leave when they do simply because they have a schedule to keep and also depends on the Captain as to how long they are willing to wait if at all.

[Amlee]

This is correct. The ship does NOT have to wait for you if you are booked on a ship-sponsored excursion, but it will assume responsibility for getting you to meet up with the ship afterwards, so you are not on your own, at your expense.

 

The reason the ship cannot wait is that it pays a port tax to dock or tender there, and if it doesn't leave at the designated time, they will be charged a stiff penalty. That's why sometimes the ship will slow down and pick up the passenger coming off a tender or police boat, but it couldn't wait at the pier for them. (I imagine that the times it does wait, it has to get special permission from the port authority)

 

Thats actually not true. I was told by Capt Rune (Captain of the Radiance at the time) that the ship pays one fee for port tax and that covers them for the day. It doesn't matter if they are docked for 4 hours or 18 hours the price is the same. At the pier they can sit there for hours extra if they like as long as it doesn't go into the next 24 hour period and as long as the local pilot is available.

 

Tendering is different however as they have to arrange for the tender boats for specific hours. Most ships leave when they do simply because they have a schedule to keep and also depends on the Captain as to how long they are willing to wait if at all.

 

Another thing to toss into the mix, is if another ship is waiting for your spot.

 

I have been in port were a ship was docked across from us in the morning, by that afternoon another ship was in its spot.

[DonnaK]

Thats actually not true. I was told by Capt Rune (Captain of the Radiance at the time) that the ship pays one fee for port tax and that covers them for the day. It doesn't matter if they are docked for 4 hours or 18 hours the price is the same. At the pier they can sit there for hours extra if they like as long as it doesn't go into the next 24 hour period and as long as the local pilot is available.

 

Tendering is different however as they have to arrange for the tender boats for specific hours. Most ships leave when they do simply because they have a schedule to keep and also depends on the Captain as to how long they are willing to wait if at all.

 

 

Hmmm...we were told differently by the Captain aboard our Costa ship (I forget his name). We were scheduled to be in Playa del Carmen one day, and Cozumel the next. They are only a few miles apart, yet the ship left Playa del Carman at 5pm prompt and went out in the open sea, circling Cozumel till 8am the next morning. When asked why didn't they just stay longer, the Captain explained what I wrote about the port tax, that if they had stayed overnight (or docked at Cozumel too early), they would be charged a stiff penalty.

 

As well, I read on CC somewhere that AOS used to depart San Juan at 10pm, and it now departs earlier because of the port tax. Same reason why it docks for less time in Aruba than it used too.

 

I'm sorry if this is misinformation, but I believed the Costa Captain when he explained it, and I believed what I read about AOS too.

[chelle the cruise junkie]

Ships are not required to wait for anyone--if you are on a ship booked excursion they will get you to the next port or the best place for a pick up, if you book on your own then you are responsible for your transportation.

Ships pay one port charge or fee for that particular port, they are also given a time schedule when they can dock and when they must depart. With the number of ships and the limited docking space its kind of a first come basis. Some companies have priority in certain ports because they have paid a "special" rental usage fee. This means that companies ships have priority and are always given the dock even if other ships are in port. In Juneau this year our ship (RCI) docked at 8 am but had to leave the pier and tender starting at noon because the NCL ship arrived and they have "priority" in Juneau this year. Our captain told us that it varies from year to year and from port to port. This is the reason that some ships stay in ports for 10 or more hours and some ships leave after 6.

chelle:D

[Hogfan87]

I just can't imagine "booing" someone cause they missed the boat and found a way to "catch" it. My DH and I watched a couple catch up to the Summit after we left St. Thomas. They were on a small motor boat and had to jump to the ship, we, and MANY others were CHEERING them on. NOTHING they did disturbed ANYONE's vacation and in fact their race to the ship and leap on board provided a little early evening entertainment.:D

 

Sorry but I think it's mean-spirited too.:(

 

I agree, too. It's not like the ship having to slow down to let the people on is going to make anyone late for an appointment. What's the big deal?

[teacherkim]

On our AOS cruise several people were pushing the envelope getting back to the ship and a very large ships officer, with a sense of humor was making a big show out of tapping his watch, waggling his finger at them, encouraging those watching from the ship to jeer, etc. He actually looked to be enjoying himself immensely, until......two people came running up as they were starting to bring in the gangway and he realized they were crew! Lets just say he lost his sense of humor and that they were obviously not on the next promotions list!!

[boatboat]

I just can't imagine "booing" someone cause they missed the boat and found a way to "catch" it. My DH and I watched a couple catch up to the Summit after we left St. Thomas. They were on a small motor boat and had to jump to the ship, we, and MANY others were CHEERING them on. NOTHING they did disturbed ANYONE's vacation and in fact their race to the ship and leap on board provided a little early evening entertainment.:D

 

Sorry but I think it's mean-spirited too.:(

 

I think the booing is the result that most late arrivers have brought it upon themselves. A few have legitimate reasons, like accidents and misinformation. The majority get drunk or chose to be oblivious of the time.

 

I guess my pet peeve is the one or two people that are ALWAYS late back to the bus during an excursion, TOTALLY inconveniencing the other travelers and interrupting the tour.

 

Of the many, many times this has happened .... I have NEVER seen or heard an apology. I is sad enough to be rude, but to an entire bus load, and repeatedly on the same excursion.

 

It is only a guess on my part .... but would not be surprised if these are some of the same people that are running for the boat. :rolleyes: