Have you been left behind on ship sponsored shore excursion?

[Iwant1]

We're scheduled for the Peppercorn Helmet Dive the morning we leave Bermuda. The excursion is scheduled for 9am and the ship is to depart Bermuda at 11:30am. This excursion is booked thru the ship and estimated to be 2 hours in length. Should I be concerned with this time crunch? I'm mostly worried because it will be difficult to get back to the US because I don't FLY! I certainly don't want to miss the ship! :o

[discjoker]

If it is an excursion booked through the ship you have nothing to worry about. They won't leave without you.

[smeyer418]

originally posted by MercedMike

 

I have, on two occasions in 34 cruises, seen the ship leave ship's excursion passengers behind. There are consideration the Captain must observe, for example tides, local laws, travel time to the next port and so on.

 

 

....

 

it rarely happens but it does.

[yogimax]

originally posted by MercedMike

 

I have, on two occasions in 34 cruises, seen the ship leave ship's excursion passengers behind. There are consideration the Captain must observe, for example tides, local laws, travel time to the next port and so on.

 

 

....

 

it rarely happens but it does.

 

One would think the difference would be liability. If you book an independent tour and miss the ship, the resposnibility and cost to get home or to the next port is solely yours.

 

If the ship left and you were on a ship tour, the responsibility would shift to NCL. The problem here is that the OP would refuse to fly.

[smeyer418]

One would think the difference would be liability. If you book an independent tour and miss the ship, the resposnibility and cost to get home or to the next port is solely yours.

 

If the ship left and you were on a ship tour, the responsibility would shift to NCL. The problem here is that the OP would refuse to fly.

 

 

are you sure its the cruise lines responsibility?

[lambchoplady]

We're scheduled for the Peppercorn Helmet Dive the morning we leave Bermuda. The excursion is scheduled for 9am and the ship is to depart Bermuda at 11:30am. This excursion is booked thru the ship and estimated to be 2 hours in length. Should I be concerned with this time crunch? I'm mostly worried because it will be difficult to get back to the US because I don't FLY! I certainly don't want to miss the ship! :o

I would not worry. I did that dive when I was in Bermuda 3 years ago. You get on the dive boat right across from the pier and the site is only about a 10 minute ride away. So, even if your boat broke down, they could easily get you back to the ship in time for the cruise.

[storm15]

NCL advertises that if you are on one of their excursions the ship will wait for you. Sort of a insurance policy for booking with them.

[Wylie Coyote]

are you sure its the cruise lines responsibility?

 

I read the fine print on ship sponsored shore excurstions and it states that the ship will wait a resonable amount of time if your excursion runs late. If the ship does depart without you, NCL will make the arrangements for you to rejoin the cruise at their expense.

 

Happy Sailing!!! :D

[Iwant1]

Thanks everyone! It's nice to know that the dive site is close and not on the other side of the island. We always book excursions thru the ship because they claim to wait, but this one cuts it pretty close. If they do leave me, hopefully they can plant me on another ship to get home. :)

[yogimax]

are you sure its the cruise lines responsibility?

 

Yes!

[Got2Cruise]

Using a ship's excursion on the last half day in Bermuda is the best way to squeeze every second out of your stay.:)

[Iwant1]

That was my thought exactly when we booked it. Now as it gets closer, I'm getting a little freaky! I'm sure it will be fine, I just needed some re-assurance.

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Ok, here's my personal experience. We sailed on Princess (I know, I know, this is NCLs board, but still . . .) last summer. We booked a ship-sponsored all day champagne (never had any-they didn't offer it, hmmm - ok, back to the point) and catamaran sail to St. John's (while docked in St. Thomas).

 

Anywho, the captain of the catamaran was a fill-in for the company/person who was contracted with the cruiseline (this, I believe, becomes important later). So, we sail to St. John's have a GREAT day. We all (49 of us) realize it's getting late and the captain is taking his time. We are supposed to be back on board NO LATER THAN 3 pm.

 

At 2:15 we leave from St. John's .... Seems like we're all looking at the time and getting a little nervous. Captain is still mosying (sp?) back to ship ... then it's 2:30, then 2:45 and we can't even SEE St. Thomas.

 

So, 3:00 passes and now we're all wondering if we're going to charter this catamaran to our next port!

 

At 3:20'ish we 'pull into our parking spot' at the dock - the ship is sitting there - only one gangway is down and you could almost hear the crickets!! A couple of uniformed staff from Princess are standing and waiting - it really looks ominous.

 

I start booking it off the catamaran and dh tells me to slow down, they are waiting . . . my thought was "I am NOT going to be the very last person back on board - NO WAY!" So, I'm in a walk/run (trot maybe?) back to the ship and there is a staff member from the ship who appears to be part of the cruise director staff, kinda shooing us along. I stop, look at him and say (I swear) "guess there's no time to do a little shopping here . . ." Ok, I was totally joking!!! You could tell everyone was a 'bit peeved' -- I tell him that I was just playing around - he didn't find it funny.

 

We come around to the secured area and the port police (don't know the proper name for them) are there ..... I'm fumbling with my ID - she says "JUST GO!" Okey dokey - don't have to tell me twice - LOL.

 

Anyway, as we're contining to trot on over to the gangway, I hear my name. I looked at DH and asked him if he heard someone calling me. Of course not - 20 years of marriage has taught him to ignore anything that has to do with food or ....... ok - you get the picture. Ok, maybe I've had too much rum punch. Then I hear it again and louder - I look up and way up on the TOP DECK are some of my CC friends and they are not only yelling my name - they are waving so fast and furious I think they may take off in flight!

 

Now I'm a little embarrassed - but whatever. We get to the gangway and start to get on the ship - we are the 2nd couple - everyone else is still a ways behind. The staff standing there were really really p.o.'d - it was quite unnerving.

 

I envisioned the last person getting on the ship and the gangway being pulled up before they were even off of it . . . don't know if that is what happened, but judging by the mood, it certainly could have.

 

Anyway, point of my long-drawn-out story is that Princess did wait for us and thank goodness they did. But I have been told that the cruiselines are assessed fines if they do not leave the dock when they are supposed to. I was also told that in our situation the cruiseline probably passed the fine on to the tour operator. Bummer.

[mpk218]

Have never been left behind , but we have ditched a few

that were boring or dragging on . Just make sure you keep an eye on your watch becuase they may not. ;)

[jt1120]

While leaving St. Thomas, we were standing on the deck, watching the sail away, and noticed a young couple running frantically towards the ship. You could tell that they missed the boat, literally. I got it all on tape (I'm a video geek). From what we found out from our waiter, they would be taken by boat to the next port (St. Martin) at their expense. What a horrible feeling that would be.

 

Once we saw a Carnival ship leave the port of Miami, do the turn around (if you're familiar with the port, you know what I'm talking about), then came back to the port. We found out later that some of the cruise STAFF missed the boat. Bet they got into some trouble!

[yogimax]

I was also told that in our situation the cruiseline probably passed the fine on to the tour operator. Bummer.

 

It would be perfectly appropriate for the cruise line to do so since it was the tour operator's responsibility to make it back to the ship on time and there were no extenuating circumstances.

[Got2Cruise]

I wouldn't worry about excursions in Bermuda. . .it is an extremely well-run island. Most likely the excursion companies sign a contract that includes the provision that they are responsible for any damages if they return you back to the pier late. On our cruise two weeks ago, there was a video on the tv constantly playing and emphasizing the reason to book through the ship is that they guarantee you will not miss the ship. Booking privately is another matter altogether. They WILL leave without you.

[wrp96]

I know that one time an RCCL ship had to leave Bermuda early due to bad weather coming in unexpectedly leaving passengers on shore excursions behind. RCCL put them up in a hotel and paid for their flights back home.

 

This is an extremely rare occurrence though.

[kontraxed]

Frankly, if I was nervous about missing the boat, I would not book the excursion. I am almost surprised that given the time constraints the OP mentioned that they would even offer that excursion. I go on a cruise to relax and that sounds like the kind of scenario where I would not enjoy the excursion for all the worrying we would be doing.

[lambchoplady]

Frankly, if I was nervous about missing the boat, I would not book the excursion. I am almost surprised that given the time constraints the OP mentioned that they would even offer that excursion. I go on a cruise to relax and that sounds like the kind of scenario where I would not enjoy the excursion for all the worrying we would be doing.

 

I share your concern about missing the boat - I am always on early for everything. But, I would not worry about this one. The excursion starts at 9:00, gets to its destination well before 9:30, is at the dive site for 1 hr, and is back at the pier well before 11:00. No problem!

[Got2Cruise]

I share your concern about missing the boat - I am always on early for everything. But, I would not worry about this one. The excursion starts at 9:00, gets to its destination well before 9:30, is at the dive site for 1 hr, and is back at the pier well before 11:00. No problem!

 

These excursions are purposely arranged for this short time period. They have been offering these excursions on the last half day in Bermuda by these same companies for several years. I myself took the kayak tour that was offered. You will be back in plenty of time. The ship would not offer these tours unless they knew there would be enough time. That is the advantage of booking the ship's excursion. And, if by the off-chance you do miss the ship, all you will miss is one sea day, and spend more time in Bermuda and a paid flight home.:D

[MrLee]

These excursions are purposely arranged for this short time period. They have been offering these excursions on the last half day in Bermuda by these same companies for several years. I myself took the kayak tour that was offered. You will be back in plenty of time. The ship would not offer these tours unless they knew there would be enough time. That is the advantage of booking the ship's excursion. And, if by the off-chance you do miss the ship, all you will miss is one sea day, and spend more time in Bermuda and a paid flight home.:D

 

The real problem here is that the OP doesn't fly.

[14 Days or Longer]

We remember it well. We were stranded in the Falklands not because of the tour operator but because of the weather. We were on the old Crown and the

wind came up. It was unsafe to tender so we watched as the Crown set sail.

Two days later (hotel,meals and flight paid for by NCL) we rejoined the cruise,I think in Montevideo. They did give us a credit for the missed days.

The old Crown was a wonderful sea worthy ship.

[Cruzin2paradise09]

It would be perfectly appropriate for the cruise line to do so since it was the tour operator's responsibility to make it back to the ship on time and there were no extenuating circumstances.

 

I agree, my 'bummer' comment was a 'too bad' bummer . . . the captain of our catamaran was a bit 'cocky' when we were trying to explain to him that we had to get back.

 

I most certainly was not feeling bad for the tour operator - remember, I could have been one of the ones left behind to no fault of my own!

[marilynd]

A couple of years ago I was on a ship arranged shore excusion to a town about an hour to hour and a half outside of Cabo. For some reason our tour guide did not arrange the time correctly and we were almost a hour late getting back to the ship. The ship waited for us. I remember that I got off the bus and ran for the tender. I was afraid that I would miss the last tender back to the ship if I walked to slow.