It’s the stuff of nightmares for a traveller – especially a cruiser.
A video uploaded to YouTube on Sunday shows a couple rolling up to the dock just as their ship, Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas starts to sail away.
According to Newsweek, an onlooker shot the footage from the building next to the cruise harbour and it shows the dock workers pulling the ropes off the ship as the couple sprinted towards the gangway at the port in the Bahamas.
The couple then move towards the stern of the ship where they appear to yell back at one of Royal Caribbean’s crew members. It appears that one of the ship officials tell the couple that the thrusters have been turned on and it is impossible for them to board the ship.
As cruisers, most of us know that cruise lines have extremely tight schedules they need to follow, and the lines will be charged extra time that they spend in port.
The cruise lines also give guests ample warning of the times that the ship will be departing the visiting ports, and what time you need to be back from exploring or from your shore excursions.
Here are some of the handy tips that will help you if you miss your ship.
Keep important information on you
When you’re heading out for a shore excursion, make sure you keep photocopies of your passport, credit cards (if you don’t intend to take them ashore with you), driver’s licenses as well as phone numbers of your ship as well as the port agent. The cruise lines will usually provide these on the daily schedules you receive the night before. Also, keep the numbers of your country’s embassy, travel agent and travel insurer. You can then contact any of these people to try and get you to the next port to meet the ship.
Find a port agent
Cruise lines will have port agents stationed in the port area to assist you if the ship has left without you. In some cases, when cruisers are late, the ship’s crew will often remove the passenger’s essential items like phones, passport and medication to leave it with port agents. They will then help you make further travel arrangements.
Use those phone numbers
The phone numbers you have will come in handy. The contact on your ship can help you figure out the next steps to meet the ship at the next port. The crew can also help you book flights and interim accommodation if you can’t meet the ship the next day. And if you don’t have the necessary identification on you, your embassy will be able to help you get to the next port.
Make travel arrangements
If you miss the ship, you’ll have to either make your way to next port or make arrangements to get home. Either way, this will incur additional costs and your travel agent and travel insurer might be able to help you make plans.
I have been on ships where passengers just missing the ship have been taken out on the pilot’s boat and put on the ship when it is already under way. I have seen this happen several times.
I was lead to believe that if you book a shore tour through your ship they will wait for you to get back if your tour is running late for whatever reason. If this is incorrect it makes me think twice about booking shore tours from now on.
If you’re on one of the Ship’s excursions the ship will wait for you. The person in charge of the tour will contact the ship and let them know there will be a delay. As comments above have mentioned there is literature available with contact numbers to get in touch with the ship if you have a problem but as one of the comments above mentioned, it’s often the same “special” people who are late nearly every
time.
Many years ago on the Fairstar we waited for well over an hour after our scheduled 10pm departure from Suva FijI. A crew member was late back from a night out on the town. We were all very merry and singing up on deck when eventually a cab pulled up at the dock with the missing crew member who was assisted aboard. We all cheered as the ship got under way immediately.
Turned out to be our Italian captain who was late back. He had shown throughout the cruise he was quite accustomed to having as much fun as the guests. This is a true story from 1984. Fortunately I haven’t come across another captain like him.
Going on a cruise is like being in a hotel with the chance of drowning ! No thanks!
But we don’t know why this happened. Maybe a traffic hold up? We can’t comment on it, unless we know how it occured. A long time cruiser myself and I have never missed a departure, but I have seen people rush on at the last minute due to a tourist mini bus breakdown, and another time due to something similar. So lets us not be to ready to criticise this couple.
Quite sadly, we have seen this happen numerous times, but the shipping line is not responsible for your lack of planning. There is written information, there are numerous announcements before and after the ship docks, and people still just don’t get it……no, they won’t wait……
Really it serves them right and teaches them a lesson for future cruises. Expecting to hold up +4000 other passengers. You’re told what time to be back and there is a sign as you leave the ship clearly stating the time you need to be back and departure time that is usually 30 mins later. They don’t sail then either if someone is missing. Announcements are made over the ship public address system paging those missing and I been on ships that have waited anything from 30 mins more to an hour. If people just expect that the ship will wait for them they are very wrong. You will often find that every port someone is late its often the same people.
Absolutely zero sympathy.
I saw this happened several times on a Mediterranean Cruise. People turning up late after the gangplanks up or missing the last Tender back .
Last year on a boat cruise on the Queen Elizabeth we had the experience of one of the speakers actually missing the boat!