MISSING THE SHIP??

[MysteriousVxin]

Knock-on-wood this has never happened to me - and I hope it never will . . .

BUT - hypothetically - if I should miss the ship when it's leaving port - what happens?? How do you get back on the ship and/or to the next port of call?!
Has this ever happened to anyone? Or anyone you know??

I'm just curious to see how someone would handle that situation!

Thanks!!

[Carey]

You would have to pay for your own transoprtation to the next port and get back on there. I guess it depends on where you are as far as how you would get there.

My first cruise is tomorrow, so I don't really know. But I read on this site somewhere else that if the cruise got you the tickets and delays caused you to miss it, they provide you means to get to the next port to jump onboard. If you got your on air tickets, you on your own. I don't know for sure....just remembering all the things I've read.

If you're on a tour that you booked throught the ship and you're running late returning, then the ship will always wait for you. However, if you're just late on your own, then they'll leave you in a minute. We used to leave someone behind on an average of once every second or third week.

If you do get left behind, then it's totally up to you find transportation to the next port. There you can rejoin the ship.

Some people will come back to the port just in time to see the ship sailing away. In that case you can try and catch the pilot boat. If you catch them in time, the pilot boat will bring you out to the ship. That happens more than you would think. Happened to me once. It was funny, but the captain was pissed.

[JeanS]

A good reason for arriving in your city of departure the day before. If you miss it from a shore excursion booked thru Carnival, they will hold the ship for you...if it's from an excursion you booked on your own, be prepared to pay the natives a pretty penny to rush you to the ship!

[David W]

This is for the people that will always,I mean always, be late for everything. Rest assured, If the captain tells you, that the ship will sail at 5.00 pm. He means 4.50 pm. At 5.00 pm, the ship is moving away from the pier. So, if you choose to press your luck, beware! And wave bye bye to your shipmates.
On every cruise I have been on, there has been somebody left on the pier, waving goodbye to the ship.And your shipmates are waving back to you too. I hate to leave the islands as much as anybody, but its a long swim back to the States ! As a general rule, I'm always back on board, an hour early before each departure.

Happy Cruising to all;
David

It is an even longer swim back to Canada, from where I'll be, so I'll be certain to heed the warning which was somewhat sugar coated in these cute anecdotes. Of course my husband jokes that if we're left behind in Grand Cayman or Cozumel (two places he's always wanted to go) that he'd be happy to stay there forever - he figures the kids will like it and it will beat the 10 months of winter weather we get each year (I am kidding.. only about 5 months.... 4 really distinct seasons.. but I like to joke about the stereotype that it is winter all the time in Canada).

I agree with the intention of being back on the ship an hour in advance - particularly in tender ports where the last minute throngs of passengers trying to return to the ship might be heavy. As far as I can tell, and with a great deal of assurances from the tour operators I booked with, the excursions we've booked will be back to the port well in advance of our departure time allowing us some free time to wander the port area for trinkets and doo-dads.

As for the day of departure from Tampa - we've opted to fly in a day early in hopes of avoiding any issues with flights and delays - and we're even flying home the day after we return -spending the day we get back into port at Busch Gardens in hopes of holding off that oh-so-well-documented "post cruise depression" for at least one more day.

Well I'm down to 7 weeks, today, YEAH!!!! And I just checked - the ship is nearly at capacity, as far as I can tell there are only about 40 cabins left available (Joyce - it would seem that there will be more than we 9 - your 4 and my 5 - on this ship).

[suzi hite]

Just got back from the Conquest JUne 6th. We had to wait almost 20 minutes for some people in Jamaica. Don't know if it was a Carnival tour or just late. Same thing in the Caymans.

[hazelson]

CanadynGr - Gooday eh! From the west coast here - near Vancouver. Just a tip - when you go to Busch Gardens be sure to ask for the Canadian "at par" rate for entry - it saves a bundle. They figure out the exchange and charge you accordingly what par value would be. You can check it out on their web page. We loved Busch Gardens! Have a great trip - TTFN Jennifer

[Georgie]

Leaving Cozumel once there were a few people who said they got confused by the island time and ship time and they were late and we were already on our way. They got someone to bring them out to the ship and the Capt. stopped for them to let them get aboard. He was very very very unhappy and those poor people couldn't go anywhere the rest of the cruise without being hassled by someone about it. The CD even made sport of them and wouldn't let them live it down!

[cruisingal1053]

This happened to us two years ago. We were on a Celebrity cruise and stopped in Costa Rica. We took a taxi to see friends and had an accident on the way back. The ship was gone by the time we got back to port. Here are a few things that we found invaluable to have with you at all times: passports, ATM card, credit card and a business card from your travel agent with their e-mail address on it. If you are in a foreign country and don't have your passport you are not able to leave that country until you have it. It can take 10-14 days to receive a duplicate one so that is a must. We were very lucky in that we had friends we could count on to help us out and we ended up staying in Costa Rica for another week instead of re-joining the ship as that would have been too costly as we would have had to fly to Aruba. All in all, we learned some valuable lessons and a bad situation turned into a good one. We can talk about the trip and laugh about the experience.

[David W]

Cruisingal,
What a cruise to remember ! It's good that you can laugh about it now. It was great that you had friends that you could turn to for help. Thats a true friend for sure !
I've heard several horror stories from other people that has had a run-in with Mexican and Jamican Aurthorties from one reason or another.
They where took to Police Headquarters, and had to stay a very long lengthy period of time on the islands, and had to fork out thousands of dollars in fines, and then had to buy there own plane tickets to get back home. What a nightmare that would be!

Happy cruising to all;

The cruise director on Carnival's Holiday mentioned that two people were left in Cozumel last week on our cruise. He said that there are Carnival representatives there to assist but it would cost them "lots" of money and hassle to get home.