Will the Ship Wait for Me?

[Charles]

Hi,

Many of us ask will the ship wait for me if I am late? The following sheds some light of this topic. The quote below is from Captain Albert Schoonderbeek, who is Master of Holland America's MS Statendam.

"In an embarkation port you never know if you will leave on time, as there are many variables that might make guests late. Buses can break down, or even get lost, luggage might be late, or flights been delayed in arriving. All reasons for me having to decide that I might have to stay longer. There are some guidelines that we take into account when the occasion arises. The most important one, will it in any way affect the safety of the ship. There might be inclement weather on the way or during the coming passage if we do not leave on time. If safety wise it is all in order then the next question is; have these guests booked with Holland America for travel and transfers or not ? If they are independents, then I do not have to wait for them, it was their own decision to travel the way they decided to travel. I will try to stay but I will not endanger the schedule for it.

"If they had all arranged through HAL, then as the company representative it is my responsibility to help where possible. Then the next question is how many are there and what is the cost for me staying longer. With the high fuel prices you cannot avoid looking at the total price tag. Also when this happens in Vancouver, the big question is at once, can I make the tide at Seymour Narrows and what is the impact on the other guests and the ships operation if I have to go for the later tide.

"The final question and quite often difficult to answer by Shore Operations, is when are these people, who are delayed, arriving? I need a certain ETA to work with. Especially coach drivers have the frustrating habit of saying “I will be there in 5 minutes” and then not to be seen for another 30 minutes."

[Einstein]

Too MANY variables indeed Charles. The thought ALWAYS used to be if someone is on a ship tour then its a guaranteed that the ship will wait. That is certainly NOT the REAL truth and the only guarantee is that we are on the ship at the specified time given by the Capitain. If we are not then there is ALWAYS a chance that we will have to play catch up to the ship. I can thankfully say I have not yet missed a sailing time and hope the record holds true for MANY years to come in the future.

[Calgon1]

Best bet is always to book through the cruise line. Indeed as E says, even that is not a guarantee that the ship (Captain) will wait for you; however, it will increase the likelyhood that your vacation will not be ruined, as the cruise line will get you back to the ship at their expense. Yeah, ship excursions are usually more expensive, but think of it as "insurance". What is your peace of mind worth?

Other considerations:

How long will you be in the port? If it's a short port-call ... stick with the ship excursion. If it's a long port-call ... then you'll (probably) be safe to book a morning excursion on your own, because it'll give you a buffer to get back in time. Just don't go farther than walking time from the ship ... Personally, I would never book an independent afternoon/evening tour.

There are all sorts of urban legends about stranded passengers being able to "hitch a ride with the pilot boat" or a quick charter on a speed boat. Fuget 'bout it. It don't happen. The harbor authority doesn't "give rides" for both a liability and an security issue. The fast boat idea is great, if you have more money than brains and will charter to the next port. The ship's captain isn't going to stop the ship so you can board from a speedboat. Same reasons ... liability and security. Well, you can always convoy alongside your ship, to the next port. Will make for some great videos. Oh darn, your video camera is back on the ship, isn't it?

Face it. If you book/tour on your own, you are just that ... on your own. Miss the ship and you'll be going to the nearest embassy or consulate to get re-issue of a passport (Yours is back on the ship, remember?). How long does that take? Well, I don't know about your country, but the fastest I've ever seen a passport generated by a US State Department office was four hours. And, that was only when all the paperwork was correct (Oh, that's right, you have to contact someone back home for copies of birth certificates, driver's licenses, etc., don't you?) . OK. got it? Great, now it's time to head over to the airport to book a flight(s).

If you're lucky, there is a flight going to the next port (no, the airlines serving your port don't necessarily have service to whatever your ship's next port is ...).
If you're really lucky, it's going there in time for you to catch the ship (no, flights are not every day).
If you're really, really lucky, they will still have seats available (you're not the only person in paradise, you know).
And, if you're really, really, really lucky ... those are economy seats (I don't even want to think what first-class costs, especially at the last minute ...).



Sorry, but I ain't that lucky...

[Gayle V]

Hi Calgon, Good advice. I ditto everything you said, except the part about not being able to catch a ride with the Pilot boat, if you miss the ship, and can get to the Pilot in time. This does on occasion happen. We have personally watched people make that climb up the ladder. And you can see a few u-tube videos of it if you search for them. (I posted a link to them ounce before. If I can find that thread, and if those particular videos are still active, I'll post again.)

[Gayle V]

OK, can't find the one where the boat clearly says "Pilot" on it. It showed ladies trying to carry their shopping bags as the climbed. This is a cut and past of that other thread. Shows them climbing aboard from what I think are other kinds of boats.

In this one they catch the ship via tug boat. Maybe the ladder wouldn't be so bad after all:

YouTube - Cruisers miss ship catch up with tug

I like this one, cause it really tells their whole story. (And they did get a nice photo of their ship leaving.)

YouTube - Liberty of the seas part.05 missed the ship!

There are a few I saw filmed by the other passengers on the ship. Actually I think we have a little bit of footage like that, but I haven't a clue where it is , or how to post it.

I'll keep looking for one of the other ones.

[John Shallo]

Hi Calgon, Good advice. I ditto everything you said, except the part about not being able to catch a ride with the Pilot boat, if you miss the ship, and can get to the Pilot in time. This does on occasion happen. We have personally watched people make that climb up the ladder. And you can see a few u-tube videos of it if you search for them. (I posted a link to them ounce before. If I can find that thread, and if those particular videos are still active, I'll post again.)

I agree, we have seen the captain leave and then make mention that he was "in a good mood" so let the passengers come out via Pilot or other boat via the ladder. Everyone clapped and had fun with it, taunting the guests coming back.

[Calgon1]

Found one...

Passengers who missed The Independence Of The Seas At Cadiz Spain, tried to board via the Pilot Boat, but were not successful and were taken back to port - July 2010

Passengers Who Missed The Boat. By Bryan Claasz - YouTube
Sitll, as I said .... "I ain't that lucky."

Bottom line? Don't be THAT GUY.

[Gayle V]

I would never be brave enough to even give it a try. Which might explain why we're still booking mostly ship sponsored excursions after all these years.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We all used to think that the ship would wait for us if we were on the excursions.

But last summer some storms came up in a couple of Alaskan ports and a couple of ships were ordered to leave the port for their own safety -- leaving passengers behind.