JennyB

If this is an RC excursion, the ship will wait for you or it will be RC's responsibility to get you to the next port/home.  On my last cruise, the ship left Falmouth almost an hour late because it was waiting for an RC excursion to get back. 

Operative word here being "most". Our very first cruise, we had our first port stop in St. Kitts and I brought out passports with us "just to be safe" like so many here have recommended. It was a darned good thing I did, because when we went back to the ship after our excursion, the security staff at the dock entrance were telling everyone approaching them that they were requiring passports along with your SeaPass card for re-entry to the dock, and that they were not accepting the usual driver's license and birth certificate combo. I have no idea how the probably hundreds who were there without a passport got back on, and maybe this was just an overzealous security shift, but I was thanking my lucky stars that I'd paid attention to the advice given here and threw our passports into my backpack!

Yep, should it (dog forbid) ever happen to me, I'll just be sure to wave and bow to anyone with a camera. Might as well embrace the pain! Glad you're still with us and posting :)

Ok, I looked up cruise ship dock runners on YouTube, I guess this is a thing, and not caused by the app.   The videos are kind of funny, sorry for laughing at the misfortune of others.   More than half of them you see Atlantas in the background, but it happens at other ports too.  One thing I know now for sure, if I am late and miss the boat, my run will be YouTube famous with lots of hecklers and mean, but funny, comments.  Lol

Most Caribbean cruises don't require that you take your passport off the ship.  Ships are cleared based on manifests submitted to governments.  A ship pulls up, local immigration clears the ship as a whole and every one is free to leave.  You never see local customs agents in each country, it's done while you are sleeping, or eating breakfast, etc...
When cruising to Cuba you must present your passport to Cuban immigration in the terminal so you need your passport to get off the ship there.  
Other than Cuba you just need ship card and in some cases a gov't ID like a drivers license to get back on the ship.  Some ports want gov't ID to see the name on the ship card is a match.  

I thought the same thing when I saw that video! And their wallets...

There is protocol for folks who don’t make it to the ship on time beyond blasting the ships horn. It begins with announcements onboard requesting they call guest relations (because it is entirely possible they are aboard); you can be sure their recent seapass use is researched to see if they have entered their stateroom, bought a drink, played a slot machine, bought some art from Park West, etc. etc. I’d like to think somebody onboard is calling, emailing, and texting the important contact information you were required to submit when you bought the cruise. Finally— security enters their stateroom and ransacks it to obtain their passport and then those missing persons passports are handed to the local port agent before the ship leaves. Offenders are left high and dry but with access to their passports, just no luggage. On the bright side they do have plenty of time to head back to Froggies or Margaritaville.
Who is the port agent you ask? Well, somewhere buried in your cruise documents is the name, address, and phone number of the port agents for the ports you will be visiting. You sign your name that you are aware of this people when you first get onboard. Remember?
We all can be sure the ports where people are frequently late like Rome (Civitavecchia) or Nassau everyone who works on that pier will know which way you need to go and who you need to see.
Not every pier runner is drunk. Hey, sometimes medical emergencies happen while passengers are in port. In those cases, the hospital will usually notify the ship that Mr Smith has had a heart attack and Mrs Smith will be staying with him while he is in surgery or Mr Jones is in traction from a zip line injury earlier that morning; in those cases Royal security will ransack the room and the little safe looking for passports as they do but they will also pack the personal belongings and leave those with the port agent. So maybe hospitality has not completely left the cruise industry?
 

I appreciate the video.  The video is a cautionary tale for us noobs.

I disagree with this.  If I were to be left behind anywhere I would hope it was there.  There are so many excursions I want to go on here I can barely even do one in the 4 or 5 hours here.   If I was left behind here I would go back to Atlantas and actually get my money’s worth at the waterpark.  I would check into a hotel and try the next day try and make it to Dolphin Cay in the morning and see the pigs in the afternoon and maybe even something else before getting back to Miami the morning the boat got in.  That’s just me though, I would move to the Bahamas if they weren’t so strict about not letting in dogs that look like any kind of bull terriers.

I think this thread has served a purpose.  Cruisers old and new have learned the ship will actually leave without you when you don't return in time.  Of the 6,000 on board, 5,998 made it back. 
I was on a cruise two weeks ago and I saw 60 - 80 people slowly walking up the pier well past all aboard time.  None were in a hurry.  One drunk girl lay on the concrete pier and rested (or passed out) .   I had to check my watch thinking I was an hour off.  I wasn't.  Crew were waving to them to hurry up.  The bridge blew the ship's horn.  People are way too cavalier and just assume the world revolves around them. 
I tire at the muster drill waiting for the stragglers to show up.  I tire on an excursion waiting for people who show up late.  
Hopefully this video will serve to educate everyone that a ship will leave without you.  It is your responsibility to be on time.
The cruise community has a name for these types of people.  "Pier Runners" and it transcends all cruise lines.   
This is about personal accountability and yes, two ships full of passengers will make fun of you when you miss the ship.  
Lesson learned - don't be late.  

and the ones who imbibed a bit much. 
 
I cannot imagine missing the ship...i'm having anxiety just reading this thread!  LOL

Don't feel attacked and don't stop posting, discussions such as this one, are how we all learn. I have been on 18 cruises and @twangster and others have been on many more, but I always check before I leave the ship what time all aboard is and then I plan on being back at least an hour before that, so if there is a traffic jam, the taxi I'm in breaks down, etc., I at least have a small margin for error.
As everyone has said on here already, the ship has a schedule to keep, I correlate being late to the ship, to also being late to the muster drill, people think that it doesn't pertain to them, and you have the majority of people standing outside, packed like sardines waiting for muster to be over, finding out later that it was because people had to found and told to report, etc..
Lesson learned on this thread is don't trust the Royal APP, just yet, go by what your cruise ticket says and then double check that with the cruise compass when on board.

Don't know if these guys were guilty of it or not as you cant seem them approach but I hate when people are late for the ship and you see them Walk across the port.....
RUN!!! The rest of us where all here on time, you move like you've got a purpose!

Original poster Chesneygirl at CC posted this to youtube
 

I have to say I am very disappointed in this thread, as it had no video or link to dock runners.  That is one of my favorite pastimes.  We always look forward to departure time and plan for a good viewing spot about 15 minutes before departure time.  Still sometimes we have to get our fix from YouTube videos.  Thanks to @twangster for at least the screenshots!  (Even if it wasn’t the actual couple.). 
 
Edit To add - for those couple of new cruisers posting, the ship has multiple avenues that they will inform you of departure time.  It will be posted in a number of places near gangways and tenders, in the cruise compass and  stated over the daily announcements and at other locations, sometimes even the night before at certain venues.  Yes sometimes things happen but it really is pretty hard to not know.  There are plenty of times this happens and there are plenty of “close” calls that never make it to YouTube because the ships do try to wait at least a reasonable amount of time.  Since the ship can get charges for staying in port extra and they have a schedule to keep they can’t wait too long.

I get quite nervous about going too far from the ship when we head off by ourselves and keep checking my watch. 
I usually try and get us back at least an hour before departure time.
I remember on one cruise we where about 40 minutes late departing from Lanzarote and we where sitting on our balcony just looking out over the port when we saw this taxi screaming though the security point, lights flashing horn blaring. He pulled up right next to the ship and a couple got out and legged the remaining 20 feet to the gangway. Needless to say they where met with many cheers from the on lookers on the Balconys.

What a crappy port to be left behind in...

Hope they had their passports with them! 

Looking at old cruise compasses can help give you a good idea - most of the time the first one is on night 2, and the second one is on either a short port day or on the following sea day. Based on your sailing, I would *guess* yours are on nights 2 and 5. Again, you'd have to confirm that in a cruise compass with your same itinerary. 
A selection of old cruise compasses can be found here - https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass

bahaha!!! yea, last day of cruise starts countdown to the next! 
175 days for Mariner!!!
307 days for Harmony!!!
We might just be addicted to cruising now!

bahaha!!! yea, last day of cruise starts countdown to the next! 
175 days for Mariner!!!
307 days for Harmony!!!
We might just be addicted to cruising now!

bahaha!!! yea, last day of cruise starts countdown to the next! 
175 days for Mariner!!!
307 days for Harmony!!!
We might just be addicted to cruising now!

bahaha!!! yea, last day of cruise starts countdown to the next! 
175 days for Mariner!!!
307 days for Harmony!!!
We might just be addicted to cruising now!

I calculate using what I drink daily at home and than adding in a couple of cocktails because I am on vacation.  Everyday before work I get my Iced coffee, which runs me @3.50.    This is of course after having a coffee at home, I am a coffee snob....French roast, which means no for me at the WJ or MDR.  Now I am 2 specialty coffees.  7 bucks at least.  During the day I will drink at least 3 18 oz  water bottles, and go to bed with a 12 oz water bottle.  So now I am at least 30 bucks.  ( I try to drink 64 oz of water a day).  I will drink at least 1 soda per day.  I am at 33.  On a cruise or any time I go on vacation or out to dinner I will splurge and I will drink a glass of wine and have an amaretto side with my cappuccino at dinner.  Those 3 items will now tally another 20+ bucks.  Thus, I am at 53 without rationalizing, or playing catch up.  Yes, I could get water from the tap for free, and make my own iced coffee, but I am on a vacation and want to relax.  I would rather pay it up front.
My hubby as a different view and why he always buys the package.  This is a guy that rarely drinks.  I mean that....he drinks red wine and I now have many bottles that are expensive vinegars since he never finishes a bottle, weeks left open.  His view is he likes to play the catch up game.  He sees it as the time to order drinks he would never try....don't like it, than toss it.  Lava Flow is his favorite.  

We get the drinks package for a completely different reason.  We get it so that it IS paid in advance (no surprise at the end of the cruise) and so that I feel free to order any drink at any time anywhere, even though we could get "free" drinks in the evenings in the lounges and we drink for free in the casino (which is where we spend most of our time).
I blame Star Class cruising for this compulsion.  LOL  Once you travel in Star Class and never have to worry about anything you eat or drink you realize what a pleasure it is not to have to even think about it.  There is NO WAY that it makes financial sense for me to have a deluxe drink package.  There are many days when I don't drink any alcohol at all.  I always drink sodas, water and cappuccino's though.  I do it for the convenience and not for financial reasons.