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Have you ever missed the boat from your excursion?


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Tell me your stories:  If you spent a day doing a tour or excursion or you were walking around on your own and for whatever reason you missed the departure time for the cruise or very very late to the boat, what were the circumstances surrounding that? 

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Thankfully, no.  I pay the "RCI Tax" and book directly from Royal.  Our group used to take some independent tours (and saved quite a bit of cash), but after a couple had a perfect storm of problems (Last stop before a T/A leg, coach had a severe oil leak that caused accidents on the main road on St. Maarten blocking its way back to port) the ship spent about 2 1/2 hours extra in port waiting for about 30 folks on that tour.  

Thankfully the couple booked through Royal.  Now I guess if they'd have been OK if they'd have booked a different indie tour since the RCI tour held up the ship for everyone, but that's a pretty big gamble for a couple of dollars.

A factor to consider is how far away the independent tour travels from the ship.  Something close in would benefit more from an RCI tour further out being delayed more by traffic while a "Ring Road Tour of X Island" has more of a risk of being on the bad side of a traffic jam with a better chance for RCI coaches being closer in traffic.

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Sort of. But we we on a Royal tour and they had to wait for us.  It was a wording mistake in the description of the tour. We were NOT suppose to get a lunch, but the description said it did include a lunch, so they had to feed us. A few others in group pointed this out to the tour operator.  We did have to run. I think we were about 30 minutes late. Course got all kinds of heckling.  Another time we were on the ship waiting for that last guest. The ship did wait as it was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic.

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Before the pandemic I met a couple in the lounge who had a close encounter with missing the ship in Cozumel.  They arranged a dive with a local operator and put their kid in AO for the day.  Winds picked up and the dive boat tried but couldn't drop them off where they had departed from near the ship.  Instead the small dive boat was directed to go downtown where there is more of a harbor and the dive boat could make the dock.  That would mean a taxi to the ship and missing the ship with the time lost.

There was a lot of shouting back and forth between the pier and the dive boat crew.  Eventually the dive boat operator told them if they want to make the ship they'll need to jump in and swim to the pier.  So they did.  That set off off the police who freaked out that people were swimming to the pier and bypassing the checkpoint to get on the pier.  Royal crew saw this unfolding, intervened and they were allowed back on the ship.  There was no way they were going to miss the ship with their kid alone on board.  

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2 hours ago, twangster said:

There was no way they were going to miss the ship with their kid alone on board.

I’m baffled that Royal doesn’t have a policy requiring a designated guardian to stay on ship if a child is left on board.
I wouldn’t  get off ship with my wife and leave any of our kids unless someone responsible we knew was also staying on ship.

Royal could have this integrated with scanning sea pass cards get off ship. If the final guardian associated with a child attempts to get off ship with a child still on board instead of the usual chime the sound is a buzzer.

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Maybe missing the ship is why Super Mario spends so much time on Royal Caribbean ships.

His parents left in him in the Song of Norway kids club in 1971 to hit the bars in port. They missed the ship and ever since Mario has been traveling from ship to ship looking for them. 
 

Can anyone confirm or refute this theory?

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4 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Maybe missing the ship is why Super Mario spends so much time on Royal Caribbean ships.

His parents left in him in the Song of Norway kids club in 1971 to hit the bars in port. They missed the ship and ever since Mario has been traveling from ship to ship looking for them. 
 

Can anyone confirm or refute this theory?

 

Fun theory, but I doubt that there was either a dedicated kids club area or that the children's program actually ran during port days on Song of Norway in 1971.  Based on my experiences on Norwegian Caribbean Line in the mid 1980's, the kids program was likely run on sea days, out on one of the open decks.

Dedicated kids club rooms would likely have only been found on larger ocean liners, in earlier decades.

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2 hours ago, AlmondFarmer said:

I’m baffled that Royal doesn’t have a policy requiring a designated guardian to stay on ship if a child is left on board.
I wouldn’t  get off ship with my wife and leave any of our kids unless someone responsible we knew was also staying on ship.

Royal could have this integrated with scanning sea pass cards get off ship. If the final guardian associated with a child attempts to get off ship with a child still on board instead of the usual chime the sound is a buzzer.

Now a days they encourage parents to leave their kids in the clubs on board if they want to self explore since unvaccinated kids can only leave the ship on Royal excursions.  If you want to self explore you have no choice but to leave your kids on board.

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I was on a competitors ship once and there was a rumor of a dad/daughter missing the ship. The way the story went, the teenage daughter brought her teenage boyfriend and the two of them rented scooters in Cozumel. They wrecked the scooters and the rental place wouldn't allow both of them to leave. So the boyfriend left the girlfriend and came back to the ship to get the dad. Dad took the passports and went to get the daughter. By the time he'd cleared things up, the ship had sailed and they had to catch it at the next port. I can't confirm if it's true, but I've certainly heard enough of these to believe it. 

And, I've stood on the balcony many times watching people run down the pier to get on as ropes were being pulled up. I once witnessed a couple literally getting pulled across about 3 feet of open space between the pier and the ship as it pulled away. And I've seen a few couples expressing frustration that the ship was too far away for them to get aboard.

There's an episode of Might Cruise Ships (on Hulu+, I think) that shows two passengers getting left behind. I think it was the Clipper Ship episode.  Fun watch.

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  • 1 year later...

Thankfully I was never late for any ship. I always try to be back from any excursion or trip one or two hours before the departure to make sure I’m not late, and I can enter the ship without any haste. It’s the general rule of my life – always come earlier because being late is a shame. Sometimes I do run late, but it’s usually due to circumstances that don’t depend on me.

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1 hour ago, golapsk said:

Thankfully I was never late for any ship. I always try to be back from any excursion or trip one or two hours before the departure to make sure I’m not late, and I can enter the ship without any haste. It’s the general rule of my life – always come earlier because being late is a shame. Sometimes I do run late, but it’s usually due to circumstances that don’t depend on me.

Our Royal tour -- actually three or four of them -- were late getting to tender port last month in Italy.  It was Cinque Terre, and it takes forever to catch the assortment of trains, buses, and ferries needed to get back.  Our ship was at least 30 minutes late departing the port.  Won't do that again -- won't take an excursion with such complicated transportation arrangements.

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