Each cruiser’s worst nightmare is working to the pier as your cruise ship sails away, leaving you stranded in a international place!
Movies of “pier runners” (individuals frantically working to the ship) are well-liked on-line and may present an incredible snigger, however the actuality is that lacking a cruise ship is just not one thing you need to take care of on trip!
Paying out-of-pocket to journey to the subsequent port and being abroad with none of your belongings is just not on anybody’s trip bucket-list. Whilst you’ll have further protections when on a shore tour booked via Royal Caribbean, lacking the cruise ship can nonetheless be a worrying expertise for any passenger.
The excellent news is that lacking the cruise ship is just not as widespread as you may suppose, and with correct planning and duty, you’ll be capable to make sure you arrive again to the ship with loads of time to spare.
Right here’s what occurs once you miss your cruise ship and the steps you’ll be able to take to keep away from this error.
Will the cruise ship look ahead to you when you’re working late?
The final rule of thumb is {that a} Royal Caribbean cruise ship won’t look ahead to you when you’re working late and miss all-aboard time when not on a Royal Caribbean shore tour.
Cruise ships run on tight schedules, and even a 30 minute to an hour delay could cause issues in a while, whether or not arriving late within the subsequent port or rearranging onboard schedules.
If all-aboard time is 5:30PM and also you arrive at 5:35PM, the gangway will doubtless nonetheless be open. When a captain is notified that passengers haven’t made it again onboard, she or he will attempt to preserve the gangway up so long as potential to make sure they will make it again to the ship.
This wiggle room is just not very a lot time, nevertheless, and when you’re half-hour late for the ship, it is best to anticipate the gangway to be up and the ship able to sail away.
Precise protocols can change relying on particular ports and scheduling conditions.
What if I’m on a shore tour booked via Royal Caribbean?
If you happen to’re working late however are on an tour you booked via Royal Caribbean, you’ll obtain added protections and the ship will look ahead to you and your tour group for so long as potential.
If the tour is working extraordinarily late as a consequence of an unexpected occasion and the ship completely can not look ahead to the tour group to return earlier than leaving port, Royal Caribbean will cowl the price of transferring all tour group members to the subsequent port of name.
Associated: Information to selecting the right Royal Caribbean shore tour
What occurs if I miss the cruise ship when NOT on a Royal Caribbean tour?
As soon as the ship realizes you haven’t returned, they’ll typically enter your stateroom to take away any important gadgets like passports and go away the gadgets with the port brokers on land. Preserving these things in an easy-to-find place (just like the protected) will help crew members find the gadgets shortly in an emergency.
You’ll be capable to retrieve the gadgets Royal Caribbean left with the port brokers once you finally present as much as port, even when the ship has already left. As soon as on the port, the port brokers can help you with determining the subsequent steps and contacting Royal Caribbean.
As soon as you’ll be able to contact the ship/Royal Caribbean, you’ll be able to talk about your choices with them they usually can help you with reserving any vital journey preparations. These journey preparations won’t be coated by Royal Caribbean and could be pricey, particularly when touring from island to island on the final minute.
If you happen to wouldn’t have a passport or different correct identification with you, you’ll need to go to the closest U.S. embassy to debate subsequent steps and obtain alternative identification.
Passenger Vessel Providers Act problems
Lacking the cruise ship will get extra difficult once you miss the ship in a U.S. port of name and need to meet up with the ship in one other U.S. port of name.
That is due to the Passenger Vessel Providers Act (PVSA), which prohibits foreign-flagged cruise ships from transporting passengers from one U.S. port to a different.
Whereas there are a couple of exceptions to this rule (round-trip sailings from the U.S. that go to a international nation and journey from one U.S. port to a different U.S. port together with a cease at a “distant international port” like Cartagena or Bermuda), cruise strains will violate the PVSA when you depart from Miami and miss the ship on a port day in Key West, for instance. It is because the cruise line technically transported a passenger from one U.S. port to a different.
If you happen to miss the ship in Charleston, South Carolina and the subsequent port of name is Port Canaveral, Florida, you sadly will be unable to board the ship in Charleston with out breaking the PVSA. As an alternative, you’ll have to meet the ship within the first international port of name, such because the Bahamas, however this may trigger you to overlook rather more of the cruise than you’d like.
Find out how to keep away from lacking the ship
Hold monitor of time
Setting an alarm in your telephone for 1-2 hours earlier than all-aboard time is usually a fool-proof manner to make sure you don’t lose monitor of time.
Plan to get again onboard at the very least one hour earlier than the ship’s scheduled departure time, and it’s a good suggestion to depart much more buffer room when you’re additional away from the ship whereas in port.
Ensure your telephone is about to ship time
It’s widespread for cruise ship itineraries to sail via a number of time zones, with some itineraries switching time zones almost on daily basis! To make time zones simpler to navigate onboard, Royal Caribbean makes use of what they check with as “ship time”.
Ship time is the time used onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise, and it could or might not change once you enter/exit new time zones all through the crusing. Any adjustments in ship time will probably be posted on the Cruise Compass.
Earlier than you disembark the ship in port, double test that your telephone’s time is about to the proper ship time. You don’t need to suppose it’s 5PM when it’s truly 6PM on the ship!
As well as, make sure you change your telephone’s time and date settings to handbook time as a substitute of automated. This ensures your telephone’s time gained’t change to the vacation spot’s time zone routinely once you change in your telephone service.
E book excursions via Royal Caribbean
Maybe the most important good thing about reserving shore excursions via Royal Caribbean is the added safety you’ll obtain in case your tour runs late. Your cruise ship will wait to your tour group so long as potential, and even cowl the price of transportation to the subsequent port if the ship can not wait.
Associated: Is it higher to e-book excursions via the cruise ship?
Fly to your departure port the day earlier than your cruise
Considered one of our high suggestions right here at Royal Caribbean Weblog is to keep away from flying to your departure port the identical day your cruise begins. Whereas saving on resort prices and PTO can appear interesting, there are manner too many dangers concerned when flying the identical day as your cruise.
Climate delays, flight cancellations, and missed connections could cause you to overlook your cruise altogether. Flying in a day forward of time allots further wiggle room to assist make sure you’ll make it to the cruise port with loads of time to spare.
Associated: Why you should not fly to your cruise the identical day it begins
Don’t journey too far
One other technique to keep away from lacking the ship is by limiting how far you journey from the port.
If you happen to’re dreaming of visiting Chichén Itzá whereas the ship docks in Cozumel, for instance, it’s in all probability finest to e-book a Royal Caribbean tour. Visiting the Mayan Ruins requires a forty five minute ferry every manner adopted by almost 2 hours by bus.
With a lot journey time required, there’s a better likelihood one thing might go mistaken alongside the best way (ferry delays, site visitors, bus breaks down, and many others.).
Keep away from consuming an excessive amount of
Indulging in cocktails, beer, and wine in your port of name could also be a enjoyable technique to spend the day, however take precautions when you plan on consuming excessively.
Many passengers that discover themselves working again to the ship–and even lacking the ship altogether–might have spent the day having an excessive amount of enjoyable and dropping monitor of time.
Have you ever ever missed the cruise ship (or witnessed the aforementioned ‘pier runners’ working to the ship)? Share you tales under!
