HOW LATE IS LATE GETTING BACK TO THE SHIP? and who decides what happens?

If you see the name of your ship on the stern and it’s getting smaller by the minute, you’re late.

Well said...the position these people were put in was horrendous...juat how much was their own fault is truly debatable, but the big shots at NCL (including the so-called 4-striper on the bridge) should thank whatever corporate gods they pray to that no one was seriously injured or worse. Yes it would take years probably, and not sure where the legal fol-de-rol would take place, but put yourself on THAT jury.......if all that was someone's idea of a grand adventure, to be laffed at years later...well good for them...I've had "grand adventures" where my personal well being was threatened, and whatever was happening was totally out of my hands, no matter what I did. It was NOT fun. Even all these years later.....Mebbe these people all became kum-ba-yah best friends...mebbe if it wasn't for some folks and their plastic they would've been sleeping in a park...mebbe this that and the other thing...NOT my idea of why I cruise...not even a little bit...

Okay i just recalled that I am guilty of the infraction of not arriving at the Port before the All Aboard Time!!!!

My first and only time being late and I did not even know it until I got back to the ship.

Here's the story!!!

I was on the NCL Star and when we boarded in Buenos Aires, Argentina they took our passports!!!! Yep, you read that right, they took my passport and everyone elses...first time ever that I can recall on the start of a cruise...I believe we have had other times they collect them for an inspection by a specific country.

I decided before I started my cruise to put in my phone the time the ship was leaving every Port of Call from the Cruise Line Contract...First Mistake!!

So I arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay and had a Excursion planned through the crusie line. We had a late arrival and so we were waiting in the Theatre til our Excursion was called...I met a lady from Germany that was on the same Excursion so we planned to stick together....it gets muddy cause our excursion gets called by number and we head single file to the security desk first, then down the ramp to the dock and waiting buses...but my new friend could not find her Ship ID or Keycard...so she is frantically trying to figure out where she put it and I am trying to assist her...this went on for a couple minutes and you know that line behind us is getting frustrated forsure....

THIS is where the Second Mistake happened...cause this Security Station always has a Sign that Reads ALL ABOARD TIME is !!! and I was distracted.... She found her ID and we headed to the dock and waiting buses. Had a great tour and arrived back with 3 more hours to see the city, she went her way and I went mine. I traveled through the city with ease with this 3:30pm time in my phone from months earlier. As I am finally coming back to the ship around 3:15pm I hear this guy yelling at me that the ship is about to leave (of course it is going to leave I think to myself). The Security staff had been looking for me, and calling my name and cabin # for 15 minutes cause the ALL ABOARD time was 3pm and the ship leaves at 3:30pm!!! I can only wonder if the ship had to retrieve my passport to leave with the port agent since I was not onboard and possibly contact the cruiselines excursion operator to see if I had returned 3 hrs earlier or if something happened to me on the excursion? This may have bought me the extra time I honestly never thought I needed?

So apologies to all of you waiting for me that day, my fault for not getting the All Aboard Time Verified before I got off the Ship and corrected my phones Alert Time Setting (wrong time though).

I been on a few, like 30 cruises so it can happen to any of us if we are not paying attention. Hope you learned something cause I sure did that day? I did have a credit card and a photo of my passport on my phone, but it would not have been fun to get back onboard the ship at the next port of call...sometimes visas are required for passengers who stay on shore and this story could take on alot of other possible consequences. So please look at the posted All Aboard Time, snap a photo of it and snap a photo of the Port Agent listed in the Daily Planner for each port you visit cause this is who you need to call incase your running late...Not the Ship and 911 is not for Pier Runners either. See you at Sea!

It's always been my understanding that the Captain is not the ultimate authority for arriving/leaving a port. That person would be the "port authority" of said port. The Captain may ask to be allowed to stay longer, but he needs to keep in mind how long it may take to reach the next port and any additional charges the port may ask for because of the time extention. (you know those pesky port fees and taxes we pay in addition to the regular fare) I've not ever verified this information, but have been told by various people over the years that should know. The Captain can't just say, "oh we will miss Nassau so I think we'll go to Grand Turk". He has to ask permission from Grand Turk and if they say no, he can't just pull up and dock. Of course, there are exceptions for emergencies. We've been places where we docked just to let a medical emergency disembark, but then leave to our next scheduled stop with no one else leaving the ship. There almost always is more to the story.

I was in Port Stanley Falkland Islands in January 2024 and the all aboard time was 3pm. This was a Tender port where we all veteran cruisers know the ship is anchored in the bay and we take the life boats on the ship to shore...some ports actually have some tender boats on shore to ferry the passengers.

Anyhow 3pm came and went and the line was 1/4 mile long of passengers probably all 2300 of them trying to get back on the ship at the same time. The last tender was around 5 pm that day and I was on it, the Captain did not leave anyone behind that day on the NCL Star.

I want to add that passengers are not always Trying to Save $$$'s and that is why they choose a non sanctioned excursion at a Port of Call...the ugly truth is sometimes there are only 8,12 or 40 slots for passengers and when its full its full and you now are limited in seeing things at Ports of Call. Seasoned veteran cruisers know how fast the excursions fill up and they always book asap...some of us actually get a head start because of our Loyalty Status with the Cruise line too.

I want to add regarding the recent cruise in Africa that the passengers who were late attempted to board the ship aided by the African Coast Guard Vessel and the Captain Refused. After consideration of the actual circumstances involved, I believe the Captain had to refuse....(there was a paraplegic in a wheelchair, pregnant and another person with limitations. They needed to be boarded by a vessel that allowed the ramp to be level.

The back story of the 8 passengers has two happy endings as they actually ran into a 9th passenger on the street who had a mandatory medical evaluation in Sao Tome by the ships Doctor (she had memory issues and stroke symptoms onboard) and was left behind with no ID or $$, they assisted her in getting home to the USA and the 8 eventually reboarded the ship in Senegal with quite the EPIC Adventure (traveling over 8 countries in over 48 hrs by plane/boat/car) we all love to experience and that is why we cruise!! There is limited information on the circumstances of this 80 yr old cruiser, but on its face she is a veteran cruiser who obviously is fully capable and willing to travel (140+ countries) but she exhibited medical issues and the onboard medical staff I am told required her to have some tests on shore in Sao Tome...this is where NCL can act like they are not her babysitter...but in reality she was traveling alone and personally should have had someone assigned to aid her...they even went as far as to say they would not contact her emergency contacts cause that was against her confidentiality...If she has memory issues i am calling you out right now NCL for anything your saying. If the cruise line had asked me or any other passenger we would have assisted.

All great questions. I have witnessed the runners and we all had a great laugh at their situation, but in those cases, the ship did wait. In the story that is out there, many questions have come up. We may never get all the answers as corporate speak will be issued to explain or cover the butts of those who screwed up.

In the foreign ports as noted, danger may not be to far away. Consular service may or may not be available and the regulations on board may conflict with the regulations of the port or area. We may never know what happened, but I'm sure the news folks will want to keep the story in the cycle for a while, just because they can.