What happens if a cruise leaves without you?

Question

Like you are on a 6 day cruise and it stops on a small resort island. First tell me what they do to tell everyone to come back to the meeting point. Second tell me what would happen if you were stuck there, like you just didn't come back or something, and they left you would you be stuck there until the next cruise? Never been on a cruise

Answer 1

ok i cruise all the time and ive seen this happen before! basically, when you get to an island, the captain will come on the intercom and tell you a little bit about the island and what time the boat departs...he will also say what time you MUST be on the boat.  there is no one to remind you once you have left the ship.  if you got left at an island, it would be your responsiblity(and using your money) to get to the next port of call(usually by plane)...you should contact the cruise line to tell them you have been left behind (which they already know because you didnt check back in) and meet them at the next port to board the ship...i would suggest boarding the boat 30 minutes before you are supposed to, because you never know what could happen!! just be safe!! my dad and i had to run for a ship one time! have fun and cruises are the best!

Answer 2

I assume that you are talking about one of the private cruise islands like Labadee or Princesss Cay. There is no chance of you being left until the next cruise ship arrived. All passengers and crew are checked on and off the ship and if someone wasn't on board, they wouldn't just sail off into the sunset without searching for them. They would continue searching until they found whoever was missing.

Just imagine the publicity if a cruise line marooned a passenger on their own private island.

If you're asking about anywhere else, if you miss the ship, it's your responsibility to catch it up unless you are on a ships excursion when the ship will wait for the excursion to return to the boat.  

Answer 3

The cruise ship gives you a time to be back by in time before they leave the port. If you're on an excursion, your excursion group meets at a certain place in order to get back in time. All your stuff would be on that cruise ship so you would have to travel to the next port that your cruise ship would be stopping at. I was just on a cruise to Spain, France, and Italy. The cruise left without someone so the people had to travel by taxi to Rome, which was really far away.  

Answer 4

Honestly I'm not sure what would happen. It almost happened to me and my family (just me, my bro, my mom, and my dad).

It's scary, because while you're running to the ship you're thinking "What if I have to live here forever?"

Lol I swear I would have run like I was running for my life but I didn't want to leave my family behind XDD

Idk, you could ask some people you know Irl about it.

Answer 5

If you get stuck on a resort Island I would find the local Coast Guard station and ask them to radio the ship and the captain will tell you what to do.You could also get a local pilot to take you to the next port or maybe the captain would let a helo bring you back.Don't try to swim to the ship unless you are an Olympic swimmer/lol  or you could marry a local and stay on vacation.lol

Answer 6

If your on a cruise sponsored tour the ship will wait for you. If not and you are late returning to the ship and the ship has all ready left the dock you will have to pay your own way to catch up with the ship at next port of call.  I have seen some people have a local boat bring them out to the ship if the ship is not very far from land.

Answer 7

The cruise ship will tell you what time to be back on the ship. In fact, if you prefer, you can stay right on the ship the whole time. 1/2 hours after they tell you to be back on the ship, they will call out names of people missing to double check to see if they are on the ship. They scan your cruise card every time you leave and come back to the ship. This is how they know who is aboard. They then leave at the scheduled time. If you don't make it back to the ship, you either fly to the next port at your own expense, or, I guess, you could fly home. That is the number one reason to book shore excursions with the cruise ship. They wait for those shore excursions. They do not wait for ones booked on your own.

Answer 8

Sorry waiting for the next cruise won't help, you won't have a ticket for that cruise.  You have two options: 1 Get a flight home. 2 Get a flight to the next port of call and re-board same cruise. You may need your passport for this.

When you reach a port announcements will be given with the time to be back at the ship. Cruise ships print daily newsletters with programs for the day.  This newsletter will clearly display time to be back at the ship.  If you travel independently from a ship organized shore excursion the ship will leave without you. If coaches which are part of a ship organized day excursion are late back to the ship the ship waits for them.  Just make sure you are back on time or on a ship organized on shore excursion.

I have been caught too far from the ship to be able to get back on time by normal means and have had to hire a cab for a 150 euro dash back to the ship.  On another cruise had to get on an autobahn with no speed limit and drive the hire car at 200 + kmh  (125 +mph) to get back.  I have seen other cruise passengers taking the flight to next port option at their own expense of course.

EXTRA NOTE: On one cruise of the Greek islands one couple had already visited the island scheduled as the first port of call.  Trying to be smart they decided to not board the ship at the original port of departure, went to the island listed as the second port of call and waited there for the ship. The problem was the ship's itinerary was changed without notice and it didn't call into the scheduled first port of call until almost at the end of the cruise. Bad mistake.

Answer 9

When they drop you off--if you are at a port where you have to tender (take a small boat) back to the ship, there is a sign that says Tender leaves every 30 minutes on the hour and half hour.  LAST TENDER AT 5:00!!!  They also tell you that repeatedly on the ride over.  It's printed in the newsletter.  It's really impossible not to know.  Though at some ports you are docked and don't have that problem.  You can just walk on whenever you want and they give leeway.  It takes a while to get everything ready to cast off so when they say 430, we aren't sailing away until 515 or so.

I have been on a cruise when we turned around for the person.  I'm not quite sure why as they made a big deal about if you miss the last tender (small boat) back to the ship, you better get a cab to the airport.

But they did turn around.

We were sailing away and my husband and I were having a snack at the little dining room at the back of the ship.  All of the sudden we started swinging around.  It probably took half a mile to make that u-turn.

The captain announced that Mr and Mrs Hernandez have missed the boat and we will return to pick them up.  Be advised this is the LAST TIME we will turn around for anyone.

The next port the announcements were saying, Mr and Mrs Hernandez--for you 400 is the last tender.  For the rest of you, 430 is the last one.  Comedians were making fun of anyone who tried to slip in late.  It was the running joke for the whole cruise.

I've also been on a cruise when the Cruise sponsored trip was late.  They merely announce that the Kookookanuk Party bus is having too good of a time so we are going to wait for them to return.  Then when the drunks were all aboard, we sailed off.

Answer 10

It is always advisable to fly to the port the day before to minimize the risk of airline delays. Taking out travel insurance would take the stress out of this. With travel insurance, if you would arrive at the pier late, You'd be flown to the next port of call and put up in a hotel at their expense. As far as shore excursions, If you book your excursion with the cruise line, you are guaranteed not to miss the ship. If you walk off and book an excursion with a local, you're on your own as far as being back on time. If is always the best idea to book your excursions on board with your cruise line. Another important thing to remember, ALWAYS set your watch to SHIPS time. It might be different than local time wherever you are. That could mess you up bad. Also, try to stay with other people from your ship while ashore. You'll have a wonderful time. The whole idea of a cruise is to be as stress free as possible. Bon Voyage!!!