Ever Miss the Boat? We Did.

[ronandannette]

To reiterate, although I thought I was clear originally, missing the ship was completely on us and we handled it accordingly. That’s not at all what my issue is. Once we are home I will await with interest to find out what the official protocol is for contacting/looking for missing passengers.

@CdnCarrie
I want to head home long enough to quit my job, pack my stuff and abandon my current life. Move immediately to Charlottetown. PEI is the most gentle, enchanting place I have ever seen.

 

[Dan Murphy]

We reboarded the next morning in Halifax

Glad you made it, R&A. What an experience!
Was the Halifax port far from the port where you missed? How did you get to the second port? I've never cruised.

Enjoy the balance of your trip.

 

[CdnCarrie]

To reiterate, although I thought I was clear originally, missing the ship was completely on us and we handled it accordingly. That’s not at all what my issue is. Once we are home I will await with interest to find out what the official protocol is for contacting/looking for missing passengers.

@CdnCarrie
I want to head home long enough to quit my job, pack my stuff and abandon my current life. Move immediately to Charlottetown. PEI is the most gentle, enchanting place I have ever seen.

It is charming isn't it!

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Were you able to enjoy the evening in Halifax after missing the ship and getting there? Or was it too stressful? Did you rent a one way car for that?

On the one hand I would want to try and experience something I wouldn't have gotten to do had things gone to plan, but on the other I think I would be too stressed to relax until things were all settled and back on track.

We are doing a land based vacation in NS / PEI next summer, I can't wait. It looks so beautiful.

 

[NAB]

Not really that long - about 4 1/2 hours.

Long enough …. But yeah they got to see more of Cape Breton and go across the causeway.

 

[Minnesota!]

To reiterate, although I thought I was clear originally, missing the ship was completely on us and we handled it accordingly. That’s not at all what my issue is. Once we are home I will await with interest to find out what the official protocol is for contacting/looking for missing passengers.

@CdnCarrie
I want to head home long enough to quit my job, pack my stuff and abandon my current life. Move immediately to Charlottetown. PEI is the most gentle, enchanting place I have ever seen.

I have friend who lives in Charlottetown and her pics are always amazing

 

[adkkev]

PEI is one of our favorite provinces!

 

[DCLMP]

Our last two European cruises we were not allowed to leave the ship in port without our passports. I believe that is in case you miss the ship.

I just read a story on cruise critic about someone missing the ship in Nassau and having to go to the embassy to get a new passport. Cruise critic is full of missing the ship stories.

I'll admit I'm one of those people that likes to watch the pier for runners. In Jamaica we waited probably 20-30 minutes past departure time and then a women came running down the pier pushing her baby in a stroller. Maybe they waited so long because there was a baby involved.

 

[mmouse37]

I know with DCL we often hear various names being called over the ship's load speakers on almost every cruise looking for people who come up as not being onboard at all aboard time. I am surprised your cruise line did not at least reach out to you.

I agree with you that the port agent should have done more for you. It is their job to port agent to at least help you contact the ship. I quick Google search showed this:

When you miss a ship at a port of call, go to the port staff first. Each cruise line has a port agent who can help. The line's agent can hand over your passport and can help you contact your ship to make arrangements to meet up in the next port. The next call should be to your travel insurance provider

Is Sydney the port with the giant musical instrument at the cruise port? If so, I have been there twice. It is a very small town but cruise ships do stop there often so the port agent should have been more helpful.

Glad you took responsibility for missing the ship instead of the so often "it wasn't my fault" line you usually hear about...and glad you made it back onboard in Halifax. As you said if you were not experienced cruisers you really would have been lost.

 

[CdnCarrie]

What were you doing in Sydney? Did you go to Fortress of Louisbourg or the mining museum?

 

[easyas123]

Glad you made it back on the ship….maybe the simplest thing might be to ask them what the protocol is while you are still on the boat.

 

[ronandannette]

What were you doing in Sydney? Did you go to Fortress of Louisbourg or the mining museum?

We went to a Cape Breton Kitchen Party (the fiddle music was amazing!!) and then rented a car and drove a bit up the Cabot Trail. All meticulously planned to get us back to port at the time we mistakenly thought we were supposed to board.

Glad you made it back on the ship….maybe the simplest thing might be to ask them what the protocol is while you are still on the boat.

I did, this morning. I posted about it up thread. The agent wouldn’t really say anything. She referred me to Guest Services shore-side. I didn’t press it.

 

[ronandannette]

Long enough …. But yeah they got to see more of Cape Breton and go across the causeway.

Sadly, we didn’t see much but trees - so many more trees than I expected. It was like driving through the bush in Northern Alberta. It was also pitch dark for most of the drive. We left Sydney around 7:00 and hit Halifax just before midnight.

 

[maddiel]

Sadly, we didn’t see much but trees - so many more trees than I expected. It was like driving through the bush in Northern Alberta. It was also pitch dark for most of the drive. We left Sydney around 7:00 and hit Halifax just before midnight.

That's too bad - it's a lovely drive in the daylight in good weather and it's amazing in mid-October. At least the weather was decent for your drive.

I hope you got to see a little of Halifax after your misadventure.

 

[CdnCarrie]

You'll need to drive the Cabot Trail one day. I've driven to the East coast twice - once with kids.

 

[ronandannette]

That's too bad - it's a lovely drive in the daylight in good weather and it's amazing in mid-October. At least the weather was decent for your drive.

I hope you got to see a little of Halifax after your misadventure.

We had a lovely private tour booked in Halifax and made it in plenty of time. It was a really good day.

You'll need to drive the Cabot Trail one day. I've driven to the East coast twice - once with kids.

We went as far as Ingonish before we turned around. The ferry at Englishtown was really quaint.

 

[easyas123]

We went to a Cape Breton Kitchen Party (the fiddle music was amazing!!) and then rented a car and drove a bit up the Cabot Trail. All meticulously planned to get us back to port at the time we mistakenly thought we were supposed to board.

I did, this morning. I posted about it up thread. The agent wouldn’t really say anything. She referred me to Guest Services shore-side. I didn’t press it.

Ah, sorry - must have missed it!

 

[Deb]

To reiterate, although I thought I was clear originally, missing the ship was completely on us and we handled it accordingly. That’s not at all what my issue is. Once we are home I will await with interest to find out what the official protocol is for contacting/looking for missing passengers.

@CdnCarrie
I want to head home long enough to quit my job, pack my stuff and abandon my current life. Move immediately to Charlottetown. PEI is the most gentle, enchanting place I have ever seen.

I don't think they have a policy for looking for missing passengers. If you miss a flight the airlines don't investigate your whereabouts. If you are on a ship's sponsored tour they will either wait for you or take responsibility for getting you to the next port. The port agent is supposed to be more helpful. Not so much in contacting the bridge but in assisting you with what you should do next.

 

[ronandannette]

r.e. bold -- It was likely that the Crew (and the Captain) PLUS TONS OF PASSENGERS witnessed your pier dash and disappointment. Maybe a first for you but as we have witnessed, not a FIRST. Glad you made it back on.




r.e. bold -- Cards are scanned when leaving a ship at a Port and scanned when returning. The Captain knows that the count is not complete and waits as long as possible, sometimes longer when a booked Shore Excursion is late returning, before the ramps are removed.

While DW and I have never been late returning, DW's sister and friend were recently and they held off removing the gang plank because EVERYBODY could see them RUNNING BACK TO THE SHIP on the long - LONG PIER.

No entertainment value in us - we weren’t running. We thought we were on time. We weren’t concerned at all until we got right up to where the gangway had been. There was also another NCL ship still in port and quite a few people coming and going.