Family Misses Ship in St. Thomas

[bethsg]

I have been emailing back and forth a good friend who is on the 7 day cruise this week. Today she told me, they left St. Thomas today, and sailed for about 1 hour. The ship then turned around and went back to port at St. Thomas to pick up a family who missed the boat. I was surprised they did that. I thought they would just leave you high and dry.

 

[trishy]

They don't usually! On the 7/7/01 cruise a family missed the boat (I should say half a family!) and they had to "catch up" with the boat at the next port. How odd! I wonder what the circumstances were.

 

[ducklite]

Maybe they were on a shore excursion they purchased from DCL that got them back late? I think in that case DCL is responsible for getting them back on the ship, and it might have been cheaper to turn around than it would have been to get them on otherwise.

Anne

 

[missyb]

The ship returned! Wow I though maybe it would stop and they could take a launch or something.


Does anyone remember I Love lucy when she had to take the helicopter to the ship

 

[mmouse37]

I am also surprised that the ship returned to St. Thomas. That is very unsusal. Could they possibly weild a power stronger than Disney!!!!! Love to know the details!!!

MJ

 

[plutojudy]

On our April 6 cruise, we left people in St Martin and St Thomas and they were out of luck, we did not return. Maybe the people they returned to pick up were Eisner pals

 

[bethsg]

I have emailed my friend again to see if she has learned why the boat went back. My first thoughts are if DCL went back, then they must have been responsible for these people in some way.

 

[kplatt]

I do remember the I Love Lucy episode -- hysterical!!

We saw a woman miss the Carnival ship in St. Maarten on our 3/23 Magic cruise. The ship was only several yards from the dock when she ran up and was able to speak to the ship's officer on the bow. We watched as the ship continued away from the pier, slowed (or stopped) a few hundred yards out. The latecomer was taken out to the ship by a small boat, and had to board through a small door in the hull. Not my idea of a good time!!!

Karen
Wonder 11/01
Magic 3/02
Magic 11/02

 

[Hopkins]

On our April 28th Eastern cruise on the Magic last year, the Magic left guests or cast members behind from St. Martin or St. Thomas, but had sent a life boat to retrieve them. We were still in-site of the island/dock. They hoisted the life boat into position to return the people back to the ship.

Tina

 

[mrsltg]

Not to flame, but do you think that people just don't pay attention? I can't understand how you could miss the boat (short of an act of God). But to make matters worse, make the ship stop and/or turn around? Come on! Have some respect for your fellow vacationers! If it's the fault of a DCL excursion, you'd think that the ship would know that they are missing an entire excursion and hold off for a few minutes. I just don't get it.

Oh well!

Erin

 

[wovenwonder]

I remember reading about DCL waiting for a couple who were returning to the ship late. BUT the only reason they waited was the fact that they realized that their kids were in the kids clubs!

So irresponsible!

 

[Traveliz]

I would agree that they were probably on a shore excursion that didn't get them back to the boat in time.

I know on our honeymoon we were on a cruise and Mark did a scuba diving or something tour purchased through the cruise (not DCL) and was gone for the afternoon.

Well I did this and that and fell asleep and awoke to the boats horns blowing and no Mark. I just about panicked and ran down to the (what do you call the area - the entry area I guess) the big doors and was looking for Mark and they were closing them up. Well then they discovered that not all the shore excursions had yet returned and they reopened and waited -- it was just a few minutes but my heart was beating pretty fast having woken up to the horns blasting and no Mark back yet.

Liz

 

[mmouse37]

I agree that people must be responsible for their time management while in port. If you are late due to circumstances beyond your control such as late returning excursion, that's one thing....but to just lose all track of time while shopping, etc. is just wrong.

When the ships says it leaving at a certain time, they mean it!! I really want to know why they went back!

MJ

 

[Señor Ferrari]

There are a lot of factors which determine when a ship has to leave port, not the least of which is whether all of the passengers have returned. On our 12/1/01 cruise, we left a guy in St. Thomas who was late returning to the ship. At the Q&A session with the Captain the next day, one of his friends or neighbors grilled the Captain on why he decided to leave rather than waiting for this one person (whose wife and kids were all on board). The Captain was very straightforward, I thought, and explained himself well.

The ship books the pier well in advance, along with any other ships who will be in port that day. On the day we were there, there were 5 ships in port, 3 at WICO (Havensight), and two at Crown Bay. These ships all request to depart at about the same time. The harbormaster schedules the departures and the harbor pilots based on this. If the Magic decides that it needs to stay alongside the pier longer than scheduled, it would throw off the schedule for all of the other ships trying to exit the port. For example, the pilot who is aboard the Magic may go back in to pilot another ship. If he has to wait, then the next ship has to wait, as well. In addition, I am told that it is very expensive for a ship to remain tied up longer than scheduled. The trip to Castaway Cay is a long one. One of the reasons that the Magic leaves St. Thomas as early as it does is so that it can get to Castaway Cay in time to give the passengers a full day.

There's a big sign on the gangway which explicitly says when the ship will leave, and DCL's attitude seems to be that the other 2000+ people on the ship should not have to have their stay at Castaway Cay cut short because someone doesn't pay attention to when they need to return.

I've often seen passengers taken out to the ship on the harbor pilot's launch, but if they're too late for that, then they appear to be out of luck. I would guess that in the cases where they booked an excursion through the cruise line and miss the ship, that they will go back for them. I suspect that they still need to leave on schedule, but will wait for the harbor to clear and then either send a launch in for them, or arrange to have the pilot's launch ferry them out.

bethsg,

Do you know if the ship actually returned to the harbor, or if it just waited outside for the passenger(s) to be transported back to the ship?

 

[mrsltg]

I think the word that I was looking for when I posted earlier was "arrogance". It is just plain arrogant to assume that your time is more important than someone else's. On every cruise I've been on, it's been clearly said, posted, and otherwise known what time the ship was leaving port. I have always made sure (as I am sure everyone else here has, or we wouldn't be here!) that I have time to spare when getting back to my ship. Bravo to the ships that sail away waving to the passengers stuck on the pier (because they did something to set themselves up for it).

Again, JMHO!

Erin

 

[bethsg]

Well, the latest email I have gotten from my friend, was she heard, the family was left on St. Thomas with their 2 year. Their 8 year old was left behind on the ship in the kids club.
The thing she pointed out, is that over the loudspeaker, the captain said everyone was accounted for and the ship left the port. Then he came back on and said he made a mistake, and they had left people behind, so they had to go back. The thing people are talking about, is why didn't the computer system work, to let the captain know, people weren't on the ship, not checked by in with their KTTWC.

 

[Traveliz]

A 8 year old left on the boat certainly adds an interesting twist to the story.

Liz

 

[peg2001]

Oh my!! I wonder if a new restriction on leaving kids in the club while parents go ashore is likely.

 

[Michelle]

No, they will not restrict leaving kids in clubs while parents go ashore, I can assure you of that.

It sounds like human error on DCL's part in thinking all were aboard, but the family left onshore still had culpability if they were not back at the ship on time. It's doubtful they were on a DCL excursion if they had a 2-year-old, not many excursions allow kids that young. Sounds like they lost track of time.

 

[ChiTownZee]

Originally posted by WebmasterMichelle
No, they will not restrict leaving kids in clubs while parents go ashore, I can assure you of that.

Why wouldn't they? It doesn't seem very far fetched to me to not let parents leave their kids on the ship while they go off to shore with no way to be contacted.