Category: Travel

Travel site base on the view of a cruise ship crew member and there travels around the world. If traveling on the ship or land on their two months.

When You Missing the ship

Missing the ship and what happens. Well it does happen; there has been a few ports I have sailed away from, looking down on passengers standing on the dock.

It’s not just passengers that miss the ship it happens to crew as well, not quite as often though.

Depending on the port and where the ship is going next the process can be slightly different, but there is a process.  It will always include the port agent and local government/immigration, if a change of county is needed.

What happens when you miss the ship?

Well there is a process and it will start kicking into gear about 30 minutes before departure.

All cruise lines have a system to keep count of who is on or off the ship at any time.  This is not a roundabout figure it is an exact figure. Every ship must report all “souls” on board before they arrive and before they are ready to leave. This figure will include passengers and crew, every person is a soul, every person is accounted for.

San-Fan-Bridge
San Fransisco Bridge

Days before all passengers and crew passport details would have been sent to the port authorities/immigration, advising of exactly who is onboard. Who is leaving the ship in that port and who is joining the ship. All those figures must match when the ship sails. If they don’t the ship will be delayed, having to explain the difference.

When the ship is getting ready to leave they will have all the details of whoever is missing. Announcements will start to be made on the PA across the ship for the missing passengers to report in. Any phone numbers in the booking will be called. If they are traveling as a party, the ship will announce for the others in the party to contact the ship. Local Hospitals and police stations will most likely be contacted by the port agent. They will do all they can to find you get hold of the missing.

If there is no response or they are not going to make it in time. Accommodation with security and hotel department will go to the cabin of the missing and open the safe to find their passports and other documents, bags will be  quickly packed with as many essentials as possible, few cloths medication etc .

All this will be handed to the port agent ashore, who will wait at the dock for their arrival, while making calls to try and find them.

Windmills-Mykonos
Mykonos Windmills

When You get back to Dock

When the missing passengers make it back to the dock, the port agent will work with them as to the best solution. Sometimes the next port could be a few hours’ drive away. The port agent will then arrange a ride or rental car. They will book a hotel room if needed.

At Some ports though, the next stop for the ship is many days away in a foreign county. In this scenario the port agent will work with you to find flight and accommodation to the next port and get you back on the ship.

Maybe it’s close to the end of the cruise and you wish to go home, don’t worry the agent will help you with that as well. Your belongings onboard will then be sent to your home address when the ship finishes its cruise.

The port agent will be your main point of contact for anything you need. They will also be talking with the ship and updating heading head office. Their job will be to get you back to ship or home and keep you safe.


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Who will pay for all this?

The port agent’s time is free but, flights, accommodation, car rental etc. This all cost money and it will be up to you to pay, you missed the ship.

If you have no money on yo,u it will be paid for by the company or port agent, but expect it on your bill at the end of your cruise.

How long does the ship wait?

How long they wait can vary from port to port, captain to captain, some captain’s wait 30 odd minutes and some do not wait at all.

In a lot of ports the leaving time is planned around the tide so they cannot wait. The high tide mark gives them a small window of opportunity to leave. There could be sand bars to cross, currents to negotiate. If they miss their time, then they have to wait another 12 hours which is not possible.

It could be a port with many ships, so each ship gets an allocated time slot to leave. If they miss that slot they then go to the back of the queue, which can mean many hours late and now they will be late to the next port.

Sometimes the ship must leave the dock because another ship is coming in to use that same spot straight after them. This happens a lot when the dock is shared between many cruise lines.

Many passengers make it to the dock when the ship is still there but the gangway has been removed and lines are starting to be dropped. At this point it’s far too late. The ship has a system and order for departing and once the lines are being lowered it’s too late to get anyone on board. This would delay departure. Getting one line back on will take 30 minutes plus the other lines, plus the gang way out, it’s simply not possible. The departure sequence is in place and there is no stopping it.

How to avoid it?

Ship leaving and departure times are always well posted, advertise and announced. There will all ways be a sign at the gangway sating what time to return, can be different times for crew and passengers. Normally the time is half an hour before the ship drops its ropes. Times will be posted in the flyers you get in your room each night and announcements will be made across the ships PA system of the time due back. Trust me it is advertised everywhere and anywhere, so listen and be alert.

Conclusion

Missing the ship, best thing is not to do it. But it could happen just be prepared for an extra bill or two, plus the port agent will be your best friend.

The ship will do what it can to help. They will wait as long as they possible can. But sometimes this time frame is not very long due to factors out if its control and they must go.

So always be alert to all announcements, they hold important information. Read (VERY IMPORTANT) the all onboard signs as you leave the ship and take note of the time to be back. Read the information left in your cabin. Have your phone with you and turn on just in case; you may have time to make it back.

If on a none ships tour, see my blog, cruise tours made safe and easy, make sure you allow enough time to get back in case something goes wrong. Unlike a ships tour the ship will not wait

Remember if it’s a crew member, they will mostly likely be going home at the next port, paid for by them, without a job. So at lest you can treat it as an extra adventure.

 

 

ENJOY THE JOURNEY

When Cruise Itinerary’s Change

Every now and then your cruise itinerary will change mid cruise.  It does happen and there are 2 main reasons as to why, Weather or medical emergency.

What can you do about it, well not a lot! These kind of things happen and they are totally out of your and anyone else’s control, including the cruise line company.

Captains don’t take these changes lightly and there is always a lot of communication with shore side head office as to the options.

Let’s look at each of these scenarios in a bit more depth


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Weather

You can’t rely on the weather to always be nice. Cruise itineraries are scheduled years in advance by cruise lines. That’s how far in advance they must book a berth.

Every now and then the weather will not be corporate and plans have to be changed.

Santorini-port
Tendering in Santorini

Sometimes announcements are made for changes/cancellations and outside its sunny, hot and not a cloud in the sky. Everyone around the pool is wondering why it’s beautiful out here. Remember sometimes, what’s coming is not what you see now.

Cruise lines spend a lot of money to have up to date information on weather. They see what we cannot and sometimes the weather system that’s sending the bad weather is hundreds of miles away. If this is the case, it’s going to take a day or two to make it to the ship’s area.

When storms arrive in the ship location, it’s too late to run. The last place you want to be is on a cruise ship in the middle of a storm.

A change in itinerary is for the best passenger experience possible. Making the cruise as comfortable as possible is very important, not to mention safe. There is no need to put a ship under strain in a storm if it can be avoided.

Some of the options to cruise lines are

Traveling off course

A lot of the time ships with travel in a different direction to the itinerary. Doing this they can out run/ skirt around the outside of the worst of the weather. If at sea, they are always going to have bad weather but the plan will be to get away from the worst. Making a heading of SW (south west) instead of South could mean the difference of 6ft waves instead of 15ft.

Overnight in Port

Iceland-Port
Busy In Iceland due to bad weather

Overnight in port is another option, if the berth can be secured. Due to the fact that most cruise ship do not stay overnight in a berth they are normally free, but if there are other ships in the area its first to book it. Some ports won’t even charge, being how much money will be spent in town that night. Yes, the crew all loves an overnight in port.

Leave Port earlier or later

Holding off on going for 2 or 3 hours, or even  leaving 2 or 3 hours early can make a bit difference. These options are used quite often, especially with fast moving storms. If the ship can hold off and let the worst of the bad weather pass, this can make a huge difference.  Once the worst weather has passed it will only get better. Of course, this can only be done if the berth is available to stay a few more hours. Some berths have the next ship docking hours after the leaving time and remember it can take the ship one or two hours to dock, so you must be well clear by that time.

Slow in Ships Speed

When ships do get caught in storms they will be forced to slow down in speed. There is no other way round this. Going too fast will put too much strain on the ship and be very uncomfortable for passengers. Itineraries are all based on speed from one port to another. If you it takes 1 day to get to the next port at 15knots, but now you are in bad weather and you can only do 5 knots, well you are not going to make it.

Tender ports

One of the biggest reasons to miss a port is bad weather and Tender ports. It happens all the time and trust me if we are tending it must be a good port. Sometimes it’s the wind and sometimes it’s the swell. I have seen a tender go from 3tf below the ships dock to 3ft above in seconds. How do you load passengers safely when it’s like that, the answer is you can’t! Some days it’s fine to tender in the morning and then in the afternoon the weather turns, it’s then challenging, you have 1500 passengers to get back from shore. The Bridge will position the ship at an angle to protect the tender dock, but sometimes it so bad they just can protect it enough. It’s the chance you take on any tender ports.


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Medical Emergencies

Medical Emergencies is the other main reason itineraries change.  Life always comes first no matter who it is passenger or crew. It’s the sole decision of the senior doctor if the ship needs to divert to port to send a patient to hospital.

Off course and it cannot be any old port or hospital. The medical facility’s ashore must be of a better standard than what is on the ship. In some country’s that’s hard to find. Some ports we have dropped off at, are just to get to the nearest airport and be flown out by air ambulance.

Some itineraries are worse than others. Panama Canal has always been known as a “bucket list” thing to do. As you know bucket lists are done before you die and for most, it’s close to the end when they finally get to it.  Due to this the average age of passengers on these cruises does tend to be a lot older. This makes the odds of a medical emergency far greater.

Panama-Canal
Panama Canal Locks

If there is a death on board, they are held in the ship mortuary (yes they have one) until the next port of call where they are off loaded.

Suicide and/or Man over Board

Both of these will result in at least a 4/5+ hour delay. It may not have been someone from your ship; the rule is that every ship in the area must join the search. The ship will take at least 30 minutes to turn then it has to get back to the area, before the search even starts.  It will have to launch a fast rescue boat (or boats) to join the search. If found, and this happens very rarely, needs to be brought back to ship. Rescue boats have to be winched back on board and tied down…..all this takes time

Helicopter off load

Some situations call for a faster rescue. If the ship is in a position close enough coast guard will send a helicopter to winch off the patient and transport them straight to the closest hospital. This will normally not hold the ship up to much. They will be forced to slow down and may have to change course due to wind. It is not as simple as the helicopter turns up and we winch them up, first the medic from the helicopter comes down to the ship to look at the situation, then the patient, doctor (or nurse) and medic are winched back up one by one, this can take up to an hour. Most ship can make up the time by an increase in speed to the next port.

Insurance

To just add to medical issues, travel insurance (see my blog on Travel Insurance). The medical department on any ship will be the most expensive department onboard. Just walking in the door is about cost hundreds.  Without insurance your cheap cruise could become your biggest debt.

Overnight stays in the medical center are not cheap. Be prepared for a big bill, if a patient is in a medical center so must a member of the medical team, if ICU it’s at least one nurse and one doctor, always.

Now clearly most must get it because I see on every new cruise. Passengers walk on board during embarkation day, check cabin and then head straight to the medical center. Why you book a cruise to just spend it all at the medical center has got me, but happens every week.

Conclusion

Cruise Itineraries can change and it’s mainly due to weather or medical disembarkation. Of course there could be other factors, break down, Norovirus, crash, but these are very rare.

Just be ready that port you wanted to see so much could be missed. Most cruise lines have policies in place for missing a port, like entertainment ready to go. Shore tours can be refunded with 1 click of a button. See my article on cruise tours made safe and easy, I would doubt you get any deposit back from tours made of the ship.

Weather issues could be anything from a force 4 hurricane, which you will need to get around, to 10 knots too much wind in a tender port and creating a 2ft step on to the tender.

Malta-dock
Ships Docked in Malta

Most medical emergencies normally don’t put you off course too much, but a man over board will set you back many hours.

Remember whatever happens the ship is doing all it can to make your vacation a happy one, always thank the crew they all work hard and do their best to make you happy.

 

ENJOY THE JOURNEY