Has anyone else almost missed the boat?

[Karin1984]

I posted this thread because I felt that every "dock runner" has a story to tell, and wondered what some others might be. I talked to a person who told me that they were dock runners because they got held up getting back because of a bank robbery taking place between them and the ship and couldn't get through! That certainly beats our story!!

The difference is that they weren't the bank robbers (I hope ). Those are extraordinary circumstances beyond your control. You chose to go to the bar, and weren't forced by a bank robber to stay there. That is probably more what ticks people of. Everyone can be late, but there is a difference why you are late and your own influence on it.

I guess they were cheering because it meant less work for them/their colleagues. I think when a person is late a cruise member stays in port to help in case the guests need help. And to explain the options about catching up with the ship, how to get your luggage back etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if they smiled in your face and backstage they would call you names or make fun of you. When I worked in customer service your story would be printed and pinned to the bulletin board if we needed a laugh.

 

[Cheburashka]

I see a lot of bad assumptions and judging here. But the OP was back before the all aboard time and had a great day. I don't see anything wrong with it. If DCL wanted him back earlier, then they should have said so.

The assumptions were wrong, but were honestly based on many posters' experience of most DCL cruises, which do not feature DCL calling passengers before all-aboard time. Apparently this Key West cruise had a different procedure as the OP recently stated.

As for judging, well, if a person is back by all-aboard time after having fun drinking at various bars, there is no problem. If a person is late due to choosing to keep having fun drinking at various bars, then that is something that can be negatively judged.

(And judging fellow posters' judginess is also judgy, btw.)

 

[Ikaikalani]

The difference is that they weren't the bank robbers (I hope ). Those are extraordinary circumstances beyond your control. You chose to go to the bar, and weren't forced by a bank robber to stay there. That is probably more what ticks people of. Everyone can be late, but there is a difference why you are late and your own influence on it.

I guess they were cheering because it meant less work for them/their colleagues. I think when a person is late a cruise member stays in port to help in case the guests need help. And to explain the options about catching up with the ship, how to get your luggage back etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if they smiled in your face and backstage they would call you names or make fun of you. When I worked in customer service your story would be printed and pinned to the bulletin board if we needed a laugh.

Again, we weren't late.

 

[Karin1984]

Again, we weren't late.

Alright, you weren't late, but you were a runner.

A story that starts with 'people are looking for me, but I go to one more bar' is not one that makes you look good.

 

[Karin1984]

The assumptions were wrong, but were honestly based on many posters' experience of most DCL cruises, which do not feature DCL calling passengers before all-aboard time. Apparently this Key West cruise had a different procedure as the OP recently stated.

As for judging, well, if a person is back by all-aboard time after having fun drinking at various bars, there is no problem. If a person is late due to choosing to keep having fun drinking at various bars, then that is something that can be negatively judged.

(And judging fellow posters' judginess is also judgy, btw.)

I had a look at old navigators, it is quite a few years ago since Key West had a 7.30 all aboard, so procedures were probably different. The last (pre pandemic) years, Key West had usually an all aboard time between 2.30 and 4.30.

 

[insureman]

Soooo , getting back to the OP question has anyone almost "missed the boat". We have not because I have flashbacks of trying to get back to my ship after liberty when I was in the Navy.

 

[Chrissy-Mickey]

Hi everyone, OP here. I'm sorry my story hit a nerve, and perhaps I should have provided more detail. The first call we received was at 6:30 pm. The cast member said they were calling everyone who was still off the ship to remind them they needed everyone back aboard by 7:30.

I'm glad you came back to correct my misunderstanding. I should have double-checked with you if you were talking about "all aboard" time or "sail away" time. My apologies for that.

Your idea of sharing stories of cutting it close can be amusing.
The closest we've cut it was the last ferry back to Cozumel; it was with the cruise line's excursion to Chichén Itzá, so we knew they would wait for us, but still... not something I want to do again.

 

[mzelent]

Our first Disney cruise was a 7 night Magic New Years cruise. Our first stop was Key West, a place I'd lived years before. We had way too much fun hitting my old haunts. Noon saw us toasting drinks at the Bull n Whistle and on down the line of pubs we went, ending up just in time for Sunday Tea Dance at La Te Da's. After more than enough jello shots, we pulled ourself away from the fun and started to make our way down Duvall street back to the ship. The crew called us on our mobile twice, tracking us down wanting to find out where we were. We tried so hard to hurry it along, but there was always just one more pub to duck into for that "last " drink. We finally reached the ship with just 2 minutes to spare. I heard them pull up the gangway up after us, with some of the crew looking down from the upper decks, laughing, clapping and cheering our good luck. Has anyone else had a close call, or failed to make it back at all??

Having recently returned from a girls trip to Key West to celebrate 50th birthday, this made me laugh and put a smile on my face. Thanks for making my evening!

 

[daisyx3]

The whole concept makes me nervous. For me being on time is late! Also on our last cruise in June of 2019, in Nassau we saw a couple stroll up to the neighboring ship (don't remember which line) as it was just out of the dock. Not something I'd like to have happen to me.

 

[Cheburashka]

The whole concept makes me nervous. For me being on time is late! Also on our last cruise in June of 2019, in Nassau we saw a couple stroll up to the neighboring ship (don't remember which line) as it was just out of the dock. Not something I'd like to have happen to me.

Yes, I've seen cruise runner videos and I would never want to be one of those people.

 

[cedricandsophie]

My husband is notoriously late for many things. If he is by himself and on land, which he often is because the rest of us want to get back before him, I’m always worried. About 30 years ago we were on our first Med cruise, not disney. We were in sorrento for the day and decided to take a boat to Capri with one of our dinner mates. We had a great day and had it well planned to get back in plenty of time. As we came around the bend into the bay, we realized that our ship was no longer there! And we were at least an hour ahead of boarding. None of us had passports, etc. and our teenage kids were onboard!
when the hydrofoil got to the dock we saw there was still a small tent for our ship there. And 3 other people waiting including the ship doctor. Turns out the bay waves were too high and the ship was forced to move to Naples. They left a crew member to wait for those of us not back. And hired a van to take us to Naples.
it was an adventure but a scary one.

 

[ggfred32]

I personally, don’t have strong enough bowels to cut it that close with the All Aboard time. I can, however, attest to watching the dock from my veranda and there is always somebody who is coming in just at the last minute. I appreciate that you recognize that you probably shouldn’t have made one last stop and glad you learned from it. It happens every cruise, and DCL will wait for you if they can, but eventually they will leave. Lesson learned, and I’m glad you didn’t make it back to an empty dock.

 

[JWelch62]

We once arrived over an hour late! But, as we were on an officially sanctioned DCL excursion the ship waited for us, and the rest of the passengers on that excursion. This was the Rum Point excursion in Grand Cayman. We were on a Catamaran sailing back from Rum Point when the wind basically just died. Motoring in took forever...

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I have never been a dock runner, but years ago, on a Magic cruise out of NYC, the busses got stuck in traffic bringing people back from the parks. A bad accident involving a motorcycle shut down I-4. Think, many busses, stuck for HOURS. All Aboard time was 1230 am, ship was scheduled to depart at 1:15 am. Our bus got us back at 1am.( we got on the bus at 830pm) There were more busses behind us. Disney was great. They knew we would be tired and hungry, so we were invited to go to Cabanas (or what it was before that, Beach Blanket?) they had a full buffet out for us. We ate and went to bed. The next day we heard that everyone was onboard by 330am and we left port at 430am. That was a crazy night.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

We once arrived over an hour late! But, as we were on an officially sanctioned DCL excursion the ship waited for us,

Same thing happened to us on our Med cruise. The excursion (DCL) from La Spezia to the Tower of Pisa hit commute traffic coming out of town. We were at least an hour late returning to port. When we got on the (last) tender to go back to the ship, they filled it up (3 busloads of people, all the shoreside CMs, and poles & ropes used on the dock).

Now, that being said, it's entirely possible the ship could have left without us. That happened to many people on our EBTA. In Dublin, traffic was so bad there were many excursions that didn't make it back in time. Due to the tides, the ship HAD to sail. DCL ferried those left behind to Liverpool overnight to meet up with the ship. At least those who were on DCL excursions. Don't know if there were any people who missed the ship who were not on DCL excursions, and what they did.

 

[Dznypal]

we always take the ships tours from the ship--a few years ago we were one of the last back on the ship--as we were swiping our card the crew was counting how many were in line yet against how many the computer still werent swiped in--that was enough for us to always book from the ship

on another cruise I was sitting by the window when I heard a clunking sound I looked out the window and there was the pilot boat bringing some people back to the ship--

I had to go to the laundry room to iron a shirt for DH and happend to pass the room where the wife was on the pilot boat husband was ticked and the kid was upset--not fun