Be on time…the ship will leave

Working on board Celebrity cruises years ago, as were leaving port there were announcements on the ships tannoy….’will Mr and Mrs Carter room 2154 please make their way to guest relations’.  This normally meant that these guests had managed to get on board without buzzing their key card or the passengers are not on board!

The ship will have notices at the gangway to say last boarding time for guests 4.30pm for example.  If you are late the ship will leave.  There are 2000 more passengers the ship has to think about and the cruise line will get fined for late departure.

In Ushuia, a member of crew missed the ship, he had to fly to the next port to board and then he was sacked by the Captain! It is that strict.

So a lady missed the Norwegian Escape a few days ago as the ship left the port of Nassau in the Bahamas, onlookers filmed her on her knees on the dock side with her head in her hands sobbing and shouting the words ‘My kids are on board’ !!!!!

Some cruise lines do babysit children in port to let the parents visit ashore without the little ankle biters bothering them but would you cut it that close that you would miss the ship?  She did, go to our new page on our website and view the footage for yourself.

So the moral of the story is buy a watch, and check the last embarkation time and get back for your kids!!