It was 12:58. All aboard was 1 p.m. A long chain link fence separated my travel buddy and me from our cruise ship’s gangway, which was mere minutes from closing.
My heart was pounding, and I was sweating like I’d just finished an Olympic 100-meter dash — except the race was yet to come. How was I supposed to get from the tourist shops lining the port of Freeport, Bahamas, around the fence to my ship? I couldn’t scale a fence on the best of days, let alone after a morning in the sun and one extremely strong rum punch.
Luckily for me, Carnival cruisers love to get a drink, sit on their balconies around all-aboard time and cheer the latecomers as they dash down the pier in the hopes of making it to their ship before it leaves them high and dry on a foreign island. These folks came to laugh at me — but they were also my saviors.
“To the right!” a shipmate of mine called from above. I looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the opening in the fence.
We sprinted like the rest of our vacation depended on it (which it did), skidding around the fence opening without breaking stride and racing up the gangway. If our shipmates cheered or the crew rolled their eyes, I didn’t stop to notice.
I hit the security desk to flash my cruise keycard and then looked at my watch.
1 p.m. exactly. We might have been the last people back on board, but technically, we were right on time.
Still, it was too close a call for this always-on-time, rule-following, detail-oriented editor. I’m a professional cruiser and was mortified to be playing the role of pier runner.
How did this happen? And how can you learn from my mistakes to avoid becoming a pier runner and missing the ship yourself?
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My sordid tale of time management mishaps
Don’t judge me, but I’m about to throw my travel companion under the bus.
The day started out wonderfully. Carnival Pride arrived early in Freeport for a half-day visit before it would make its way back to Baltimore. My friend (let’s call her M) and I had been enjoying a fabulous getaway without our husbands and kids, and were loving Carnival’s live bands, flavorful Indian food, abundant brunch offerings and lots of beach time.
For our final port of call, we’d purchased day passes to a local beach club, where we could lay out, snorkel, and get snacks and drinks. It was not a Carnival excursion, but something I’d found online and booked independently. (Remember that — it’s a key part of the story.)
We had picked this beach club based on reviews, price and inclusion of transportation so we wouldn’t have to pay extra for a cab.
We left the ship at the appointed time and watched other travelers get picked up for their tours before our van arrived. Given that it was 2021, with travel still depressed due to COVID-19, we were the only guests heading to the beach club from our ship.
When I asked what time the van would depart to bring us back to the ship, the driver said he’d take us whenever we wanted. The drive was roughly a half-hour.
“OK,” I told M, “let’s plan on leaving at noon, so we’re not cutting it close for the 1 p.m. all-aboard time.”
We then set about enjoying our time as the only guests at the beach club. (A few folks showed up later that morning.) We paid extra for a guide to take us snorkeling, rather than head out on our own. It was 20 bucks well spent because he pointed out sea turtles and stingrays we might not have spotted and told us the names of the fish we saw.
When we got back to shore, we cashed in our included tickets for a rum punch apiece. And here’s where our carefully planned day started to fall apart. Those drinks were strong, and we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast on the ship.
I’m a lightweight when it comes to cocktail consumption, but I’m also 6 feet tall. M is the epitome of petite. Halfway through her plastic cup of punch, she was feeling no pain.
As noon neared, I told M that if we wanted to buy locally crafted souvenirs from the beach club’s small shop, we’d have to do that soon so we could leave on time. M could not be happier to start browsing. While I took a quick look around and purchased some Bahamian hot sauce for my husband, she took her time perusing each piece of art on display, even asking the shop owner if she had extra prints in the back.
Noon came and went, and M was still hemming and hawing over which art to buy. “Hurry up,” I begged. “We need to get going.”
“I’m almost done,” she’d reply and then change her mind again about which print to buy.
When she finally made her decision, the items all needed to be wrapped while the clock ticked on, and my anxiety ratcheted up. We finally got in the van close to 12:30 p.m.
Our driver, in true Bahamian fashion, was also not concerned. He assured us it would take less than a half-hour to get back to port.
Maybe so, but I sweated through every lengthy red light and traffic-heavy street we passed. We pulled up to the port’s drop-off area with just minutes to spare … and well, you know the rest.
Related: Can a cruise ship leave without you?
How not to miss your ship
Our undoing in this adventure was alcohol. I can assure you, we were neither the first nor the last cruisers to nearly or actually miss the ship because we were tipsy and not paying attention. My original plan was solid, but it fell apart after those dang rum punches.
Had we purchased a tour through Carnival, likely someone would have rounded us all up when it was time to leave. If ship-sponsored tours are late, due to traffic or straggling tourists, the ship is contractually obligated to wait for all the buses to return before leaving port.
When you’re on your own, it’s your responsibility to make it back to the ship on time. Here’s what you can do to make sure you don’t miss your ship — or cut it close and have to run down the pier before the crew pulls up the gangway.
Related: Ship-sponsored vs. independent shore excursions on cruises: Which should you book?
Stay sober — or designate someone in your party to be responsible
I guarantee you will make better decisions if your travel party remains sober and in control when exploring independently in port. But I also realize that many cruisers love to drink in port and that many tours include beverages. Have fun but know your limits and stick to a cut-off time so you can make it back to your ship. You also might want to take turns being the person who doesn’t drink (or sticks to one drink) and can wrangle everyone else when it’s time to leave.
Identify a return time with plenty of buffer
Before you leave the ship, find out when all aboard is and plan to return to your ship a half-hour or an hour before that time. That way, you have some wiggle room for unexpected delays.
Important: All-aboard and sailaway times are not the same. The all-aboard time is typically a half-hour earlier than the sailaway. Once that gangway is up and the door closed, the captain is not going to set it up again just because you’re frantically waving from the pier.
Make sure you know how long it takes to get from where you’re spending the day back to the ship. Set a timer on your phone for when you need to leave. If you’re far from the port, either on an independently arranged tour or have taken a cab to a destination farther afield, be sure to plan for traffic on the drive back to the ship.
If you have a solid return plan, you will be less at risk for arriving at the port after the ship has sailed.
Related: 6 cruise mistakes that will ruin your vacation in an instant
Set your watch to ship’s time
In some ports, the ship won’t adjust its time to local time. (It’s rare, but it does occasionally happen.) Make sure your phone or watch stays on ship time.
Enjoy yourself, but stay focused
So many of us fall prey to vacation brain. We’re lazing sleepily in the sun on a beach without a care in the world and forget to think about when we need to pack up and go. We get so intent on all the pretty things we can buy in a foreign city that we forget to check the time.
It’s so easy to get distracted and hyperfocused on the fun we’re having and new things we’re experiencing, so time may pass more quickly than we realized.
You don’t want to casually check your phone only to discover that you need to be on your cruise ship in 15 minutes.
Bottom line
As much as you might like to sit on your balcony and judge all the frazzled folks racing for the ship at the last minute, my tale proves that anyone can turn into a pier runner under the right (or should that be wrong?) circumstances. The best of intentions can fall victim to the power of rum punch, vacation brain and the herding-cats nature of group travel.
However, you can set yourself up for success by following the tips in this article when you head off on your own in port. Don’t trust yourself — or your friends and family? Then book a ship-sponsored tour and leave the logistics to a professional.
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