Carnival Guest Shares What Happened After Missing Cruise Ship

If you’re thinking about flying to your cruise port on embarkation day, please heed my warning that this is never a good idea.

At best, your cruise will start with a ton of stress (which really defeats the purpose of a vacation), and at worst, you might miss your cruise ship entirely.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened to one recent Carnival guest who missed embarkation for their recent British Isles sailing after flight delays ruined their attempt to fly into the port on the first day of their sailing.

“We recently got back from the British Isles cruise and due to poor planning, we missed embarkation day…We foolishly tried to fly in day if and due to flight delays, our window of time between landing and the bus leaving the airport was not enough time,” they admitted on Reddit.

Commendably, the cruiser did take accountability for their mistake, before trying to educate others on what happened next should they ever find themselves in the same boat (pun intended).

This guest was able to join the unspecified Carnival ship during a later port call in Cobh-Cork, Ireland, but spent a stressful 24 hours in limbo trying to work out the details first.

As far as dealing with the cruise line, their best tips were to save proof of the flight delays and ask for a supervisor sooner than they did.

“It wasn’t until the 3rd call that I got to speak to a supervisor. They did not give me a direct phone number, but I did get an email,” they said.

“Once I got an email, communication updates became easier and whenever I spoke to a new customer service representative, I was able to say who I emailed and it was easier to get updates.”

They were ultimately very laudatory about the quality of the customer service they received from the cruise line during this stressful situation.

Missing a Cruise Ship: What You Don’t Think About

One lesson that this guest learned, which we can all take to heart, is that having physical copies of important documents like passports, cruise ship boarding passes, and visas is absolutely essential.

In the age of smartphones, many people opt for digital documents, which can lead to delays in this type of scenario.

“Make sure you have all your boarding documents and passports. 2 of the folks traveling in our party forgot their printed boarding documents and it held everything up when trying to board and it was an unnecessary stressor,” the recent guest explained.

During disembarkation, the passenger and their group also had to go through extra steps with Customs and Border Control because they didn’t go through the normal identity verification process on day one.

This means their group also was not eligible for express or self-assisted disembarkation, which is the fastest way to depart and often a must for passengers with an early flight home.

Additionally, guests who fail to arrive at the cruise terminal on time are responsible for making their own arrangements and paying their own way if they are given the green light to meet up with their ship later.

Travel insurance may help cover the expenses depending on the policy, but guests may first need to shell out a good chunk of change for hotels and last minute transportation before being reimbursed.

Guests also cannot expect to be refunded any of their cruise fare, as their tardiness is at no fault of the cruise line.

Of course, the most cost-efficient option is to never miss your cruise ship in the first place. Arriving in your port city at least one day early (unless you already live there) is always a good rule of thumb.

Catie Kovelman

Catie is an award-winning journalist and researcher. By day, she helps market new movies and TV shows as a senior research manager. But by night, she loves writing cruise news. In addition to Cruise Hive, Catie has contributed to a variety of newspapers, magazines, and other online publications, such as The Plaid Horse, Unwritten, YourTango, Fangirl Nation Magazine, Chapman Magazine, the Orange County Register, and Voice of OC.