Carnival Cruise Line makes controversial boarding policy clear

Cruise ship passengers have to pay more attention than people taking land-based vacations. You might, for example, stay at Disney World past park closure or even after transportation stops running.

When that happens, you may need to take an Uber or a Lyft back to your hotel, but there's no fear that the hotel will not be there when you find your way back. Cruise ships. however, have set departure times and they generally leave exactly when they're scheduled to leave.

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That can be tricky for passengers as sometimes ship time and local time might be different. Back when people wore traditional watches, it was easy enough to simply set your watch to ship time and leave it at that.

Local time only mattered if you booked a reservation or excursion and needed to be there at the right time. Smartphones and watches, however, generally automatically update to local time (although you can set them not to). 

That can lead to situations where a passenger knows they need to be back on the ship 5 p.m. but may not know when 5 p.m. is. Sometimes, of course, passengers simply cut it to close (or maybe have too much to drink) and end up being what's known as pier runners — passengers running on the dock to board the ship before it leaves.

A recent situation where Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH left some passengers behind led to Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador John Heald commenting on the issue. 

Carnival will leave you behind 

Carnival, and all cruise lines, pay for the time they are docked in port. In most cases, they will wait for passengers who are late that booked a cruise-line sponsored excursion (technically, Carnival and other cruise lines promise to get those passengers back to the ship, which could mean at a later port).

People who book their own excursions or simply visit the port on their own have no special protections. The cruise lines, can (and will) leave them behind. That's what happened to some Norwegian Cruise Line passengers recently and Heald commented on it on his Facebook page. 

"I had to check to see if I was actually also the Brand Ambassador of NCL. I am not," he wrote. "Now I say that because I was asked, questioned, and indeed bollocked by various people about a news story that went virus or whatever it's called about some NCL guests that had missed the ship and had been 'left in Africa.'"

Heald shared that Carnival likely would have left at the appointed time as it is the passengers' responsibility to be back on the ship on time.

"Anyway, I explained that all the cruise companies make it very clear that they will wait if you’re on one of their excursions but not otherwise. These guests were told what time they had to be on board and they weren’t. It really is that simple," he added.

Carnival gets some passenger pushback

Heald shared a response from one of his followers:

"That was the basis of my reply and wow 'P' did not like that and went full Glitterknickers on me. Brilliantly though she wrote this: 'You have no heart John Heald. The passengers have been punished for having time blindness and accommodations should have been made. The ship should have waited!'" he shared.

Heald made it clear that he was not overly sympathetic to the passengers in this case.

"Can I say again that I do not work for NCL? It’s not my sodding fault. However, time blindness...ummmmm, OK. And as far as 'accommodations' being made, NCL had indeed made some. They are called 'clocks,' he wrote.

Cruise lines do sometimes stay docked past their planned time. Sometimes weather can force a longer stay while medical emergencies may also delay departure.

Heald's post garnered over 350 comments and most agreed with the cruise line.

"Time blindness is a thing, yes, but you just have to be extra aware. My husband is vigilant with the time. I with ADHD who struggle also always am mindful of the time. I hate being late so always try to be early. At what point does a ship stop waiting, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour, you make an exception for one you open the floodgates," wrote Stacey Lanigan.

In addition to accruing additional costs for a longer port stay, a cruise ship may not be able to make its next stop if it is delayed too long.

"John it wouldn’t matter what time people had to be back there’s always those who are late. It’s part of the fun having a balcony, and watching them run! Just follow the rules and there won’t be a problem," Cindy Lane Sells added.