When in a cruise port - don't be late!

I came across this article today - https://www.cruisehive.com/the-bridge-says-bye-as-two-passengers-miss-the-cruise-ship/33381

A couple in St. Maarten were late getting back to the ship. The ship left without them.

You see these news items from time to time. I sometimes wonder if cruise lines encourage such reporting to make it seem much more frequent than it is. That way, you will book your excursion through the ship itself, rather than book a private tour. Remember, there are many cruise ships running at any given time (for a long list, check out Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cruise_ships) Each of these ships has between hundreds, up to several thousand guests. If passengers missed their ship even 0.1% of the time, there would be no end of such news items. There would be dozens of passengers stranded each day. But there aren’t.

When it comes to cruise excursions, if you are even a little adventurous, book a private tour. You can often be in a vehicle with just your family and friends for less money than being crammed into a bus with 40 other passengers would cost. Not only that, but in a private tour, you get to call the shots. Want to spend extra time at one site, and maybe skip another altogether - you can do that. Private tours that cater to cruise ship passenger know how important it is to get you back on time, or even a little early.

But, if you are really nervous, book the cruise tour. That way you can be sure you won’t have the bridge waving goodbye with a big foam hand.

https://www.facebook.com/crucerospuertorico/videos/688479485001630/