Cruise Ship Worker Appears to Wave Giant Fake Hand at Passengers Who Missed Boat

Freedom of the Seas, sits off the shores of Bayonne, New Jersey 12 May, 2006 in New York Harbor. Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

A cruise ship worker appeared to wave a fake giant hand at a couple who missed the scheduled time to get back on the boat before it left the dock.

Video footage showed a man and a woman on the dock at St. Maarten looking at the ship, clearly dismayed they had missed their chance to get back on.

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The footage then panned across the ship as it pulled away before focusing on a crew member waving a fake hand with the word “Bye!” emblazoned on it.

“Today two passengers from the freedom of the seas, arrived late to board the cruise and stayed on the island of st. Maarten. At hour you will have to take a flight until the next destination of the boat. It is important to be pending the hours of boarding in your travels, so avoid bad times. Next Destinations: st. Kitts,” the user who posted the footage wrote.

People can be heard in the background saying “They missed it!” in reference to the couple missing the ship.

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It wasn’t clear whether the crew member was specifically waving at the couple or whether he chose a bad time to wave the hand. The Cruise Hive blog suggested it was the latter, writing: “It was likely for those people watching from the other vessel docked there rather than the two passengers who missed the ship and were on the pier. All the attention was on them and the bridge would not have made the situation even worse for the two, just funny timing for sure!”

According to the blog, the people would have to try to book a flight to St. Kitts to catch up to the ship. If that doesn’t work out, they may have to meet it at another port or even fly back to the United States.

The Freedom of the Seas makes its way up the Hudson River May 12, 2006, in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“It’s not a laughing matter when someone misses the cruise ship departure but they should be responsible for making sure they always stay on ship time and are aware of the back onboard time. Cruise lines often remind passengers vigorously of the back onboard time and ship time,” the blog noted.

The ship in question was Royal Caribbean’s “Freedom of the Seas.”

Royal Caribbean has not commented on the footage.

Freedom of the Seas sits off the shores of Bayonne, New Jersey on May 12, 2006, in New York Harbor. Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

Reactions

Facebook users commented on the footage after it was posted on Aug. 5.

“I’ve seen that several times... one time I saw a couple of old people who couldn’t run... the boat was leaving.... two boat employees were running... They took them to the shoulder and carried them to the boat... we were going to die of laughter but also of joy,” one user wrote.

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“Unfortunate. When my husband and I travel on cruise we always buy the excursions  (although we get a little more expensive and we always choose the first turn out) so we avoid setbacks of returning late to the pier,” another wrote. “Remember that if you take a tour on your own, you have no guarantee of arriving on time, etc. Sometimes, they send to the cabins the itineraries daily that specifies time of arrival and departure of the pier. The ship does not wait for anyone.”

“They don’t learn .. It’s one of the rules of the cruises. If by chance they don’t have the passports by hand. The situation is complicated,” added another.

Added yet another, “When you get down they tell you at the time you must be there.”