This is the moment two late-coming tourists are begging the captain of their cruise ship to let them come on board at an Adriatic port in southern Italy.

In the footage – taken by someone on board – the pair can be seen nervously walking up and down on an otherwise deserted fenced platform at the port of Bari, Puglia Region.

The man – dressed in white summer clothes as his female companion – can be heard frantically shouting several times (in Italian): “Sir Captain, please.”

With the gangway already hauled in, the late-comers were eventually denied access in the incident on 15th August, say local media.

The ship they wanted to get on despite running late is understood to be the MSC Splendida, a USD 550 million (GBP 430 million) 3,900-passenger luxury cruise ship operated by MSC Cruises.

The Swiss enterprise did not comment on the occurrence.

Ugo Patroni Griffi – President of the Southern Adriatic Port System Authority – apologised to the holidaymakers by saying: “I am very sorry about this episode.”

Griffi added: “They tried to ask the ship to turn back or at least stop operations.”

He explained: “Obviously, it is impossible for cruise ships. They have precise schedules and are very expensive operations.”

Netizens could relate to the captain’s decision.

User ‘Montisalicede’ argued: “If you’re late, the ships leave, the planes leave, the trains leave. Do we really always want to wait for someone who is late?”

‘Aromaresista’ asked: “How can it be assumed that a ship with thousands of passengers and a need to respect maritime traffic schedules has to adapt to the rudeness of some latecomers?”

‘Cristina_castellani’ joked: “They could have picked them up with a lifeboat.”

And ‘Point_of_view’ claimed: “This video will be my meme base for the next few weeks.”