first cruise after a TA?

[39august]

I have read that the first cruise after a TA has a delay in boarding. Is that the only downside? Looking at Navigator Dec. 1, 2013. I don't mind waiting till 1 or so PM to board. Would it typically be later than that out of Galveston?

[gw2fll]

I don't know if it is "normal", but I can say it is not always the first cruise.

 

We sailed NOS out of Fort Lauderdale last year. The first cruise was the week of Thanksgiving and we sailed on Saturday, November 26. (Second sailing after TA.) We arrived at the port around 11:00 boarding did not start until almost 1:00.

 

NorbertsNiece posted a great blog of the cruise. For an idea of what it was like boarding that day, checkout post 25, page 2. Even with the delay, we quickly moved on and enjoyed our cruise.

[LoneStarCruzrs]

I just checked the schedule for the Navigator last night and noticed that they have a seven day cruise scheduled to leave Galveston on November 24 following the transatlantic that begins on November 10th, so the cruise you are looking at will be the second cruise after the transatlantic and should not be any different than any other cruise out of Galveston unless delayed by fog which sometimes happens in the winter months.

 

I have read that due to the fact that a lot of crew are getting off or on following a transatlantic and probably a lot of foreign passengers are arriving too, disembarkation and embarkation can be delayed due to immigration or customs workload on transatlantic turnaround days. I don't know how much it would affect boarding time, but it probably varies by port.

[gw2fll]

I think what you are concerned about are the inspections that occur upon returning stateside. From what was explained to us, the captain mentioned the delay in boarding was caused by Coast Guard inspections. My understanding, those inspections must occur within a certain period of time upon returning back to the US. Since the inspections did not happen on the first stateside sailing, it happened on our sailing - the second one.

 

As mentioned in my previous post, although a bother, from what we understand, they always try to get boarding started by the stated time (1:00). By the way, we did sail on time, so the problem was just the lines waiting to board. I think the bigger issue with that was more of the pier we were leaving from and the port staff.

 

If you do have an inspection on your cruise, given there are fewer ships, you should still board no later than stated time, usually 1:00 pm. Have a great cruise!!!

 

PS The captain announced the port set a record that day with the number of ships in port and passengers cleared - so it was a big stress on the system.

[bethco]

On a cruise out of Galveston a while back, we had a taxi driver talking about the ship getting in several hours earlier than normal and crew members heading to Wal-Mart before 5 am. I can believe that it takes longer to clear the ship when it returns from Across the Pond, but the taxi driver indicated that at least that year, it started very early.