How is NYC debarkation process now ?

[Docalbe]

Is there a ET OF REAIR??? Or is it that Bad???:confused:

[njhorseman]

Is there a ET OF REAIR??? Or is it that Bad???:confused:

 

It's not obvious physical damage to the pier. My guess is it involves the replacement of electronics...wires, cables, circuit boards etc. Salt water causes tremendous damage to electrical equipment. Some of the stuff may not be readily available and may have to be custom manufactured.

[cookmg40]

Thanks for the responses!

[QuickieGlenn]

Thanks from me too

Being prepared helps

[Cruisercl]

I also disembarked yesterday... the big bottleneck was to get through immigration... once that was done, the "walk-off" was not an issue. Disembarkation from NYC when this was done in the terminal was very easy. I agree with the suggestion to do away with carrry off your own luggage.

 

The first few cruises we took after the change seemed to be okay but I think more people have decided to do it. I think it is hysterical to watch people dragging two large luggage out and trying to do down the escalator (one shut down when I was on it) We always put out luggage out and then pick it up on ground level. Especially yesterday, if people weren't lugging all of that luggage around, things would have gone a lot smoother...

 

Instead of being in such a hurry to be the first off, unless you have a flight to catch... relax and enjoy your last few minutes before getting back to the real world.... :):)

 

This entire cruise was full of people who didn't follow directions. Unruley children with no parental supervision. I saw little kids (6 years old or so) wandering freely through the ship.

 

I think one of the big problems arose from the movie that was shown in the Stardust theater which finished up right when we docked. Everyone left the theater and got clogged in the hallway. All heading toward the immigration people, with no indication of what type of disembarkation they had choosen. This was the one thing that I think should have been done better... an announcement after the movie to stay put until they were told to go to immigration... but I wonder how many of those people would have listened anyway. Maybe they just gave up giving directions that no one was following.

 

Until the immigration process can be held off the ship, I think people need to listen to directions and have patience. I am absolutely sure that Norwegian would love to have the pier in complete operating order.. but that is beyond their control...

 

In my opinion there could have been 1000 announcements yesterday telling people what to do, and no one would have listened. I actually heard one man tell his wife who wanted to go get in line while we were still at sea that they didn't want people congregating... her answer to him was "well, lets see how many people listened"... as she got out of the elevator and headed toward the mess.

 

Hi Rose!

 

Well stated.....:)

 

Caron

[www3traveler]

Congress has just passed and send to the White House the 50.5 Billion Superstorm Sandy Bill. Maybe there is finally money in there for the repairs to the terminal.

[woodburykt]

that we'll be on the Gem next Tuesday, Feb 5 and we can't wait to get away from the snow and cold for a while.

 

This will be our 4th voyage on the Gem and I'm sure that we will have a great time again.

 

Last year when we returned to NYC, the Jewel was also in port that day....now THAT was something. All I can say is that I totally agree with other posters............be patient, be polite, follow instructions, and relax! What's the big rush to be off the ship first thing? We only have to drive up to CT and we have always waited to pick up our bags at the terminal instead of doing our own walk off.

 

Of all the cruises we've done from NYC, the BEST disembarkation was our first cruise from NYC and that was HAL's Noordam. It was merely 15 minutes from leaving our cabin to being on the sidewalk....and our bags were right there when we first walked into the terminal.

 

The worst was last year when as I mentioned above....the Jewel was there at the same time as the Gem....it wasn't pretty but we got through it all right. Hey, its sure bettter than having to fly home, that's why NYC will be our main cruising option from now on.

 

OK Ms. Gem.............are you ready for us? 7 days to go!!!!

[pixiedustdawn]

I sailed twice in November without any lights or heat at the port. I walked through Customs the same way I always have after luggage pick up area. My cruise this past week was different, I did have to go through customs onboard and get a stamp, then go down through the regular customs area to hand in my form. Different than right after Sandy.

 

If you are in the Garden Villa or Haven you will be fine. I had no problems as my concierge and butler escorted me the entire way. It took about 10 minutes to get off the ship on Sunday.

 

Main thing is not to congragate in hallways. Stay in your cabin as long as you can and then move to a venue to wait. Blue Lagoon etc, this week Stardust was open to people waiting for their color tag to be called.

 

Rumor has it, port should be ok by mid to late February. We will have to wait and see about that.

 

Dawn

[tiffygirl]

This information is very helpful, Im sailing on the Breakaway next september, Ive never sailed from NYC so Im clueless on that terminals embarkation/ disembarkation proccess .

 

i was debating whether or not to go with a late flight on my return. Now i think I would serve me well to take the later flight.

 

Based on the comments i dont think i will make a flight before noon out of NYC anyways or it will be very, very close.

 

Future high level stress attack has just been diverted! lol

[www3traveler]

Norwegian will tell you not to book a return flight until 2 P.M. When I am flying back to the West Coast from any East Coast port, I never book a flight before 3 P.M. The biggest problem right now with the NYC terminal (other than rude and pushy passengers) is the damage sustained by Superstorm Sandy. I would by my cruise in May and certainly by your cruise the damage will have been repaired. That being said there can always be a delay because of bad weather or some type of emergency (mechanical or medical).

[Brighton Line]

I sailed twice in November without any lights or heat at the port.

 

Wow what a thread and from it things have improved.

You think you had it bad, well I returned to Pier 88 on Friday 11/02 the first Friday after Sandy on Caribbean Princess after 6 days of being tied up to the pier in Boston.

 

We didn't even know if the pier would be open when we left Boston Thursday.

Now that was a zoo getting off, crew forming a human chain to pass luggage and handicap people off. Everyone was walk off from the lower crew level.

 

From this thread things seemed to have improved greatly ;)

[emcee207]

Wow what a thread and from it things have improved.

You think you had it bad, well I returned to Pier 88 on Friday 11/02 the first Friday after Sandy on Caribbean Princess after 6 days of being tied up to the pier in Boston.

 

We didn't even know if the pier would be open when we left Boston Thursday.

Now that was a zoo getting off, crew forming a human chain to pass luggage and handicap people off. Everyone was walk off from the lower crew level.

 

From this thread things seemed to have improved greatly ;)

 

Brighton Line, It is ironic you posted this today. Just this morning I was thinking of a friend of mine, also from Brooklyn, who was on the same Princess cruise as you. She was with her older Mom and I think a sister or two, no men, lol! I told her several times that week I would drive into Boston and give them a tour from a local but she wouldn't have it. What a mess that was. She said they had two or three tugs pushing them back into the dock berth at the heigth of storm.

 

I emailed her today and told her I had thought of her and what a predicament she had been through and was a bit ashamed of myself for whining and worrying about a POSSIBLE tough disembarkation!:rolleyes:

 

Now THAT was a lousy cruise!

[Brighton Line]

She said they had two or three tugs pushing them back into the dock berth at the heigth of storm.

 

Pardon the thread drift...

Two tugs, 21 lines and 6 thrusters running kept us against the Boston dock in 70 to 90 knot winds trying to push us away all night long. :D

Didn't feel a thing but made for great pix of the tugs from the promandade deck...

[emcee207]

yeah also sorry about that.

 

Yes, that was quite a deal. Did you make it to the new Legal Sea Foods restaurant right down the street? My wife works for them, but at a differen location. The new place is really nice, right on the harbor.

[Lizcourt]

Wondering the same thing here :confused:

 

How can pier 88 not be a priority to fix by Port Authority ??

 

About, what, 12 000 person uses this facility per week ( about 2000 per ship per week coming out and same coming in, and about 3 ships per week )

 

 

I:

 

You're kidding, right? Port Authority also runs the Path trains, which more than 240,000 people depend upon EACH DAY to get into and out of New York. The last line on that system finally went back up TODAY, and still isn't running on the weekends. And I'm not criticizing Port Authority -- they've had to find a way to pump tens of millions of gallons of seawater out of those tunnels and make the necessary repairs, all the while managing alternate transportation DAILY for a quarter million people. I know we would all like Sandy to just be over (especially those of us with homes at the Jersey shore), but frankly I can understand the cruise ship pier not being a "priority fix" for the Port Authority.

[www3traveler]

My questions would be: (1) how much of The Sandy package was allocated to the Port Authority, (2) how much money do they actually need to repair everything and (3) how soon will the Port Authority actually have the money????????????????

[njhorseman]

You're kidding, right? Port Authority also runs the Path trains, which more than 240,000 people depend upon EACH DAY to get into and out of New York. The last line on that system finally went back up TODAY, and still isn't running on the weekends. And I'm not criticizing Port Authority -- they've had to find a way to pump tens of millions of gallons of seawater out of those tunnels and make the necessary repairs, all the while managing alternate transportation DAILY for a quarter million people. I know we would all like Sandy to just be over (especially those of us with homes at the Jersey shore), but frankly I can understand the cruise ship pier not being a "priority fix" for the Port Authority.

 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey neither owns nor manages the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. It's owned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and managed by Ports America.

[www3traveler]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey neither owns nor manages the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. It's owned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and managed by Ports America.

Thank You, I thought the Port owned the terminal. Do you have any idea what the estimated cost to repair the terminal is or how much of that cost is covered in the Sandy Relief Package.

[njhorseman]

Thank You, I thought the Port owned the terminal. Do you have any idea what the estimated cost to repair the terminal is or how much of that cost is covered in the Sandy Relief Package.

 

Sorry, but I don't have any idea of how much repairs will cost and how much of the cost is covered by the relief legislation.

[latebloomer56]

You're kidding, right? Port Authority also runs the Path trains, which more than 240,000 people depend upon EACH DAY to get into and out of New York. The last line on that system finally went back up TODAY, and still isn't running on the weekends. And I'm not criticizing Port Authority -- they've had to find a way to pump tens of millions of gallons of seawater out of those tunnels and make the necessary repairs, all the while managing alternate transportation DAILY for a quarter million people. I know we would all like Sandy to just be over (especially those of us with homes at the Jersey shore), but frankly I can understand the cruise ship pier not being a "priority fix" for the Port Authority.

Odd as I was reading this hot thread I was thinking the same thing. Wouldn't the owners of the cruise ship piers be fixing things at least in part. We all pay port fees and the Port Authority must have other issues that are higher on the to do list than helping with this at this time. Thousands of people depend on them for transportation daily not a few days a week. Sorry some folks let delays over shadow their vacation. I know there will always be some who just can't be happy due to the need to speed through life. Thanks for all the posts as we will be traveling in May hope things improve. If not we will just have to allow more time. Will continue to look in on NY port news here.

[Lizcourt]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey neither owns nor manages the Manhattan Cruise Terminal. It's owned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and managed by Ports America.

 

I didn't know that (and apparently neither did the OP I quoted, who was blaming Port Authority -- a term which, to us here in NY/NJ doesn't mean "the authority that runs the port" but a specific entity -- the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey).

[CPT Trips]

Thank You, I thought the Port owned the terminal. Do you have any idea what the estimated cost to repair the terminal is or how much of that cost is covered in the Sandy Relief Package.

 

When they check you onto the ship maybe they should cross check addresses against congressional district ;). Service getting on and off other ship could be directly related to the aid vote . . .

[sebas030]

I didn't know that (and apparently neither did the OP I quoted, who was blaming Port Authority -- a term which, to us here in NY/NJ doesn't mean "the authority that runs the port" but a specific entity -- the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey).

 

 

Hi,

 

Yes I did use the wrong term designating the "agency" who manages the Manhattan cruise terminal. Sorry about that :o

 

I wrongfully assumed that it was the Port Authority that manages the Port .... :cool:

 

That being said, of course I would not expect the cruise terminal to be repaired BEFORE the transit system of NYC and NJ. Again, sorry about that.

 

 

Now back on the subject of the cruise terminal not being repaired so far, I wonder how many ports under the Ports America management were damaged by Sandy ?

 

Where is NYC on the list of priority of Ports America ?

 

Would I cancel my cruise because of this.....NO

 

Do I like to plan ahead for delays....YES

 

Am I in a hurry to get of the ship.....YES....I love the Gem and cruising but I do have an 8 hours drive back home.....cannot add a day in NYC post-cruise due to my work....so I wont throw a fit on the ship...but I would like the disembarkation to be as smooth as possible.

 

thank you all,

[Sandyshore]

Just to add some current info...I debarked yesterday from Jewel. Only ship in port at the time. Yes, Customs is still on board. I was with suite pax and we presented our forms/passports to Customs in the Fyzz Lounge, then waited with our carry-ons in Chin Chin. We were told at about 9:20 that the luggage had been off-loaded and then we were allowed off the ship.

 

Upon entering the terminal from the outside walkway, there were 2 escalators taking pax to street level/baggage claim. They made a point of keeping a fair amt of space between pax on the escalators. I don't know what arrangements were made for people in wheelchairs.

 

Down on street level, porters were being grabbed fast, so DH waited in the porter line until one was available. He loaded up our bags, took us through the 2nd Customs stop where we only had to hand over the stamped ticket (no passports needed there). Then outside, into the freight elevator, and up to the 2nd level where our son pulled the car up to the curb. We were in the car by 9:45. Not bad at all.

[njhorseman]

Hi,

 

Yes I did use the wrong term designating the "agency" who manages the Manhattan cruise terminal. Sorry about that :o

 

I wrongfully assumed that it was the Port Authority that manages the Port .... :cool:

 

That being said, of course I would not expect the cruise terminal to be repaired BEFORE the transit system of NYC and NJ. Again, sorry about that.

 

 

Now back on the subject of the cruise terminal not being repaired so far, I wonder how many ports under the Ports America management were damaged by Sandy ?

 

Where is NYC on the list of priority of Ports America ?

 

Would I cancel my cruise because of this.....NO

 

Do I like to plan ahead for delays....YES

 

Am I in a hurry to get of the ship.....YES....I love the Gem and cruising but I do have an 8 hours drive back home.....cannot add a day in NYC post-cruise due to my work....so I wont throw a fit on the ship...but I would like the disembarkation to be as smooth as possible.

 

thank you all,

 

It doesn't matter how many Ports America facilities were damaged by Sandy. Ports America manages the operation of the Manhattan cruise Terminal under a contract with the terminal's owner, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which is an agency of the NY City government. It is NY City's responsibility to repair the facility, not Ports America's...and believe me, there a lot more important things on their plate such as the homes and businesses destroyed or damaged beyond repair or made totally uninhabitable until major repairs are made.

 

The clowns who masquerade as the country's elected representatives in Washington are very much to blame for making a major contribution to the mess. It took three months for the necessary funding for repairs to be approved by Congress, which expends most of its energy on partisan political posturing and pointing fingers at each other, rather than attending to our country's needs. Now that the money has been provided hopefully repairs won't take too long.