Why isn't Breakaway Docked?

[NJ Johnny]

Has all disembarkation been completed yet?

[smeyer418]

I always like reading comments from the "experts". Things break on new ships all the time and old ships too. The QM2 "lost" a whole Azipod on its maiden voyage but it had 4. It had previously dropped a cover on its thrusters on its shakedown cruise before that. The thrusters are generally only used to dock or for station keeping at some anchorages. The cruise ships like this(who among the tug boat crews are known as "tugf******"), don't have tugs on standby unless the port requires it(some ports do like Bermuda). Its expensive and wait until NCL gets the bill for calling out tug crews on a Sunday in NY harbor-as they were ordered to do by the Port Captain- USCG officer.
The Azipods can keep the ship in the Hudson without a problem but can't dock in NY without Thrusters. Edited May 4, 2014 by smeyer418

[SissasMomE]

[quote name='yg90']Sorry, midiman, but my m.o. is to stay in the room until that moment right before they threaten to call security. No sense waiting in the public areas.

The other thing that this reminds me of is when an airline gate opens for boarding and EVERYONE rushes into the line hoping to be the first to board. I'm always the last to board even if I'm priority or first class so that I can just walk on without having to wait on the jetway.[/QUOTE]

Ha! Me too. I could care less about my glass of wine, or whatever beverage, while everyone else is boarding. We always wait until the end!!

[Noodle77]

Yeah, I think we kind of "broke" their disembarkation system this morning. I'm not going to lay all the blame on NCL. People weren't listening and following directions. They encouraged people not to line up on Deck 7 throughout the morning, but people were already staged there for easy walk-off before the first announcements were made. Then once they did announce easy walk-off, everyone headed for the exits.

The mistake the crew made was that they thought they could simply execute their regular system at 10:30 and expect it to work. They didn't have enough folks in the highly-congested areas to assist, no stantions, etc. And the crew that I did see weren't doing much to improve the situation. It wasn't an emergency, per se, but it was extremely chaotic and people were just getting more and more upset and that was fueling the fire, so to speak. And, of course, there was tension because people were going to miss flights, trains, etc.

It was a pretty disappointing end to a great week, but things happen and, you know, it could have been way worse.

I was planning to do the early walk-off. I think I finally left my cabin at 10:30 and walked off the ship at noon on the dot. The cab line took another 30 minutes.


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[SuiteRose]

I can't believe what I read in that article, ships get delayed for different reasons all the time... it's the fault of the passengers if fights break out. what were they fighting about???

.. it's amazing how people will blow things so far out of proportion just to complain about something... I bet they are all writing letters hoping for a free cruise...lol

The article said that the cruise line didn't react well in the "emergency"... really??? what was the emergency??? was anyone in danger??

I bet they were trying to get people to leave the public areas and no one was listening... wanting to be first off the ship when it finally docked...

getting stuck on the Breakaway for a few extra hours at the end of a cruise??? really?? that's something to complain about???... if that's the worst thing that happens to these people in 2014, they'll be really lucky..

[dejanewkath]

[quote name='NJ Johnny']I agree totally.[/quote]
So would NCL be responsible for your new flight or would you have to eat it if you did not have flight insurance?

[barnacle_boy]

[quote name='smeyer418']I always like reading comments from the "experts". Things break on new ships all the time and old ships too. The QM2 "lost" a whole Azipod on its maiden voyage but it had 4. It had previously dropped a cover on its thrusters on its shakedown cruise before that. The thrusters are generally only used to dock or for station keeping at some anchorages. The cruise ships like this(who among the tug boat crews are known as "tugf******"), don't have tugs on standby unless the port requires it(some ports do like Bermuda). Its expensive and wait until NCL gets the bill for calling out tug crews on a Sunday in NY harbor-as they were ordered to do by the Port Captain- USCG officer.
The Azipods can keep the ship in the Hudson without a problem but can't dock in NY without Thrusters.[/QUOTE]

The great irony is that you are also extremely misinformed. "Azipod” is a proprietary name used by ABB for their pods. QM2 uses "Mermaid Pods" manufactured by Rolls Royce. Thus, it is incorrect to refer to QM2’s pods as azipods.

QM2 did not lose a thruster door on her shakedown cruises. She lost the door during her first set of sea trials in late September 2003. Her shakedown cruises were in late December 2003 and early January 2004 before her naming ceremony.

QM2 did not suffer major mechanical issues with her pods on her maiden voyage in January 2004. Rather, several years later, in January 2006, QM2 hit an underwater obstruction while departing Port Everglades. That incident caused significant damage to the fixed port-side pod unit, which necessitated several unscheduled dry-dockings. The entire unit was removed and sent back to Rolls Royce for repairs, and the ship continued on her previously scheduled cruises. Thus, QM2 sailed from May 2006 until November 2006 with only three pods. Even missing a pod, QM2 was able to reach speeds close to 28 kn., and was able to stick to her timetables. Edited May 4, 2014 by barnacle_boy

[SissasMomE]

[quote name='smeyer418']I always like reading comments from the "experts". Things break on new ships all the time and old ships too. The QM2 "lost" a whole Azipod on its maiden voyage but it had 4. It had previously dropped a cover on its thrusters on its shakedown cruise before that. The thrusters are generally only used to dock or for station keeping at some anchorages. The cruise ships like this(who among the tug boat crews are known as "tugf******"), don't have tugs on standby unless the port requires it(some ports do like Bermuda). Its expensive and wait until NCL gets the bill for calling out tug crews on a Sunday in NY harbor-as they were ordered to do by the Port Captain- USCG officer.
The Azipods can keep the ship in the Hudson without a problem but can't dock in NY without Thrusters.[/QUOTE]

Ya gotta love those armchair experts ;)

[SissasMomE]

[quote name='dejanewkath']So would NCL be responsible for your new flight or would you have to eat it if you did not have flight insurance?[/QUOTE]

I bet NCL is assisting people who don't have insurance. I can't see why they wouldn't.

[meatball_nyc]

[quote name='Noodle77']Yeah, I think we kind of "broke" their disembarkation system this morning. I'm not going to lay all the blame on NCL. People weren't listening and following directions. They encouraged people not to line up on Deck 7 throughout the morning, but people were already staged there for easy walk-off before the first announcements were made. Then once they did announce easy walk-off, everyone headed for the exits.

The mistake the crew made was that they thought they could simply execute their regular system at 10:30 and expect it to work. They didn't have enough folks in the highly-congested areas to assist, no stantions, etc. And the crew that I did see weren't doing much to improve the situation. It wasn't an emergency, per se, but it was extremely chaotic and people were just getting more and more upset and that was fueling the fire, so to speak. And, of course, there was tension because people were going to miss flights, trains, etc.

It was a pretty disappointing end to a great week, but things happen and, you know, it could have been way worse.

I was planning to do the early walk-off. I think I finally left my cabin at 10:30 and walked off the ship at noon on the dot. The cab line took another 30 minutes.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums[/QUOTE]


Thank you for the report.
Sorry that it ended like this, but what can you do? Like you said, some people just don't listen or follow direction very well.
Glad to hear u had a great cruise up until this morning!


Robin
Norwegian Breakaway July 2014
Carnival Miracle 2010
Carnival Legend 2006
Every Day at Sea is a Great Day Edited May 4, 2014 by meatball_nyc

[HowardK]

[quote name='midiman']My wife and I just returned from being stuck on the Breakaway while it was attempting to dock in NYC. We were both shocked at how thoroughly unprepared the staff was for such an event.

There was complete chaos, confusion, and overcrowding surrounding points of egress and at one point, tempers flared so much that a fistfight nearly broke out. There were hardly any crew members present to direct passengers and very little meaningful information was being conveyed from the captain.

It was clear that the staff was untrained in any safety protocols and that if there had been serious emergency such as fire or flooding, there would likely have been unnecessary injuries and/or mortalities.

A little planning would have gone a long way to help with an orderly disembarkation. I'm happy to share more details if anyone is curious.[/quote]

Hi, please share with us, how was the cruise otherwise? I went last year and am going again in the fall.
Is your username a reference to MIDI in the computer/music realm?

[UPNYGuy]

It isn't that the staff can't handle it, it is that mob mentality takes over. For what it is worth, we are on Breakaway and ready to sail!!

[www3traveler]

[quote name='UPNYGuy']It isn't that the staff can't handle it, it is that mob mentality takes over. For what it is worth, we are on Breakaway and ready to sail!![/QUOTE]
I hope you guys have a great cruise.

[NJ Johnny]

Enjoy your cruise and safe sailing.

[accmiller]

[quote name='SissasMomE']I bet NCL is assisting people who don't have insurance. I can't see why they wouldn't.[/QUOTE]

From the little research that I did on our cruise I know they recommend not booking a flight until that evening. Delays do happen.

[SissasMomE]

[quote name='accmiller']From the little research that I did on our cruise I know they recommend not booking a flight until that evening. Delays do happen.[/QUOTE]

That's true. I thought about that after I posted :)

[meatball_nyc]

[quote name='UPNYGuy']It isn't that the staff can't handle it, it is that mob mentality takes over. For what it is worth, we are on Breakaway and ready to sail!![/QUOTE]


Bon Voyage!!
We will be watching your sailaway. The sun is out, the rain stopped and you are on vacation!!
Let us know how things go.
Enjoy Bermuda!


Robin
Norwegian Breakaway July 2014
Carnival Miracle 2010
Carnival Legend 2006
Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[NJ Johnny]

Can someone please report back to us the status of the South Shore Beaches? Many thanks. Carol

[EBONI325]

[quote name='yg90']just out of curiosity -- why didn't people just go back to their rooms and wait it out? If they tried to kick you out of your room, i would have just said "i'll leave the room as soon as the ship has cleared customs."

why wait in the public areas?[/quote]

I'm just off the breakaway and we were told we could stay in our cabins to wait it out, they also opened the main dining rooms and some specialty restaurants so they was no reason for anyone to be at the disembarkment area fighting, i stayed in my cabin, why would i stand in a line that wasn't going to move for at least 2 hours?

[Prinycesa07]

Our room steward asked us to wait in a public lounge so he could clean our room for the next passengers. I didn't want to be rude but I said no. I have a 3 & 4 yr old and them sitting in a lounge instead of watching cartoons in the room sounded like a disaster. I don't think he liked that very much but oh well.

The rest of the staff handled it well though I thought.

[BwayProducer]

I've been watching this thread and cams all day. We sail out on the Breakaway June 15th and are SO looking forward to it. Sad to hear all the crowd problems. However, I'm not surprised. I've lived in the tri-state area all my life. Work a lot in NYC. We have sailed out of NYC, Bayonne, Baltimore, Ft Lauderdale, Port Canaveral and Vancouver. Sadly, the only crowd issues we ever have encountered were with NYC sailings. People not listening to directions, not following rules, being pushy and impatient, etc. It's just sad. My wife and I always make the best of everything. We get 1 vacation a year. Go with the flow. Things happen. No use getting all worked up over it and let it ruin your vacation. People need to lighten up, make the best of situations and not let it get to you. I hope the current sailing goes smoothly and I look forward to hearing back from them as to what the problem was and if it is indeed fixed.

[SissasMomE]

[quote name='BwayProducer']I've been watching this thread and cams all day. We sail out on the Breakaway June 15th and are SO looking forward to it. Sad to hear all the crowd problems. However, I'm not surprised. I've lived in the tri-state area all my life. Work a lot in NYC. We have sailed out of NYC, Bayonne, Baltimore, Ft Lauderdale, Port Canaveral and Vancouver. Sadly, the only crowd issues we ever have encountered were with NYC sailings. People not listening to directions, not following rules, being pushy and impatient, etc. It's just sad. My wife and I always make the best of everything. We get 1 vacation a year. Go with the flow. Things happen. No use getting all worked up over it and let it ruin your vacation. People need to lighten up, make the best of situations and not let it get to you. I hope the current sailing goes smoothly and I look forward to hearing back from them as to what the problem was and if it is indeed fixed.[/QUOTE]

Yeah - I have said the same thing in the past. Be prepared to be bashed and called a NY hater now :rolleyes: Edited - I've lived here pretty much my whole life as well. Hubby is one of many 9-11 heroes. Put your flame suit on, my friend. Edited May 4, 2014 by SissasMomE

[BwayProducer]

LOL.... I'm not a NYC hater at all.. LOVE the city, work there, am there very often. Grew up going into the city for shows and such since I was a child.. But..... Truth be told.. We've never experienced crowd problems with any sailings out of any other ports.. We've had delays at other ports, etc. But the crowds were far more understanding and patient.. But I LOVE NYC!!! No place like it!

[Winston Wolf]

5:00 has come and gone...

[NJ Johnny]

5:22 and still not moving.