Getaway Debarkation Disaster

[cruiseman90]

Just came back from the June 27-July 4 voyage of the Norwegian Getaway. (I had a great time, I very much LOVED the ship; The destinations, not so much, with the exception of the beautiful St. Thomas)

 

Anywho, debarkation on July 4th was an utter mess.

 

It started off with a line to enter the baggage claim that wrapped around the upper level of Terminal C, it was at least more welcoming than the luggage claim:

 

They also had ample seating up there, which was a nice touch:

 

Once we finally entered the baggage claim, it was so congested to the point where it was hard to find our bags. As if that wasn't bad enough, the line for customs was so morbidly long to the point where it nearly stretched to Terminal B.

 

This pic doesn't do it any justice:

 

Thankfully, they eventually directed us to Terminal B to take care of our Customs duty since it wasn't being used for our group of colors.

 

Overall, this was a total nightmare. To anyone who's sailed on this ship before, is debarkation usually this bad?

Edited July 7, 2015 by cruiseman90

[LrgPizza]

We walked off with our bags and were in our shuttle headed to the airport by 7:45am. I guess it just depends.

[perditax]

Federal holidays impact the number of port workers. :/

[DMH15]

Disaster? Really? Inconvenience? Maybe.

[cruiseman90]

Disaster? Really? Inconvenience? Maybe.

 

I'll admit that I over-exaggerated by referring to it as such, but it was still crazy.

[cruiseman90]

Surprised you weren't arrested for taking pictures in customs. That would have been a disaster.

 

Sent from my SCH-I915 using Forums mobile app

I would never take the risk of taking pics in the actual customs area, which is the room with the sliding doors in the last pic. That would indeed be a disaster if I went that far.

Edited July 7, 2015 by cruiseman90

[mjkacmom]

That happened to us once in NYC - not enough staff at customs, so customs only let folks off of the ship a little at a time. We unfortunately did self walk off, and were stuck dragging our bags for hours. The cruise line has nothing to do with it.

[motleyfan]

We walked off with our bags and were in our shuttle headed to the airport by 7:45am. I guess it just depends.

 

I agree just walking off make things easier, that's also how I do it.

[lambchoplady]

We walked off about 8:15. There was a line, but it wasn't that bad- I think we were out around 8:30.

[Jenjer]

Sorry it was 4th of July and that made everything bad.

 

No when we disembarked we had my nlaws so we could not do walk off. But got off soon enough and after we collected the bags it was maybe a 5 min customs wait. Of course the porter helped telling us what line to get in

[roger001]

In our many cruises, we've only had one that I too would call a disaster. That was New Orleans. It was a Sunday, immigrations/custom staffing was minimum, and there had been a security alert issued for the U.S. earlier that morning. Each and every passenger getting off had to have their passport inspected, then scanned, then had to wait for the computer to run a check on it. We didn't reach the street until about 12:30. Passengers were panicked, flights missed, on and on. Needless to say, NCL wasn't at all pleased with it. Unfortunately, their poor crew were taking the brunt of the passengers' anger. I wold call that morning a disaster. However, most of our other debarkations, including the Getaway, have been smooth and fast as can be. Miami has been great. Other than New Orleans, the very few with some delay have been at most maybe 45 minutes from getting in line until on the street. Your experience had to have been something unusual occurring that day.

[daffodiliaz]

Those pics look similar to our experience self disembarking at a later time in mid-September last year. I just figured it was normal.

[cot427]

I was on this cruise but opted to take the Everglades tour after since it was July 4th and I didn't feel like spending the day in the airport. We got off with the tour group around 8am and it was very smooth. Walked right off, got bags and were through customs in a matter of maybe 10 minutes tops.

 

For anyone who is considering a post cruise tour, the Everglades tour was fantastic. The tour guide (who is actually from where I live) was amazing, very knowledgeable and the tour itself was great, dropping you at the airport upon completion.

[dreamr]

After my first cruise, we just walked straight off with our bags. No lines at all and we were out of customs and into a taxi in ten minutes tops. Which meant I was expecting the same experience after my second cruise...

 

Boy, was I wrong!

 

My second cruise ended the day of the Miami Marathon, which screwed EVERYTHING up.

 

The lines through the baggage area and into customs were SO LONG. Looked just like your pictures. We would literally move up one position every few minutes or so. It probably took me nearly an hour to get to and through customs...only to get outside and find not one solitary taxi waiting.

 

Apparently, the marathon still had the roads closed (even though we had been told the marathon would be over by that time), so we Epic passengers were stuck waiting outside in the drizzling rain for the taxis to be let into the port. It was chaos, because no one knew what was going on.

 

Like I said, though, that one was the day of the marathon and my first cruise had been the complete opposite. So it really does just depend on the day, I suppose!

 

Here's to hoping my upcoming cruise will be as smooth as my first! haha

Edited July 8, 2015 by dreamr

[motleyfan]

I was on this cruise but opted to take the Everglades tour after since it was July 4th and I didn't feel like spending the day in the airport. We got off with the tour group around 8am and it was very smooth. Walked right off, got bags and were through customs in a matter of maybe 10 minutes tops.

 

For anyone who is considering a post cruise tour, the Everglades tour was fantastic. The tour guide (who is actually from where I live) was amazing, very knowledgeable and the tour itself was great, dropping you at the airport upon completion.

 

How was the tour? Was it worth the money?

[Mimorison]

I live in Miami things here are never very organized no matter what never

[rbird]

We were on this sailing and in the purple group. They made an announcement on the ship to hold debarkation until the terminal cleared up a bit. Was it a total nightmare? Nah, but then again I wasn't in a hurry to catch a plane. Our flight didn't depart until 3:30pm;)

[DMH15]

I was on this cruise but opted to take the Everglades tour after since it was July 4th and I didn't feel like spending the day in the airport. We got off with the tour group around 8am and it was very smooth. Walked right off, got bags and were through customs in a matter of maybe 10 minutes tops.

 

For anyone who is considering a post cruise tour, the Everglades tour was fantastic. The tour guide (who is actually from where I live) was amazing, very knowledgeable and the tour itself was great, dropping you at the airport upon completion.

 

 

One of my favorite tours I ever took was a last minute (almost) decision that delivered us to the Buenos Aires airport for an evening flight home. This was in spite of a shaky start but the tour itself was great and they delivered us to the airport with ease.

 

Karin Goedecke our Concierge suggested it and we were so pleased she did.