Chaos on the New York piers!

[Joanandjoe]

We’ve ended three cruises at the New York Passenger Ship terminal in Manhattan. The idea was that we would be 10 miles from home, so we’d have an easy end to our cruise. It has not worked that way. Disembarkation on three different lines, ranging from basic (Regal) to mainstream (HAL) to upscale (Radisson Seven Seas) has resulted in three bad experiences: slow clearance by the feds., no porters to be found, too many people, little help from the cruise lines, difficulty connecting with transportation. We’ve tried taxis and couldn’t get one for over an hour, and tried limos twice, and had to wait over a half hour for the limos to make it from the street to the pickup area. Utter chaos.

 

Our last experience, last month on Radisson, was the worst. There were six ships in town, one of which (Oreana) got diverted to Brooklyn, which wasn’t even open officially. (It opens next March, but will only handle one ship.) The port could not handle the more than 10,000 PAX, and our ship wasn’t cleared for disembarking until 2 hours and 20 minutes after we reached the dock. It took another hour for us to wait for our color, get our luggage, shlep four suitcases without a porter, and meet our limo; so we landed at 8:30 a.m. and got home (after a less than 15 minute trip) after noon. Had we gotten off the ship (without luggage) when we landed, we could have walked home and been there by 11 a.m.

 

Before anyone asks, we’ve had one occasion when we were the only ship in port. Things were better than last month, but still not very good.

 

If anyone has suggestions for improvement, we’ll try to assemble them and send them to the passenger relations departments at some of the lines that dock in NYC, such as Radisson, NCL, Princess, HAL, and Carnival. We’re posting this inquiry on all of those boards, and the board moderators should feel free to post it elsewhere on CC. Maybe we can use CC to improve this awful situation. WE LOVE NEW YORK, and want to have it a pleasant experience cruising from the City. Nothing beats sailing past the Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline; but disembarkation ruins the good impression.

[Mrmacman]

Sorry you have had bad experiences. I only have done one sailing out of NY and had been warned of the horrors. I can honestly say I did not experience any problems. Boarding was delayed and slow because the Dawn was late returning, so I checked the bags and walked in to Chelsea. Did some window shopping and had lunch, came back and walked right on the ship.

 

The return was even easier. With NCL you can stay in your cabin until your color is called. We walked off the ship, found our luggage in 5 minutes and headed out. It was crowded, for sure. But we had arranged to have our car pick us up across 12th Ave. I would highly recommend you have your car come north on 12th Ave and turn right on 48th or 50th St. We jumped right in and were back in NJ within 20 mins. I am sure that the more ships in port, the worse it will be. I hope my sailing in January is as easy.

[Guest THE EDS]

To Joanandjo

 

I absolutely agree with you Manhattan is a nightmare. I just canceled a Sept 2006 on the Dawn due to the fact I do not want the Manhattan pier hassel. Try Philadelphia much easier and only 1 hour away, quite civilized. DH and I are sailing from Bayonne in March and the new Brooklyn pier in Sept 2006. For me its goodbye Manhattan

 

The Eds

[xzy650]

We have sailed from NY many times as we live here and it is true, it's a nitemare if a lot of ships are in. They are going to renovrate the piers and change the traffic flow so I am hopeing this will slove the problem. However, when we are stuck in this I always think how realy bad the flight to Florida and back is and it makes the time pass.

[smeyer418]

Many times the reason that it takes so long has nothing to do with the Port but your fellow passengers not showing up for screening as required, or a passenger that has to pay duty not coming when called. NCL tells the passengers that it will take two hours to clear. So that 2 hours 20 minutes is not that far off. I've sailed out of NY 4 times in the last 2 years and have no problems even when there were 4 ships in the harbor. Personally I drive and it takes very little to leave(they bring the luggage to the curb and I go get the car). I have always found a porter in a few minutes.

 

PS first time I used spell check and it works fine.:)

[seahorse]

Many times the reason that it takes so long has nothing to do with the Port but your fellow passengers not showing up for screening as required, or a passenger that has to pay duty not coming when called. NCL tells the passengers that it will take two hours to clear. So that 2 hours 20 minutes is not that far off. I've sailed out of NY 4 times in the last 2 years and have no problems even when there were 4 ships in the harbor. Personally I drive and it takes very little to leave(they bring the luggage to the curb and I go get the car). I have always found a porter in a few minutes.

 

PS first time I used spell check and it works fine.:)

 

Oh Darn Sid.........There goes my belly-laughs over typos.....remember the comfartable beds:eek: :D

[Joanandjoe]

We understand there is a spell check feature, but we haven't figured out how to use it. Can you help?

 

Our last trip was one way, Montreal to NYC, so we couldn't leave our car on the pier. We would have left the pier area, but with four pieces of luggage, two hand pieces, and no porters, we were to exhausted to try. We were the last ship into the port, which made things much more difficult than they could have been.

[smeyer418]

Oh Darn Sid.........There goes my belly-laughs over typos.....remember the comfartable beds:eek: :D

 

Comfartable comes up fine in my spell check...

 

:)

 

try resetting your user cp to wysiwyg.

[TrinaLC]

I've sailed out of NY on the Dawn twice in the last year; nary a problem!

 

(Now that I think of it, the first time which was a special events charter probably should not count. But the second time was in August, and it was totally painless. Get there at 10:30 or so, pre=board with the computers, be on having lunch by around noon - being able to pass the interim with a nice book, seated.)

[Tarheelbelle]

I sailed out of Manhattan on the Victory in 2003 [NE/Canada]---getting to the port and the sailing out weren't the problem, it was after the arrival back into port and getting a cab out to our hotel that was awful. We were only in port with 2 other ships, both Celebrity. And we only had 3 blocks to the hotel! But as the OP said, with luggage we had to have a cab. The only way we ever got one was to actually cross the street with all our luggage and flag one down on a side street!

Still I love NY and it was worth it. I will be sailing out of NYC in Nov. with a friend who lives in Philly area--we are driving into the city and parking at the port. Can't wait to sail past Statue of Liberty and the great NY skyline again!

[e.durban]

I've sailed out of NYC 7 times and cannot remember any serious problems. This 9/11 with heightened security we were onboard in 25 minutes -we exited on 9/18 (with NCL Crown. Dawn, Jewel, some Carnival monster and a Seabourne ship in port) in 15 minutes. Walked straight across the street, got a cab on the Northbound side of the Westside Hwy IMMEDIATELY and were home 7 minutes later. The secret: at embarkation we NEVER let the cab actually drive onto the terminal entrance ramp unless we are the only ship in port (we just have him let us off across the street,) and going home we exit the terminal with our luggage right away...and look for a cab across the street, or even a block farther East. It's very true that the current traffic system was designed for ships that carried a fraction of the pax on today's giants and can be a nightmare...best to avoid it. These problems are scheduled to be addressed when the terminal is renovated...we'll see...

[logcabin]

We only sail out of NYC as we don't fly. Frankly, I get all worked up each time we head to the pier or as we pull in to disembark. And, each time when it was over I said to my wife, "that wasn't bad at all". The worst one was on our RCCL cruise. We had to leave the room and sit in the lobby for 90 mi nutes and wait. That was un-pleasant. However, on all our NCL cruises, there was no problem. e do arrive very early at the pier. Mostly to be one of the first on the ship and to avoid the mad rush..

[Tomct]

We understand there is a spell check feature, but we haven't figured out how to use it. Can you help?

 

Our last trip was one way, Montreal to NYC, so we couldn't leave our car on the pier. We would have left the pier area, but with four pieces of luggage, two hand pieces, and no porters, we were to exhausted to try. We were the last ship into the port, which made things much more difficult than they could have been.

 

I understand only Intenet Explorer users have access to the spell checker. I'm told there is an Icon in the upper right corner of the reply message, which you must click on, and then you would get instructions on how to go through the brief loading process.

 

As for leaving from NYC, we've done it three times, and have another one coming up. We have had no problems with NY, we arrive early, board early, have lunch, and start the party. As smeyer indicated, the only problem we have had was with Immigration related "waiting". If you hear them paging the same people, you might want to relax, knowing you may have a wait on your hands. I really don't understand why these people are so inconsiderate or ill informed, as they must know well in advance of the procedures they must follow prior to disembarkation.

 

We can not blame any delays on the NYC pier.

[calmac]

I really don't understand why these people are so inconsiderate or ill informed, as they must know well in advance of the procedures they must follow prior to disembarkation.

 

Perhaps English is not the first language of these "inconsiderate or ill informed" people? Perhaps they are not aware that, by being late, they are holding up all other passengers?

 

I must admit that I'm not looking forward to being "herded" together at the end of my cruise on the Dawn just because I'm not a US citizen. If Seattle can handle all passengers as the same, whether US citizens or not, why can't NYC? :mad:

 

I do realise this is NOT an NCL problem but it does mean that some of NCL's passengers miss out on the relaxing "Freestyle Disembarkation" which we were able to enjoy this summer.

[papadave]

I may be in the minority here, but the key with disembarking from the Dawn is to relax and enjoy the fact that you are still on the ship. If you are sitting on the stairwell anxiously waiting for the first opportunity to get off the ship you will not be happy. NCL makes it easy to waiti in many public rooms or in your stateroom. I played cards, sipped coffee and relaxed. I might have been able to get off the ship a few minutes earlier, but I can't see what the benefit would have been.

[remixernyc]

sailed in & out of NY 3 times & never had a prob

[tony@stanton19.freeserve.]

I may be in the minority here, but the key with disembarking from the Dawn is to relax and enjoy the fact that you are still on the ship. If you are sitting on the stairwell anxiously waiting for the first opportunity to get off the ship you will not be happy. NCL makes it easy to waiti in many public rooms or in your stateroom. I played cards, sipped coffee and relaxed. I might have been able to get off the ship a few minutes earlier, but I can't see what the benefit would have been.

 

It is not easy to relax when you have been corralled into the Stardust Theatre, Quote "Place of fun and enjoyment during the cruise, complete transformation on Disembarkation, no fun, no enjoyment"

To be told to report to the Stardust ONE AND HALF HOURS BEFORE DOCKING is ridiculous and completely excludes Non US nationals from the benefits of Freestyle Disembarkation. Remember, we were on an evening flight booked by NCL, we were in no rush to get off.

We were denied the leisurely breakfast, (mind you, we also missed lunch on embarkation despite being the closest to the ship because NCL were the only people who don't know that they have parades in NYC, so they didn't pick us up till really late) Just made the Lifeboat drill.

 

If I ever convince DW to sail via NYC again, we will probably be the ones being paged for not turning up at their draconian stupid time. Isn't it strange that that the VIP Non US were brought to the Stardust just prior to Disembarkation.

[smeyer418]

I have no idea why they tell you to get there 1 and 1/2 hours before the ships docks. I agree with you you should get there leisurely but once they call you name its because they have checked the list and haven't found you. As to english as their second language, when you hear your name called on the ships loudpeakers, enlish or no english you know you have to find out why. I do think the group that holds eveyone up is the one that has to pay customs and is trying to avoid that. I assume that the British understand the announcements. There is always a parade somewhere in NYC on Sunday.

[Cruising Ken]

Your disembarkation problem sounds very much like what we experianced on Golden Princess a few years ago.

Never had this problem on NCL but I know it can happen. This year we did the trip in reverse order due to hurricanes. The good news was we had all the immigration hassle in Miami. Everyone had to get off the ship, going ashore or not. We were not permitted back on board untill everyone was off. Pain in the ass. But better than how it can be in NY.

These things do tend to spoil the holiday somewhat and make you think twice before going to the US again.

[shoreguy]

NYC is still better then Newport - On the transatlantic our first US port was Newport RI. Non US citizens on tours were asked to report at 5:30 AM:D We got a break we did not have report until 7:30 AM:rolleyes:

 

I have cruise in or out of NYC a dozen times - only once was it really bad - no fault of the pier the Dawn was hours late getting back. I new this and arrived late and only had to stand in line and look at those that came early sitting in chairs eating snacks for 3 hours:eek:

[smeyer418]

sometimes they make it easy for you. On NCL(on the ship that was supposed to go to Bermuda and went to Canada instead)...INS got on in St Johns and stayed aboard overnight until we made it to Maine. We leisurely that evening were called to the lounge to be checked by INS no early call no midnight it took all of five minutes....PS we didn't go when we were supposed to we went late and had no problem. The first people checked were the non US citizens...

 

PS we had passports....

[shoreguy]

sometimes they make it easy for you. On NCL(on the ship that was supposed to go to Bermuda and went to Canada instead)...INS got on in St Johns and stayed aboard overnight until we made it to Maine. We leisurely that evening were called to the lounge to be checked by INS no early call no midnight it took all of five minutes....PS we didn't go when we were supposed to we went late and had no problem. The first people checked were the non US citizens...

 

PS we had passports....

 

That was the plan on the Transatlantic. Due to weather we never got into St. John.

[tony@stanton19.freeserve.]

I have no idea why they tell you to get there 1 and 1/2 hours before the ships docks. I agree with you you should get there leisurely but once they call you name its because they have checked the list and haven't found you. As to english as their second language, when you hear your name called on the ships loudpeakers, enlish or no english you know you have to find out why. I do think the group that holds eveyone up is the one that has to pay customs and is trying to avoid that. I assume that the British understand the announcements. There is always a parade somewhere in NYC on Sunday.

 

I suspect it's because people do not do as they are told, and also that it takes time. We figured that as they had put 08.30, they would not beable to handle everyone at the same time, so turned up at about 08.40, sure enough we were at the back of a 20minute queue. As predicted, there were some who didn't get in until just before we moved out and guess what, they wanted to be the first out of the door.

I don't wish to be branded a moaner, this was hardly "disaster at sea ruined my whole holiday". It just annoys me to see shambolic organisation. The NCL staff trying to control everyone were almost in tears, tempers were getting frayed.

When it was time to get off, the controlled exit turned into a mad scramble for the door. It was a perfect way to create a massive queue to get into the terminal to wait to see the Immigrtaion officials.

 

BTW there were loads of US Nationals also in the group., as people obviously stuck together. The couple next to us was a Canadian who lived with a US who lived together in NYC, so it's not just us Non US who get bitten.

 

It's just chaos. And it hasn't happened in Tampa, Seattle or on other Carribean cruises that we have done.

To be honest, if we were choosing a cruise that gave the option of entering US juristiction or not, say a cruise that went to either Tortola or St Thomas, I would choose BVI simply to avoid the Immigration hassle for non US.

 

US immigration is really seen as a barrier to tourism from this side of the Pond and the process is dreaded.:( It's really a pity as we love to come over but it's getting to the "why bother" stage

[Baitman19]

It's not any worse than getting dropped off and picked up at a major airport, just less times going around in a circle.

We have a friend who drive us in and he goes up the ramp and we check our bags and proceed to the check in lines.

 

When he picks us up. He checks the WiredNY website to see if the ship has docked and then calls us. We tell him when we think we will be off the ship and he figures out when he has to go to the city. He parks across from the piers on 12th Avenue and meets us by the light to help with the luggage.

Easy & Simple and no hassles. Stress-free.

 

Happy Sailing,

Monty

[swoosh2005]

It just annoys me to see shambolic organisation. The NCL staff trying to control everyone were almost in tears, tempers were getting frayed.

 

I love learning a new word!!!

 

 

shambolic

 

SYLLABICATION: sham·bol·ic

PRONUNCIATION: shm-blk

ADJECTIVE: Chiefly British Slang Disorderly or chaotic: “[The country's] transportation system is in a shambolic state” (London Sunday Times).

ETYMOLOGY: Probably from alteration of shambles.

OTHER FORMS: sham·boli·cal·ly —ADVERB