Just off the Getaway (19 March -- 26 March) Good, Bad and the Ugly!

[perditax]

Nc,

 

Excellent idea -- I think this is what we would do if we cruise the Getaway again. By the way, has anyone been on the Escape, and do they have the same problem? We will cruise her in June.

 

Thanks,

Kel:D

 

It took me a good 45 minutes standing in a line that wrapped all the way around deck 7, disembarking from the Escape in Miami this past October. I was attempting to leave during the self-disembark window.

 

This is 45 minutes of standing in line *on the ship*, a line that blocks the elevators.

 

I will be on the GA in a few weeks and I have a late return flight, so at this point I'm thinking I'm just going to wait out all this nonsense in a lounge somewhere.

[TravelingAPor]

We have an early flight and I don't know if I should walk off at 7:00 or just go with the regular disembarkation. I would try for the first group off.

Has anyone used the NCL transfer to the airport? Would they try to get you to the airport, on time?

[kelmac]

We have an early flight and I don't know if I should walk off at 7:00 or just go with the regular disembarkation. I would try for the first group off.

Has anyone used the NCL transfer to the airport? Would they try to get you to the airport, on time?

 

TAP,

 

I would still do walk off, but get down to deck 7 very early. Theoretically, the Color Bag Tag people were getting into the same line behind the walk offs. Some cut the line, as I did see colored tags in front of us.

 

Good luck,

Kel:D

[ClevelandCruisin]

Maybe you should try another company besides NCL?:)

No thanks... I'll leave that to you. :)

 

I like Ncl!

 

Sent from my SM-T217S using Forums mobile app

[MizDemeanor]

We have an early flight and I don't know if I should walk off at 7:00 or just go with the regular disembarkation. I would try for the first group off.

Has anyone used the NCL transfer to the airport? Would they try to get you to the airport, on time?

 

We were on this cruise as well and really enjoyed it. Until Disembarkation. We took the transfers to FLL and was not able to get on a bus. Both that were there were full, the luggage could not be complegtely loaed and the next transfer bus was manybe in a half hour. This was at 9:45 with a noon flight and no warm and fuzzy feeling they could pull this off. We ended up taking alternate transportation and called for refund of Transfer Fees today.

 

I feel terribly bad for the staff who are literally verbally abused by the passengers with the current dismbarkation process. They were clearly suffering the most.

[perditax]

I feel kind of bad that we have hijacked the original poster's trip report, if anyone wants to continue, I made a separate thread a few weeks ago about the disembark problems I've been reading about.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2471890

[Shayhooper]

The large balcony cabins at the front are fantastic. We booked them again!

 

Agreed! We have booked them on Epic and Getaway and loved them.

[eldrima]

We were on the Getaway 1st week of April last year and had the same nightmare disembarking experience. We are from the Atlanta area and our kids along with half the city were out on Spring Break that week. We saw a lot of other passengers on the boat that were wearing Braves, Falcons, Hawks gear so I suspect there were a lot of people from Georgia on the cruise. My guess is that many of them had a long drive ahead of them to get back home and wanted to take advantage of early disembarkation...could be the case for a lot of the March and April cruisers.

 

We are due on the Getaway again this Sunday. I don't have any early Sunday flight this time so I'll be leaving my luggage out the night before and grabbing a leisurely breakfast this time.

[kelmac]

We were on this cruise as well and really enjoyed it. Until Disembarkation. We took the transfers to FLL and was not able to get on a bus. Both that were there were full, the luggage could not be complegtely loaed and the next transfer bus was manybe in a half hour. This was at 9:45 with a noon flight and no warm and fuzzy feeling they could pull this off. We ended up taking alternate transportation and called for refund of Transfer Fees today.

 

I feel terribly bad for the staff who are literally verbally abused by the passengers with the current dismbarkation process. They were clearly suffering the most.

 

MD,

 

I wondered if the transfer people had some special exit to get to their buses, but I see they were just part of the mix. I agree that NCL's staff was put into a very difficult situation, and of course, not a staff officer in sight. Maybe a great time for NCL to have "There's got to be a Better Way" contest to fix this problem.

 

I think they should send an undercover team over to RCL to see how they get 6,000 people off the Allure, Oasis and Harmony in a timely manner.;p

 

We had a wonderful cruise and we won't let this one aspect be a buzz kill.

Kel

[kelmac]

We always do early walk off, and would never think to leave our cabin at 7:40am!! Way too late. You need to leave by 6:30 or 6:45 at the latest.

 

Hi S,

 

Did you have to wait for an hour before the start of walk-off at 7:45, or did they start moving the line earlier? How close to the front were you at 6:30?

 

Thanks,

Kel:D

[TravelingAPor]

I was on the same sailing as the OP. I have never seen such a mess upon disembarkation. It did not appear to be any problem on the port side. The size of the ship should be no excuse either. My disembarkation from the Epic at the same port was smooth as silk.

 

The ridiculous line that wound around the outside decks would be interesting in rainy weather.

 

I really can't figure out if the problem is the layout of the ship or some other issue.

I think it is up to NCL and the Captain on the Getaway, to figure out what is wrong! Does anyone from NCL read our CC posts? :rolleyes:

I'm hoping this is fixed before July because I have an early flight back home.

[perditax]

Will be interested to hear from today's disembarkers.

[Sunshine2U]

It is a 4000+ person ship...

 

For your balcony, you book what you get. The aft balcony we had was huge!

 

Maybe you'll enjoy a smaller ship.

 

Happy cruising!

The "regular" balconies on Getaway and Escape are smaller than comparable balconies on other ships. So it's a fair comparison to remark on their small size.

[purpletequila]

It is a 4000+ person ship...

 

For your balcony, you book what you get. The aft balcony we had was huge!

 

Maybe you'll enjoy a smaller ship.

 

Happy cruising!

 

Oh. I don't know. I did self on the Escape which is bigger with more passengers and it was a breeze. I was off within 30 minutes and on my way home.

 

As for the balconies, they shouldn't be so narrow that your knees touch the glass when you're sitting forward. Come on. Even NCL saw the design flaw there and increased the size on the breakaway Plus class.

[kelmac]

Thanks for sharing: sounds like you had many more positives than negatives: we too found walk off debarkation on the Epic last Nov. a nightmare. We are just going to stick with regular debarkation from now on. thanks agaiin.

 

Hey southern neighbor,

 

We had a great cruise! Way more positives, but you would think NCL could work out a better disembarkation plan?? We will be on the Escape in June and we plan to take the last color code and wait until they throw us off the ship.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:D

[nt199206]

Hello there,

This is an extremely accurate review of this voyage. I had my wedding on this ship on embarkation day, and when it came time to disembark with all of our stuff, it was a huge challenge. I have never had such a horrible disembarking experience. I am usually a Princess cruiser, and I have walked off Princess ships in 10 minutes. We were probably in line for 1 hour 45 mins.. (though it felt longer carrying a 30 pound wedding dress!)

 

Again, awesome post.. 😁

Nick

[BobaLouFTL]

Sailed on the Getaway twice last year, first disembarkation (May) was a horrible mess, the second (September) was much more organized. I credited the improvement to the Cruise director and his staff, sorry to hear that it is broken again. Sailing on the Escape next month, guess we will have to see what that brings.

[Luv2cruze me and u]

Just got off the Getaway this past Sunday. Will do full write up later. Regarding disembarkation, I had a flight in Fort Lauderdale at 11:30 and we were at the airport 3.5 hours early. We carried own bags and left our room at 6:35am and went to deck seven by the theater. We were about 50th in line. 7:10 we were walking off ship and blew thru customs. There were about 6 stations and all they wanted was our passport. We called Uber and were in the car by 7:30. No issues at all. Great cruise BTW. Was first on NCL after 8 on Royal. Would do again for sure!

[kelmac]

Just got off the Getaway this past Sunday. Will do full write up later. Regarding disembarkation, I had a flight in Fort Lauderdale at 11:30 and we were at the airport 3.5 hours early. We carried own bags and left our room at 6:35am and went to deck seven by the theater. We were about 50th in line. 7:10 we were walking off ship and blew thru customs. There were about 6 stations and all they wanted was our passport. We called Uber and were in the car by 7:30. No issues at all. Great cruise BTW. Was first on NCL after 8 on Royal. Would do again for sure!

 

Hi L2c,

 

So you are saying that the line started moving about 7:00am, and not 7:45am? I think this is key for anyone needing to disembark to catch an early flight home. We thought the line wouldn't move until the advertised time of 7:45, so it ran just over two hours to get to the security check point onboard the ship.

We will be on the Escape in early June and we plan on taking the last color code luggage tag and wait until they throw us off the ship. We rarely take a flight home on the same day we disembark, as it seems just too depressing to wait at the airport for hours, or very stressful rushing to catch our flight.

 

Thanks for the info,

Kel:D

[MizDemeanor]

Hi L2c,

 

So you are saying that the line started moving about 7:00am, and not 7:45am? I think this is key for anyone needing to disembark to catch an early flight home. We thought the line wouldn't move until the advertised time of 7:45, so it ran just over two hours to get to the security check point onboard the ship.

We will be on the Escape in early June and we plan on taking the last color code luggage tag and wait until they throw us off the ship. We rarely take a flight home on the same day we disembark, as it seems just too depressing to wait at the airport for hours, or very stressful rushing to catch our flight.

 

Thanks for the info,

Kel:D

 

On our cruise our daughter disembarked very early as well for a 10am flight out of Miami. There is definitely a sweet spot and if you miss it, well you know what that is going to mean.

[aggiesmom]

It's 7:46 and sitting in my Getaway cabin. Just got an announcement that they are waiting clearance before passengers can get off. Also there are technical issues with the Port of Miami so only ONE gangway can be utilized. They predicted this would slow things down. Should be interesting 7th level is packed with people

[aggiesmom]

Its 8:10 and we still aren't cleared. They want passengers to wait in the public areas. Glad I have a 3 o'clock flight.!

[jdl71115]

Its 8:10 and we still aren't cleared. They want passengers to wait in the public areas. Glad I have a 3 o'clock flight.!

 

 

 

 

Thank you for the updates! We leave today and I am trying to wait patiently at home to leave for the port. Your updates are reminding me that I would just be waiting in the terminal if I went now!!!

[aggiesmom]

At 8:20 they finally called for self assist passengers and yellow tag holders. 20 minutes later called for orange. At 9 they announced that congestion at customs is causing quite a bottleneck. I would guess anyone with a flight earlier than 11 is probably hosed

[aggiesmom]

A week ago they started boarding at noon but staterooms weren't ready until about two The crew is actively cleaning staterooms now.