Need Information for San Francisco re: B2B, Embarkation & Debarkation.

[peg013]

We are doing a B2B on the NCL Gem in January 2020 (Turnaround day is a Friday). Can anyone tell me if the people "In Transit" (doing a B2B on the same ship) can get off the ship without the long lines of those getting off the ship permanently? I read here on CC that they either have a separate line or allow lose "In Transit" to go to the front of the line in SF but cannot find it again to see how long ago that was. The only other B2B we have done we spent a few days in that city before our cruise so we got off the ship last and got back on first. This time we have never been to San Francisco and want to see as much as we can before we re-board the Gem. 

 

I would love an estimate of how long it will take us to get off the ship if we begin to get off at 8:30? (ship arrives at 7AM). Also need to know what time we will need to re-board the ship if the Gem is due to depart at 5 PM? 

 

We want to purchase tickets for the Day Tour of Alcatraz and don't know what time to purchase. We would love to be able to see some of San Francisco too but will settle for Alcatraz and the Fisherman's Wharf area if that is all we can safely do and still be back on the ship on time.  

[CruiserBruce]

The standard policy is for in transit pax to be handled separately from disembarking pax...gathered on ship, and taken off separately, including those on a B2B who are doing a ship's excursion.. This should be an arrangement between CBP and NCL. 

 

Some of this is NCL policy. When you need to be back on board will depend on their lifeboat drill policy for B2B pax. Have you asked on the NCL board?

[peg013]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

The standard policy is for in transit pax to be handled separately from disembarking pax...gathered on ship, and taken off separately, including those on a B2B who are doing a ship's excursion.. This should be an arrangement between CBP and NCL. 

 

Some of this is NCL policy. When you need to be back on board will depend on their lifeboat drill policy for B2B pax. Have you asked on the NCL board?

 

Thanks for the info. I've asked on both roll calls but as far as I know NCL does not port in SF very often so I haven't asked on the main NCL board yet. This year and last year's NYC to California long cruises have only gone as far as LA. If I don't get more info here, I will ask on the main NCL board just in case someone has left from or cruised into SF on NCL.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, peg013 said:

I would love an estimate of how long it will take us to get off the ship if we begin to get off at 8:30? (ship arrives at 7AM). Also need to know what time we will need to re-board the ship if the Gem is due to depart at 5 PM? 

Echoing what Bruce said, this is a company decision so you may need to talk to NCL about it, but there should be a reasonable assumption that you would be able to disembark at a minimum when the self help group does soon after the ship is cleared. Personally I would book tickets to Alcatraz around 9-10am-- it gives you some buffer on the front end (not that I think you'll need it) and also gives you some time to do something else in San Francisco before you have to rejoin the ship. 

 

Again, going on assumption so check with NCL, but for a 5pm departure you will most likely have to be on board closer to the 4pm mark. I personally wouldn't wait until the half hour mark that you usually get in a normal port of call. 

[MarkBearSF]

For what it's worth, the facilities at SF are relatively new and quite efficient. A key unknown is always the CBP and how many agents they assign. I recently disembarked the Golden Princess, and there was very little delay for disembarking passengers to go through customs and immigration. Hopefully, that potential bottleneck will also not be a problem for you.

...and yeah, NCL comes here seldom.