Escape damaged, cruise cancelled, passengers being flown home

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, Eubie247 said:

We were disembarked yesterday without passports for 3 of 4 in our group.  While it was a long travel day and there was some short notice, I feel like NCL did their best to provide and execute an action plan given this doesn’t ever happen. Of course there are hiccups with things happening so FAST and FLUID with large amounts of people but we always felt safe and there were NCL team members along the way at every airport and the ports.  
A friend on the ship says things are picking up as they were leaving at 4:00 am today (7:30 flight).  
A shout to every NCL crew member- always so nice, calm and professional the entire time which helped! Going to apply for passports now because that’s on me for being cheap haha.  

Thank you for posting about your personal experience and thoughts. I’m sorry all this happened to you, and I’m glad you’re back safe and sound. 
 

And I’m also glad you’ve decided to get passports! For the folks who travel without them (I’m not one of them), could you please let folks know what had to happen so that you could fly home without a passport? The possibility of having to do so is mentioned often here on CC, but I don’t recall reading anyone’s personal experience with that. 
 

Thanks again. 
 

 

[Crown Vic]

On 3/16/2022 at 2:36 PM, eileeshb said:

...I still think it’s bonkers to travel without a passport but then I’m Irish and not having a passport would be a rarity here. However I have let my Australian passport lapse because the renewal fee went over €200, an Irish passport is still less than €100 at most...

Begorrah! What would St Patrick have done, Mate?

Seriously, renewing your Aussie passport would be a good idea irrespective of the € involved. One never knows, does one? Cheers!

[Eubie247]

43 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

Thank you for posting about your personal experience and thoughts. I’m sorry all this happened to you, and I’m glad you’re back safe and sound. 
 

And I’m also glad you’ve decided to get passports! For the folks who travel without them (I’m not one of them), could you please let folks know what had to happen so that you could fly home without a passport? The possibility of having to do so is mentioned often here on CC, but I don’t recall reading anyone’s personal experience with that. 
 

Thanks again. 
 

 

They photographed our BC and ID on embarkation.  We had to provide our names as soon as the cruise was canceled.  NCL worked thoroughly to secure a waiver and I believe all of us were flown out Thursday.  DR also copied our documents.  Many announcements throughout the airports for NCL passengers.  There was clearly A LOT of communication between NCL and DR/US customs.  This was our 6th cruise without passports.  NCL guest services always assured they were getting things taken care of and they did.  Would not be surprised if the cruise industry changes protocol on passports (and they should).  A side note, my DD (18) has a passport.  They told us the were debarking by reservation. Those getting separated I’m sure had different reservations (or were not linked?) 

Edited March 18, 2022 by Eubie247

[dolfan1980]

Everyone has a different tolerance for things and difference experiences.  I have taken more flights in the past three weeks than many people have in their lifetime.  I have lost a bag, had a long layover, had a delayed covid test result and got stuck in Newark to de-ice twice and delayed several hours all in the past three weeks.  ***** happens when traveling and everyone handles it differently.  I would be the person tweeting about how I'm going with the flow and some of my closest friends and family would be acting like their lives were at risk or over.  

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, it makes zero sense to me why anyone would leave their country without a passport.  I don't care at all if you're on a closed loop cruise or not, the minute you hit international waters or international ports, it's just plain dumb to not have a passport.

[oteixeira]

2 hours ago, zeroed said:

I’m convinced that some of the people posting things like they’re relaxing on the boat this morning and everything is fine are full of it. Pics and reports from actual passengers posting on twitter paint a significantly different picture. 

 

 

Check the Norwegian Escape group on the space of face, they are posting pictures from the ship, including their group, and when they are due to leave.  They are no more full of it then the folks who were already let off and are in port or in the airport.

[BirdTravels]

The Escape is underway doing 17 knots. Happy to see that (1) she is not in dry dock; (2) her propulsion is not disabled; (3) she is not leaking and sinking like the titanic; (4)... all of the other things talked about in other threads. 

[Flipchild32]

3 hours ago, zeroed said:

I’m convinced that some of the people posting things like they’re relaxing on the boat this morning and everything is fine are full of it. Pics and reports from actual passengers posting on twitter paint a significantly different picture. 

 

 

 

Yes I am thinking that people were doing well and having a "fair" time before the last couple of days. They kicked all the passengers off the ship this morning at 9 AM with no word on when they would get to the airport (reported 2090 people) and leaving at 8:30 PM. I think they tolerated a day but when they started with the "you are leaving at 8 AM" then "but only the kids" then "oh all are leaving at 5 pm" but wait nope that is the adults....... 

 

One flight only had 75 people. Passengers are landing in MCO and they have no options from there because now NCL reps present. Someone said their insurance isn't even sure what is covered and had to pay out of pocket for an Orlando hotel

 

https://twitter.com/hashtag/NorwegianEscape?src=hashtag_click&f=live

Edited March 18, 2022 by Flipchild32
updated

[zeroed]

1 hour ago, oteixeira said:

Check the Norwegian Escape group on the space of face, they are posting pictures from the ship, including their group, and when they are due to leave.  They are no more full of it then the folks who were already let off and are in port or in the airport.

Pics on twitter from real passengers taken today from the crowded airport and telling the truth about what is happening indicate otherwise. There’s a small group of “accounts” claiming to be on board that seem to be written by the NCL public relations department. 
 

 

[zeroed]

4 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Escape is underway doing 17 knots. Happy to see that (1) she is not in dry dock; (2) her propulsion is not disabled; (3) she is not leaking and sinking like the titanic; (4)... all of the other things talked about in other threads. 

My AIS source hasn’t updated so I can’t see her speed. Since you can see her AIS data, what is it showing for destination and ETA?

[oteixeira]

4 minutes ago, zeroed said:

Pics on twitter from real passengers taken today from the crowded airport and telling the truth about what is happening indicate otherwise. There’s a small group of “accounts” claiming to be on board that seem to be written by the NCL public relations department. 
 

 

If that is your belief there is nothing I can do to change it.  The pictures I saw were from people talking about getting off between 8-9AM, the ship left at 9AM.  It all seems to line up....

[megr1125]

 Looks like she's heading for Port Canaveral.  That's from one of the ship tracking sites.  Not sure of accuracy nor if we're allowed to post it here.  But it would be for mappers of cruises if that helps. And I know that they seem to get their info from the traffic of marine place. 

 

Oops, quoted wrong post.  meant to quote @zeroed

Edited March 18, 2022 by megr1125

[vicnsue]

17 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Escape is underway doing 17 knots. Happy to see that (1) she is not in dry dock; (2) her propulsion is not disabled; (3) she is not leaking and sinking like the titanic; (4)... all of the other things talked about in other threads. 

I can’t seem to find any information on where she is headed. Any ideas?

[chengkp75]

13 minutes ago, zeroed said:

My AIS source hasn’t updated so I can’t see her speed. Since you can see her AIS data, what is it showing for destination and ETA?

Most won't show unless you buy the satellite version, even "Cruisemapper" (hey, megr, you can name websites, even the "book of faces", you just can't link to them).  Marine traffic has her out of range, but the last report was ETA:  Port Canaveral at 1500Z or 1100EDT on the 20th.  

[eileeshb]

3 hours ago, Crown Vic said:

Begorrah! What would St Patrick have done, Mate?

Seriously, renewing your Aussie passport would be a good idea irrespective of the € involved. One never knows, does one? Cheers!

I had the 2 passports in use back when I was in a job that involved a fair bit of travel as it meant I could have one at an embassy for a visa while I used the other for any clashing travel.  As the Irish passport is as widely accepted as the Aussie one there’s no reason for me to spend €230 on a passport I no longer require. The funniest incident with my Aussie passport was when my Irish one was at the Russian embassy I had a trip to Portugal for which I used the Australian passport. When I arrived back in Ireland the Garda (police officer) in the airport asked when I’d be leaving and I said I wouldn’t be, I was just waiting on getting my Irish passport back, she then said I can only give you a stamp for 60days, so I have an Irish stamp in my expired Australian passport. 

[zeroed]

8 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Most won't show unless you buy the satellite version, even "Cruisemapper" (hey, megr, you can name websites, even the "book of faces", you just can't link to them).  Marine traffic has her out of range, but the last report was ETA:  Port Canaveral at 1500Z or 1100EDT on the 20th.  

Thank you for answering my question. 

 

I’m puzzled why, if she’s going back to Port Canaveral anyway why not just bring the passengers back a few days late instead of flying them back with associated expenses? There has to be more to this story than we know. 

[Karaboudjan]

7 minutes ago, zeroed said:

Thank you for answering my question. 

 

I’m puzzled why, if she’s going back to Port Canaveral anyway why not just bring the passengers back a few days late instead of flying them back with associated expenses? There has to be more to this story than we know. 

 

Maybe investigation and/or work was still being done but they needed to repatriate the passengers in case it turned out that they could not get the ship back to Port Canaveral or at least on schedule.  Bringing passengers back late would probably not be a good option for lots of people.

[megr1125]

35 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Most won't show unless you buy the satellite version, even "Cruisemapper" (hey, megr, you can name websites, even the "book of faces", you just can't link to them).  Marine traffic has her out of range, but the last report was ETA:  Port Canaveral at 1500Z or 1100EDT on the 20th.  

 

One never knows around here. LOL  😄

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, zeroed said:

My AIS source hasn’t updated so I can’t see her speed. Since you can see her AIS data, what is it showing for destination and ETA?

She is currently doing 17.2 kn with an ETA at Port Canaveral of 10:55 am EDT on Sunday. 

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, zeroed said:

Thank you for answering my question. 

 

I’m puzzled why, if she’s going back to Port Canaveral anyway why not just bring the passengers back a few days late instead of flying them back with associated expenses? There has to be more to this story than we know. 

I don't know why, maybe the cost of flight change fees for all the passengers would exceed the charter flight costs?

 

I did look at the Escape's DNV Class certificates, and while there are no "conditions of class" (restrictions on the vessel), she has been issued a "short term" Passenger Ship Safety Certificate, which includes the Safety Construction Survey, so there is some damage noted, and this was just dated today, so the survey (both divers and internal inspection of engineering spaces and water tanks) was not completed until today (why they didn't leave until today).  The certificate expires 4/18, so the repairs are listed as having to be completed in the next month.  Folks should not take this too much to heart, as this is sort of the minimum time frame granted for repairs (its usually either "fix it right now", or "by next month", or "before 90 days"), and it could, and should, be completed far sooner than 4/18, that just gives some leeway on getting the surveyor back out to certify the repairs.

[coffeebean]

On 3/18/2022 at 8:03 AM, Ivy86 said:

I follow on Twitter Someone that’s on this cruise and she said It’s a complete mess on the airport . People not in the manifest , families being separated , people struggling to leave the DR without passports etc . Complete chaos! 

Hubby said he read about planes leaving nearly empty with passengers pleading with the flight attendants to let the captain know there are many people still waiting to board planes. The plane left nearly empty, leaving many people behind. That surely does sound like a cluster @#$%. Yikes!

[coffeebean]

On 3/18/2022 at 9:07 AM, shof515 said:

i also read on the book of faces that the prepare lunch the ship provided for the trip back home is being throw out by airport officials and these people have to wait in the airport for about 5-6 hours for the plane 

Were the airport officials fearful that the food might have spoiled? There is always two sides to every story.

[chengkp75]

8 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

Were the airport officials fearful that the food might have spoiled? There is always two sides to every story.

The DR does not allow "plant products or animal products" to be brought into the country.  So, no produce, no breads, no meats, basically nothing.

[coffeebean]

3 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

The DR does not allow "plant products or animal products" to be brought into the country.  So, no produce, no breads, no meats, basically nothing.

OK. Got it. See???? There ARE two sides to every story. Thanks @chengkp75

[ivanp91]

5 hours ago, coffeebean said:

Hubby said he read about planes leaving nearly empty with passengers pleading with the flight attendants to let the captain know there are many people still waiting to board planes. The plane left nearly empty, leaving many people behind. That surely does sound like a cluster @#$%. Yikes!

 

As someone that works in the industry, I wish it was as simple as the captain being able to authorise more people to board. Unfortunately, there's a whole slew of stuff behind the scenes that they aren't able to override.

[fonekween]

Reports from others are Escape is returning to PC to pick up supplies before heading to dry dock for repair in Freeport. Since she's due in tomorrow morning, I guess we shall see if and when she leaves again!