Disembarkation - Is it always so awful?

[bbstx]

Last Sunday, 3/20, we ended our 7 day cruise of the Western Caribbean aboard the Breakaway.  It was my first time on NCL.  The cruise was perfectly pleasant up until the disembarkation.  What a mess!  We chose “self-assist.”  NCL was pushing self-assist in its literature about disembarkation and a lot of people took them up on it.  

 

The line had no definitive starting point and there were insufficient crew members to direct.  It started in the forward elevator lobby on Deck 6.  As people were getting off the elevators, they were jumping the line usually inadvertently because the elevator lobby was just a throng of directionless people.  Finally, a couple of crew members showed up and got the line more or less in order.  It snaked from the elevator lobby, back to the entrance to O’Sheehan’s, back through the elevator lobby, then around the corner and through O’Sheehan’s,  out O’Sheehan’s aft entrance, down through the casino to the aft elevator lobby, back through the casino, around the bar, through the arcade games, and finally out the door.  This scenic tour of Deck 6 took nearly an hour!  Most of the time, you were dragging your suitcase over carpet.

 

Our entire group commented on how NCL had managed to take a good experience (the cruise) and end it with an experience so bad that one would think twice before cruising NCL again.  

 

Is this a one-off?  Would it do any good to write NCL or is this SOP for them?  

[AK Dreaming]

No, it is like that on every cruise I've been on.  Regardless of port, Barcelona, Miami, New Orleans, Port Canaveral, Copenhagen, and New York all the same.

[Iwantsun]

You forgot the part about taking the elevator going up (with your suitcase) to reach a lower floor because after 5 minutes of full elevators going down you have to go to plan B... 🙃   I had the same experience on the Escape (same itinerary thru O'Sheehan's) in December 2019. I will never again use self-assist debarkation. 

 

[bbstx]

1 minute ago, AK Dreaming said:

No, it is like that on every cruise I've been on.  Regardless of port, Barcelona, Miami, New Orleans, Port Canaveral, Copenhagen, and New York all the same.

Oh, geez.  We could have disembarked much faster using the traditional method and not dragging our suitcases, which were thankfully small-ish.  

[complawyer]

i have posted before that imho disembarkation is similar to  getting a root canal and equally as painful.

 

i have always recommended (if possible) book a suite or a haven suite. the concierge is always able to get us off the ship in under 20 minutes.  i have also tried making friends (connections) with someone at the guest services desk.  slipping them a 20 the night before the cruise ends, and she got to our cabin at the time i asked, and got us off the ship inthe same amount  of time. 15-20 mminutes.

 

othetwise, its an ordeal, trying to get off of t he ship with a few thousand of your closet friend tryingto do the same.

[bbstx]

1 minute ago, Iwantsun said:

You forgot the part about taking the elevator going up (with your suitcase) to reach a lower floor because after 5 minutes of full elevators going down you have to go to plan B... 🙃   I had the same experience on the Escape (same itinerary thru O'Sheehan's) in December 2019. I will never again use self-assist debarkation. 

 

Fortunately, we were sufficiently early in the process that we were able to get an elevator going in the right direction.  Nevertheless, I’m with you.  If I ever cruise NCL again, I will not use self-assist.

[wolft927]

I will say one of the reasons I try to get a Haven Suite is for this reason. Meet in the Haven Lounge at 7:30, concierge takes you down crew elevator and you are off the ship in 5 minutes. 

[ColeThornton]

I'm never in a hurry to get off the ship so I don't join in with the cattle call.   Much more relaxed that way.

[SimplyAlbert]

We've started staying in the port city the day/night at the end of the cruise because we find it's less hectic.  We tend to be one of the last ones of the ship, collect our luggage, and then just go to our hotel.  If our room isn't ready they'll hold our luggage for us and we go off to explore.   Monday flights are usually less expensive too.

[chillyw]

The Encore in December was awesome in Miami.  THey had this thing with CBP where you just scanned your face and walked out.  I was in a Haven suite, but felt like I didn't need it to get off the ship - there really wasn't much of a line when we left.

[SeaShark]

The problem isn't with NCL (or any other line), the problem stems from the guests and their desire to be "first". Nobody wants to wait, everyone wants to cut the line and be first to debark. People choose self-assist for that reason...they are just looking at whatever gets them to the front of the debark line.

 

NCL could easily solve this by debarking Haven & VIPs first, then debark people by luggage tag color, and lastly debark those choosing self-assist. (You would see a HUGE drop-off in the number of people willing to drag their own luggage off).

[da1425]

42 minutes ago, complawyer said:

i have posted before that imho disembarkation is similar to  getting a root canal and equally as painful.

 

i have always recommended (if possible) book a suite or a haven suite. the concierge is always able to get us off the ship in under 20 minutes.  i have also tried making friends (connections) with someone at the guest services desk.  slipping them a 20 the night before the cruise ends, and she got to our cabin at the time i asked, and got us off the ship inthe same amount  of time. 15-20 mminutes.

 

othetwise, its an ordeal, trying to get off of t he ship with a few thousand of your closet friend tryingto do the same.

Is that for any suite?  I have a penthouse suite booked for the POA in October - will there be special debarkation options?  This is the first time staying in a suite, so I'm not sure what the differences are.

[Lionkingrichard]

In Tampa last month the Port Authority  had just 2 guys checking passports! That was the bottleneck!

They have 6-8 lanes?

[MoCruiseFan]

59 minutes ago, Iwantsun said:

You forgot the part about taking the elevator going up (with your suitcase) to reach a lower floor because after 5 minutes of full elevators going down you have to go to plan B... 🙃   I had the same experience on the Escape (same itinerary thru O'Sheehan's) in December 2019. I will never again use self-assist debarkation. 

 

A worse practice than chair hos.

[MoCruiseFan]

26 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

NCL could easily solve this by debarking Haven & VIPs first, then debark people by luggage tag color, and lastly debark those choosing self-assist. (You would see a HUGE drop-off in the number of people willing to drag their own luggage off).

That is more or less how it is set up.  The problem is the people who think the rules do not apply to them.  Haven/Suite guests can get expedited front of the line debarkation.  As far as self assist goes, the whole point is to speed up the process and eliminate the need to hunt for your luggage once off of the ship.

[ChiefMateJRK]

We either book a flight the next morning or late enough in the day so that we are in absolutely no hurry to get off the ship.  I really don't understand why the masses are in such a hurry to get off the ship that a week earlier they couldn't wait to get on.  Enjoy a long breakfast with a Bloody Mary (or two) and just calmly walk off at 8:30 (or whenever they make you leave).  That said, we did have one experience similar to the OP.  It was the Epic into Port Canaveral and we were in a hurry pick up a rental car and get to Kennedy Space center before the parking lot was full (it was a launch day).  It was an Epic mess.  We made the parking lot, but the launch didn't happen until late in the night. 😡

[mjkacmom]

We sail from NYC, we’ve done self disembarkment most of the time. If there is a clog at security, forget about it, we once stood in lone on an outside deck for over an hour. The trick is to make sure you can handle your bags (no elevators needed), and to get there early, like at least an hour before they start. On our last cruise, it took 15 minutes tops, no lines in front of us.

[complawyer]

da 1425. if you have a suite that offers a concierge check with him/her. they should be ale to do this. caveat. if you have a club balcony suite this doesnt apply

[Suite Heart]

2 hours ago, ColeThornton said:

I'm never in a hurry to get off the ship so I don't join in with the cattle call.   Much more relaxed that way.

 

This time I booked my own air 'cause the cruise was a kind of last minute, so NCL won't do it. (60 days out? or 90?)

 

Anyway, my post-cruise flight doesn't go off till 5pm. Plenty of time to get...wherever.

[complawyer]

i just hate standing in line, dragging my luggage. it's the old army saying "hurry up and wait" 

[bigrednole]

Oh wow. We are on the BA in 2 weeks. We have 11AM flights from NCL. We need to self debark and get off relatively quickly. I guess we will get in Self Assist early.

[Robkat]

To answer the OP, no what you experienced is not SOP.  But, people being people, it's also not a one-off.

We were on the Escape out of Port Canaveral twice in the month of Feb, a couple weeks apart.  For both of these cruises, we did Self Assist debark, and in both cases, they were the easiest, most straight forward, and least stressful debarks we've ever had (we're closing in on 70 cruises, so we've got lots to compare).  

NLC was disembarking from both the front and the back of the ship.  Our cabin was aft, so, over breakfast in the MDR, when we heard over the PA that Self Assist could begin, we finished up, returned to our cabin to grab our luggage, got an (empty except for one other person) elevator in less than a minute, walked off the elevator into a very well run, orderly and fast moving  line , and we were walking into the terminal about 3 minutes later.  

The debarkation for both cruises were almost identical.  

The Customs & Immigration used facial recognition for the first cruise on Feb 5, but didn't for the one on Feb 26.  However, things moved along very smoothly for both, albeit just a bit faster when they were using facial recognition.

So, not sure if each ship has its own way of doing debarkation, but we can vouch for the Escape, who for us anyway, seemed to have it down pat.  👍👍

[SeaShark]

3 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

That is more or less how it is set up.  The problem is the people who think the rules do not apply to them.  Haven/Suite guests can get expedited front of the line debarkation.  As far as self assist goes, the whole point is to speed up the process and eliminate the need to hunt for your luggage once off of the ship.

 

No, not at all.

 

The whole point of self assist is that NCL recognizes that people are in a big hurry and don't want to wait. So those people will willingly drag their own luggage all over the ship just to get off first. The more people who take off their own luggage, the less NCL employees have to spend time gathering it up and staging it, and the less NCL has to pay dock workers to take it from the ship to the terminal. 

 

It does NOTHING to speed up the process.

[Greenpea2]

Never had any problems with disembarking on dozens of cruises, from inside cabins to the Haven. Then again, I have never done self-assist. Sounds like that doesn't work too well! Sorry for that aggravating end to a cruise!

[bbstx]

2 hours ago, bigrednole said:

Oh wow. We are on the BA in 2 weeks. We have 11AM flights from NCL. We need to self debark and get off relatively quickly. I guess we will get in Self Assist early.

Self-Assist started at 7 a.m. IIRC.  NCL suggested that you arrive at 7:30, which is exactly what we did.  The only reason we “self-assisted” was because we had a 6 hour drive ahead of us.  Six hours is that awkward time that is too short to fly, but makes for a long-ish drive home.  

 

1 hour ago, SeaShark said:

 The more people who take off their own luggage, the less NCL employees have to spend time gathering it up and staging it, and the less NCL has to pay dock workers to take it from the ship to the terminal. 

 

It does NOTHING to speed up the process.

That was sort of my feeling too.  It is simply a way for NCL to skimp on services