NCL Getaway is docking at the Pan Am Pier!!!

[sh1955]

I spent an excessive amount of time on the phone today confirming that indeed the NCL Getaway on April 23, 3023 is docking at the Pan Am pier instead of Old San Juan. That’s a Sunday so the tourist center will be closed.

Has anyone had any experience getting an Uber from the Pan Am pier to El Morro on a Sunday? 

[njhorseman]

11 minutes ago, sh1955 said:

I spent an excessive amount of time on the phone today confirming that indeed the NCL Getaway on April 23, 3023 is docking at the Pan Am pier instead of Old San Juan. That’s a Sunday so the tourist center will be closed.

Has anyone had any experience getting an Uber from the Pan Am pier to El Morro on a Sunday? 

Who gave you that information? 

 

Typically NCL only uses Pan American for its homeport operations and port calls are in Old San Juan except if no docking space is available in Old San Juan.

Per cruisetimetables.com, usually  a fairly accurate source, only one other ship, Marella Discovery is making a port call in San Juan that day so there should be docking space available in Old San Juan for Norwegian Getaway. 

 

There's a Royal Caribbean ship, Voyager of the Seas listed as departing San Juan that day, and that ship should be at Pan American, which is Royal Caribbean's normal homeport location.

 

 

 

[sh1955]

I called NCL and they confirmed that we will be docking at the Pan Am pier, which coincidentally is operated by Carnival Cruise Line, just like Amber Cove where we’re being docked in the Dominican Republic instead of Puerto Plata. 
i’m wondering if this has to do some monetary agreement between NCL and Carnival. 

 

[njhorseman]

2 hours ago, sh1955 said:

I called NCL and they confirmed that we will be docking at the Pan Am pier, which coincidentally is operated by Carnival Cruise Line, just like Amber Cove where we’re being docked in the Dominican Republic instead of Puerto Plata. 
i’m wondering if this has to do some monetary agreement between NCL and Carnival. 

 

Carnival never docks at Pan American pier, so I doubt they operate it. They do their homeport cruises from Old San Juan. It's NCL and the Royal Caribbean group that homeport out of Pan American,  but their port calls are still made in Old San Juan provided space is available, which 99.9% of the time it is.

 

I'm not at all surprised that NCL telephone customer service gave you some very questionable information.  They don't know anything that isn't on the scripted answers they see on their computer screen. In this case the fact that you spent so much time on the phone is a good indication that they didn’t know the answer to your question and when trying to come up with the answer someone said "Oh, we dock at Pan American " not realizing that Pan American is where NCL homeports,  not where they make port calls.

 

The telephone customer service issue isn't solely an NCL problem...it's rampant throughout the cruise industry...and many industries for that matter.  The representatives are overwhelmingly inexperienced and poorly trained.

 

I'd appreciate it if you come back here after your cruise and let us know where the ship docked.

 

In response to your question about getting an Uber from Pan American, since there's a Royal Caribbean ship scheduled to turn around there that day expect crowds, chaos (it's a poorly run cruise terminal with inadequate access as only one road takes you there) and expect to pay more for an Uber due to surge pricing.

[sh1955]

I just called them again this morning, and according to their internal information, we’re docking at the Pan Am Pier East. 
However, according to crew-center.com, we are docking at Pier 3 East. 
This is so frustrating!!!

I guess I won’t be making any plans until I actually get there and find out where we are docked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Aviator of the Seas]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:02 PM, sh1955 said:

I just called them again this morning, and according to their internal information, we’re docking at the Pan Am Pier East. 
However, according to crew-center.com, we are docking at Pier 3 East. 
This is so frustrating!!!

I guess I won’t be making any plans until I actually get there and find out where we are docked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NCL's turnaround operations (embark/debark) are performed at the PanAm pier. Pier 3 is only for Port of Call operations. Pier 3 has no facilities (terminal) to handle embarking or debarking passengers.

 

Carnival, which used to use Pier 4, is not doing homeport out of San Juan anymore and not for the foreseeable future. 

[njhorseman]

On 4/1/2023 at 12:02 PM, sh1955 said:

I just called them again this morning, and according to their internal information, we’re docking at the Pan Am Pier East. 
However, according to crew-center.com, we are docking at Pier 3 East. 
This is so frustrating!!!

I guess I won’t be making any plans until I actually get there and find out where we are docked!

 

 

I see that you're docked in Old San Juan...Pier 3 to be precise...as everyone but NCL customer service said you would.

[sh1955]

Correct. We docked at OSJ on Pier 3. 
On the screen in our stateroom, it said we were docked at the Pan Am pier!

[njhorseman]

3 hours ago, sh1955 said:

Correct. We docked at OSJ on Pier 3. 
On the screen in our stateroom, it said we were docked at the Pan Am pier!

Their incompetence is astounding, but doesn't surprise me at all.

Edited April 28, 2023 by njhorseman