Spirit NOLA disembarkation question

[bluefish17]

We are booked on the Spirit out of New Orleans over New Year's week and get back on Sun. Jan. 3. 2010. Airtran just changed our return flight from 1:20 PM to 11:08 AM. If we do the express disembarkation, can we make it to the airport on time? I realize this would be cutting it close, but their next flight isn't until 4:30 PM. I think the airport is about 25 min away.

 

Any past Spirit NOLA cruisers out there?

[Georgia Buckeye]

We took the cruise this past winter out of NOLA and the ship docked by 7 am and people were getting off by 8 am. The key is you had to take your own luggage and not wait to pick them up in the customs area- if you checked them in the hall the night before it could take until 10 or so to get off- but if you're going to only take one suitcase each and roll yourself off you should be ok

[zedneser]

We did the Spirit last December and had a 1:30pm departure. We took the first NCL transfer to the airport and were able to change our flight to the one that left at 11:20am. You should be fine if you're doing the express disembarkation. You're right the airport is about a 20-25 minute ride away.

 

It all depends on immigration. If they clear the ship quickly, there should be no problem.

[garycarla]

Two things to make it work. Tight but you should be able to do it. Very little traffic that time of the day and airport is pretty basic.

 

Express walkoff

Take a cab and not wait for NCL to fill up their shuttle.

[JerseyGem]

Bluefish17- I noticed that this is your first post- welcome! I agree with the other posters- if you do express disembarkation and take a cab, you'll be OK. There are plenty of cabs right by the terminal. Plus, the ride to the airport shouldn't be long on a Sunday morning. I thought the terminal at NOLA was very well organized.

 

Just in case this is your first cruise: express disembarkation means that you must carry off all your own luggage- no porters, no luggage carts (possibly until you're through customs and immigration). Also, since you do have to go through Customs and Immigration, being US citizens with proper ID and no extra-charge duty goods (excess booze, forbidden items, etc) will make your disembarkation easier.

 

Enjoy your cruise- we took the Spiit out of NOLA in March- wonderful!

[newmexicoNita]

We are booked on the Spirit out of New Orleans over New Year's week and get back on Sun. Jan. 3. 2010. Airtran just changed our return flight from 1:20 PM to 11:08 AM. If we do the express disembarkation, can we make it to the airport on time? I realize this would be cutting it close, but their next flight isn't until 4:30 PM. I think the airport is about 25 min away.

 

Any past Spirit NOLA cruisers out there?

 

I don't want to put a damper on things but the biggest problem you may have is customs at the pier. They are notorious for not being fully staffed. Usuing express debarkation will help.

 

Nita

[Hockey19]

You did not indicate what category you booked. Higher level cabins and suites can get off quicker. You will absolutly have to take advantage of carrying off your own luggage. Taxis will be plentiful for the 25 minute trip. We just got back from a vacation in NOLA. Ticketing was a bit slow but security moved fast. However, 11:00 AM flight menas you have to be there at no later than 10. That means off ship and in a cab at 9:30 and that assumes no wait at Air Tran. We have sailed the Spirit and while that time is achievable you will be climbing the walls while you are waiting to disembark. I would be a huge buzz kill to miss your flight home. My vote would be take your luggage to one of the many nearby hotels, check it in a bell hop room and have one great stress free meal in NOLA.

[bluefish17]

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm going to try to make the 11:08 flight. Hopefully customs won't be running late. (I know I will be crawling up the walls though, waiting to get off the ship):D

[Tideone]

We cruised on the Spirit last spring and we had the 1 p.m. AirTran flight that has now been changed to 11 a.m.

If we had been trying to make that 11 a.m. flight we would have never made it... we barely made our 1 p.m. flight...

Customs was slow as Christmas with not enough people to handle the big crowd of passengers getting off the ship... In addition, they were late getting set up....

We were lucky we had an escort off the ship (I guess paying extra for the suite paid off) and they took us to the front of the line... of course, there were some passengers who got a little upset about it but they could have paid the money and gotten escorted off the ship too...

There were a lot of Spirt passengers who missed our flight...

What really got me though was how the customs agents took all day talking to the passengers about how their trip was and were they going to sail again...

The lines would have moved a lot faster with less chit chat...

I hope you make your flight but I agree with the other poster who said, check your bags at a local hotel and go enjoy lunch at a New Orleans restaurant and take the later flight home...

[nocruiser66]

I have to agree with the majority of the other posters: you are taking a big chance. In addition to the probable hang-up with customs, you will also be faced with big crowds at the airport with people leaving town after the Sugar Bowl. The N.O. airport has major problems dealing with large crowds. We flew out two days after Essence Fest ended this summer and the airport was packed with people who had missed their flight the day before.

[nlt46]

Wow! That is hard. I know that you want to get back home and you don't want to spend time just waiting in the airport.. just sitting there. You know that you can make the later flight... but you might miss the earlier flight. I think that I would do the later and not worry. Enjoy your time in NOLA. You can just walk down the mall and get some beignets. They are so tasty. Or... eat lunch at one of the wonderful places. There isn't much going on at the airport, that is for sure.

 

Nancy

[dtiger]

If things go smoothly you'll probably make it but in April we were held up 1 1/2 hrs. waiting for the international guests to show up in Galaxy of the Stars before anyone could disembark.

[magnolia5300]

We have been passengers on this cruise three different times. Discovered the secret is to get a porter. We claim our luggage in the baggage area, get a porter and get right through customs. Have never been asked to open a bag. There has always been a designated customs agent just for porter escorted passengers. Once the ship is cleared for disembarkation we are in our car within 15 minutes.

[DAGVBSB]

Wow! That is hard. I know that you want to get back home and you don't want to spend time just waiting in the airport.. just sitting there. You know that you can make the later flight... but you might miss the earlier flight. I think that I would do the later and not worry. Enjoy your time in NOLA. You can just walk down the mall and get some beignets. They are so tasty. Or... eat lunch at one of the wonderful places. There isn't much going on at the airport, that is for sure.

 

Nancy

 

I was just reading an interesting article about air travel around this years holidays. The article said that the three busiest air travel days this year will be the Sunday after Thanksgiving and Jan. 2 and 3. As a result, airlines are adding a $10 per person surcharge to tickets.

 

It also said that on those dates the airlines will be booked at about 110% meaning if you miss a flight, then it is doubtful that you would be able to find a later flight to get on.

 

You may want to reconsider the early vs. late flight because of the day that you are flying. You choose the 11:00 a.m. flight to get home quicker and the ship is late or international passengers hold you up from disembarkation or the customs agents at NO decide to have a chat with everyone and then you end up missing your flight... you may be stuck in NOLA until Monday since the 4:00 p.m. flight will be overbooked.

 

(and customs agents and TSA agents at the airport are always more thorough with their checks on major holiday travel dates creating even more delay.).

 

Perhaps any other disembarkation date, an 11:00 a.m. flight would be doable.... but because it is one of the three busiest air travel days of the year, you might want to rethink that early flight.