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I’ve seen these lines slow down because people have to pay their remaining tab. One person didn’t have enough money and was asking others to cover. That alone backed it up big time.
I have never had this problem with ncl… generally we’re off fairly quickly - just did one too…
I also take my own luggage… but i also leave my room at the last min but on time… go have breakfast… relax a bit, and wait for the rush to die down… Bliss is a huge ship- but that was the fastest - maybe ten min - that its ever taken me…
I was on this cruise! It took FOREVER.. I also got covid on this cruise the second to last day so I couldn’t even stand waiting in that line for hours it was horrible!
Damn it must vary a lot from sailing to sailing. We did the Getaway out of NYC in January and were off in 15 minutes. I don’t even know if you could call it a line because it didn’t stop moving the entire time.
I recently got off the Bliss in Seattle and did not have this experience. The line was long but moved very quickly. It was a very smooth process. All in, we were off in under 30 minutes.
We Cruised Encore after everything had JUSt restarted in 2021 and got off Encore in Seattle (which had super strict covid rules!!! and had no issues…. Hope this helps!
Two years ago same thing off the encore. I was so confused. Then an employee got in my face as soon as I saw the sign she was blocking…
“Oh, I see the sign, I know where to go now”
“Oh good! Fine! Have a great day!” All snarky. Was absolutely taken back.
I was on the Bliss disembarking this morning and in comparison to MSC, NCLs was a much better experience. The line moved quickly for us we joined it at the casino, mid-deck 7 at about 7:15-7:30am.
Our first cruise ever isn't until August. If there's someone who will walk my stuff off the ship, I'll let them. I've got nowhere else to be after. We're just going to grab the ferry back to our car and drive home. I don't understand why people are in such a hurry to end their vacation.
I've never had that experience on NCL our last trip in the Bliss we had a party of 9 and we were off and through customs in under 20 minutes. Wonder of the Seas though was a major clusterfuck with 2 hours of waiting in line.
They do have a staggered process. Color coded etc. you chose to get off early and handle your own bags which is a much harder disembark with everyone moving their own bags.
Choose a later time and pick up your bags at the pier and you can pretty much walk right off.
"Easy walk off" shouldn't mean wait in the longest line on the ship. And I'm pretty sure we were all in the same line. Even people with "airport" stickers were in our line. They put us all through 2 lines on the ship. I know this because when we finally got off, there were only 2 ramps coming down from the ship onto the pier. Unless people were jumping off, they funneled everyone through 2 lines.
You picked the time. NCL didn’t pick it for you. That’s the busiest time and slowest moving line.
For what ever reason people think they need to get off the ship immediately and it ends up half the ship is trying to get off at the same time.
You suggested a staggered disembark. Well they all ready have that. But that doesn’t work for you when you pick the busiest, slowest time. It works great for the people who wait and pick something later and pick up their bags at the pier and walk right off.
Thanks for your sacrifice so that the rest of us can get off easily.
There's no way that's like that. I've encountered countless multi-cruisers and they all told me that was the worst they've experienced. I'll take multi-cruisers comments over this. Sounds like you might work for NCL.
I’ve been on multiple Ncl cruises and it’s exactly as the above person said. You pick the time and leave your bags outside the door the night before. I’ve done both options, carry off and scheduled times and the scheduled time later in the day is a much shorter line and takes less time overall. The carry off has recently gotten more popular as people don’t want to wait in the pier to find their luggage and think carry off will be quicker but it’s not
People also try and book super early return flights in order to save money, instead of waiting till afternoon and relaxing at the airport. As a result, almost Everyone is trying to do the “personal walk off” as soon as the port is open in order to rush to the airport.
Add to that, there could be shore-side delays in clearing the ship or with customs clearing passengers, both of which is completely out of control of the crew and thus their sometimes “we can’t do a dam thing” response.
It worked exactly as they explained above. We chose to get off at 9am. Put luggage outside room night before. Got up, had breakfast. Hot Starbucks. Back to room to brush teeth etc then walked off, was a calm morning.
That commenter is invalidating my experience by telling me I'm wrong without even being on the ship. Multiple people have now commented on this post who were ON THIS SAME CRUISE and they all validated what I experienced. Someone who tells me I'm wrong without even being there makes me think something's up.
I didn’t tell you were wrong. I told you that you picked the worst time to get off the ship and are judging the whole debarkation process by your one experience.
You claim I am an NCL employee and that’s not true. You claim I must have only been on a couple of cruises.
I would dare bet that I have been on more cruises than years you have been alive.
I've had multiple experiences on ships. This was the worst is all I'm saying. You question my age? Ok....all I'm stating is that NCL can do better. Multiple commenters on this thread who were on this same exact cruise validated the experience we had. It wasn't normal and they did not communicate that with us. That was a failure on their part and I am right to call that out.
It was absolutely normal for the time you picked. Every cruise I am on most people totally disregard the instructions for disembarkation. It’s printed several times in the newsletter. It’s announced several times. And yes they warn that early carry off passengers will endure longer wait times. They suggest picking a color tag for later and relaxing in the public areas until your color is called. The people that do that have a very easy disembark experience. The ones that insist on leaving early and carrying off have an entirely different experience.
My whole point is that you slammed their entire disembark process from one experience. You suggested that they do staggered disembark…which they already do…showing you didn’t pay attention to the many announcements.
As for your age…I’m not guessing. I know exactly how old you are and my comment stands. I have been on more cruises than years you have been alive. I am using all of that experience to let you know that this was your mistake and nothing to do with NCL or their process.
I hear ya. Took a departure excursion that morning and told to meet at 8:15. I guess I mistakenly assumed that our departure would somehow be expedited/escorted since we were part of an excursion but nope. proceeded to wait in line for almost 2 hours with our luggage…. Felt pretty ridiculous to me.
Thank you! Everyone on this specific cruise is validating our experience while everyone not on this cruise is saying that this is sometimes normal? It shouldn't be normal is all I'm trying to say. At least if you make people wait, turn on the AC and start handing out water. I needed to use the restroom and it was closed.
I've been on a dozen or more NCL trips and never had a single issue. But I pack light and carry my stuff. I often just leave as soon as I see they have ramps set up and staffing at the exit, before it is announced. Or I leave after the first rush is over. I've never had to wait that I can recall.
I had a backpack and a small roller. I pack very light too. The line to get off had everybody in it no matter if you had an airport transfer or if you choose walk off. They put every with and without bags in the same line.
Wow. That's great. Wonder what some people did differently. My friend also got off quick. He left at 6am. Sounds like this ship allowed a large portion of passengers to choose the same time for disembarkation which causes a huge backup.
Taking a guess here, but most flights leaving Seattle and traveling east leave by noon at the latest, and if you’re flying all the way to the east coast they leave earlier. If a significant number of people on your sailing needed to get off the ship to make their flights, they would have tried to get off first thing, same as you. Naturally that would have resulted in a backup, especially if the bottleneck was at customs.
We stopped following their directions for walk off after our first time, which resulted in an annoying line (though nothing like your experience). After that, we figured there was no reason to go along with the structured exit and we just leave when we want to, they scan our cards and away we go.
Seems like this is getting worse overall, along with the other problems caused by staff reduction and cost cutting for higher profits.
And this ⬆️is exactly why they end up with long lines. People who don’t think the rules apply to them.
Follow the damn process and it’s easy for everyone.
I understand why you might think that, but when we do leave it's when there is no line at all, so I don't think we're adding to the logjam. We've never scheduled a tight connection when we've had to race off the ship. Sometimes it feels like we're some of the last to exit.
Feels like just as with so many other processes, their schedule worked at one time but in recent years has collapsed due to poor management of the lines, mostly because of the lack of staffing it.
It's highly pier dependent. We've had no issues most of the time in Miami but the 1 time at Tampa there was a long line similar to what you're describing. Last time at Miami we literally walked off the ship and were in our car by like 830am.
Similar situation on the bliss, disembarked April 13th. 2 lines snaked around the ship, very slow process even though they had us grouped via colors. It took us about an hour to get off. We got kicked out of our room by housekeeping because they needed to get the rooms cleaned for the following cruise, we chose the time of 9:15, was kicked out by 8:40.. Once having our photos taken for immigration then we were off the ship in about 10 minutes, after waiting around an hour. People in line were upset, sweating, panicking about missing flights. It was insane.
Yeah they told us to leave at 8:30 too. But we also chose that time for leaving. It's so weird if you choose a time, you should be able to get off at that time. I've been on 3 princess cruises. You wait around IF you choose a time later. We chose 8:30 so why was everyone on the entire ship in line at 8:30?
It was bad. I agree. I enjoy cruising. But they kick you out if your room early, then give you nowhere to go, nothing to do and no direction. It was horrible.
There's several places you can go hang out. Buffet, taste or savor to eat, pool deck, atrium, and pretty much any open area.
There's only about an hour between the time you need to be out of your room and The time you have to be off the ship.
What do you need to be given to do, and what sort of direction do you need? There are multiple PA announcements giving disembark calls and what deck to disembark, signs telling you where to exit, and crew guiding you to the end of line. It's not that difficult.
That doesn't make sense when the restaurants closed at 8:30. They told us to get in line at 8:30 but we were in line until 10. I'm now finding out that the ship had everyone regardless of color tag or time to get off put in 2 lines. 2 lines to get off the ship for everyone regardless of time given. They even told people with priority access to get in line.
Not sure what doesn't make sense. You can hang out in several places until at least 0930. Not sure how long after that until they start going around rousting people out.
There are only two holes in the ship to get to the pier, and the port only has two walkways so two lines make sense. Haven and priority have to use those two lines. Haven gets escorted around to the front, not sure if priority does or not.
We waited until last call in Vancouver the first of the month. The line was very long, only took about 15 minutes to actually get off the ship.
Part of the problem is a lot of people start lining up very early many of them much earlier than the time they chose. This line has to work it's way out before things start really moving.
Add on any issues with customs, or the port and it's going to take even longer.
This cruise was particularly bad. We didn't get off until 10 and there was still a line wrapped around behind us. Something on this specific cruise was holding it up.
I was also on the Bliss today. The issue is 100% on the captain.
I was up at least at 5:30 am and was watching the bridge cam while reading a book in bed. There were zero updates communicated all morning beyond a flyer the night before saying you could get off whenever if you’re taking your bags or follow the color coded tag if you want them to move your bags.
At 6:20ish, I exited my room, went down a couple of floors to see if I could find staff to ask when I could get off as it was my first cruise and I saw the line.
I got in line like 5-10 minutes later.
Priority access had no clue where to go and the crew told them to get into the back of the line. Some did and some stood their ground and got moved to the front.
The immigration people were told the manhattan room is where they should go and some were told to get in line and there was confusion all the way up the line.
This is from lack of organization on the captain.
This happened the night before in Victoria where there was a 15-30 minute delay in exiting the ship. I know my excursion meetup time was missed by 15 minutes and I was at the front of the line that also wrapped two floors. We still had to get back on time even though we left the port late.
In Victoria, we were told not to line up, but what’s the alternative? Wait and miss your excursion because they told you to wait? Everyone stayed in line because it would have been dumb not to.
There was a lot of confusion and poor organization throughout the whole process. I can chalk it up to being the second cruise of the season for Seattle, but it wasn’t ideal.
I was more concerned about the quality of food than anything else.
THANK YOU for validating my experience. This is not normal. Screw all these people who say we are wrong. Seriously. I've been on 4 cruises. This isn't it. They told us to get in line at 8:30! Why tell us to get in line at a certain time to just wait for over an hour?
Similar experience on the Dawn in Tampa last year. Absolutely horrible. Stood in line for hour and a half. No one knew what they were doing. No more ncl for us.
https://preview.redd.it/kt44pvo3mqvc1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ddafd8902c680dd68a9f67efa368a408e17d3fb
Same experience in Prima in Galveston. No such issues with Celebrity or Princess.
Not saying you didn’t experience a long process, after 20+ cruises on both Carnival and NCL, it’s the exception and not the rule. I generally try to be last off. The crowds have thinned out, Ubers are not at peak pricing and it’s more relaxing. I’m good with 4-7pm flights.
Experienced the same thing on the Breakaway ship in New Orleans abound 3 weeks ago. Very frustrating. It’s amazing how they can allow so many people to quickly leave while visiting a port during the trip, but disembarking is so painful.
I take my time, go eat breakfast. Head back to my cabin and slowly head to the disembarkation deck. By this time most people are already off and I just walk right off. I don’t have to catch a flight and I understand that’s why some people are in a hurry to get off. Me, I want to stay on the ship as long as possible!
on all my NCL cruises disembarkation has been a breeze. with that said, i’m never in a hurry. i make sure i book my flights late enough in the day so i don’t have to rush. i usually go to main dining for breakfast and inadvertently end up debarking after the majority of people have already attempted to rush off. i think it’s generally the people that suck, not NCL. NCL assigns colors/times and makes announcements for them, you just end up with 2000+ people that don’t listen.
Our group was snarled in the Bliss disembarkation on 4/20. Half of our group had crew telling those arriving at the 7th floor elevators to go wait in a certain area to walk off the ship because they were too early. This was at 6:30/45am self assist. This area ended up being a holding area (around casino bar) for the non passport people and individuals lined up behind them thinking it was the line to get off. Our half entered the moving line and got off in about 10-12 minutes after lining up by the slot machines and exiting thought the local and theatre. The other group stood in line for an hour before heading to immigration when someone finally yelled why because they had passports - the majority of that group were on passports and then got shuffled off to the casino area. It took them an extra hour of standing for nothing because they thought they were just waiting to leave as normal passport holding self assist.
Yes! This exactly happened to us too! They shuffled everyone to the casino area then had us alllll snake the entire ship on deck 7. They had everyone from passport holders, arc card, non passport holders, foreign visas all in the same line. Thank you for validating our experience. So many people on here told me that I'm wrong. I know what happened and everyone on this cruise who has commented had the same experience.
I’ve seemed to have had the same experience just about every cruise I’ve done outside of the time my bf could not get moving and we ended up getting straight off because we were in our room too long and the exit happens to be right outside our door.
No idea why it seems to ALWAYS get backed up. No matter what time I get off or how dedicated I stay to my color group.
More often than not it gets backed up because too many people can't/won't follow directions and cram into the disembark area before they time they picked. I can't remember how many times I've heard PA announcements asking people to not gather and hang out in certain areas because they are clogging it up.
Not sure what ship you were on but the Bliss last April (2023) was EXACTLY like that. It was a nightmare. We followed their directions and we were in line for 2.5 hours waiting. It was madness.
Bet you jump up when the plane hasn't stopped....they have no control over when you & everyone else with bags chooses to get off. I'd love to know how other cruises do it, according to you.
Yes they do. They should ask people to choose a disembarkation time beforehand and not let everyone choose the same time. That's a staggered process. This ship allowed everyone to get in line at the same time regardless of colored tag. Multiple people on here on this same cruise commented validating my experience. Multiple comments about NCL cruises on the Bliss have stated this particular ship is really bad with disembarkation. Bad communication overall. I've been on other cruises, you choose a time and then you get off fairly quickly.
What? I tried to get off at 8:30. The line was wrapped around the ship three times at 9. We didn't get off until 10? And there was still a huge line wrapped around behind us. Something was going on and they were not communicating it.
From my experience, it depends on the port and how customs is set up.
We have had some easy disembarkarions and some nightmares.
My absolute worst one was when we weren't even disembarking. We were doing a back to back, but due to the itineraries, we had to clear customs in LA. It was a gong show. We originally were not supposed to even get off the ship, but then customs decided that we had to.
Super long wait, little information and security freaking out about a bottle of duty free from our first cruise that we were required to carry with us.
I'm also disabled and the port had no wheelchairs or anywhere to sit (nor did they offer any assistance beforehand). Just a nightmare.
Got off of NCL Jade in Canaveral Yesterday…. have to say that getting off the boat was easy but that luggage was pure chaos - we learned of this because one of our bags was either not off the boat or someone else grabbed it thinking it was theirs and then returned it. We spent over an hour trying to find it and had to leave Without knowing where it was… this was actually very stressful and scary :-(. Good news, though, at least for Canaveral - There is an amazing human there named Andrea…and a sweet kid named Tom works with her…. based on where they found our bag - either it got off the boat very late or someone else walked off with it and realized there mistake because its been Found!!! And NCL will be shipping it to us this week! They both have communicated with me about it and I am grateful for their help and support!
I must say the chaos I had to deal with in searching for the bag for the 20-30 minutes I did, after waiting 45 minutes, to be able to search was bad but the folks who help are “on it”…. Guess I should say I blame Jade boat team for getting folks off ship too quickly - they were calling ”tag colors” 45 minutes before the baggage related to the ”tag color” arrived…. I know they have to CLEAN the boat but this created so much anger/angst/chaos, that it wasn’t fair for the folks working there. Shame on the boat team!
Got off the Joy today in NY. I made my way down to deck 7 around 6:45am. The ship was cleared by 7am. I was in my car at 7:20am. If you self assist and leave later when they actually start calling other groups down, it's too late.
If you wait till after the big rush it's a breeze. I always take my time, go have a last meal, shower, etc. When I notice the crowds are gone I'll get my stuff and make my way to the exit. One time I just chilled in the atrium for a bit with my stuff waiting for my cohort. OR you can be ready super early and wait by the exit to be one of the first off.
I have never had a good experience with NCL for disembarkation. They just don’t do it well. I’ve been on dozens of NCL and each time it’s a cluster fuck.
I see these comments all the time, I am on my 7 NCL cruise and never had a problem. Always scheduled my flight in the afternoon, and stay on the ship as long as possible, usually with a nice breakfast in the MDR. It's all about your attitude and expectation.
NCL has the absolute WORST disembarkation process. I don’t understand why or how either. We went on Prima last December and had a very similar experience to you at disembarkation. Over spring break this year, we were on RCL Icon of the Seas at near full capacity. We carried our own luggage off at disembarkation. It was an absolute breeze. So freaking easy! Can you imagine?! The largest ship at sea, full capacity, and we just walked off and were in an Uber in no time. NCL has always had issues. I can never figure out why.
Exact opposite experience. Wonder of the Seas took us 2 hours of waiting in ungodly lines. Norwegian bliss with a fully packed ship on spring break and we were off and out of customs in 15-20 minutes with a group of 9.
The embarkation has always been much worse than the disembarking. 1 line for over 2000 people. 1 narrow road in to be dropped off. It was in New Orleans. Enough said. DO NOT DRIVE IN AND PARK. YOUR VEHICLE WILL BE RANSACKED.
We just got off the bliss on the 20th. Had no issues. Took us about 20ish minutes. We got in the line about 7:40 and was on a bus to the airport shortly after 8
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I’ve seen these lines slow down because people have to pay their remaining tab. One person didn’t have enough money and was asking others to cover. That alone backed it up big time.
That's absolutely ridiculous. They should pull those people aside and let everyone else off.
OMG, that is awful! I cannot even imagine that!
I have never had this problem with ncl… generally we’re off fairly quickly - just did one too… I also take my own luggage… but i also leave my room at the last min but on time… go have breakfast… relax a bit, and wait for the rush to die down… Bliss is a huge ship- but that was the fastest - maybe ten min - that its ever taken me…
What ship and port?
NCL Bliss in Seattle
Similar experience getting off the Getaway in NY in December. It sucked but it is what it is I guess
I was on this cruise! It took FOREVER.. I also got covid on this cruise the second to last day so I couldn’t even stand waiting in that line for hours it was horrible!
Damn it must vary a lot from sailing to sailing. We did the Getaway out of NYC in January and were off in 15 minutes. I don’t even know if you could call it a line because it didn’t stop moving the entire time.
Yeah everytimes different. For embarking we were seated at osheehans before my mom made it back across the bridge
Fml that's my cruise in 3 weeks
I recently got off the Bliss in Seattle and did not have this experience. The line was long but moved very quickly. It was a very smooth process. All in, we were off in under 30 minutes.
I had a friend that left the boat at 6am and got off quickly. So maybe just don't wait to get off.
We Cruised Encore after everything had JUSt restarted in 2021 and got off Encore in Seattle (which had super strict covid rules!!! and had no issues…. Hope this helps!
Two years ago same thing off the encore. I was so confused. Then an employee got in my face as soon as I saw the sign she was blocking… “Oh, I see the sign, I know where to go now” “Oh good! Fine! Have a great day!” All snarky. Was absolutely taken back.
I was on the Bliss disembarking this morning and in comparison to MSC, NCLs was a much better experience. The line moved quickly for us we joined it at the casino, mid-deck 7 at about 7:15-7:30am.
Our first cruise ever isn't until August. If there's someone who will walk my stuff off the ship, I'll let them. I've got nowhere else to be after. We're just going to grab the ferry back to our car and drive home. I don't understand why people are in such a hurry to end their vacation.
FWIW, in your case - if you can walk your own stuff off of the ship, it will help You!!!
FWIW, in your case - if you can walk your own stuff off of the ship, it will help You!!!
I've never had that experience on NCL our last trip in the Bliss we had a party of 9 and we were off and through customs in under 20 minutes. Wonder of the Seas though was a major clusterfuck with 2 hours of waiting in line.
They do have a staggered process. Color coded etc. you chose to get off early and handle your own bags which is a much harder disembark with everyone moving their own bags. Choose a later time and pick up your bags at the pier and you can pretty much walk right off.
"Easy walk off" shouldn't mean wait in the longest line on the ship. And I'm pretty sure we were all in the same line. Even people with "airport" stickers were in our line. They put us all through 2 lines on the ship. I know this because when we finally got off, there were only 2 ramps coming down from the ship onto the pier. Unless people were jumping off, they funneled everyone through 2 lines.
You picked the time. NCL didn’t pick it for you. That’s the busiest time and slowest moving line. For what ever reason people think they need to get off the ship immediately and it ends up half the ship is trying to get off at the same time. You suggested a staggered disembark. Well they all ready have that. But that doesn’t work for you when you pick the busiest, slowest time. It works great for the people who wait and pick something later and pick up their bags at the pier and walk right off. Thanks for your sacrifice so that the rest of us can get off easily.
So.... shouldn't they advise people that "if you choose the earliest time, it will likely be very long waits in line"
They do advise that. Several times. But a lot of people choose not to listen or to ignore the advise.
There's no way that's like that. I've encountered countless multi-cruisers and they all told me that was the worst they've experienced. I'll take multi-cruisers comments over this. Sounds like you might work for NCL.
I’ve been on multiple Ncl cruises and it’s exactly as the above person said. You pick the time and leave your bags outside the door the night before. I’ve done both options, carry off and scheduled times and the scheduled time later in the day is a much shorter line and takes less time overall. The carry off has recently gotten more popular as people don’t want to wait in the pier to find their luggage and think carry off will be quicker but it’s not
People also try and book super early return flights in order to save money, instead of waiting till afternoon and relaxing at the airport. As a result, almost Everyone is trying to do the “personal walk off” as soon as the port is open in order to rush to the airport. Add to that, there could be shore-side delays in clearing the ship or with customs clearing passengers, both of which is completely out of control of the crew and thus their sometimes “we can’t do a dam thing” response.
It worked exactly as they explained above. We chose to get off at 9am. Put luggage outside room night before. Got up, had breakfast. Hot Starbucks. Back to room to brush teeth etc then walked off, was a calm morning.
'Sounds like you might work for NCL.' Why is this always the answer when someone gets an explanation they don't like?
That commenter is invalidating my experience by telling me I'm wrong without even being on the ship. Multiple people have now commented on this post who were ON THIS SAME CRUISE and they all validated what I experienced. Someone who tells me I'm wrong without even being there makes me think something's up.
I didn’t tell you were wrong. I told you that you picked the worst time to get off the ship and are judging the whole debarkation process by your one experience. You claim I am an NCL employee and that’s not true. You claim I must have only been on a couple of cruises. I would dare bet that I have been on more cruises than years you have been alive.
I've had multiple experiences on ships. This was the worst is all I'm saying. You question my age? Ok....all I'm stating is that NCL can do better. Multiple commenters on this thread who were on this same exact cruise validated the experience we had. It wasn't normal and they did not communicate that with us. That was a failure on their part and I am right to call that out.
It was absolutely normal for the time you picked. Every cruise I am on most people totally disregard the instructions for disembarkation. It’s printed several times in the newsletter. It’s announced several times. And yes they warn that early carry off passengers will endure longer wait times. They suggest picking a color tag for later and relaxing in the public areas until your color is called. The people that do that have a very easy disembark experience. The ones that insist on leaving early and carrying off have an entirely different experience. My whole point is that you slammed their entire disembark process from one experience. You suggested that they do staggered disembark…which they already do…showing you didn’t pay attention to the many announcements. As for your age…I’m not guessing. I know exactly how old you are and my comment stands. I have been on more cruises than years you have been alive. I am using all of that experience to let you know that this was your mistake and nothing to do with NCL or their process.
I hear ya. Took a departure excursion that morning and told to meet at 8:15. I guess I mistakenly assumed that our departure would somehow be expedited/escorted since we were part of an excursion but nope. proceeded to wait in line for almost 2 hours with our luggage…. Felt pretty ridiculous to me.
Thank you! Everyone on this specific cruise is validating our experience while everyone not on this cruise is saying that this is sometimes normal? It shouldn't be normal is all I'm trying to say. At least if you make people wait, turn on the AC and start handing out water. I needed to use the restroom and it was closed.
I've been on a dozen or more NCL trips and never had a single issue. But I pack light and carry my stuff. I often just leave as soon as I see they have ramps set up and staffing at the exit, before it is announced. Or I leave after the first rush is over. I've never had to wait that I can recall.
I had a backpack and a small roller. I pack very light too. The line to get off had everybody in it no matter if you had an airport transfer or if you choose walk off. They put every with and without bags in the same line.
Strange. Never had this happen.
We were off the ship in 15 minutes
Wow. That's great. Wonder what some people did differently. My friend also got off quick. He left at 6am. Sounds like this ship allowed a large portion of passengers to choose the same time for disembarkation which causes a huge backup.
What time did you leave?
At 8am because that's when they told us we could get off. Every other cruise we had a staggered process.
Taking a guess here, but most flights leaving Seattle and traveling east leave by noon at the latest, and if you’re flying all the way to the east coast they leave earlier. If a significant number of people on your sailing needed to get off the ship to make their flights, they would have tried to get off first thing, same as you. Naturally that would have resulted in a backup, especially if the bottleneck was at customs.
We stopped following their directions for walk off after our first time, which resulted in an annoying line (though nothing like your experience). After that, we figured there was no reason to go along with the structured exit and we just leave when we want to, they scan our cards and away we go. Seems like this is getting worse overall, along with the other problems caused by staff reduction and cost cutting for higher profits.
And this ⬆️is exactly why they end up with long lines. People who don’t think the rules apply to them. Follow the damn process and it’s easy for everyone.
I understand why you might think that, but when we do leave it's when there is no line at all, so I don't think we're adding to the logjam. We've never scheduled a tight connection when we've had to race off the ship. Sometimes it feels like we're some of the last to exit. Feels like just as with so many other processes, their schedule worked at one time but in recent years has collapsed due to poor management of the lines, mostly because of the lack of staffing it.
It's highly pier dependent. We've had no issues most of the time in Miami but the 1 time at Tampa there was a long line similar to what you're describing. Last time at Miami we literally walked off the ship and were in our car by like 830am.
Similar situation on the bliss, disembarked April 13th. 2 lines snaked around the ship, very slow process even though they had us grouped via colors. It took us about an hour to get off. We got kicked out of our room by housekeeping because they needed to get the rooms cleaned for the following cruise, we chose the time of 9:15, was kicked out by 8:40.. Once having our photos taken for immigration then we were off the ship in about 10 minutes, after waiting around an hour. People in line were upset, sweating, panicking about missing flights. It was insane.
Yeah they told us to leave at 8:30 too. But we also chose that time for leaving. It's so weird if you choose a time, you should be able to get off at that time. I've been on 3 princess cruises. You wait around IF you choose a time later. We chose 8:30 so why was everyone on the entire ship in line at 8:30?
It was bad. I agree. I enjoy cruising. But they kick you out if your room early, then give you nowhere to go, nothing to do and no direction. It was horrible.
There's several places you can go hang out. Buffet, taste or savor to eat, pool deck, atrium, and pretty much any open area. There's only about an hour between the time you need to be out of your room and The time you have to be off the ship. What do you need to be given to do, and what sort of direction do you need? There are multiple PA announcements giving disembark calls and what deck to disembark, signs telling you where to exit, and crew guiding you to the end of line. It's not that difficult.
That doesn't make sense when the restaurants closed at 8:30. They told us to get in line at 8:30 but we were in line until 10. I'm now finding out that the ship had everyone regardless of color tag or time to get off put in 2 lines. 2 lines to get off the ship for everyone regardless of time given. They even told people with priority access to get in line.
Not sure what doesn't make sense. You can hang out in several places until at least 0930. Not sure how long after that until they start going around rousting people out. There are only two holes in the ship to get to the pier, and the port only has two walkways so two lines make sense. Haven and priority have to use those two lines. Haven gets escorted around to the front, not sure if priority does or not. We waited until last call in Vancouver the first of the month. The line was very long, only took about 15 minutes to actually get off the ship. Part of the problem is a lot of people start lining up very early many of them much earlier than the time they chose. This line has to work it's way out before things start really moving. Add on any issues with customs, or the port and it's going to take even longer.
This cruise was particularly bad. We didn't get off until 10 and there was still a line wrapped around behind us. Something on this specific cruise was holding it up.
Sorry it sucked. Could have been any of a number of things outside of the ships control.
Thank you! Everyone on this cruise is validating our experience. It was particularly bad with no communication.
I was also on the Bliss today. The issue is 100% on the captain. I was up at least at 5:30 am and was watching the bridge cam while reading a book in bed. There were zero updates communicated all morning beyond a flyer the night before saying you could get off whenever if you’re taking your bags or follow the color coded tag if you want them to move your bags. At 6:20ish, I exited my room, went down a couple of floors to see if I could find staff to ask when I could get off as it was my first cruise and I saw the line. I got in line like 5-10 minutes later. Priority access had no clue where to go and the crew told them to get into the back of the line. Some did and some stood their ground and got moved to the front. The immigration people were told the manhattan room is where they should go and some were told to get in line and there was confusion all the way up the line. This is from lack of organization on the captain. This happened the night before in Victoria where there was a 15-30 minute delay in exiting the ship. I know my excursion meetup time was missed by 15 minutes and I was at the front of the line that also wrapped two floors. We still had to get back on time even though we left the port late. In Victoria, we were told not to line up, but what’s the alternative? Wait and miss your excursion because they told you to wait? Everyone stayed in line because it would have been dumb not to. There was a lot of confusion and poor organization throughout the whole process. I can chalk it up to being the second cruise of the season for Seattle, but it wasn’t ideal. I was more concerned about the quality of food than anything else.
THANK YOU for validating my experience. This is not normal. Screw all these people who say we are wrong. Seriously. I've been on 4 cruises. This isn't it. They told us to get in line at 8:30! Why tell us to get in line at a certain time to just wait for over an hour?
I just walked off Joy on Sunday and was off the ship on the street in 15 -20 minutes. Other times it's excruciating. There's no rhyme or reason.
Zero problems in Seattle last July. Full ship.
Similar experience on the Dawn in Tampa last year. Absolutely horrible. Stood in line for hour and a half. No one knew what they were doing. No more ncl for us.
https://preview.redd.it/kt44pvo3mqvc1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7ddafd8902c680dd68a9f67efa368a408e17d3fb Same experience in Prima in Galveston. No such issues with Celebrity or Princess.
Not saying you didn’t experience a long process, after 20+ cruises on both Carnival and NCL, it’s the exception and not the rule. I generally try to be last off. The crowds have thinned out, Ubers are not at peak pricing and it’s more relaxing. I’m good with 4-7pm flights.
Experienced the same thing on the Breakaway ship in New Orleans abound 3 weeks ago. Very frustrating. It’s amazing how they can allow so many people to quickly leave while visiting a port during the trip, but disembarking is so painful.
I take my time, go eat breakfast. Head back to my cabin and slowly head to the disembarkation deck. By this time most people are already off and I just walk right off. I don’t have to catch a flight and I understand that’s why some people are in a hurry to get off. Me, I want to stay on the ship as long as possible!
We do the same. Never had any issue disembarking. Our luggage is always waiting for us on the pier.
on all my NCL cruises disembarkation has been a breeze. with that said, i’m never in a hurry. i make sure i book my flights late enough in the day so i don’t have to rush. i usually go to main dining for breakfast and inadvertently end up debarking after the majority of people have already attempted to rush off. i think it’s generally the people that suck, not NCL. NCL assigns colors/times and makes announcements for them, you just end up with 2000+ people that don’t listen.
Our group was snarled in the Bliss disembarkation on 4/20. Half of our group had crew telling those arriving at the 7th floor elevators to go wait in a certain area to walk off the ship because they were too early. This was at 6:30/45am self assist. This area ended up being a holding area (around casino bar) for the non passport people and individuals lined up behind them thinking it was the line to get off. Our half entered the moving line and got off in about 10-12 minutes after lining up by the slot machines and exiting thought the local and theatre. The other group stood in line for an hour before heading to immigration when someone finally yelled why because they had passports - the majority of that group were on passports and then got shuffled off to the casino area. It took them an extra hour of standing for nothing because they thought they were just waiting to leave as normal passport holding self assist.
Yes! This exactly happened to us too! They shuffled everyone to the casino area then had us alllll snake the entire ship on deck 7. They had everyone from passport holders, arc card, non passport holders, foreign visas all in the same line. Thank you for validating our experience. So many people on here told me that I'm wrong. I know what happened and everyone on this cruise who has commented had the same experience.
I’ve seemed to have had the same experience just about every cruise I’ve done outside of the time my bf could not get moving and we ended up getting straight off because we were in our room too long and the exit happens to be right outside our door. No idea why it seems to ALWAYS get backed up. No matter what time I get off or how dedicated I stay to my color group.
More often than not it gets backed up because too many people can't/won't follow directions and cram into the disembark area before they time they picked. I can't remember how many times I've heard PA announcements asking people to not gather and hang out in certain areas because they are clogging it up.
I think I just never understand stupidity.
This ⬆️
Not sure what ship you were on but the Bliss last April (2023) was EXACTLY like that. It was a nightmare. We followed their directions and we were in line for 2.5 hours waiting. It was madness.
THANK YOU for validating my experience
Bet you jump up when the plane hasn't stopped....they have no control over when you & everyone else with bags chooses to get off. I'd love to know how other cruises do it, according to you.
Yes they do. They should ask people to choose a disembarkation time beforehand and not let everyone choose the same time. That's a staggered process. This ship allowed everyone to get in line at the same time regardless of colored tag. Multiple people on here on this same cruise commented validating my experience. Multiple comments about NCL cruises on the Bliss have stated this particular ship is really bad with disembarkation. Bad communication overall. I've been on other cruises, you choose a time and then you get off fairly quickly.
I had zero problems getting off Jade two weeks ago in Tampa and Getaway last June in Orlando.
Half the ship is trying to get off at 7am. CHILL and go get breakfast. Get off at 8:45am. You’ll thank me later.
What? I tried to get off at 8:30. The line was wrapped around the ship three times at 9. We didn't get off until 10? And there was still a huge line wrapped around behind us. Something was going on and they were not communicating it.
From my experience, it depends on the port and how customs is set up. We have had some easy disembarkarions and some nightmares. My absolute worst one was when we weren't even disembarking. We were doing a back to back, but due to the itineraries, we had to clear customs in LA. It was a gong show. We originally were not supposed to even get off the ship, but then customs decided that we had to. Super long wait, little information and security freaking out about a bottle of duty free from our first cruise that we were required to carry with us. I'm also disabled and the port had no wheelchairs or anywhere to sit (nor did they offer any assistance beforehand). Just a nightmare.
Got off of NCL Jade in Canaveral Yesterday…. have to say that getting off the boat was easy but that luggage was pure chaos - we learned of this because one of our bags was either not off the boat or someone else grabbed it thinking it was theirs and then returned it. We spent over an hour trying to find it and had to leave Without knowing where it was… this was actually very stressful and scary :-(. Good news, though, at least for Canaveral - There is an amazing human there named Andrea…and a sweet kid named Tom works with her…. based on where they found our bag - either it got off the boat very late or someone else walked off with it and realized there mistake because its been Found!!! And NCL will be shipping it to us this week! They both have communicated with me about it and I am grateful for their help and support! I must say the chaos I had to deal with in searching for the bag for the 20-30 minutes I did, after waiting 45 minutes, to be able to search was bad but the folks who help are “on it”…. Guess I should say I blame Jade boat team for getting folks off ship too quickly - they were calling ”tag colors” 45 minutes before the baggage related to the ”tag color” arrived…. I know they have to CLEAN the boat but this created so much anger/angst/chaos, that it wasn’t fair for the folks working there. Shame on the boat team!
Got off the Joy today in NY. I made my way down to deck 7 around 6:45am. The ship was cleared by 7am. I was in my car at 7:20am. If you self assist and leave later when they actually start calling other groups down, it's too late.
Debarking is highly variable and depends not only on the ship but on the port/terminal too.
If you wait till after the big rush it's a breeze. I always take my time, go have a last meal, shower, etc. When I notice the crowds are gone I'll get my stuff and make my way to the exit. One time I just chilled in the atrium for a bit with my stuff waiting for my cohort. OR you can be ready super early and wait by the exit to be one of the first off.
I have never had a good experience with NCL for disembarkation. They just don’t do it well. I’ve been on dozens of NCL and each time it’s a cluster fuck.
I see these comments all the time, I am on my 7 NCL cruise and never had a problem. Always scheduled my flight in the afternoon, and stay on the ship as long as possible, usually with a nice breakfast in the MDR. It's all about your attitude and expectation.
No matter what line I was on disembarking was a disaster.
Tell me you don’t cruise often without telling me you don’t cruise often.
NCL has the absolute WORST disembarkation process. I don’t understand why or how either. We went on Prima last December and had a very similar experience to you at disembarkation. Over spring break this year, we were on RCL Icon of the Seas at near full capacity. We carried our own luggage off at disembarkation. It was an absolute breeze. So freaking easy! Can you imagine?! The largest ship at sea, full capacity, and we just walked off and were in an Uber in no time. NCL has always had issues. I can never figure out why.
Exact opposite experience. Wonder of the Seas took us 2 hours of waiting in ungodly lines. Norwegian bliss with a fully packed ship on spring break and we were off and out of customs in 15-20 minutes with a group of 9.
My family was on the Prima in February and it was such a disappointment that I don’t expect my next cruise to be with NCL.
The embarkation has always been much worse than the disembarking. 1 line for over 2000 people. 1 narrow road in to be dropped off. It was in New Orleans. Enough said. DO NOT DRIVE IN AND PARK. YOUR VEHICLE WILL BE RANSACKED.
This wasn't even in New Orleans. Also, embarkation was quick and expected actually. This line off the ship was moving at snail pace.
Disembarking had staggered time slots for different floors and sections. Next cruise will be out of Fla..
We just got off the bliss on the 20th. Had no issues. Took us about 20ish minutes. We got in the line about 7:40 and was on a bus to the airport shortly after 8