Disembarking early

Hi all, first attempt posting. So much useful info here! Hopefully this hasn't been asked.

My boyfriend's brother is getting married on a 9 day cruise a few weeks before my boyfriend defends his PhD thesis. He wants to be able to go on the cruise (9 days baltic with NCL), but he'll basically be a mess of nerves wishing he could make last minute changes and be working. It's the absolute worst timing, and 9 days is ridiculously long. It's like demanding all your wedding guests take a 2 week vacation. Frustrating. It's a silly problem to have someone buying you a vacation, but the timing could not be worse.

Anyway, we thought we could come to a compromise where we go on the cruise for the first section while the wedding happens, and then disembark in Tallinn Estonia or St. Petersburg, Russia, and fly back to Copenhagen and then home. Talking to the NCL guys on the phone, it was clear they don't want you to do this, but essentially they won't stop you or help you. However, I have a few concerns:

1) Will there be any issue getting our passports for when we disembark?

2) They said "You could have customs issues", which I assume would mean that we go through customs in Estonia or Russia and have to have papers in order...but like could the customs agents be upset that we left early? That we already have flights booked?

3) Would Russia be more of an issue with the political climate (Americans)?

Thanks for any answers. I've mostly seen questions about the Caribbean, so I wasn't sure what international laws might be at play in Europe.

You need to ask your line.

I called NCL and they had to give me the official line. That's why I'm asking for clarification here.

You need to ask your line.

I messed up my reply, but I already called NCL and they had to give me the official line, which is "You should plan to complete the cruise". That's why I'm looking for more of a realistic answer not given by the company.

Well, I definitely wouldn't try to get off in St. Petersburg. Not sure about Estonia.

Unfortunately, the decision is up to the cruise line as to whether they will allow it. They need to make sure there are appropriate immigration folks available to process you.

Can't your boyfriend just bring his thesis with him? Is the wedding happening during the cruise, or while still ported? Maybe you can fly over, attend the wedding and disembark before the ship leaves?

I have seen people do this, but in different ports.

Normally, you request the specific port you want to get off the ship. In writing. the cruise line then contacts custom & immigration at that port. If the country approves the early debarkation, they will have someone waiting at the pier to handle the necessary paperwork and clear you.

Russia is a bad idea. You would need to get a russian visa and they are a pain in the neck to fill out. So I would try for Estonia.

Note that all these approvals must be secured in advance.

I'd think Russian visa requirements and general beaurocracy would make Tallinn the better bet. I know people do debark early, but it is a hassle. If it were me, I would just take advantage of the time on board to go over my notes - which will presumably be quite complete that late in the process.

Generally folks have not had a problem doing this in Europe. It sounds like the people you talked with at NCL are in the US without European experience and don;t want to bother to research it. Keep after them, ask to talk with someone else, a supervisor, whatever. EM

I know it's his brother's wedding, but you're talking about your boyfriends FUTURE....Perhaps he could go to the stag party and skip the wedding cruise....

Ok OP, I some related experience. My PhD defense was interesting but not something I could prepare for or make last minute changes on. In my day, when one did a dissertation, it was Original work, meaning the author is the world’s leading expert on the topic. The committee could snipe and critique but at the end the applicant was THE expert on the subject and the committee knew it. In short, if he knows his stuff, a few days relaxation will do no harm. If he gets antsy, he can always find a bored fellow passenger who will listen to him give a two hour précis of his research. Just for practice.

Second, when my brother inconveniently scheduled his wedding on a weekend when I had a commitment on the Sunday, we compromised. I flew to Milwaukee Friday night, did my Best Man thing Saturday, left before the reception to fly back home to DC for my 10-mile race on Sunday.

I suggest you stick with the cruise but feel zero shame about taking time to yourselves for thinking about the upcoming inquisition. All passengers are not required to get off the ship at every stop. Stay aboard for some quite time and study time.

OP - Welcome to cruise critic!

Normally, you request the specific port you want to get off the ship. In writing. the cruise line then contacts custom & immigration at that port. If the country approves the early debarkation, they will have someone waiting at the pier to handle the necessary paperwork and clear you.

 

Note that all these approvals must be secured in advance.

One other possible complication: even if a port is on the itinerary, there is no guarantee that you will actually stop there. Other factors such as weather, port labor strikes, ship propulsion issues, etc. can force a ship to miss port.

Ok OP, I some related experience. My PhD defense was interesting but not something I could prepare for or make last minute changes on. In my day, when one did a dissertation, it was Original work, meaning the author is the world’s leading expert on the topic. The committee could snipe and critique but at the end the applicant was THE expert on the subject and the committee knew it. In short, if he knows his stuff, a few days relaxation will do no harm. If he gets antsy, he can always find a bored fellow passenger who will listen to him give a two hour précis of his research. Just for practice.

This was my husband's experience 40 years ago. Each member of the committee asked one question and then they brought out the bottle of champagne!

Ok OP, I some related experience. My PhD defense was interesting but not something I could prepare for or make last minute changes on. In my day, when one did a dissertation, it was Original work, meaning the author is the world’s leading expert on the topic. The committee could snipe and critique but at the end the applicant was THE expert on the subject and the committee knew it. In short, if he knows his stuff, a few days relaxation will do no harm. If he gets antsy, he can always find a bored fellow passenger who will listen to him give a two hour précis of his research. Just for practice.

Second, when my brother inconveniently scheduled his wedding on a weekend when I had a commitment on the Sunday, we compromised. I flew to Milwaukee Friday night, did my Best Man thing Saturday, left before the reception to fly back home to DC for my 10-mile race on Sunday.

I suggest you stick with the cruise but feel zero shame about taking time to yourselves for thinking about the upcoming inquisition. All passengers are not required to get off the ship at every stop. Stay aboard for some quite time and study time.

Good points. A Ph.D. defense is probably better prepared for with some relaxation (which can be well accomplished on a cruise) than with last minute stress.

In a totally different context, I have had to prepare for depositions as an expert witness in litigation where my written report was to be challenged in day-long adversarial exercises. If you know your stuff, relaxing beats cramming.

If you do decide to get off early, most definitely get off in Talinn. We recently did a Baltic cruise and just getting off the ship to do an excursion with a Russian-based tour company was so time-consuming and ridiculous. I felt like a criminal. They checked and re-checked and re-checked everything . It was not just me either. It happened to everyone getting off the ship. Not a smile or a pleasant word from any of them. Took longer by far than any other country we stopped at. I can't imagine what it would be like for you doing something unorthodox. Good Luck! :D

 

Note that all these approvals must be secured in advance.

Can you think of any issue we'd have if we didn't get approval? Could they trap us on the boat? Fine us thousands of dollars? The responses we got from NCL were very like "We don't allow this...but if you read between the lines, we'll let you do this." If I had a medical issue, they couldn't keep me on board, right?

FYI we got approval from the port in Tallinn. And we've got plane tix, so this is happening. Ill-advised or not, we're going to attempt it. I'll report back on how it goes.

Thanks for all the kind words about my boyfriend's defense. I'm sure he'll do fine.

Glad you were able to get approval.

Thanks for the update. I went back and re-read your original query and noticed that nobody has addressed one of your implied questions, i.e., about getting your passports back. I've never cruised in that part of the world, and I've never been on NCL. I do vaguely recall that on one or two cruises someplace they did collect our passports and then toward the end of the cruise we were given a time window sequenced by cabin number during which we could go a certain place on the ship and retrieve our passports. That might have been on Transatlantics to the U.S. On most trips that has not happened. But I think it is a valid concern of yours and hopefully you have that aspect of your dilemma settled.

Good luck!

Can you think of any issue we'd have if we didn't get approval? Could they trap us on the boat? Fine us thousands of dollars? The responses we got from NCL were very like "We don't allow this...but if you read between the lines, we'll let you do this." If I had a medical issue, they couldn't keep me on board, right?

 

FYI we got approval from the port in Tallinn. And we've got plane tix, so this is happening. Ill-advised or not, we're going to attempt it. I'll report back on how it goes.

 

Thanks for all the kind words about my boyfriend's defense. I'm sure he'll do fine.

People leave a cruise early in Europe all the time. Just be sure to go to reception and let them know you are disembarking and leaving the cruise. There is usually a form you have to fill out for customs and immigration. It is not a problem. When we were on NCL in Europe some people in a cabin near us disembarked 2 days early. In fact some cruises in Europe there will be people getting on and off all the time. Some people will even leave the ship for 2 or 3 days and stay on land, then travel by train to the ship's current port and rejoin the cruise.

Here is a thread where people are discussing leaving early:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=482214

The only country on your cruise where this could be a problem would be Russia as you would definitely need Visas, but as you are getting off the ship in Tallinn a SHENGEN country there should be no problem at all as long as you are from the US, Canada, UK, Australia or any other EU country.

You will need your passports to get off in SPB, and Tallinn is after that, so you could just keep them. EM

I would not do this without written permission from the cruise line beforehand. Even then, I would have a contingency plan in place in case the ship doesn't make it to the port where I intended to disembark. I remember a few years ago the problems of a large wedding party that had planned to disembark in Victoria but then the ship ended up not docking there as scheduled due to winds.

Update: We were able to disembark. They were disappointed in us, I guess, so we used the fact that I needed a medical appointment as an explanation, which was true although not our initial reason to leave. We checked out at Guest Services before, which was good because they made sure to clear us as we took our bags off in the port. We had no issues flying between EU countries or any passport control at the port. It was pretty stressful, and I wouldn't recommend it, but NCL also didn't trap us in our stateroom or anything.

Also, I don't know how you guys can cruise for longer than a few days...I thought I'd need to buy new clothes for all the food I ate and drinks I had!

Thank you for all who gave advice.

Thank you for following up and letting us know that it all worked out for you! So often we never hear back when someone is planning something out of the ordinary.

I hope Boyfriend’s thesis defence went well.

Even if your cruise ship takes your Passports at embarkation they will be returned prior to your arrival in St Petersburg since everyone must carry their own Passports while ashore in Russia (you cannot even get out of the cruise terminal without having your Passport inspected). Most cruise lines will approve early disembarkation in EU countries, but we are not familiar with NCLs latest policies. When we deal with Princess, HAL and Celebrity they simply ask us to make a written request in advance of the cruise and its normally quickly approved. One fairly new development is that RCI and Celebrity now charge a fee for early disembarkation :(.

Hank