Epic - priority disembarkation on port days?

[MizLizzie]

Can any of you cool cruisers clear something up for me? Do Courtyard and penthouse suite passengers get any priority disembarkation on port days? I've heard that you get only priority at tender ports and on the last day.

 

But I've also heard otherwise, including a Cruise Critic staff review here: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=169

 

And if you do get priority disembarkation, how does it work? Do you tell your butler, and he takes you to a particular part of the ship to wait?

 

I am planning a lot of shore excursions for a moderately large group, and knowing this in advance would really help.

 

Thanks,

Lizzie

[rvsullivan]

After several cruises on the Spirit, I will tell you what my experience has been.

The cruise critic staff review is wrong.

You would get priority embarkation, disembarkation and tendering. With normal port days (walk off) you get in line and walk off with everyone else.

In any case, the concierge is the one that takes care of this. If all of your group is in suites, you could approach the concierge if you have a special request for a certain port and see if he/she can help. Don't be surprised if it cannot be done.

Walking off in any port I've been to has never taken more than 10-15 after the ship clears if you prepare in advance. If you wait for the ships announcement, the line will be pretty long, but still less than 30 minutes.

Enjoy.

[MizLizzie]

Thanks, rvsullivan. I've been given different stories on this from different NCL reps, even. Maybe if you are suspected of being Cruise Critic staff, you get different treatment? :D

 

Normally, disembarkation doesn't worry me, but this is the Epic, so I expect the worst. Yes, we are all in suites, save for some of the kids in a connected balcony, and NCL assures us they are considered part of our group.

 

I would love to hear any Epic specific info on this policy if anyone has stories, good or ill, to share?

 

Thanks again.

[Cmdr Cody]

Our last cruise my wife called the Concierge and asked if we could get priority in San Juan to make our dinner reservation (The docking was delay 90 minutes due to RCI ship was late leaving.) We met Adrian at the Champagne bar and he led us down to the exit and as soon as the Captain announced we were cleared by customs we were the first 2 people off the ship. We wouldn't have asked since it wasn't a tender port but the lateness was not our fault. Our reservation was for 90 minutes after our scheduled arrival time.

[housepeepers]

We have been on the Epic twice, both times in regular balcony cabins on deck 11 and have never had it take any time to disembark. We usually walk down to the deck and walk right thru, never more than 20 people in front of us...less than 3 minutes to disembark. Waiting for an elevator would take more time than the actual wait to get off the ship.

[VideoTech]

We've had different experiences on different ships. I don't recall any priority disembarkation on the Epic, but I wasn't all that impressed with the two concierges on that cruise anyway, and this was one of the Epic's first cruises, so they were still getting their act together.

 

On other ships, we've had the concierge give us instructions to meet her at a certain place and time, and then she'd lead us down, sometimes by the crew stairways, to wait right near the gangway door. Once they cleared the ship, we were let off first, before the line waiting on the stairs.

 

On another cruise, we were given priority tender tickets. These were called and boarded before any of the other tender tickets.

 

I think it all varies a lot with the concierge. Some of them seem to make more of an effort to arrange this sort of thing than others do.

[MizLizzie]

Back from the Epic to post a reply to my own question for future CCers. We got priority tendering and priority debarkation on the last day by reporting to Adrian at the Concierge Desk. It was smooth and flawless. Nothing needed to be arranged in advance.

 

At non-tender ports, so long as we went down early, there really was no wait at all. With 4K people aboard, I still don't understand this. Maybe everyone was in the theater awaiting ship tours. We went all private car tours this time so maybe we beat the surge.

 

We had a lot of other less than satisfying issues on the Epic, but working with Adrian and getting off and on the ship were not among them.

 

Happy trails,

Liz

[david_sobe]

Not knowing, I asked our concierge if there was priority disembarkation on port days on Epic. The concierge said there was no service for that on port days and could walk off the ship at any time. It makes sense since there is no delay in walking off.

 

On ALL NCL ships, there is priorty disembarkation if there is a tender.

[meltingmoments]

 

We had a lot of other less than satisfying issues on the Epic, but working with Adrian and getting off and on the ship were not among them.

 

Happy trails,

Liz

 

 

Are you able to tell us about these issues?

[MizLizzie]

I hope to write a lengthy review when time permits, but we were unimpressed by the Epic. However, we'd chosen the cruise based on itinerary, knowing it probably wouldn't be a favorite ship for us, and we were fine with it.

 

The last time we did the Med out of BCN in an NCL suite, it was a very different experience. But that was either the Gem or Jewel -- can't recall -- and the ship, the rooms, the amenities, etc., just felt more upscale. The staff was much more relaxed and looked less frazzled. The ship as a whole was in better shape.

 

We came away from the Epic feeling that it's probably the economy, and belts are being tightened all over.

 

Liz

[meltingmoments]

I hope to write a lengthy review when time permits, but we were unimpressed by the Epic. However, we'd chosen the cruise based on itinerary, knowing it probably wouldn't be a favorite ship for us, and we were fine with it.

 

The last time we did the Med out of BCN in an NCL suite, it was a very different experience. But that was either the Gem or Jewel -- can't recall -- and the ship, the rooms, the amenities, etc., just felt more upscale. The staff was much more relaxed and looked less frazzled. The ship as a whole was in better shape.

 

We came away from the Epic feeling that it's probably the economy, and belts are being tightened all over.

 

Liz

 

Liz, I'm sorry you were unimpressed with the Epic. I'll look forward to reading your review. We are novice cruisers and have only cruised on the Sky, which we loved!! :)

I'm very open to reading ALL reviews......good and not-so-good, as I appreciate everyone has a different perspective on things........and we're all looking for something different when we holiday!! :)

 

Thanks for your answer.....and as I said......I'll look forward to your review!

 

Happy cruising!!