Just boarded the Dawn. ... looks like they fixed the embarkation issues.

[houseflipper48]

Just boarded the Dawn, from the time we parked the car to the time we were on the ship, less than 30 minutes. Very easy check in. They were moving lines quickly.

[Demonyte]

Not necessarily. On the cruise that disembarked today, there were no passengers onboard that embarked from Cozumel. Next passengers from Cozumel will embark there on Jan 10th so we will know for sure if the situation is fixed only on Jan 12th, not before that.

[houseflipper48]

Not necessarily. On the cruise that disembarked today, there were no passengers onboard that embarked from Cozumel. Next passengers from Cozumel will embark there on Jan 10th so we will know for sure if the situation is fixed only on Jan 12th, not before that.

 

Just so very thankful it went quickly.

[Demonyte]

Just so very thankful it went quickly.

 

Yep, that's great to hear - before reading about the pause with Cozumel originating passengers I was a bit excited too. :)

[kstatewildcat]

Us too. Quick boarding. Good lunch at Cagmey's!

[alny5810]

Not necessarily. On the cruise that disembarked today, there were no passengers onboard that embarked from Cozumel. Next passengers from Cozumel will embark there on Jan 10th so we will know for sure if the situation is fixed only on Jan 12th, not before that.

 

That's good to know. At least we won't run into problems on the 12/22 sailing.:)

[clean1owner]

Not necessarily. On the cruise that disembarked today, there were no passengers onboard that embarked from Cozumel. Next passengers from Cozumel will embark there on Jan 10th so we will know for sure if the situation is fixed only on Jan 12th, not before that.

 

 

So where is it shown which sailings have passengers that embark in Cozumel?

[Demonyte]

So where is it shown which sailings have passengers that embark in Cozumel?

 

I found the dates with Google from a TA site (I edited to remove the URL for the site as it's forbidden to link TA sites here).

 

Here are the dates (embarkation in Cozumel, ship arrives in Tampa two days later) from the mentioned site:

 

SAILING DATES

November 2013: 22nd, 29th

December 2013: 06th

January 2014: 10th, 17th, 24th & 31st

February 2014: 07th, 14th, 21st & 28th

March 2014: 07th, 14th, 21st & 28th

April 2014: 4th, 11th & 18th

 

In short, all Dawn's spring season cruises from Jan 5th onwards are affected. Our reposition cruise on April 27th could be affected too as there was an information in another thread about a 2 night one-way cruise from Cozumel too (we don't call in Cozumel when going from Tampa to Boston).

Edited December 15, 2013 by Demonyte

[firstcarib]

Soooo pleased to hear that...we are on the 22 Dec Dawn sailing too & I was worried about standing in line in the Hot Sun( thats why we came here from UK..but still...)I brought an umbrella with me to use as a sunshade ;) but now Ive seen the weather forecast for 24/12 for Roatan & I might need it for the rain :(

[jdvmd]

Good to hear! Thanks for sharing!

[tspeck63]

I'm on the Jan 12 Cruise out of Tampa :(

[itchintocruise]

Thanks for sharing the info... we will do the same when we sail on Dec. 29th.

[che5904]

I'm on the Jan 12 Cruise out of Tampa :(

 

Please come back and let us know how it went.

 

We'll all keep our fingers crossed for you that whatever the issues were that they'll have been able to find a work around that doesn't keep delaying embarkation and disembarkation in the time between if they haven't already.

[mrs.cool]

I just found this, and am confused. I don't understand what everyone is talking about. More passengers get on in Cozumel?? And that causes problems for everyone coming back from shore excursions? Can someone fill me in on what you're all talking about???/ :confused::(

[Sparkygirl]

I just found this, and am confused. I don't understand what everyone is talking about. More passengers get on in Cozumel?? And that causes problems for everyone coming back from shore excursions? Can someone fill me in on what you're all talking about???/ :confused::(

 

 

If you scroll through the NCL board and look for Dawn posts you'll find the long story. Short story, there is a Cozumel to Cozumel sailing on the Dawn that some passengers are booked on, so yes passengers board in Cozumel, as a result the Tampa to Tampa cruise is no longer a closed loop and is treated as an arrival from a foreign port. So all passengers are going through full customs, agriculture and immigration clearance.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bguppies]

I just found this, and am confused. I don't understand what everyone is talking about. More passengers get on in Cozumel?? And that causes problems for everyone coming back from shore excursions? Can someone fill me in on what you're all talking about???/ :confused::(

 

If you have been on a cruise before....

 

On a normal closed loop cruise, customs does in depth checks when the manifest for each cruise is finalized.

Since the same exact group will arrive back at debarkation, when you get off the ship, the customs agent glances at your passport or drivers license to see if it matches your face, asks a couple of quick questions and you are through in 30 seconds or so. (in 12 cruises, I don't think DW and I combined, have ever spent more than 60 seconds with the customs agent)

 

Apprently on an open looped cruise, since people are joining midway, when the ship arrives back, the customs agents have to manually input all of the passport info, etc.. and do a more in depth check in thats last 2-5 minutes versus 30-45 seconds per person.

 

Multiply , say 2 minutes extra per person times 2,000+ people and you have a very slow debarkation.

 

So, where debarkation was usually done by 11ish at the latest and the next cruise could start boarding shortly after that.

 

Now the debarkation is running into the early afternoon.

Which has all the people that usually begin boarding the ship before noon, lining up around the building, waiting for debarkation to finally finish and embarkation to begin hours late.

 

So, simply put, instead of arriving between 11-2 and waiting in a moving line for a few minutes to board after checking in.

Now everybody arrives, has to stand outside, in the elements, waiting in an unmoving line, for the previous cruise to finally get everyone off and through customs.

Then hours later, the entire 2,000+ people are in line, simultaneously, rather than having a staggered arrival for checkin.

 

Then when arriving back, instead of emptying the ship between 7-11, it takes from 7 until the early afternoon for everybody to get off and on their way home.

 

Just makes for a bad start and end to a cruise.

Even if you make lemonade out of the lemons, (as many cheerleaders in here love to suggest) it is a completely unneccesary inconvience to ruin a big part of 2,000 cruises.

 

Especially the unfortunate majority of cruisers, who do not read these boards and have no idea about these problems and have cruised many times before.

 

They are used to the usual arrival procedure, which is almost identical, no matter which line you've cruised before.

Not prepared for the hours waiting outside.

 

They also do not know about the debarkation delays and might book a flight home, that on any other cruise, from any other US port, would be fine, but with these unneccesary delays, I'm sure quite a few people, each cruise, are missing flights and having to deal with the added headaches of trying to find other flights home.

 

Bill

Edited December 18, 2013 by bguppies

[mrs.cool]

Wow. That sucks. I had no idea. We WERE late in getting on our last cruise out of Tampa, but that was due to a delay with the ship getting into port because some guy jumped off the Sky Bridge just as they were going under. I am REALLY glad we're not flying back until Monday. And on embarkation day, I guess we'll take our own sweet time getting to the port! we're going down the day before, so we might as well sleep late AND have lunch before we bother to show up!

[bguppies]

Wow. That sucks. I had no idea. We WERE late in getting on our last cruise out of Tampa, but that was due to a delay with the ship getting into port because some guy jumped off the Sky Bridge just as they were going under. I am REALLY glad we're not flying back until Monday. And on embarkation day, I guess we'll take our own sweet time getting to the port! we're going down the day before, so we might as well sleep late AND have lunch before we bother to show up!

 

Just remember, if your cruise is in the next few weeks, there will be no issues.

 

If you are in my boat and not sailing until later, then you need to start checking back in mid-January and see if NCL has bothered to do anything to alleviate the problems, they created.

 

Definitely good you have next day flights out, for sure...

[che5904]

Wow. That sucks. I had no idea. We WERE late in getting on our last cruise out of Tampa, but that was due to a delay with the ship getting into port because some guy jumped off the Sky Bridge just as they were going under. I am REALLY glad we're not flying back until Monday. And on embarkation day, I guess we'll take our own sweet time getting to the port! we're going down the day before, so we might as well sleep late AND have lunch before we bother to show up!

 

This has been quite a mess in the first few weeks of this itinerary. Some people wish to really add more negativity with opinions than necessary iMO. It left a lot of people inconvenienced and others with more serious issues due to age or health.

 

Hopefully whatever the issue was with the boarding situation has now been rectified and future cruises (even after the next round of pick ups in Coz) will be sorted out.

 

It sounds like you have already started putting plan B in place, in case your cruise is affected. We will know after the Jan 12th sailing whether this problem returns or if it's gone.

[mrs.cool]

Hopefully they will have this fixed by our cruise on January 25. Maybe people who are on the first few cruises of the year will let us know.

[njboxermom]

Ohh Poop I an on the 1/26 sailing with 4 cruise newbies. Hoping all goes well. WOuld we have better luck arriving early? Or Later?

 

Thanks!!

[Sparkygirl]

I'm on the Jan 12 Cruise out of Tampa :(

 

Please provide an update to how your embarkation goes on the 12th, we are sailing when you return on the 19th.

[bguppies]

WOuld we have better luck arriving early? Or Later?

 

Thanks!!

 

That is the bad thing with what has been going on.

 

The people who usually show up between 10-noon to be the first folks on, when a normal embarkation begins at around 11am, are not being admitted into the terminal, until debarkation ends, which with the open loop cruises, is the early afternoon. (instead of 10-11 am on any other cruise, anywhere)

So the line is wrapping around the building.

 

The people who usually wait until noon-2PM to just arrive and walk straight on the ship, are now at the very back of the line, waiting to get in.

 

If you arrive early, you are stuck waiting for hours outside, before they even begin anything.

But you will be the first in, eventually.

 

If you arrive late, you are in line behind the 2,000 people already waiting, so you will be in line for hours waiting for them to get checked in in front of you.

 

Pretty screwed up problem happening with the Dawn right now.

Edited December 19, 2013 by bguppies

[zazou]

How was disembarkation?

Edited December 23, 2013 by zazou

[houseflipper48]

How was disembarkation?

 

We carried our own luggage and was off the ship in 20 minutes.