Getaway Transatlantic, Most Mishandled Cruise Ever

[lylebarb]

When we boarded in Miami did you notice the divers with welding equipment? That was our first clue repairs were taking place.

[karoo]

When we boarded in Miami did you notice the divers with welding equipment? That was our first clue repairs were taking place.

 

 

I didn't notice that. Although I walked around the Waterfront on the first Sea Day and observed by looking at the wake that the Starboard Azipod was malfunctioning. Also a lot of shudders and vibrations were coming from the Aft Starboard. Captain confirmed that the low speed (11-13knots) allowed the engineers to work on the Azipod once we left the Azores.

 

 

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[chengkp75]

When we boarded in Miami did you notice the divers with welding equipment? That was our first clue repairs were taking place.

 

Divers with welding equipment could have nothing to do with any problem with the azipods, or anything, really. As the Getaway is just past her initial UWILD (underwater, in lieu of drydocking) inspection, done 30-36 months after entering service, which is done for newer ships instead of drydocking twice in 5 years, they may have noted excessive wastage of sacrificial anodes designed to keep the hull and machinery from corroding, and were installing new ones. It could have been a repair to a pipe that enters the ship, and required underwater welding to repair.

 

If they had been working on the azipod, and the azipod was subsequently lightly used during the voyage, as reported, the subsequent "fix" would not have been able to be completed without more divers and more underwater work. Did anyone see this?

[BoughtMyPoints]

My sympathies.

 

Corporate dropped the ball on this. Just awful planning and worse execution.

 

I paid extra to return on Caribbean Princess on this spring's eastbound transatlantic. despite 2 CruiseNext certificates in my account. I booked away from NCL. Gott sei Dank!

 

Some background :

 

I have been on Getaway twice recently into Miami on their Saturday rotation. The worst disembarkation ever back into Miami. There is a hack ... take the gangway earmarked for non US citizens/residents, no matter your status!

 

In prior years, the Star or other ship assigned to the Baltic cruises would not have had such an adventurous transatlantic itinerary. Missing the Azores does happen and but that presented an opportunity. Getaway should have headed to Cobh (Cork), Ireland. Why? BECAUSE IRELAND AND THE UK ARE IN THE COMMON TRAVEL AREA. You clear immigration in Cobh and there's no immigration at Southampton even if you visit a French port the day before.

 

You see, that's what happened on the Caribbean Princess. We arrived at Southampton and we just walked off, no line/queue whatsoever. Plenty of taxis. There is UK Customs, but nobody was being stopped for closer inspection.

 

Furthermore, the Irish Garda take over the steakhouse on board in Cobh and do not routinely require passengers to appear, just stamping their passports which have been previously surrendered to ship's staff.

 

As for Brest, what were they thinking?

 

Customarily ships will call at Cherbourg or Le Havre before making the short dash across the Channel.

 

By the way, I was at Southampton that afternoon for Getaway. Crew members were disembarking at 2 pm.

 

Oh, I seem to recall that Zeebrugge was cancelled before Getaway left Southampton. So why didn't Getaway overnight in Southampton, allowing a full day in port? Instead, late arrival and overnight in Rotterdam?!?!

 

Oh ... I'm on Getaway this coming week!

[Seminole1975]

[

Oh ... I'm on Getaway this coming week!

 

I enjoyed your post! Please let us know how it goes! Seems to be going well so far (my son is on the ship)

 

Thanks!

 

Diane

[bottoms up]

I have never been so disappointed with a cruise. This was our first transatlantic. If the cruise line knows they cannot get into a port (from what I hear they rarely get into Azores) then why do they have this port on the itinerary. As for the ship breakdown of something, they should be prepared. The night before this was announced my husband had been to a talk with the captain and he said there would be NO problem running with one less engine. I guess that was another bit of FAKE information. Also, they never talk into consideration people with disabilities that are not visible. For instants I have arthritis in my back and hip and it is difficult to stand for a long time or walk long distances. We were always sent to the theatre and then had to go to the Tropicana room at the other end of the ship, just to have to walk to the front of the ship to disembark. How dumb is that. Brest was a joke. The tour we took was Charming Quimper. We saw a church. Well the church was nice, there was nothing else to see. We got soaked while we ran a marathon to get to this church. And trust me it was a marathon. Worst tour ever. Then we had to wait for two and a half hours to get back onto the ship. Thanks, I am now sick with a wicked cough. When we we approaching Southampton we were advised that our tour was cancelled, so we had to book something else and it was cut down by at least one hour and probably longer. When we got to Coventry garden the shops were closing. Thank goodness the eateries where still open because we had no food since breakfast until 6:30 at night. Then we had to eat it so fast that it was hard to digest. I will not bore you about Rotterdam. Again disembarking in Copenhagen was again, go and wait in the theatre just to have to walk to the other end of the ship to turn around and walk to the other end to get off. Needless to say, we came home for a rest. NCL, we will have to wait and see if we want to go on NCL again.

 

 

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[Seminole1975]

Needless to say, we came home for a rest. NCL, we will have to wait and see if we want to go on NCL again.

 

 

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It sounds like a nightmare. I am sorry ya'll (and all the other posters) had to go through that!

[hawkeyetlse]

In prior years, the Star or other ship assigned to the Baltic cruises would not have had such an adventurous transatlantic itinerary. Missing the Azores does happen and but that presented an opportunity. Getaway should have headed to Cobh (Cork), Ireland. Why? BECAUSE IRELAND AND THE UK ARE IN THE COMMON TRAVEL AREA. You clear immigration in Cobh and there's no immigration at Southampton even if you visit a French port the day before.

That's good to know, about the CTA, but it's easier said than done to replace a port mid-cruise. Would Cobh have been able to receive a ship of this size on such short notice? Could the ship actually have made it there without further disruption to the itinerary? (Remember they were having propulsion issues, even before the "explosion".) I think that what you are suggesting would have meant going to Cobh instead of going to Brest, not stopping by Cobh on the way to Brest. Which in hindsight sounds like a great idea, but I don't think it would have been well received on board when people were still looking forward to calling in Brest.

[BoughtMyPoints]

That's good to know, about the CTA, but it's easier said than done to replace a port mid-cruise. Would Cobh have been able to receive a ship of this size on such short notice? Could the ship actually have made it there without further disruption to the itinerary? (Remember they were having propulsion issues, even before the "explosion".) I think that what you are suggesting would have meant going to Cobh instead of going to Brest, not stopping by Cobh on the way to Brest. Which in hindsight sounds like a great idea, but I don't think it would have been well received on board when people were still looking forward to calling in Brest.

 

During hurricane season, ports are frequently replaced.

 

The Azores are on a direct line to Cobh. Cobh is receiving megaliners and if even if the dock is occupied, there's always the option of tendering in. The Irish are really drumming up business for Cobh these days.

 

They had a sail away brass band for us on the Caribbean Princess. It was a bank holiday but they were running the normal weekday schedule of half hourly trains to/from Cork City. You dock right next to the train station, part of which is a free museum paying homage to its former identity as Queenstown. The town looks fabulous, Edwardian perfection!

 

The problem with Brest is its very location, far, far from Paris! Brest should have been the number one port to skip. The tides aren't a secret nor the lack of a modern ship terminal to deal with it. And it's circa. 220 miles to Southampton, problematic at slower speeds for an overnight crossing. 330 miles or so from Cobh to Southampton would need a day at sea. Cobh is 50 miles closer to the Azores than Brest. But hey, I am not in NCL dispatch. To me the proof in the pudding is how Zeebrugge was replaced with an early arrival into Rotterdam. Screwing up Southampton was unforgiveable and beggars belief.

[Blondie008]

Screwing up Southampton was unforgiveable and beggars belief.

 

BEST statement of the thread!:')

[HawaiiUK]

I was in Southampton for the Getaway - I was providing a private tour for some people. Having expected to pick them up at 08.30am, I could see (from the Southampton dock schedule website) that the arrival time was getting more and more delayed. But I swapped things around with the midday arrival. I happened to be there to see the ship sail in, as I had run out of things to do with my time otherwise. And there I and all the other drivers and friends waited, and waited and waited. And as the time ticked on, I was ticking things off. Bath? Forget it. Salisbury AND Stonehenge? No, it will have to be one or the other. Finally they got through 4 hours later. Too late for both Salisbury and Stonehenge. I couldn't believe there were still coaches departing, and I'm not surprised to hear how little time people would have got attempting to go to London.

 

My group? I took them to Avebury instead and we had a pub dinner. I got home just before midnight. But I've never experienced anything like that before and whilst these things may have (mostly) been out of NCL's control, I don't understand how people can suggest cruisers shouldn't be disappointed. I'd have been bitterly disappointed to miss out on the Azores, Brest, the best part of a day in Southampton and Bruges.

 

So yeah, it impacted an awful lot of people that day, not just crew and passengers...

[BoughtMyPoints]

I was in Southampton for the Getaway - I was providing a private tour for some people. Having expected to pick them up at 08.30am, I could see (from the Southampton dock schedule website) that the arrival time was getting more and more delayed. But I swapped things around with the midday arrival. I happened to be there to see the ship sail in, as I had run out of things to do with my time otherwise. And there I and all the other drivers and friends waited, and waited and waited. And as the time ticked on, I was ticking things off. Bath? Forget it. Salisbury AND Stonehenge? No, it will have to be one or the other. Finally they got through 4 hours later. Too late for both Salisbury and Stonehenge. I couldn't believe there were still coaches departing, and I'm not surprised to hear how little time people would have got attempting to go to London.

 

My group? I took them to Avebury instead and we had a pub dinner. I got home just before midnight. But I've never experienced anything like that before and whilst these things may have (mostly) been out of NCL's control, I don't understand how people can suggest cruisers shouldn't be disappointed. I'd have been bitterly disappointed to miss out on the Azores, Brest, the best part of a day in Southampton and Bruges.

 

So yeah, it impacted an awful lot of people that day, not just crew and passengers...

 

Beautifully written.

 

Dinner in Avebury was a lovely idea. At least they can rub the stones there, especially under moonlight.

 

As I was meeting crew who were allowed off at 2pm, I drove them to Salisbury, Stonehenge and a late pub lunch in Winchester.

 

Even if there had been the full complement of Border Force present, leaving for London at 2 pm or later would have been a poor idea.

[hawkeyetlse]

During hurricane season, ports are frequently replaced.

I would say that they are frequently cancelled, and only occasionally replaced.

 

330 miles or so from Cobh to Southampton would need a day at sea. Cobh is 50 miles closer to the Azores than Brest.

That's what I meant by causing further disruption to the remaining itinerary. Your idea would only work if they could reach Cobh by Day 11, and I don't know if that was possible (given the weather and the propulsion problems). If they could only get there on Day 12, the knock-on effects would have been considerable (Southampton one day later than scheduled, on Day 14 instead of Day 13, then either Zeebrugge or Rotterdam cancelled, because not enough days left). In hindsight, this would surely have been a better itinerary than what passengers actually had to endure, but I doubt they would have accepted the idea on Day 7 or 8 (and we would now be reading a thread about how "NCL completely rearranged the second half of our TA for no reason whatsoever, most mishandled cruise ever").

 

And this is all assuming that every one the ports in question could accommodate the ship on those dates, and I don't think that can be taken for granted.

[Robert Peck]

If you were on this cruise as I was you wouldn't jumping to NCL's defense. Southampton was botched badly. At arrival, the Getaway knew how long it would take to complete its immigration inspection. The Getaway posted a five hour long schedule for the inspections. What was obscene was that with full knowledge of the time required they dispatched elderly and infirm passengers to go and stand in line on deck 7 outside to stand for an hour and a half. I saw people with poor health suffering and in pain pointlessly trapped with no seating, no crew checked on us for over an hour one very old gentleman was near collapse. This was reckless. People could have been allowed to wait in their rooms or other safe spaces and dispatched to the line at later times so standing would be reduced and the elderly and infirm were not abused.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Robert Peck
correct misspelled word

[BirdTravels]

If you were on this cruise as I was you wouldn't jumping to NCL's defense. Southampton was botched badly. At arrival, the Getaway knew how long it would take to complete its immigration inspection. The Getaway posted a five hour long schedule for the inspections. What was obscene was that with full knowledge of the time required they dispatched elderly and infirm passengers to go and stand in line on deck 7 outside to stand for an hour and a half. I saw people with poor health suffering and in pain pointlessly trapped with no seating, no crew checked on us for over an hour one very old gentleman was near collapse. This was reckless. People could have been allowed to wait in their rooms or other safe spaces and dispatched to the line at later times so standing would be reduced and the elderly and infirm were not abused.

 

 

people are perfectly capable of thanking care of themselves. People make choices. You could make choices.

[Robert Peck]

First, there was no choice. Inspection was mandatory so proceeding to getting line when told is not a free choice. I met a couple who chose not to get in line and security came looking for them and they were threatened with arrest if they didn't proceed to inspection. Second, people do much better if they can make informed decisions. Had NCL said the line will take one and a half hours and there will be no place to sit during the wait in line then perhaps you uncharitable reply might have merit.

[kiwi360]

I am really not surprised at the UK customs issue - they are understaffed (do not argue on this one it is a fact) and simply can not handle these numbers with other ships in port. NCL have had over the year other issues with Southampton (Epic September 2015) and they are not the main user of the port. We need to protect our borders!

UK Customs was not the issue..

[hawkeyetlse]

They really should have just cancelled Southampton. If not immediately when the Azores were missed and it became clear that passengers would have to spend several hours going through UK immigration upon arrival, then definitely the day before when it became clear that the arrival itself would be delayed by several hours.

 

I wonder if the ship was required to stop in Southampton, for some legal or operational reason. In which case maybe they still could have said "the ship has to stop, but no passengers will be allowed off the ship". I don't know if UK immigration would have allowed that, or if passengers would have accepted it.

[BirdTravels]

UK Customs was not the issue..

 

That's correct. It was the weather that prevented the UK Customs officers to board and process all of the immigration paperwork prior to arrival in Southhampton. And it is terrible that NCL didn't properly control the weather. Right.

[BirdTravels]

They really should have just cancelled Southampton. If not immediately when the Azores were missed and it became clear that passengers would have to spend several hours going through UK immigration upon arrival, then definitely the day before when it became clear that the arrival itself would be delayed by several hours.

 

I wonder if the ship was required to stop in Southampton, for some legal or operational reason. In which case maybe they still could have said "the ship has to stop, but no passengers will be allowed off the ship". I don't know if UK immigration would have allowed that, or if passengers would have accepted it.

 

Southampton was the end of the transatlantic cruise.

[karoo]

They really should have just cancelled Southampton. If not immediately when the Azores were missed and it became clear that passengers would have to spend several hours going through UK immigration upon arrival, then definitely the day before when it became clear that the arrival itself would be delayed by several hours.

 

I wonder if the ship was required to stop in Southampton, for some legal or operational reason. In which case maybe they still could have said "the ship has to stop, but no passengers will be allowed off the ship". I don't know if UK immigration would have allowed that, or if passengers would have accepted it.

 

 

As Southampton was where one of the Azipod problems that occurred was fixed, (the Electrical problem that occurred soon after we left Brest) I would suspect we did have to call there. Otherwise it would have made more sense to go straight to Zeebrugge Belgium.

 

Speaking to the coach drivers they weren't impressed with the NCL management.

They didn't understand why guests were coming off in dribs and drabs in no particular order. E.g. Bath Bus 2, then some from Bus 3, then some from Bus 1. Had it been more ordered at least some of the buses might have made the tours. As it was when I got off, they had buses 3/4 full and couldn't leave. Or stickers could have been reassigned once people were off the ship. I did tell the coach driver of Bus 1- unfortunately some passengers were better at cutting lines than others.

 

 

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[karoo]

Southampton was the end of the transatlantic cruise.

 

 

No it wasn't- it ended in Copenhagen. Debarkation wasn't even done right. I had a letter stating the disembarkation procedure which didn't match with what actually happened. Difficult for disabled people who struggle to move quickly and got lost in the over complicated new procedure. At least though they just filled buses and ignored what bus you were supposed to be on.

Love all the comments from the armchair experts who weren't actually on the cruise- not!!!!!

 

 

 

 

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[Blondie008]

If you were on this cruise as I was you wouldn't jumping to NCL's defense. Southampton was botched badly. At arrival, the Getaway knew how long it would take to complete its immigration inspection. The Getaway posted a five hour long schedule for the inspections. What was obscene was that with full knowledge of the time required they dispatched elderly and infirm passengers to go and stand in line on deck 7 outside to stand for an hour and a half. I saw people with poor health suffering and in pain pointlessly trapped with no seating, no crew checked on us for over an hour one very old gentleman was near collapse. This was reckless. People could have been allowed to wait in their rooms or other safe spaces and dispatched to the line at later times so standing would be reduced and the elderly and infirm were not abused.

 

Ditto all that you said - however "an hour and a half?" - we were just under four hours in that deck 7 line :(

One lady's poor husband was on oxygen and the battery was running flat -

The cruise director kept calling deck numbers just "for the record" we thought. So that he could record a time for which a deck was called. The point being - he was calling decks long before deck 7 was ready to even cope with them on top of the mangled crowds already there...

Reckless indeed...

[karoo]

That's correct. It was the weather that prevented the UK Customs officers to board and process all of the immigration paperwork prior to arrival in Southhampton. And it is terrible that NCL didn't properly control the weather. Right.

 

 

It was also due to electrical issues with the Azipod causing us to arrive late and the required number of Immigration officers were timetabled to work elsewhere. Azipod issues were present when we left Miami.

 

 

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[abnamro]

I am also on the TA.

True, things could be more optimal but none of the mishap were NCL daily fault.

The Azores were cancelled due to weather. Brest isn't equipped to handle cruise ship that's why everything you so long. But even with that I stilld managed to be out after about40 minutes and in after an hour.

It's not NCL fault that the UK required personal immigration passport checks and what should have been made during 2 full days was crammed into 4 hours. Still, every tour got out and everyone saw what they wanted including a nice day light sailing To Southampton. The delays was due to electric problems and not because we hit anything!!! And it was fixed at Southampton and we were back to full speed after that

Because of the delays and screw ups we got 100$ Inc per person (200$ max)! And they managed to have us overnight in Rotterdam with free movement from/to the ship during the night which we used to stroll the city at night. Very nice day light sailing also to the port if Rotterdam.

Could things been better, maybe, they can always be, but I still have an awesome cruise and will be sad to debark on Tuesday.

 

I was on this cruise , i got off in Rotterdam so on my 14 day cruise i was onshore in Brest on 12:30 hour until 15:00 hour 2,5 hour waiting to get off and 2 hour waiting to get on.

Southampton get off at 18:00 hour last deck to go through customs we did a 2 hour walk through closed Southampton .

So 4,5 hours .

 

Azores i did before in similar weather , Brest was a ncl disaster the tide was different acoording to captains story , very poor job by ncl.

Southampton the captain received multiple advice in the morning in the atrium to split UK / European travellers to go fast through customs but they did not so heavy delay.

Zeebrugge i think the izopod problems which the captain told us was fake news , they did maintanaince on the generators from the Azores til Brest and that was not finished and one of the 2 functioning generators had problems.

 

Very poor officers who blame evrything and everybody except themselves .

 

The free shuttle from Rotterdam port to the city center is a Rotterdam service not ncl .

 

This was the worst cruise from the 34 i did

 

The $ 100 is an insult:mad: