Escape NYC disembarkation

[CruisingSince1982]

Our BIL/SIL were off the Escape this morning, being Platinum & patience by not rushing off meant more time standing outside on the pier, once they send you off the gangways ... Good thing I texted & warned them this morning after a like chaos re-run, again.

 

We came off the Gem and I posted our thoughts about the madness yesterday, with only 2,500 or so pax ...that someone obviously read. Not a gross exaggeration. Still annoyed, pissed off and NCL must need to do a better job.

 

I am saying anymore ... share those pictures taken yesterday morning from the Gem ... ship docked before 4 am and everyone knew about not earlier than 8 am. Took nearly 2 hours to get off the ship w priority luggage tags is a joke, not fake news ... still, fuming about our disembarkation.

 

 

 

 

 

P.S. We are booked on the Escape next, not sailing for a while ... don't like to cancel simply b/c NCL cannot get a simple act together. It is well within their span of control, don't even try to defend or pass the bucks to blame CBP.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

I don't understand your post. The wording does not make sense. What are the pictures of? People exiting, or people waiting to board?

[CruisingSince1982]

People who live in or near NYC know how terrible it is driving in Manhattan and most people won't unless it is necessary. Anyone close enough to taxi or uber, will likely go that route.

 

Unless there is a special event going on, driving in Manhattan on a weekend is a non-issue.

[mking8288]

I don't understand your post. The wording does not make sense. What are the pictures of? People exiting, or people waiting to board?

Signage near the entrance into the cruise terminal - for Haven & Special Needs last year (Breakaway) and last Saturday ... Haven & Priority (Gem)

 

2nd. photo was from the Gem - the mob scene of people exiting, those on the left side are at the "end" of the Express Walkoff, still standing outside on the pier's walkway at 9:50 am ... trying to exit & make their way out. Look closely & zoom it, you can see the "Haven" sign hidden among the sea of people ... must be easily 50 to 75 Haven & Priority on the right side, plus their friends & families and anyone pretending to be traveling together, still trying to get inside the building. Special Needs in wheelchairs also among them, being pushed by NCL employees.

 

Pretty organized exodus, won't you say - for a "small" ship with 2,500 pax - couldn't imagine the scene with 4,500+ Escapees

[CruisingSince1982]

Signage near the entrance into the cruise terminal - for Haven & Special Needs last year (Breakaway) and last Saturday ... Haven & Priority (Gem)

 

2nd. photo was from the Gem - the mob scene of people exiting, those on the left side are at the "end" of the Express Walkoff, still standing outside on the pier's walkway at 9:50 am ... trying to exit & make their way out. Look closely & zoom it, you can see the "Haven" sign hidden among the sea of people ... must be easily 50 to 75 Haven & Priority on the right side, plus their friends & families and anyone pretending to be traveling together, still trying to get inside the building. Special Needs in wheelchairs also among them, being pushed by NCL employees.

 

Pretty organized exodus, won't you say - for a "small" ship with 2,500 pax - couldn't imagine the scene with 4,500+ Escapees

 

 

Ahhh, gotcha. Crazy!!

[Costa canary]

Can anyone tell me what the last time to disembark is , as I don’t fly till 22.30 and am in no hurry to get off the ship . I was hoping to have a long slow breakfast and stroll off the ship last , can I do this ? And is it best to keep my cases with me or send them down the night before .

Also can anyone recommend somewhere in Manhattan to store our luggage for a few hours .

[Bonobochick]

Anyone off yesterday's Escape having an issue with the post-cruise survey?

 

Mine keeps sticking 2/3rds of the way through on the questions about King's Wharf and I'm unable to complete it. :(:(:(

[Bonobochick]

Can anyone tell me what the last time to disembark is , as I don’t fly till 22.30 and am in no hurry to get off the ship . I was hoping to have a long slow breakfast and stroll off the ship last , can I do this ? And is it best to keep my cases with me or send them down the night before .

Also can anyone recommend somewhere in Manhattan to store our luggage for a few hours .

The disembarkation guide said passengers had to be out of the stateroom by 9am.

I think you can eat (Savor/Taste was 6:30a -8:30a; not sure about buffet... may have been til 9am) and exit the ship at your leisure until 10:30a. It may be 11a. I'm only 100% sure about the time to be out of the room and Savor/Taste hours.

[CazV]

Can anyone tell me what the last time to disembark is , as I don’t fly till 22.30 and am in no hurry to get off the ship . I was hoping to have a long slow breakfast and stroll off the ship last , can I do this ? And is it best to keep my cases with me or send them down the night before .

 

My flight isn't until 5.30pm... I plan to do the same. Having read everything I've read, I think it might be better to put luggage out and let them take it off. I saw last week's dailies and 10.15am was the last slot.

[richg35]

We always line up first thing in the morning to disembark the Breakaway and get of the ship in a few minutes. If you're a latecomer and there are thousands of other people also doing the same thing, what do people expect?

[don't-use-real-name]

The disembarkation guide said passengers had to be out of the stateroom by 9am.

I think you can eat (Savor/Taste was 6:30a -8:30a; not sure about buffet... may have been til 9am) and exit the ship at your leisure until 10:30a. It may be 11a. I'm only 100% sure about the time to be out of the room and Savor/Taste hours.

 

Vacating your cabin - read the disembarking instruction.

Variable times with ships - but plan on being out of the cabin by 9am

Linger around the ship eating at the Buffet - buffet service may end at 10am or later

changing over to a lunch service for the boarding customers.

 

Off the ship at the time the NCL designates or announces on a PA system.

 

At some point NCL must have a ZERO headcount of passengers leaving the ship

thus then starting the embarking of the next cruise.

[curlyhairedsheep]

How many customs agents were there? It seems like they are short staffed some Sundays. Did you grab a porter before customs to get through faster?

 

When we went through (left our stateroom at 9, the deadline....hung around waiting to get in line when the 9AM color was finally called at 9:20, walked off the ship by 9:55, got our bags and were standing on 12th Ave by 10:05), a porter wouldn't have sped things up and customs was not slowing things down. Getting people to walk single file over the gangway with their suitcases was the holdup. Immediately in front of us, a number of people had very large wheelie bags that they struggled with considerably.

 

I think what made it so miserable was the lack of places to sit and wait. The buffet closed at 9, the MDR stopped seating at 8:30, you had to be out of your room by 9. At 9, the only place for several thousand people to be was on decks 6 or 8, and most were on 8. There was nowhere left to sit, the announcements were few, and everyone was simply uncomfortable.

[mjkacmom]

When we went through (left our stateroom at 9, the deadline....hung around waiting to get in line when the 9AM color was finally called at 9:20, walked off the ship by 9:55, got our bags and were standing on 12th Ave by 10:05), a porter wouldn't have sped things up and customs was not slowing things down. Getting people to walk single file over the gangway with their suitcases was the holdup. Immediately in front of us, a number of people had very large wheelie bags that they struggled with considerably.

 

I think what made it so miserable was the lack of places to sit and wait. The buffet closed at 9, the MDR stopped seating at 8:30, you had to be out of your room by 9. At 9, the only place for several thousand people to be was on decks 6 or 8, and most were on 8. There was nowhere left to sit, the announcements were few, and everyone was simply uncomfortable.

We’ve disembarked 4 different NCL ships in NYC, using self disembarkment and putting luggage out. The easiest has been to be lined up at 7 am, but if there aren’t enough agents, that way still stinks. One issue is they need everyone out of most public areas so they can clean, there isn’t enough places to go, we’ve spent a lot of time standing on outside decks. There is no communication, I assume because there is nothing comforting to say.

[Bonobochick]

This past Sunday, agents weren't the problem. At least for me. That part was a breeze and I was in line and in front of an agent in less than 5 minutes.The slog was the line wrapping around the Manhattan Club then out to the deck then merging with the forward section of ship passengers exiting.

{This part isn't on NCL} Then we got to the terminal building from the ramp, it was a mass of people outside instead of a line trying to get in. Once inside the terminal, that was fine. The only people sailing through this chaos were Haven passengers, those in wheelchairs, and some people with babies / toddlers. (And then the inexplicably long taxi line which was first for me with having it go around the block and taking almost 30 minutes to get a taxi when it usually is less than 10 minutes with a much shorter line).

I need NCL to be better at managing people disembarking in NYC but they don't really seem to care at that point as long as people are leaving so they can get it ready for the passengers embarking later in the day. I have found this to be true whether I am on the Gem, the Breakaway, or the Escape. Then again, I didn't think embarking / disembarking was done well at Port Canaveral back in 2016. I think the only easy embarking / disembarking experience I've had was in Miami a few years ago.

[tony11727]

We disembarked the Escape this am after a beautiful cruise to Bermuda. I have no complaints with the crew of the Escape but they need to come up with a better way to get 4000 people off the boat.

 

The line to get off the boat started just passed the 7 th floor elevators and round through Osheehans twice, passed around the Staircase back through the casino and then merged with another line outside along the starboard rails. That was just to get to the ramp to get off the ship. It took us an hour to go through the line, get off the ship and passport control.

 

 

I had asked several people where the Platinum Plus priority line was. I was told every time I was already in it.

 

 

Again, I have no problems with the crew or the ship. Just wanted to put this out there incase someone was thinking about an early flight. You will need to schedule yourself time enough to get off the boat.

 

 

I'm always amazed at the crowds getting off the ship. I've tried getting on line with my bags early, going with the last color, and have disembarked with Haven priority. It's never done the same way twice. Personally, I think the problem is the terminal. It was built when a huge ship carried 600 passengers. The design just isn't workable for ships this large, which really should be disembarking at both ends. Maybe NYC will someday realize the potential and expand the pier terminal.

[kcdancerkc]

We got off the Escape Sunday. Purposely got tags for the last color as our flight was several hours later. Most cruise lines we have been on, yet smaller PAX count, we had somewhere to sit and relax. Not so here.

 

Out of cabin by 9. No food or drink available after 9, had to sit on the floor on deck 6 or 8....I believe it took 45 minuets to get to the terminal, as we were one of the last off, hard to get a porter or a cab.

 

Then unbeknownst to us, the traffic was a mess because there was 32,000 bicyclists and the roads were blocked off. We were not in a hurry to sit at the airport, but the cabbie was a little unnerved and apologized profusely lol.

[CazV]

Out of cabin by 9. No food or drink available after 9, had to sit on the floor on deck 6 or 8....I believe it took 45 minuets to get to the terminal, as we were one of the last off, hard to get a porter or a cab.

 

This is really useful to know. I was planning to do the same, on the assumption that I could go chill out somewhere and wait for the masses to get off the ship. Might have a rethink now I know this.

[Maraprince]

Looks like we will be facing the same situation when we return in November with the NYC Marathon!!!:(

 

Processing passengers boarding and leaving the ship is the worse part of the entire cruise!!! There must be a better way of doing this than the current system. Last year my private car driver tried to find a way into the terminal first going to the lower level as he was wrongly directed only to find out we should have used the upper ramp. Back into his vehicle and around the terminal we went to get to the upper level and find someone to take my luggage. He could have just left me there to fend for myself. Thankfully, he did not and took the time to make sure I was in the right spot. Of course, he was tipped most generously for his efforts. Once I met my cabin mate we faced the never ending winding lines to board the ship. Luckily for us, one of the terminal agents saw that we really needed a seat and directed us to the handicapped boarding area with seats. I do not know if we could have stood for over an hour before boarding even started without having a seat. Lines were out the door and onto the sidewalk. At one point they even closed the doors to the terminal since it was filled to capacity. No refreshments were provided. If you wanted something you had to purchase it once again by standing on a long line from a concession stand in the terminal. Boarding didn't start until almost 1 PM with passengers still getting off the ship.

 

What's the point of getting you up and out of your cabins so early if you cannot get off the ship until hours later? Where are passengers supposed to wait until they can leave the ship? No communication with the port and the ship, not enough port officials to process passengers returning, too many passengers choosing to self-disembark with multiple pieces of large luggage who delay everyone else from getting off? What's is causing the slow process and long lines? Just because you do not need a wheelchair it does not mean you can handle standing in slow long lines that never seem to move.

 

MARAPRINCE

[mjkacmom]

Looks like we will be facing the same situation when we return in November with the NYC Marathon!!!:(

 

Processing passengers boarding and leaving the ship is the worse part of the entire cruise!!! There must be a better way of doing this than the current system. Last year my private car driver tried to find a way into the terminal first going to the lower level as he was wrongly directed only to find out we should have used the upper ramp. Back into his vehicle and around the terminal we went to get to the upper level and find someone to take my luggage. He could have just left me there to fend for myself. Thankfully, he did not and took the time to make sure I was in the right spot. Of course, he was tipped most generously for his efforts. Once I met my cabin mate we faced the never ending winding lines to board the ship. Luckily for us, one of the terminal agents saw that we really needed a seat and directed us to the handicapped boarding area with seats. I do not know if we could have stood for over an hour before boarding even started without having a seat. Lines were out the door and onto the sidewalk. At one point they even closed the doors to the terminal since it was filled to capacity. No refreshments were provided. If you wanted something you had to purchase it once again by standing on a long line from a concession stand in the terminal. Boarding didn't start until almost 1 PM with passengers still getting off the ship.

 

What's the point of getting you up and out of your cabins so early if you cannot get off the ship until hours later? Where are passengers supposed to wait until they can leave the ship? No communication with the port and the ship, not enough port officials to process passengers returning, too many passengers choosing to self-disembark with multiple pieces of large luggage who delay everyone else from getting off? What's is causing the slow process and long lines? Just because you do not need a wheelchair it does not mean you can handle standing in slow long lines that never seem to move.

 

MARAPRINCE

Of course the point of getting you out of cabins, restaurants and public areas in to turn them over as fast as possible. I’m guessing they need all of the manpower they can get, leaving not enough crew for crowd control and communication. Many people want to do self disembarkment, they need to be able to handle their luggage and line up early. The terminal is too small for the big ships, not enough seats, and NYC doesn’t need tourist revenue from cruises. There are free drink dispensers on the other side of check in.

[Bonobochick]

I think the biggest issue with the disembarkation is outside of the crew setting up ways for passengers to get off, they don't do anything to control the line on the ship of people leaving. They don't monitor the colored tags so people with different colors than the one called will jump in line early thus bloating it and slowing things down. People with too much luggage or rowdy kids they have to chase down or constantly watch also can slow things down with they do the easy walk-off. The crew just want people off so they can clean & get ready for the next set of passengers so they put the least amount of effort in to making disembarkation orderly.

[Mikalen]

We will be disembarking the Escape on 9/30. We have a 11:55 flight out of LGA so need to get off ship asap. We are in the Haven so at least we should be some of the first off the ship. I am not sure if we need to take our own luggage or if we can allow the ship to handle the luggage. Dont want to do anything to slow things down. Would appreciate any advice.

[dexddd]

We will be disembarking the Escape on 9/30. We have a 11:55 flight out of LGA so need to get off ship asap. We are in the Haven so at least we should be some of the first off the ship. I am not sure if we need to take our own luggage or if we can allow the ship to handle the luggage. Dont want to do anything to slow things down. Would appreciate any advice.

 

If you want them to take luggage, the luggage has to be out the night before by a set time.

 

If you are able bodied, you can take luggage with you on self carry. They will escort you to near the front of the line to exit the ship then you are on your own. Elevator gets busy so you can try to take luggage down escalators.

 

CBP can vary widely.

[mking8288]

Regardless of one's priority disembark status, if ship is late with arrival, docking and getting local authorities to clear the vessel - the problem isn't just getting escorted off the gangway & directly into the cruise terminal to get ahead of the CBP curves.

 

See this thread on the East Coast forum on LGA's construction/congestion 411's ... thru the year 2020 (and, beyond) Most recently, major work has begun on shifting & moving the terminal buildings and relocating the service roadways, which, at times - result in lane closures on the Grand Central Parkway. In simple terms - allow plenty of EXTRA time not just in getting to the airport (30 to 45 minutes on weekend morning is typical, weather permitting in usual road conditions) but getting from the parkway's exit ramp(s) to the airline terminals (Delta's T-C and T-D are affected, substantially - as well as T-B a/k/a main or central terminal) ... delay can quickly mushroomed into 30+ minutes without any prior warnings & NYC's MTA bus drivers have been known to tell passengers to run with their luggage to the terminal if they "must" make their airline's flight connections when traffic volume bring all to a gridlocked standstill.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2395969&page=3&highlight=LGA

 

Not a good way to end a cruise by sweating it, highly recommend booking a later flight, later than 1 PM. NCL cannot guarantee its arrival time into NYC nor how quickly you can get to LGA on the morning of - feeling lucky, then please do not hesitate to roll the dices.

[Maraprince]

I think the biggest issue with the disembarkation is outside of the crew setting up ways for passengers to get off, they don't do anything to control the line on the ship of people leaving. They don't monitor the colored tags so people with different colors than the one called will jump in line early thus bloating it and slowing things down. People with too much luggage or rowdy kids they have to chase down or constantly watch also can slow things down with they do the easy walk-off. The crew just want people off so they can clean & get ready for the next set of passengers so they put the least amount of effort in to making disembarkation orderly.

 

People just seem to walk off when they want to regardless of what colors are being called, cut into lines, self-assists jam the elevators with multiple overly large suitcases, passengers do not report to Immigration when called -- not an orderly system at best!! This delays everyone from getting off the ship and no one seems to care until the Terminal is so crowded that disembarcation has to be halted some they can clear some of the crowds out.

 

The worse part is that this happens every week!

 

MARAPRINCE

[Arzeena]

Our BIL/SIL were off the Escape this morning, being Platinum & patience by not rushing off meant more time standing outside on the pier, once they send you off the gangways ... Good thing I texted & warned them this morning after a like chaos re-run, again.

 

We came off the Gem and I posted our thoughts about the madness yesterday, with only 2,500 or so pax ...that someone obviously read. Not a gross exaggeration. Still annoyed, pissed off and NCL must need to do a better job.

 

I am saying anymore ... share those pictures taken yesterday morning from the Gem ... ship docked before 4 am and everyone knew about not earlier than 8 am. Took nearly 2 hours to get off the ship w priority luggage tags is a joke, not fake news ... still, fuming about our disembarkation.

 

 

P.S. We are booked on the Escape next, not sailing for a while ... don't like to cancel simply b/c NCL cannot get a simple act together. It is well within their span of control, don't even try to defend or pass the bucks to blame CBP.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

WOW this is insane!

[Arzeena]

NCL disembarkation in NY is always a nightmare. NCL needs to have more control over this.

 

Most cruise ship disembarkation is a night mare in NYC. We had the same experience on Carnival. Sometimes I think it is better to wait and be the last group of passengers out.