Escape 9/8/19 sailing delayed

[shof515]

Current Position of the Escape

 

Looks like they are taking their time. Ship AIS data says it will be docked at around 12pm.

[mking8288]

Her speed throttled to 13 knots, still hasn't pass the Ambrose anchor / lighthouse marker area ... no way they can dock before 1 to 1:30 pm and it usually take 3.5 to 4 hours for them to start boarding even Haven pax. 

[dexddd]

Looks like crew out front.

[FLAHAM]

Just docking now (2:00 p.m.).

[RareBird]

7 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Just docking now (2:00 p.m.).

Late.... we are aiming to get there around 5pm.  I think before then it will be insane. 

[Onealpha]

What a cluster. Don’t bother showing up until 7pm

[RareBird]

3 minutes ago, Onealpha said:

What a cluster. Don’t bother showing up until 7pm

That bad huh 😞  Are you at the pier?  

[Onealpha]

8 minutes ago, RareBird said:

That bad huh 😞  Are you at the pier?  

 

Yes, at pier waiting in line.  They don’t have enough people to answer questions.  The line is out the door.  The intercom keeps giving instructions that nobody understands and there is nobody to ask for clarification.  They are sending people with orange cards to peor 90.  We received no cards when we checked our bags and checked in online earlier in the week.  Even decks except for deck 5 register in front.  Odd in the back.  Nobody to ask. Just chaos. 

[OceanBlueWaters]

Forgive me if I am wrong/late to the party, but didn't Dorian pass through here like on Friday/Saturday?  Why the delays?

[gatorclaws]

So is parking not open yet? We're confused and they waved us past

[shof515]

8 minutes ago, OceanBlueWaters said:

Forgive me if I am wrong/late to the party, but didn't Dorian pass through here like on Friday/Saturday?  Why the delays?

The escape left bermuda on friday afternoon, Dorian was in the escape path back to NY so the escape sailed at a slower speed to avoid the storm.

[seekingamid]

The situation with the Escape is pretty messy right now.  As of about 4:30 I overheard a Norweigian employee tasked with keeping us corralled in pier 90 that they still have 600 people on board from the previous sailing.  No explanation or ETA, and they are just sending people here to Pier 90 to wait.  “Please don’t arrive before 4pm” should have been more like 6pm or later. 

[gatorclaws]

FYI, parking is open

[mking8288]

As viewed on live webcam - disembarkating passengers are crossing 12th Avenue and I can see a # of them at the taxi stand to arrange ground transportation, not looking pretty.

 

AIS traffic logged arrival time as 2:55 pm and just can't imagine that they can reach a zero count for turnaround and start Haven/priority boarding any earlier than 6:30 to 7 p.m.  This is definitely going to mess up lots of dinning reservations onboard ... checked luggage probably won't get delivered until 9 or 10 p.m. with the muster drills.  Things happen but still ... for those leaving the ship with revised travel time, to make it and for those looking forward to board, probably a bit hungry & frustrated. 

 

Based on live Waze/Google Maps traffic update - current travel time isn't bad from Pier 88 - via fastest routes with tolls

to LGA, about 30 to 35 minutes

to JFK Int'l, about 50 to 60 minutes

to Newark Int'l, about 35 to 45 minutes

Edited September 8, 2019 by mking8288

[seekingamid]

As a warning to anyone coming to the pier, they were providing snacks and water for free, but the snacks are now gone.  Bring your own if you think you can’t wait to eat until late evening.

[OceanBlueWaters]

21 minutes ago, shof515 said:

The escape left bermuda on friday afternoon, Dorian was in the escape path back to NY so the escape sailed at a slower speed to avoid the storm.

But there was no Hurricane threat Saturday/Sunday  Correct?  Just wondering 🙂

[RareBird]

Thank you all for updates!  Waiting patiently at home, now aiming to arrive at 7pm at the pier.   Lucky we live just 1/2 hour away. 

 

[Alatraveler1]

Snacks?  With that long of a delay you should expect a meal!  Maybe they'd offer reimbursement for a dinner shoreside for passengers, although i don't see how they could pull it off like the airlines do.  Don't know how they will serve dinner earlier than 8 p.m. and unless you had late reservations in a specialty restaurant, oh the chaos!  So sorry for those attempting to embark today and for those whose home travel arrangements are now in shambles.

[gatorclaws]

16 minutes ago, RareBird said:

Thank you all for updates!  Waiting patiently at home, now aiming to arrive at 7pm at the pier.   Lucky we live just 1/2 hour away. 

 

I wouldn't wait that long.,. It's crowded but we're moving. Nobody is going crazy. I'd be nervous of being too late waiting till 7. They just called boarding group 5.

Edited September 8, 2019 by gatorclaws
Extra info

[PistolPete13]

Wow, what a mess.  I just watched the Celebrity Summit sail off under the VZ bridge.  They left the dock promptly at 4PM.  Wonder why the Escape just didn't keep the same pace back to NYC as the Summit.

[Bonobochick]

3 hours ago, Onealpha said:

 

Yes, at pier waiting in line.  They don’t have enough people to answer questions.  The line is out the door.  The intercom keeps giving instructions that nobody understands and there is nobody to ask for clarification.  They are sending people with orange cards to peor 90.  We received no cards when we checked our bags and checked in online earlier in the week.  Even decks except for deck 5 register in front.  Odd in the back.  Nobody to ask. Just chaos. 

 

I was on the 9/1 Bermuda cruise that arrived at 2p today and it was an absolute mess to get off the ship so I can imagine how awful to be getting on the ship today. Took about 2 hours to get off then go through customs and I was in the second self-assist color tag group (orange). NCL locked some of elevators from I overheard so many were lugging suitcases down the stairs. Once on  Deck 7, the line went all the way from midship elevators through the casino then weaving through the manhattan room then out the aft door down the gangway around the building to get on the escalators then finally freedom from the ship to face chaos from cars and taxis. They also were using facial recognition in customs in the place of agents (there a few agents still for anyone flagged).

 

There was almost no one managing the crowd, esp on the stairs, and it was super congested also due folks ignoring the color tags called and NCL not enforcing it. It was a travesty.

 

Good luck to those leaving on the Escape today.

[Shidah]

They use facial recognition all the time at NY, started about 5 weeks ago.  They were  using it two weeks ago when we got off the Escape.  Really speeds things up through customs.

[Bonobochick]

3 hours ago, shof515 said:

The escape left bermuda on friday afternoon, Dorian was in the escape path back to NY so the escape sailed at a slower speed to avoid the storm.

 

We also sailed west towards the Carolinas for a while on Friday then went northwest instead of sailing back directly northwest as usual. Friday night and some of Saturday morning was rocky but not as bad as I thought it would be. I had a worse night on the Gem last November. But when I got back on the ship Friday, there was a letter waiting that we were going to arrive late today due to Dorian and they were giving folks 60 minutes comp wifi if needed to change flights or other travel plans (if they weren't NCL free flights, to which those folks had to go to guest services to have them modify)

[Bonobochick]

4 minutes ago, Shidah said:

They use facial recognition all the time at NY, started about 5 weeks ago.  They were  using it two weeks ago when we got off the Escape.  Really speeds things up through customs.

If it was just 5 weeks ago, it wasn't all the time with cruises. I remarked upon it as it my first experience with them using it and I was on the Escape in June when it was still the old way of standing in line for an agent to check documents. I didn't notice if it sped things up but after the awful experience just getting off the ship, I was just happy to be almost free. 

[jaapie]

3 hours ago, Alatraveler1 said:

Snacks?  With that long of a delay you should expect a meal!  Maybe they'd offer reimbursement for a dinner shoreside for passengers, although i don't see how they could pull it off like the airlines do.  Don't know how they will serve dinner earlier than 8 p.m. and unless you had late reservations in a specialty restaurant, oh the chaos!  So sorry for those attempting to embark today and for those whose home travel arrangements are now in shambles.

Last October our Breakaway cruise was delayed. We were told not to arrive at the NY port until 7pm and were each given $75 for incidentals incurred during the extra hours we had to spend in NY. We finally got on the ship about 1am and the dining room opened for a meal, so we ate about 1:30am, then there was a mandatory muster drill at 2:30am, the ship finally departed NY a little after 5am. We were each given a refund of the cost of one cruise day, in addition to the $75.