NOLA embarkation.

[vettprincess]

2 hours ago, sheila77 said:

Thanks for posting.  

Just trying to understand this new check in process???

We choose a time to arrive at the port during check in on the NCL site, let's say 10am.

 

We go to the NCL pier at 10am to drop off luggage

Walk to the Marriott to get in line for the Eurofins test

Wait for results (hopefully negative)

Walk back to Cruise terminal to be processed for check in

Wait for boarding group to be called

 

 

Or to we arrive at port at 8am to be at the port to officially check in at 10am (assuming it will take approximately 2 hours for the Eurofins process)?? 

 

Thanks for any info that anyone can provide.

My docs have three different times to be at the port!

[justhappy]

2 hours ago, sheila77 said:

Thanks for posting.  

Just trying to understand this new check in process???

We choose a time to arrive at the port during check in on the NCL site, let's say 10am.

 

We go to the NCL pier at 10am to drop off luggage

Walk to the Marriott to get in line for the Eurofins test

Wait for results (hopefully negative)

Walk back to Cruise terminal to be processed for check in

Wait for boarding group to be called

 

 

Or to we arrive at port at 8am to be at the port to officially check in at 10am (assuming it will take approximately 2 hours for the Eurofins process)?? 

 

Thanks for any info that anyone can provide.

If you chose 10am, that is the time you should arrive to drop off your luggage, head for testing, then back to the port for boarding. They are staggering  boarding times to help with congestion. If you show up at 8 am, I doubt you can get in as the first boarding time is not till 9am, plus at 8 am there will still be lots of disembarking passengers.

[sheila77]

1 hour ago, justhappy said:

If you chose 10am, that is the time you should arrive to drop off your luggage, head for testing, then back to the port for boarding. They are staggering  boarding times to help with congestion. If you show up at 8 am, I doubt you can get in as the first boarding time is not till 9am, plus at 8 am there will still be lots of disembarking passengers.

Thanks!! - I have a 9am - 9:30am arrival.  Your reply answers my question!! 

[justhappy]

4 minutes ago, sheila77 said:

Thanks!! - I have a 9am - 9:30am arrival.  Your reply answers my question!! 

Glad to help! Have a great cruise!

[seemoreroyals]

1 hour ago, justhappy said:

If you chose 10am, that is the time you should arrive to drop off your luggage, head for testing, then back to the port for boarding. They are staggering  boarding times to help with congestion. If you show up at 8 am, I doubt you can get in as the first boarding time is not till 9am, plus at 8 am there will still be lots of disembarking passengers.

Surprised that they are allowing boarding of the ship as early as 9 am.   That is good news.  Thanks for letting us know.

[justhappy]

Just now, seemoreroyals said:

Surprised that they are allowing boarding of the ship as early as 9 am.   That is good news.  Thanks for letting us know.

Not the boarding time, but the earliest time slot you can choose for testing, by the time you do that and check in you may still be held in the terminal till later to actually board the ship.  Hopefully those people on this first cruise will let us know when they return.

[krittykat]

Have filled out all our check in information and it states completed but edocs are "not ready".  Not sure what is going on with that.   We were given 11-11:30 slot - wish it were earlier but it is not bad. 
As for safety in the French Quarter - we always stay on the well lit, main streets. 
Hope they have their testing process smoothed out by the time our cruise is ready.

[darius427]

We are on the Breakaway for the Dec. 5th sailing.  We are flying in early and staying at the Marriot.  Does anyone happen to know if we can be tested before dropping bags rather than walking to the port to drop bags just to walk back to the hotel to be tested?  Do you get anything from the port that you have to have in order to take the test?  

[roger001]

1 hour ago, krittykat said:

Have filled out all our check in information and it states completed but edocs are "not ready".  Not sure what is going on with that.   We were given 11-11:30 slot - wish it were earlier but it is not bad. 
As for safety in the French Quarter - we always stay on the well lit, main streets. 
Hope they have their testing process smoothed out by the time our cruise is ready.

Edocs take from 24 to 48 hours to be ready after you complete all of the check in stuff, including the sign up for virus testing.  

[justhappy]

2 hours ago, darius427 said:

We are on the Breakaway for the Dec. 5th sailing.  We are flying in early and staying at the Marriot.  Does anyone happen to know if we can be tested before dropping bags rather than walking to the port to drop bags just to walk back to the hotel to be tested?  Do you get anything from the port that you have to have in order to take the test?  

One would think that if you have already completed the Eurofins info online and can print it out and bring it with you, it would be worth a try. Some people yesterday reported that the bar code on the Eurofins website printout wasn’t able to be used as they didn’t have the equipment to scan it so they just asked for your name at the testing site to begin.
We will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott on Julia Street before our cruise so may do the same thing as you, go get tested then come back and get our luggage and head to the port.

Edited November 22, 2021 by justhappy

[lixogab]

7 hours ago, darius427 said:

We are on the Breakaway for the Dec. 5th sailing.  We are flying in early and staying at the Marriot.  Does anyone happen to know if we can be tested before dropping bags rather than walking to the port to drop bags just to walk back to the hotel to be tested?  Do you get anything from the port that you have to have in order to take the test?  

You can do the covid test before showing up at the port and may be before checking out the hotel. At 10 am there was no wait to take the covid test. And the results were ready in 15 mins ( according  a couple we met)

At noon the line as 30-40 mins and they took more time ti get the results.

However, there was a mess to chekin at 11am ( the boarding starts at noon), while at 2 pm it took less then 10 min.

So the best strategy would be to:

- Do the covid test early ( 10am or earlier)

- Checkout, walk to the port, may be to the parking lot, check the bags.

- Speng couple of hours in NOLA.

- Arrive by 1:45-2 pm. Chekin and board.

Edited November 23, 2021 by lixogab

[lixogab]

5 hours ago, justhappy said:

One would think that if you have already completed the Eurofins info online and can print it out and bring it with you, it would be worth a try. Some people yesterday reported that the bar code on the Eurofins website printout wasn’t able to be used as they didn’t have the equipment to scan it so they just asked for your name at the testing site to begin.
We will be staying at the Courtyard Marriott on Julia Street before our cruise so may do the same thing as you, go get tested then come back and get our luggage and head to the port.

There is no need to show any barcode. If you a registered with Eurofins, they will find you by the last name + birth date. Just be sure to provide correct info during the registration.

Also, you have to provide the correct and unique phone  number. Once the result is ready, you'll get an SMS from them. I got mine couple of minutes before my number showed up on their display.

 

 

[lixogab]

One more thing.

Nobody never checked the time slot we were assigned.

[fethiyeden]

Please could somebody who is on this 1st cruise post the dailies when you get home.

We are due to cruise late January & I would love to decide  which evenings to do our speciality dining.

Thanks so much.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

16 hours ago, lixogab said:

One more thing.

Nobody never checked the time slot we were assigned.

That was the same for us in San Pedro for boarding the Bliss. Althought their procedure was so smooth and quick but they havehad a few weeks to get it organized. 

[krittykat]

OK  just got my edocs (after talking with NCL chat - they got hung up for some reason).  Looking at them - interesting - "Time you have selected to arrive at Pier:  OPEN"
I guess we can arrive at any time.   We are in the Haven - is that the reason?

[Sand and Seas]

For anyone who has been through the Covid testing procedure in NOLA, is it OK to keep a small rolling carryon with you?   

 

I have read at that at other ports they wanted you to drop ALL of your luggage with porters before testing.   We would need to keep some important items  with us and the small roll-aboard would be easiest.

[vettprincess]

On 11/23/2021 at 1:45 PM, krittykat said:

OK  just got my edocs (after talking with NCL chat - they got hung up for some reason).  Looking at them - interesting - "Time you have selected to arrive at Pier:  OPEN"
I guess we can any time.   We are in the Haven - is that the reason?

Ours says the same.  Another part of our docs say 10am. We changed hotels and now at the Marriott on Canal St. Now need to figure out how to get from hotel to pier. Cab? Uber? Any other ideas out there?

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving today.

 

 

 

 

[The Traveling Man]

4 hours ago, vettprincess said:

Ours says the same.  Another part of our docs say 10am. We changed hotels and now at the Marriott on Canal St. Now need to figure out how to get from hotel to pier. Cab? Uber? Any other ideas out there?

Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving today.

 

 

 

 

There are several hotels within easy walking distance of the port, including the Courtyard  by Marriott and Spring Hill Suites by Marriott.  The Marriott on Canal between Camp and St, Charles is almost a mile from the Julia Street Cruise Terminal.  I have walked it several times, but never while carrying luggage.  You'll be better off with a taxi or Uber.

[The Traveling Man]

17 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

For anyone who has been through the Covid testing procedure in NOLA, is it OK to keep a small rolling carryon with you?   

 

I have read at that at other ports they wanted you to drop ALL of your luggage with porters before testing.   We would need to keep some important items  with us and the small roll-aboard would be easiest.

You only need to drop off the large bags that you want NCL to handle for you.  You still can keep your small carry-on bags with you.

[RocketMan275]

I appreciate all who've commented in this thread.

We're doing our first Norwegian cruise out of NOLA in early March.  

I've learned a lot.

We will celebrate our 30th anniversary on the day Breakaway leaves NOLA.

[justhappy]

I found this very helpful video on YouTube regarding the testing location and check in for New Orleans.

 

Edited November 26, 2021 by justhappy

[seemoreroyals]

25 minutes ago, justhappy said:

I found this very helpful video on YouTube regarding the testing location and check in for New Orleans.

 

Thank you.  Very helpful.

[tafawke]

Roughly what distances are you walking/queuing (I have a dodgy knee at the moment so limping a bit and walking makes it worse)... We are planning on getting an uber from our hotel to the port to drop our bags - or should we uber to Marriott and then shuttle (or is that an unconfirmed rumour) to drop our bags and check in... (I am not a candidate for a wheelchair, just suffering a bit and looking to alleviate possible discomfort if I can avoid it).

[The Traveling Man]

51 minutes ago, tafawke said:

Roughly what distances are you walking/queuing (I have a dodgy knee at the moment so limping a bit and walking makes it worse)... We are planning on getting an uber from our hotel to the port to drop our bags - or should we uber to Marriott and then shuttle (or is that an unconfirmed rumour) to drop our bags and check in... (I am not a candidate for a wheelchair, just suffering a bit and looking to alleviate possible discomfort if I can avoid it).

Google Maps will give you an exact layout of the area.  Look for "Julia Street Cruise Terminal."  There are several Marriott properties in the area.  It looks like the testing is being done in the Marriott Warehouse / Convention Center Hotel which is about 1000 feet from the Cruise Terminal.  If you are planning to stay in New Orleans the night before your cruise and choose the Marriott at the Convention Center, you can leave your bags in your room, go downstairs to take your test, then go back to your room and finish packing before walking to the pier.