Disembark a day early?

[NCteacherlovescruising]

We have a cruise booked on the Pearl exactly one year from today, Athens to Trieste. I see we are in Trieste our last port day until 11 PM and then disembark there the next morning. We would like to disembark the day prior so we don’t waste all those hours going back and forth to Venice. How do we arrange this?  I’m sure there’s more to it than just bringing our stuff and just not showing back up. Lol

[mdepsmom]

I can't speak specifically to NCL's procedures, but I recently needed to disembark a Royal Caribbean cruise a few days early, in Civitavecchia on short notice.  I had to leave my passport with Guest Services the day prior to disembarkation, and the morning the ship docked in Civitavecchia, I had to be cleared through customs (the disembarkation officer handled - which is why they needed my passport).  After they cleared my passport, the disembarkation officer found me, returned my passport to me, gave me an "in transit" pass, and personally escorted me and my luggage off the ship.  Hope this helps ... obviously your situation is different than mine, but I don't think you can simply show up with your stuff and walk off, like you said.

[FLAHAM]

Ask your PCC to find out if it can be arranged.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

20 minutes ago, FLAHAM said:

Ask your PCC to find out if it can be arranged.

I emailed him, but he’s on vacation this week. I’m sure he will get back to me sometime next week. 

[RD64]

Logistically anything - including rules can change a year from now.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

On 7/4/2023 at 6:58 PM, RD64 said:

Logistically anything - including rules can change a year from now.

True, but I don’t it will be an issue. I just need to find out what the appropriate procedure is. 

[JIMESOPUS]

Recently off the Sun, observed at least ten Canadian PAX getting off the ship at Victoria instead of sailing back to Seattle. Was at guest services when the group appeared, there was a crew member there waiting for them, checked all their documents, then walked them off the ship, then to the customs office at the pier. Everything appeared to be prearranged.

[Pptarmigan]

I'm trying to figure this out for a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. Want to do the same thing in Venice that you do.  So far, I can't get anything out of NCL except that it "isn't possible".  Seems odd since you could just not catch the transfer back to the boat and I don't know what they'd do about it.  For a cruise that starts and ends in EU countries, do you even go through immigration when you disembark on the regular day?

[sjp1669]

Sorry to jump in on this post but I am thinking of a similar thing.  An NCL cruise docks in Reykjavik and we have an overnight there before disembarking the next day in the same place.  Can we disembark super early (before 6.30am) on disembarkation day to catch an early flight?  Thank you

[sjp1669]

Ignore the above 🙄.  The day before disembarkation is Iceland but not Reykjavik so can’t see early disembarkation being possible.  Sorry!

[yakcruiser]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:26 AM, NCteacherlovescruising said:

We have a cruise booked on the Pearl exactly one year from today, Athens to Trieste. I see we are in Trieste our last port day until 11 PM and then disembark there the next morning. We would like to disembark the day prior so we don’t waste all those hours going back and forth to Venice. How do we arrange this?  I’m sure there’s more to it than just bringing our stuff and just not showing back up. Lol

 

3 hours ago, Pptarmigan said:

I'm trying to figure this out for a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. Want to do the same thing in Venice that you do.  So far, I can't get anything out of NCL except that it "isn't possible".  Seems odd since you could just not catch the transfer back to the boat and I don't know what they'd do about it.  For a cruise that starts and ends in EU countries, do you even go through immigration when you disembark on the regular day?

I hope they let you disembark a day early. I really see no reason not to. But if they don't I recommend you spend the day in Trieste especially if you have been to Venice before. It really is a lovely little city.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

3 hours ago, Pptarmigan said:

I'm trying to figure this out for a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. Want to do the same thing in Venice that you do.  So far, I can't get anything out of NCL except that it "isn't possible".  Seems odd since you could just not catch the transfer back to the boat and I don't know what they'd do about it.  For a cruise that starts and ends in EU countries, do you even go through immigration when you disembark on the regular day?

I don’t know why it wouldn’t be possible. People miss ships all the time. If it’s not, it’s not the end of the world. I just hate the idea of wasting 4 hours traveling back and forth with our short amount of time there. Please report back on your experience!  
 

3 minutes ago, yakcruiser said:

 

I hope they let you disembark a day early. I really see no reason not to. But if they don't I recommend you spend the day in Trieste especially if you have been to Venice before. It really is a lovely little city.

Me too!  I wouldn’t have even thought of it if someone here didn’t suggest it. 

[DCGuy64]

You are very wise to ask this now. I imagine some might not think about it until closer to sail date, so kudos to you for asking this question so far in advance! It *shouldn't* be a big issue, but I suspect cruise ships keep a manifest of everyone who got on, and everyone who got off, and I imagine they want to make sure to 'keep the books straight.' 😀 Definitely get in touch with your PCC when he's back at work to make sure.

[kitkat343]

IT's good you are asking now.  If they say no, I would recommend trying again in a few months since it seems like this was much harder to arrange post-covid, and as restrictions ease they may be more amenable next year.  Best of luck to you.

[ontheweb]

22 hours ago, JIMESOPUS said:

Recently off the Sun, observed at least ten Canadian PAX getting off the ship at Victoria instead of sailing back to Seattle. Was at guest services when the group appeared, there was a crew member there waiting for them, checked all their documents, then walked them off the ship, then to the customs office at the pier. Everything appeared to be prearranged.

The important word in your post is prearranged!

 

Also, it might have made a difference that they were Canadians disembarking in Canada.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

6 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

 Definitely get in touch with your PCC when he's back at work to make sure.

I plan to!

 

6 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

IT's good you are asking now.  If they say no, I would recommend trying again in a few months since it seems like this was much harder to arrange post-covid, and as restrictions ease they may be more amenable next year.  Best of luck to you.

That’s a good idea!  Thanks!

[jdvmd]

My daughter had to do this a few years ago while we were on a RCCL cruise in the Med. We had to submit a Guest Pre-Downline request that had to be approved ahead of time. She was leaving the ship in Istanbul and the Turkish visa had to be secured ahead of time also.Since 2019, Royal Caribbean no longer allows pre-downline requests but I don't know what the other lines are doing.

[Pptarmigan]

I can't get any answer from NCL other than the front line telling me it's not possible.  At this point, I'm just going to ask someone at guest services on the boat at the beginning of the cruise to see what they say.

 

I can't remember from the last European cruise that we did.  If you start and end in EU countries, do you even have to go through immigration when you get off the boat on the last day?  Doesn't seem like you'd have to since you're already in the EU and you don't have to do it at airports when transiting between countries.

[jdvmd]

3 minutes ago, Pptarmigan said:

I can't get any answer from NCL other than the front line telling me it's not possible.  At this point, I'm just going to ask someone at guest services on the boat at the beginning of the cruise to see what they say.

 

I can't remember from the last European cruise that we did.  If you start and end in EU countries, do you even have to go through immigration when you get off the boat on the last day?  Doesn't seem like you'd have to since you're already in the EU and you don't have to do it at airports when transiting between countries.

Our request went to the

Emergency Travel Team

AirSeaGFO@rccl.com.

Maybe NCL has something similar.

[adoris]

On 7/5/2023 at 4:22 PM, JIMESOPUS said:

Recently off the Sun, observed at least ten Canadian PAX getting off the ship at Victoria instead of sailing back to Seattle. Was at guest services when the group appeared, there was a crew member there waiting for them, checked all their documents, then walked them off the ship, then to the customs office at the pier. Everything appeared to be prearranged.

This interests me….I have asked my PCC several times about disembarking in Victoria the night prior to Seattle and have been told it is not possible.  Has anyone reading this post been able to get off in Victoria and how did you arrange it?

[Bronx12]

We are doing an NCL cruise that starts in Quebec City and ends in New York, with Halifax, NS (our home town), being a stop 2 nights before New York. I called to ask if we could disembark in Halifax and the answer was no in our particular case. The agent indicated that it violated The Jones Act because were boarding in Canada and disembarking in Canada. If we opted to disembark in Halifax we would be fined, and the cruise line would be fined, but we would also be responsible to cover their fine as well.

We have disembarked in Halifax in the past, but we needed to have written permission to downline, and if I remember correctly, it took approximately 2 months for everything to be confirmed. It was NCL and it was before covid.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Bronx12 said:

We are doing an NCL cruise that starts in Quebec City and ends in New York, with Halifax, NS (our home town), being a stop 2 nights before New York. I called to ask if we could disembark in Halifax and the answer was no in our particular case. The agent indicated that it violated The Jones Act because were boarding in Canada and disembarking in Canada. If we opted to disembark in Halifax we would be fined, and the cruise line would be fined, but we would also be responsible to cover their fine as well.

We have disembarked in Halifax in the past, but we needed to have written permission to downline, and if I remember correctly, it took approximately 2 months for everything to be confirmed. It was NCL and it was before covid.

Wow talk about misinformation from the cruise agent!!!!

 

First, it is not the Jones Act, as that applies to cargo ships. Second, and maybe even more importantly, it is a US law which would not apply to a cruise passenger boarding and disembarking in Canada. But, Canada might have a similar law that would not allow this, but that still would not excuse how much disinformation the cruise agent told you.

[Bronx12]

7 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Wow talk about misinformation from the cruise agent!!!!

 

First, it is not the Jones Act, as that applies to cargo ships. Second, and maybe even more importantly, it is a US law which would not apply to a cruise passenger boarding and disembarking in Canada. But, Canada might have a similar law that would not allow this, but that still would not excuse how much disinformation the cruise agent told you.

Thanks for the information! I will check into it further 🙂

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Canada might have a similar law that would not allow this

Indeed Canada does have such a law, the Coasting Trade Act, which governs the transportation of both cargo and passengers.

[NCteacherlovescruising]

On 7/6/2023 at 11:04 AM, Pptarmigan said:

I'm trying to figure this out for a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks. Want to do the same thing in Venice that you do.  So far, I can't get anything out of NCL except that it "isn't possible".  Seems odd since you could just not catch the transfer back to the boat and I don't know what they'd do about it.  For a cruise that starts and ends in EU countries, do you even go through immigration when you disembark on the regular day?

My PCC told me they don’t allow this but they don’t hold you hostage. I take that as we can do it unofficially. Our plan is to walk off with all our luggage. 
 

4 hours ago, Pptarmigan said:

I can't get any answer from NCL other than the front line telling me it's not possible.  At this point, I'm just going to ask someone at guest services on the boat at the beginning of the cruise to see what they say.

 

I can't remember from the last European cruise that we did.  If you start and end in EU countries, do you even have to go through immigration when you get off the boat on the last day?  Doesn't seem like you'd have to since you're already in the EU and you don't have to do it at airports when transiting between countries.

In our case, we are getting off at the same place we would the following day. I don’t see how that could be an issue. Is your case the same?