Live from the Joy 3/23/24: 60+ people missed the ship due to severe weather in Miami

[buehlaO]

I was on the NCL Joy last week... or at least part of the week. 126 people got on the ship in Roatan (my brother in law got on in Roatan) and we got on in Belize with 121 other people. So I think it is safe to say there had to be hundreds more that couldn't fly to other ports because they didn't have passports, get flights or chose to give up and go home or go to another destination. I heard the number was around 600, but no one on NCL has been willing to give me an actual number. I'm not asking for personal info on these people, I just wanted a number of people left behind. We didn't have insurance and before you go bashing me... NCL booked the flights for us, so yes... as someone else said on here you think you are going to be good because NCL lined up your flights. Insurance is great if you think going on another cruise at a later date is an actual solution. I only get so many days of vacation and my kids can only miss so many days of school. So flying a day early or driving is also not an option for us. Our flight was Minneapolis to Miami and they diverted us to Jacksonville an hour before we were to land in Miami. We sat on runway in Jacksonville on plane for 2 hours. Deplaned for an hour. Re-boarded and we sat for another hour. We landed at Miami airport at 4:20 pm (5.5 hours after we were supposed to). We sat for another 40 minutes waiting for gate. Miami airport was complete choas. Unless you were at the Miami airport that day you cannot possibly understand. There were thousands of people trying to get to their final destination and zero options for getting out of there soon. There were people everywhere. American airlines had 2-5 agents at reticketing at any given time and hundreds of people waiting to talk to them. We waited 4-5 hours to talk to someone only to find out there was nothing they could do. Even though NCL people on the phone told us American Airlines would help us. There were no hotels in the area due to a music festival and all the people stranded in Miami. There were no rental cars to get out of Miami. It wouldn't have been easy to return home if we wanted to. My sister flew into Fort Lauderdale on a flight that was supposed to land an hour after ours in Miami. They had no issues, no delays, and they made in on the ship in Miami. Our friends connecting flight (also booked by NCL on American Airlines) got canceled the night before. American airlines offered them a 20 hours of travel on 3 planes option to Roatan to get on ship 2 days late. That isn't helpful at all especially when you are traveling with kids (7 and 9). They booked their own flights (on their own dime) to fly to Miami on a delta flight 3 hours later. So 6 of our party of 12 made it on the ship in Miami. 

In hindsight, maybe we should have gone home. I don't know... we were probably booking our own flights home too and then spending the night in the airport? We had no idea all the challenges we were going to face to get to Belize. Our thought was we could salvage part of the hotel/food/drink we had already paid for on NCL. We tried to put on a brave face for our kids and act like we had a plan and knew what we were going to do. It was exhausting. I didn't sleep for the 3 nights leading up to getting on the cruise. Once we got on the ship I was afraid to get off at the last 2 ports. I watched the time constantly. We didn't know where things were, the layout of the ship or generally how things ran which you should know by the time you are half way through a cruise. None of it was enjoyable. We've been on 6 carnival cruises and on 4 NCL cruises and never had any issues. Definitely our last NCL cruise. The food and entertainment are not like they used to be on NCL so it's just not worth it anymore.

On a positive note, Placencia, Belize is lovely. I think we'll go back on purpose some time. https://internationalliving.com/a-sidewalk-stroll-in-beach-town-belize/

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, buehlaO said:

I was on the NCL Joy last week... or at least part of the week. 126 people got on the ship in Roatan (my brother in law got on in Roatan) and we got on in Belize with 121 other people. So I think it is safe to say there had to be hundreds more that couldn't fly to other ports because they didn't have passports, get flights or chose to give up and go home or go to another destination. I heard the number was around 600, but no one on NCL has been willing to give me an actual number. I'm not asking for personal info on these people, I just wanted a number of people left behind. We didn't have insurance and before you go bashing me... NCL booked the flights for us, so yes... as someone else said on here you think you are going to be good because NCL lined up your flights. Insurance is great if you think going on another cruise at a later date is an actual solution. I only get so many days of vacation and my kids can only miss so many days of school. So flying a day early or driving is also not an option for us. Our flight was Minneapolis to Miami and they diverted us to Jacksonville an hour before we were to land in Miami. We sat on runway in Jacksonville on plane for 2 hours. Deplaned for an hour. Re-boarded and we sat for another hour. We landed at Miami airport at 4:20 pm (5.5 hours after we were supposed to). We sat for another 40 minutes waiting for gate. Miami airport was complete choas. Unless you were at the Miami airport that day you cannot possibly understand. There were thousands of people trying to get to their final destination and zero options for getting out of there soon. There were people everywhere. American airlines had 2-5 agents at reticketing at any given time and hundreds of people waiting to talk to them. We waited 4-5 hours to talk to someone only to find out there was nothing they could do. Even though NCL people on the phone told us American Airlines would help us. There were no hotels in the area due to a music festival and all the people stranded in Miami. There were no rental cars to get out of Miami. It wouldn't have been easy to return home if we wanted to. My sister flew into Fort Lauderdale on a flight that was supposed to land an hour after ours in Miami. They had no issues, no delays, and they made in on the ship in Miami. Our friends connecting flight (also booked by NCL on American Airlines) got canceled the night before. American airlines offered them a 20 hours of travel on 3 planes option to Roatan to get on ship 2 days late. That isn't helpful at all especially when you are traveling with kids (7 and 9). They booked their own flights (on their own dime) to fly to Miami on a delta flight 3 hours later. So 6 of our party of 12 made it on the ship in Miami. 

In hindsight, maybe we should have gone home. I don't know... we were probably booking our own flights home too and then spending the night in the airport? We had no idea all the challenges we were going to face to get to Belize. Our thought was we could salvage part of the hotel/food/drink we had already paid for on NCL. We tried to put on a brave face for our kids and act like we had a plan and knew what we were going to do. It was exhausting. I didn't sleep for the 3 nights leading up to getting on the cruise. Once we got on the ship I was afraid to get off at the last 2 ports. I watched the time constantly. We didn't know where things were, the layout of the ship or generally how things ran which you should know by the time you are half way through a cruise. None of it was enjoyable. We've been on 6 carnival cruises and on 4 NCL cruises and never had any issues. Definitely our last NCL cruise. The food and entertainment are not like they used to be on NCL so it's just not worth it anymore.

On a positive note, Placencia, Belize is lovely. I think we'll go back on purpose some time. https://internationalliving.com/a-sidewalk-stroll-in-beach-town-belize/

Sorry for your issues, but it’s not fair to blame an airline or a cruise company for weather issues. 

[TRLD]

On 3/25/2024 at 6:44 AM, UKstages said:

 

i was on a ship recently where this very thing happened. i forget whether it was the getaway or the joy. the captain held the ship for about an hour and.a half.

 

i don't think anybody would support a delay of unknown duration "where no one knew if or when the flights would arrive." in this case, again, they reportedly had 60 or more people in the terminal. i think they knew those passengers could most likely be processed and boarded within an hour or so. if either of those things is not true, then, no, of course the ship should not have been held.

 

 

a straw man argument is when somebody presents something that nobody could possibly find fault with (in defense of their strongly held position), but which actually has nothing to do with the issue being debated. it is so thinly constructed and has so little to do with the issue, that it is said to be made of straw; in other words, it can easily be shot down and dismantled, because it has no substance, much like a man made of straw.

 

saying that one is being chastised because NCL can't control the weather or flight delays is a classic straw man argument because nobody is seriously arguing either of those points.  what they're saying is true... NCL can't control the weather or flight delays... so it seems as if whoever says that is providing important factual data.. it seems like they are advancing their argument... but they're not. because the points they make are not disputed and have nothing to do with the actual issue being discussed.  

The ship must provide a manifest to CBP before sailing. During normal times this as I understand it is 2 hours before sailing. Once that manifest is submitted no other passengers can board. So the likely interpretation of events is that the ship waited as long as it could before submitting the manifest and was waiting for authorization to depart. As such they were still at the terminal, but no other passengers could board because the manifest had been closed and submitted.

Edited April 3 by TRLD

[kitkat343]

On 3/24/2024 at 7:52 PM, normandes said:

NCL could have flown them to Rotan Honduras, United has daily flights.

We were on a private tour in Roatan, and our tour guide told us he used to work on a cruise ship.  The ship stopped in Roatan, he went home and decided he no longer wanted to work for the cruise line.  The government said the ship couldn't sail without him.  Even though he was a citizen of Honduras, they wouldn't let the ship leave without everyone who sailed in.  The cruise line had to send someone to his house and have him sign forms documenting that he quit his job, and then they were allowed to leave.  He says he. is banned for life from employment on all Carnival brand cruises  I have no idea if Honduras doesn't let passengers fly in, but it might be possible if NCL is saying they can't transport passengers there.

 

Never mind - just saw the above poster who noted their brother in law flew into Roatan.  

 

And I would hope a ship would be held for an hour or two if it is possible, but it isn't always possible.  There are a lot of reasons why the NCL captain might have been required to sail immediately, so that has to be the captain's call.

Edited April 3 by kitkat343

[RedwingHockeyFan]

I've used the NCL air program my last 4 cruises and never had an issue.  I've also done a 1 or 2 day deviation each time.  Anyone comfortable with NCL booking their flight without a deviation has to be comfortable flying in the day of the cruise and accept the risk of any delays.

 

I'm curious to know if any other cruise ships had passengers miss their cruises due to these delays.  It seems unlikely that only NCL passengers were affected by the delays and all of them had NCL book their flights.

[buehlaO]

I was trying to provide some more info about the number of people impacted by NCL's decision not to delay or let people on after 4 pm. I would also like to hear if other cruise lines had hundreds of people miss the boat in Miami. I haven't found anything yet. I wasn't blaming the weather on American Airlines or NCL. That would be ridiculous. Simply stating that the number of people impacted by delayed/canceled flights could have been handled better by NCL. I will no longer "assume" flights booked by NCL offer some sort of reassurance. I will be sure to book a flight that gets us there the day before.

We saw Blue man group and the Clairvoyants (mentalist duo) on past NCL cruises. Used to get lobster tail and filet at some point in main dining room. Maybe we missed this night getting on later in the cruse? So yeah, the entertainment and food are not as good as pre covid. Seems like people are just ok accepting that things/service aren't as good now post covid. One more thing I will add about NCL's poor service. Their guest services people on ship offered to remove our daily service charges (gratuities) as a gesture to make us feel better ($20/per person or $80 per day). If you know anything about those service charges you know those are for the staff/employees. New/first time cruisers wouldn't have any idea that they just basically gave a big FU to the actual people taking care of them all week. Imagine if those hundreds of people didn't tip the staff because of something guest services was directed or suggested they do? I think that this "gesture", speaks volumes to the care and appreciation NCL gives to their staff.

Thank you for listening, and for all the useful comments/suggestions/advice. I think it will be easier to simply not cruise with NCL again.

[cruiseny4life]

42 minutes ago, buehlaO said:

Thank you for listening, and for all the useful comments/suggestions/advice. I think it will be easier to simply not cruise with NCL again.

I think this is the best course for you, based on what it appears you value. The NCL of two years ago is not really the NCL of today. And, it certainly isn't the NCL that serves filet or lobster in the main dining room (without an upcharge). Let us know if you find a line that has the feel of NCL and the value it used to have! 

[Eric from San Diego]

On a recent 35 day sailing on the HAL Konigsdam, the ship was halfway between Hawaii and Fanning Island when a passenger got sick.  Evacuation by helicopter was not possible because of weather.   So the ship turned around, sailed all the way back to Hawaii, deboarded the passenger (who left in a wheelchair) and then left Hawaii a day behind schedule.   They skipped the stop in Fanning and arrived at the next destination in Tahiti half a day late.

 

When the ship returned to San Diego at the end, it was scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm on a 22 day cruise to do a sun eclipse watching, then on to Hawaii and then Vancouver.  The ship didn't actually leave San Diego until 11:30 pm due to "issues with provisioning".  

 

The moral of these stories is that cruise lines have a lot of  flexibility in what they do to accommodate their passengers needs.  The corporate culture dictates what they actually do.  

[Girr]

Maybe I missed it, but I don’t see anything in this thread about sea conditions.
About three days before docking on my last TA there was a major storm brewing around Florida. Captain turned up the engines to get us into port; however we had to wait outside the harbor to get ships pushed out when we arrived head of schedule. Luckily the cruise ships in port got out on-time or even early.

We were told if we hadn’t gotten in when we did, and the other ships hadn’t left all would have remained where they were until the next day. There’s a lot of variables in pushing off. 

Edited April 3 by Girr

[TRLD]

5 hours ago, Eric from San Diego said:

On a recent 35 day sailing on the HAL Konigsdam, the ship was halfway between Hawaii and Fanning Island when a passenger got sick.  Evacuation by helicopter was not possible because of weather.   So the ship turned around, sailed all the way back to Hawaii, deboarded the passenger (who left in a wheelchair) and then left Hawaii a day behind schedule.   They skipped the stop in Fanning and arrived at the next destination in Tahiti half a day late.

 

When the ship returned to San Diego at the end, it was scheduled to leave at 5:30 pm on a 22 day cruise to do a sun eclipse watching, then on to Hawaii and then Vancouver.  The ship didn't actually leave San Diego until 11:30 pm due to "issues with provisioning".  

 

The moral of these stories is that cruise lines have a lot of  flexibility in what they do to accommodate their passengers needs.  The corporate culture dictates what they actually do.  

Somewhat different situations.

 

The first is a life threatening situation where they will inconvenience passengers to get a patient emergency medical care.

 

In the second sailing without required supplies would have certainly negatively impacted on board. In that circumstance they would put proper supplies over a potentially late arrival at first port. Since that situation did not involve change in passengers no change to manifest needed so it would have been submitted while waiting for supplies.

 

The case in Miami is considerably different. They did delay for some time, but at a time they would need to lock and submit the passenger manifest. Exactly when would have depended upon a number of things, weather, port conditions, instructions from port master, contracts, sailing time to first destination, etc.  At some point it becomes a do they inconvenience those that were delayed or the other thousands of passengers that were on board.

[PATRLR]

On 3/24/2024 at 11:00 AM, graphicguy said:

Personally, if I had driven to the port, boarded the ship, and heard it was being delayed because some first time cruisers hit bad weather and couldn't fly in, I'd say it was a tough bit of luck.

On 3/25/2024 at 11:11 AM, graphicguy said:

I know if I were on board and it was announced the ship would be delayed for some unknown amount of time because some people did not make their flights because of weather (or any reason), I would be upset at the prospect of a delay where no one knew if or when the flights would arrive.  The ship should absolutely sail as scheduled.

On 3/25/2024 at 12:44 PM, UKstages said:

i don't think anybody would support a delay of unknown duration "where no one knew if or when the flights would arrive."

 

I'm a bit surprised to read these statements.  I wouldn't care about a delay in departure so long as it didn't equate to a delay arriving at the next port (which no one has mentioned).  Delay arriving next port, I'm with you for sure.  Delay leaving Miami?  Who cares, I'm on the ship, I've got my drink, I'm good.

 

On 3/25/2024 at 12:12 AM, UKstages said:

i never met a union guy or gal who didn't love overtime.

Then you probably never met a union nurse.

 

 

[IAcruising]

3 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

I'm a bit surprised to read these statements.

 

I'm not. Why are these people flying in the day of embarkation? Getting left behind is the price you pay for that mistake.

 

 

[PATRLR]

26 minutes ago, IAcruising said:

 

I'm not. Why are these people flying in the day of embarkation? Getting left behind is the price you pay for that mistake.

 

 

So are you saying that you also wouldn't want the ships departure delayed?  May I ask why?  I'm not trying to be argumentative here with you or the other two posters.  I'm genuinely curious as to why anyone cares when the ship pulls away from the pier.  For me, I'd guess that on most of our recent cruises the only reason I'd even known we left was when I felt the ship moving and in the case of Miami, that would usually be well after the breakwaters.  NOTE:  If delayed departure would mean delayed arrival at next port, I am 100% in agreement.  But no one has said that would be the case here.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, PATRLR said:

 

I'm a bit surprised to read these statements.  I wouldn't care about a delay in departure so long as it didn't equate to a delay arriving at the next port (which no one has mentioned).  Delay arriving next port, I'm with you for sure.  Delay leaving Miami?  Who cares, I'm on the ship, I've got my drink, I'm good.

 

Then you probably never met a union nurse.

 

 

You’re right!  I should have been more specific.  Don’t delay my (our) arrival(s) and we’ll be cruise compadres!

[Panhandle Couple]

10 hours ago, buehlaO said:

I was trying to provide some more info about the number of people impacted by NCL's decision not to delay or let people on after 4 pm. I would also like to hear if other cruise lines had hundreds of people miss the boat in Miami. I haven't found anything yet. I wasn't blaming the weather on American Airlines or NCL. That would be ridiculous. Simply stating that the number of people impacted by delayed/canceled flights could have been handled better by NCL. I will no longer "assume" flights booked by NCL offer some sort of reassurance. I will be sure to book a flight that gets us there the day before.

We saw Blue man group and the Clairvoyants (mentalist duo) on past NCL cruises. Used to get lobster tail and filet at some point in main dining room. Maybe we missed this night getting on later in the cruse? So yeah, the entertainment and food are not as good as pre covid. Seems like people are just ok accepting that things/service aren't as good now post covid. One more thing I will add about NCL's poor service. Their guest services people on ship offered to remove our daily service charges (gratuities) as a gesture to make us feel better ($20/per person or $80 per day). If you know anything about those service charges you know those are for the staff/employees. New/first time cruisers wouldn't have any idea that they just basically gave a big FU to the actual people taking care of them all week. Imagine if those hundreds of people didn't tip the staff because of something guest services was directed or suggested they do? I think that this "gesture", speaks volumes to the care and appreciation NCL gives to their staff.

Thank you for listening, and for all the useful comments/suggestions/advice. I think it will be easier to simply not cruise with NCL again.

When was the last time Blue Man Group was on NCL?  2005?

I honestly don't know, and only knew they were on in the past due to the show Mighty Cruise Ships, which featured the first Breakaway sailing.

[IAcruising]

2 hours ago, PATRLR said:

I'm genuinely curious as to why anyone cares when the ship pulls away from the pier.

 

It's called "sail away" for a reason, man!  😄 It's a thing.

 

I would have no problem waiting for awhile. I guess the party would just last longer. But how long do you wait, and for what number of passengers, when no one knows if or when they will arrive?

 

[buehlaO]

1 hour ago, Panhandle Couple said:

When was the last time Blue Man Group was on NCL?  2005?

I honestly don't know, and only knew they were on in the past due to the show Mighty Cruise Ships, which featured the first Breakaway sailing.

I was pregnant with my youngest so it would have been 2013 or 2014. I also know that 2013 or 2014 was a while ago too so yea... I just need to stop.

[TRLD]

6 hours ago, PATRLR said:

So are you saying that you also wouldn't want the ships departure delayed?  May I ask why?  I'm not trying to be argumentative here with you or the other two posters.  I'm genuinely curious as to why anyone cares when the ship pulls away from the pier.  For me, I'd guess that on most of our recent cruises the only reason I'd even known we left was when I felt the ship moving and in the case of Miami, that would usually be well after the breakwaters.  NOTE:  If delayed departure would mean delayed arrival at next port, I am 100% in agreement.  But no one has said that would be the case here.

Of course no one said that it was not the case either. Ships have itineraries planned pretty tightly and can absorb some delays. Any delay, if it can be made up means higher speeds and higher costs, or it means late arrival.

[caribill]

On 3/24/2024 at 9:02 PM, Panhandle Couple said:

Add in...

The Porters are probably unionized, they have their set rules and work days.  If it was raining so hard all day, think they wanted to work an extra 2 hours OT in that rain?

 

What about the harbor pilot and boat?  Think they wanted to wait around extra hours in bad weather?

 

And the check in people, the luggage screeners, the cruise port staff....waiting an extra 2 hours could be paying 60+ people OT.  Assuming any of them would stay and then drive home in horrible weather.

 

 

 

Was on a different cruise line in a different port.

 

Bad weather led to plane arrival delays.

 

Scheduled to sail at 4 PM, delayed until 10 PM for the delayed passengers,

 

Was only ship at that port that day. Certainly check-in staff and porters had left as scheduled.

 

So ship's personnel helped with the luggage and check-in completed after boarding.

 

NCL could have done the same for this cruise.

 

 

[hallux]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

So ship's personnel helped with the luggage and check-in completed after boarding.

If the dock workers are unionized this is a BIG no-no.  Unless the cruise line got some special approval the unions would have a HUGE grievance filed for this.  I work in a place governed by a union - if we were to drag a pallet of computer equipment through their shop (because the only loading door that could be used was in the shop) there would be a grievance filed even though the stuff we were dealing with had absolutely nothing to do with them and we were using our own pallet jack.  Shoot - they'll file a grievance because the wrong person shoveled a sidewalk!

[RedwingHockeyFan]

Ever had bad weather cause you to miss a connecting flight?  Even the airlines won't wait for their own passengers.

[graphicguy]

FWIW....my rules of flying in the day of the cruise....reason for doing so doesn't matter.

 

A) Flight gets you to the pier at least 3 hours before all aboard

B) It's a direct flight (less chance of delay via the connecting flight/airport

C) There are more than one airport within an hour of the pier (where you can fly into if your original flight is delayed/cancelled.  You open up options to catch another flight.

D) There are other outbound (later) flights you can take to get you to the pier (See A) if your origination flight is canceled 

E) You have all carry ons so luggage can not get delayed or lost...also precludes having to wast time at baggage claim

F) You've pre-arranged a ride to the pier.  If they don't show up or are late, there's always UBER/Lyft/Taxi

G) Insurance.  It won't get you to the pier on time if something goes sideways, but it will lessen the sting

 

Sometimes flying in the day of is just inevitable.  Done it before.  But, even with my careful planning, I had the destination airport go on lockdown with a bomb scare and had to sit on the tarmac for 90 minutes before we go to the "all clear".  Still made it on time.

[ColeThornton]

1 hour ago, graphicguy said:

FWIW....my rules of flying in the day of the cruise....reason for doing so doesn't matter.

 

A) Flight gets you to the pier at least 3 hours before all aboard

B) It's a direct flight (less chance of delay via the connecting flight/airport

C) There are more than one airport within an hour of the pier (where you can fly into if your original flight is delayed/cancelled.  You open up options to catch another flight.

D) There are other outbound (later) flights you can take to get you to the pier (See A) if your origination flight is canceled 

E) You have all carry ons so luggage can not get delayed or lost...also precludes having to wast time at baggage claim

F) You've pre-arranged a ride to the pier.  If they don't show up or are late, there's always UBER/Lyft/Taxi

G) Insurance.  It won't get you to the pier on time if something goes sideways, but it will lessen the sting

 

Sometimes flying in the day of is just inevitable.  Done it before.  But, even with my careful planning, I had the destination airport go on lockdown with a bomb scare and had to sit on the tarmac for 90 minutes before we go to the "all clear".  Still made it on time.

 

 

Excuse the nit-picking here but "It's a direct flight"...I think you meant non-stop.  Direct flights can have stops but you just don't get off the plane.

[mjkacmom]

15 hours ago, PATRLR said:

So are you saying that you also wouldn't want the ships departure delayed?  May I ask why?  I'm not trying to be argumentative here with you or the other two posters.  I'm genuinely curious as to why anyone cares when the ship pulls away from the pier.  For me, I'd guess that on most of our recent cruises the only reason I'd even known we left was when I felt the ship moving and in the case of Miami, that would usually be well after the breakwaters.  NOTE:  If delayed departure would mean delayed arrival at next port, I am 100% in agreement.  But no one has said that would be the case here.

If they delay a ship, and it gets to the port on time, a lot of money was spent on fuel.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, ColeThornton said:

 

 

Excuse the nit-picking here but "It's a direct flight"...I think you meant non-stop.  Direct flights can have stops but you just don't get off the plane.

You are correct...non-stop flight.  There are direct flights that CAN have a stopover.