Disembarking and Rejoining a Cruise

[Scurrent]

We are on the NCL Dawn leaving Cape Town March 2025.  We would like to disembark the ship in Tenerife, Spain in the Canary Islands, and rejoin the Ship in Las Palmas, Canary Islands Spain the following day.  I tried speaking with an NCL agent here in the United States who had no idea if this was possible.  If it can be done, who should I contact at NCL to make arrangements?  We will be staying with family while off the boat.  Thank you.

[graphicguy]

49 minutes ago, Scurrent said:

We are on the NCL Dawn leaving Cape Town March 2025.  We would like to disembark the ship in Tenerife, Spain in the Canary Islands, and rejoin the Ship in Las Palmas, Canary Islands Spain the following day.  I tried speaking with an NCL agent here in the United States who had no idea if this was possible.  If it can be done, who should I contact at NCL to make arrangements?  We will be staying with family while off the boat.  Thank you.

Did the agent say it couldn't be done?  

 

My fear is once you're off the ship, and it leaves without you, are you now not part of the passenger list?

 

NCL is the best source for this question.  If your agent can't give you an answer (or at least a definitive answer), ask to chat with someone else who can give you a definitive answer from NCL.

 

Any answer you get from us won't carry much (if any) weight.

[julig22]

Kbyrd at  ncl.com

 

No guarantees they will give you permission. No guarantees the ship will make both ports, it's at your risk.

[1025cruise]

Only NCL can give this permission. You need to request a deviation.

[Travelling2Some]

44 minutes ago, Scurrent said:

We are on the NCL Dawn leaving Cape Town March 2025.  We would like to disembark the ship in Tenerife, Spain in the Canary Islands, and rejoin the Ship in Las Palmas, Canary Islands Spain the following day.  I tried speaking with an NCL agent here in the United States who had no idea if this was possible.  If it can be done, who should I contact at NCL to make arrangements?  We will be staying with family while off the boat.  Thank you.

This seem simple but  can be a tricky situation.  One thing to consider is that NCL has been known (especially lately) to drop ports without warning.  If they skip where you intend to re-board  would the ship still be in Spain the next time they docked and how much of a headache would it be to get to that port instead?  Other considerations might (?) be where you embarked and/or your citizenship because you don't want to be fined for entering the country illegally or violating cabotage regulations if that is a possibility.

 

All that aside, we had a very similar desire a few years back so I will tell you what our experience was with NCL.  We wanted to catch up with the ship the next day after spending the night at the Alhambra.  I had a "bucket list" wish to see the Alhambra a night and stay in the famous parador on the grounds.  The port was Malaga, Spain, with the next port being still in Spain only a 2 hour drive away.  The port after that was also still in Spain and we had been staying in Barcelona before we embarked. 

 

Wanting to "do the right thing" I called NCL but, of course, nobody at the call center knew anything but how to take a reservation.  I asked on CC and was told who to contact by email.  Sent 3 or 4 emails with the request over the course of the next 2 months.  No reply until finally one day someone from Katty Byrd's office called and said it would not be allowed.  I was very polite (not angry or sarcastic - just curious) and asked what the reason was.  The woman snapped at me in a very disagreeable way and said, "We are NOT running a ferry service!"  I was shocked at her rudeness.

 

Anyway, this is not advice BUT, if I had it to do over again I should have never contacted NCL and just "accidentally" missed the ship.  Your situation may have other factors so, again, this is not advice - just my experience.

[bluesea777]

A couple or so months ago this happened that a family decided to disembark in one port with the intention of rejoining the ship .... but alas the ship did not call at the port they wanted to re-embark so the family had to miss the rest of the cruise.

 

Is there a particular reason that you want to disembark in one island and re-embark in another island that you'll need to fly to. Also beware the Canary Islands are in the ocean and it can get very windy.

 

The next country is Portugal, not Spain, if you miss the ship in Las Palmas.

 

 

[bluesea777]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

 if I had it to do over again I should have never contacted NCL and just "accidentally" missed the ship.  

 

Very bad advice. 

 

 

[Asawi]

Just a thought:

Maybe it would be easier to get permission to to make an early disembark in Tenerife since Las Palmas is the last port before disembarking in Lisbon. That way you'd get even more time with family on Tenerife. Getting from there to Lisbon if you have flights booked from there shouldn't be too complicated.

I don't know if getting permission for that would be easier, but maybe worth looking into.

[bluesea777]

24 minutes ago, Asawi said:

Just a thought:

Maybe it would be easier to get permission to to make an early disembark in Tenerife since Las Palmas is the last port before disembarking in Lisbon. That way you'd get even more time with family on Tenerife. Getting from there to Lisbon if you have flights booked from there shouldn't be too complicated.

I don't know if getting permission for that would be easier, but maybe worth looking into.

 

The ship doesn't leave Tenerife until 11:59 PM (midnight). 

 

 

[Asawi]

1 minute ago, bluesea777 said:

 

The ship doesn't leave Tenerife until 11:59 PM (midnight). 

 

 

I noticed that too. And only stays in Las Palmas until 3 pm so my first thought actually was "why bother"? They get a full day in Tenerife even if they go back to the ship there! But that's of course just my opinion! 

[The Traveling Man]

4 hours ago, Scurrent said:

We are on the NCL Dawn leaving Cape Town March 2025.  We would like to disembark the ship in Tenerife, Spain in the Canary Islands, and rejoin the Ship in Las Palmas, Canary Islands Spain the following day.  I tried speaking with an NCL agent here in the United States who had no idea if this was possible.  If it can be done, who should I contact at NCL to make arrangements?  We will be staying with family while off the boat.  Thank you.

As others have stated, attempting to leave the ship at one port and then board again at another port down line can prove to be problematical.  Perhaps a better approach would be to ask permission to exit the ship at Tenerife with no intention of rejoining the cruise.  We have done this successfully at a different port with the assistance of NCL Senior Vice President for Guest Services Katty Byrd.  Her email is kbyrd@ncl.com.  The issue with attempting to board at a different port is that NCL may choose to skip that port due to weather or other conditions.  That would leave you stranded, needing to make last minute travel arrangements.  It also could cause you some difficulties with immigration authorities regarding cabotage rules.

[Travelling2Some]

4 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

Very bad advice. 

 

 

Sigh . . . I stated VERY clearly in my last paragraph that I was NOT giving advice.  I set out the hazards/complications clearly and clearly said I was ONLY telling the OP my own negative experience. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

If the family is close to you, they can meet you at the port and spend several hours with you.  If not, just skip it.  This has the makings of a disaster (the like of which we've recently read about).

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Anyway, this is not advice BUT, if I had it to do over again I should have never contacted NCL and just "accidentally" missed the ship.  

 

@Scurrent This is horrible advice and should not be even considered. 

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, bluesea777 said:

 

The ship doesn't leave Tenerife until 11:59 PM (midnight). 

 

 

Then it’s really hard to understand why the OP wants to do this. There’s not only the risk that the ship may not be able to call at Las Palmas, but also the risk that the OP’s flight between the islands is delayed. 

[The Traveling Man]

3 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Sigh . . . I stated VERY clearly in my last paragraph that I was NOT giving advice.  I set out the hazards/complications clearly and clearly said I was ONLY telling the OP my own negative experience. 

Despite your protestations, telling someone else what you would do under a given set of circumstances can reasonably be interpreted as advice.  Simply "jumping ship" without prior approval is bad advice.

[Travelling2Some]

I see your point but you clearly did not read my entire post, which was very cautionary.  What I wish I had done in MY circumstances is just about MY experience and MY personality.  I embarked in the same country and was proposing to travel to a second (and possibly third, if necessary) port in the same country.  I made the various risks clear and said their situation may be different depending on a number of factors that I spelled out.  Presumably thei OP would do some due diligence about their individual situation as I did.  

 

I wrote not once but TWICE that my post was NOT to be taken as advice.  The main thing I meant to convey was the total lack of cooperation/communication they might expect from NCL.  The OP is an independent adult and what they choose to do with that information is up to them.

Edited 4 hours ago by Travelling2Some

[Travelling2Some]

8 hours ago, Asawi said:

I noticed that too. And only stays in Las Palmas until 3 pm so my first thought actually was "why bother"? They get a full day in Tenerife even if they go back to the ship there! But that's of course just my opinion! 

Totally agree that it seems pointless anyway if this is the timing.  From memory (?) there might be a ferry but that could be time consuming and/or unreliable.