Norwegian Star 4/10-4/18

[indiancruiser]

We just got back from our 8 day cruise to Mexican Riviera. We had a great time. Fabulous onboard entertainment and great food. But what stays back in memory more is their pathetic embarkation/disembarkation procedures especially for non US Citizens. It was utter chaos and no agent knew what was going on. While emabarking we were made to wait for ever. Finally when one of the people in line questioned an NCL agent , the only answer he could give us was there are only 3 immigration agents !! And after a bit of noise from the frustrated people in the line, they paid more attention and let the people in faster.

Disembarking was worse. We opted for the express checkout but waited almost 2 hours. Reason ? The computers needed to process the immigrant papers was down !! And the worse part they had no backup. After a lot of hue and cry from everyone waiting they decided to do a manual process.

What baffles me is , wouldn't they test their systems before letting people out ? And how could they not have backup plan ?

Even though the trip was great , the last day leaves a very bitter taste. We would not go on NCL ever again.

[electricron]

Why blame NCL for the government agencies unpreparedness?

 

Immigration is handled by the US Government, not NCL.

 

The same computer servers are used by other cruise lines.

 

Maybe we should all avoid sailing from Los Angeles on any cruise line.

[cruisingfromMN]

I don't understand why you are holding NCL responsible for immigration problems. As you said, you had a great cruise, fabulous entertainment and great food. Seems to me that NCL delivered a wonderful cruise for you.

 

I feel for you, I was there and saw the lines but computers are computers and government agencies can be VERY slow and unprepared. I'm sorry that you are letting this influence you so greatly. Perhaps after time has cooled the long wait you experienced, you will be better able to appreciate and remember what a great cruise it was.

 

We left the ship at 10:30 a.m. and were on a Super Shuttle right away with two groups of non-U.S. citizens. They must have been at the start of the line?

[jerhardt]

The same problems were encountered by myself in March, however it's not NCL's fault the Homeland Security has issues with their computers. IMHO NCL did the best they could.