Maasdam early embarkation

[Orcrone]

For anyone who cruised the Maasdam out of Norfolk. Do you remember what time embarkation started for cruises out of Norfolk. Hate to miss one minute of the cruise.:)

[JohnR49er]

Since you're so close, I'll call you when I get on.............:D

[Stevesan]

Due to poor road access traffic patterns to and from Nauticus it takes much longer to disembark/embark, delaying boarding. As I recall, boarding began @ 1PM. However, when you arrive, you'll find HAL reps set up in the entrance. They'll direct you to where you can obtain your boarding pass/number. If you arrive early, you can get a low boarding number. Boarding is slow.
We walked to Nauticus about 10AM, got boarding numbers, and returned to our hotel for lunch.
Nauticus is not a "proper" cruise terminal and the cruise line personnel don't have the efficient check in process you find at ports like Port Everglades.


The best approach is to relax and go with the flow. Nauticus is a maritime museum and there is a retired battleship adjoining which is open for tours. You can kill some time there.

[Orcrone]

Since you're so close, I'll call you when I get on.............:D John,

If you want to do that, you'll have to shout up the gangway towards me.:)

[Orcrone]

Stevesan,

Appreciate the input. I live locally, and will have someone drive us to the pier. So I'd rather not drop off my stuff and head to a restaurant. I was just wondering whether they had early embarkation, as they do in other ports.

Thanks
Marc

[CrabbyHarper]

For our April cruise we were able to board around 11:30. The process was speedy, efficient and friendly - maybe we were just lucky! We were told our cabins would be ready at 1:30 and they were ready before that. There was lots of good food in the Lido!

Will try early boarding again for Nov 9 cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Remember that when the Maasdam first began to cruise out of Norfolk last year, there were a lot of problems. The main problem being that the ship was constantly getting back to Nordolk. As a result ports and times were changed and the ship began to keep a regular schedule.

With that in mind you should be able to get to the pier by 11 and board by 11:30. Just keep an eye out for bad weather in the Atlantic.

Living close you can keep watch for when the ship arrives and judge your time from there.

[Orcrone]

For our April cruise we were able to board around 11:30. The process was speedy, efficient and friendly - maybe we were just lucky! We were told our cabins would be ready at 1:30 and they were ready before that. There was lots of good food in the Lido!

Will try early boarding again for Nov 9 cruise.11:30. That's what I wanted to hear. I'd like to board that ship as soon as I can. I also figure that traffic won't be as bad if I get there early.

We'll be returning on Nov. 9. Try to keep the ship in good shape for you.:)

[Orcrone]

Remember that when the Maasdam first began to cruise out of Norfolk last year, there were a lot of problems. The main problem being that the ship was constantly getting back to Nordolk. As a result ports and times were changed and the ship began to keep a regular schedule.

With that in mind you should be able to get to the pier by 11 and board by 11:30. Just keep an eye out for bad weather in the Atlantic.

Living close you can keep watch for when the ship arrives and judge your time from there.




KK,

I remember those late arrivals until they changed the itinerary. There's a local TV station that has it's tower cam often pointed towards the pier. So hopefully, it'll be pointing that way on Oct. 30. Otherwise, although I live local I'm not going to drive to Norfolk early in the morning to check on it. It would be about a 45 - 50 minute roundtrip.

It's still in the 70s here in October, and forecasted to be for the rest of the long time forecast (7 days). I'm hoping for the weather to hold out for another few weeks.