Is it possible to leave the cruise a day early?

[mdandp]

We are looking to book onto the Epic on September 9th out of Barcelona. The last port before disembarkation is Marseille and for logistical reasons (we are a family of non-flyers and Marseille just puts us so much closer to home) we would prefer to leave the ship on this day as that night, before arriving into Barcelona, we will only be bobbing about in that part of the med anyway, before leaving the ship early the next morning. I understand that we'd obviously be paying for a 7 day cruise and only be on the boat for 6 days but it would be so much easier (and much cheaper) to head for home from Marseille instead. We are British, so I assume from an immigration perspective this wouldn't be an issue thanks to free travel for us in the EU but would I need to arrange this with NCL ahead of the cruise? Or, once on board just let guest services/management somewhere know that this was our intention? I know that we would be responsible for packing up, getting our bags off the ship and settling our account etc I'm sure it must happen for a variety of reasons, choice and perhaps in emergency situations whereby people have to fly home but I just don't want to book trains home from Marseille only then to have to spend the night on board. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[KeithJenner]

I don't see any reason why you can't do that, but did you know that the Epic is bookable as a round trip from Marseille?

For some reason the website only shows that being available until 1st Sept, so if your dates aren't fixed and you could go a week earlier then that may be worth looking into.

I'd give NCL a call and discuss your options. I would certainly talk to them about it first if you intend to leave early. Whilst I don't see why it should be a problem, you don't want you plans messed up because of something unforeseen.

[mdandp]

We are on 'stand-by' for a round trip cruise from Marseille but all earlier cruises from there are sold out and on September 1st they only have inside rooms available (not that this would be a problem but we are a family of 3 and they only have double occupancy). They are limited on what rooms they can release for Marseille because it's actually just like a hop-on/hop-off port with most people still embarking/disembarking from Barcelona so they obviously held the majority of the rooms for the bigger/main European port and we were just too late to get a balcony *booooo* but we'll keep trying. I'll definitely give NCL a call and discuss leaving early. Thank you

[KeithJenner]

I didn't know whether the Marseille round trip was sold out for that week, or never available.

If it is sold out then that means others will be disembarking on that day so I don't see why it will be a problem for you to do so.

I would warn though that even if you arrange it beforehand then go to the front desk a couple of days out to confirm it and be prepared for it to have been forgotten again on the day. Even if it is all arranged it is possible you won't get baggage tags etc, so be prepared to carry your bags off yourself.

[DevCruise]

I did notice that in the NCL system they do have a "Barcelona, Spain to Provence (Marseille), France" loop. However, it looks like it's only offered for May of 2013. It does however confirm that at least from a technical standpoint that getting off early should be fine.

[garycarla]

Sure sounds like it can be done. Normally, the issue would be immigration, etc., but since they do it often anyways.

I am guessing that NCL needs to notify each port about who is actually departing into that country (vs just spending the day).

[xenagurl]

I think so. On the TA in April I know of people that got off (and on) in Sao Miguel, Azores instead of Barcelona.

[bev77]

I don't know how it is now, but a couple of years ago we had to get off in Key West a day early rather than Miami the next day, because my daughter who lives in Fl was hospitalized. If I remember right it cost us $600.00 to get off, and since it was only a 5 day cruise I didn't get insurance, so needless to say we were not reimbursed.

[garycarla]

Originally Posted by bev77

I don't know how it is now, but a couple of years ago we had to get off in Key West a day early rather than Miami the next day, because my daughter who lives in Fl was hospitalized. If I remember right it cost us $600.00 to get off, and since it was only a 5 day cruise I didn't get insurance, so needless to say we were not reimbursed.

There are TOTALLY different issues when US Ports are in the mix. Not even close to apples vs oranges. That is whole 'nother long thread with U.S. Laws, etc.

[lax19]

As you plan this cruise, you may want to have a contingency plan if for some reason (dock worker strike, itinerary change, etc) the ship skips Marseille.

If I recall correctly, the Carnival Breeze on its maiden voyage skipped Marseille due to a docking issue at a different port.

[pris993]

Originally Posted by mdandp

We are looking to book onto the Epic on September 9th out of Barcelona. The last port before disembarkation is Marseille and for logistical reasons (we are a family of non-flyers and Marseille just puts us so much closer to home) we would prefer to leave the ship on this day as that night, before arriving into Barcelona, we will only be bobbing about in that part of the med anyway, before leaving the ship early the next morning. I understand that we'd obviously be paying for a 7 day cruise and only be on the boat for 6 days but it would be so much easier (and much cheaper) to head for home from Marseille instead. We are British, so I assume from an immigration perspective this wouldn't be an issue thanks to free travel for us in the EU but would I need to arrange this with NCL ahead of the cruise? Or, once on board just let guest services/management somewhere know that this was our intention? I know that we would be responsible for packing up, getting our bags off the ship and settling our account etc I'm sure it must happen for a variety of reasons, choice and perhaps in emergency situations whereby people have to fly home but I just don't want to book trains home from Marseille only then to have to spend the night on board. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

We have gotten off a day early before in Europe, i.e. LaHavre France vs Southhampton England. We did so by asking our Travel Agent to make a special request with the cruise line, for a trip deviation in advance. We were given permission to do so and the cruise line (in our case Princess) issued us a written approval which we took with us on our cruise. The night before we asked for our final on board account - possibly a couple of days before we contacted customer service about our early departure and make sure everthing was in order. On the morning we left, we collected our luggage and proceeded to the exit, boarded a tour bus to Paris in our case. No problem at all. We still paid for the entire cruise which we fully understood. The key is to get an okay from the cruise line in advance in writing through your TA.