Live from the Dawn - the update on boarding issues

If it's taking so long for customs to clear passengers, why doesn't NCL have a better procedure for disembarking passengers? It seems that they don't really care after the cruise is over, they just want to get everyone off the ship. What happens then isn't their problem. There has to be a better way. Why can't they disembark by deck , waiting for the lines to clear before the next group goes? It would be easy to make sure no one crashes the line. They could have staff at the stairs and elevators. If they wanted to get everyone out of the cabin to clean, they could have you go to a comfortable public room and disembark one group at a time. To have their passengers standing in line for hours is crazy.

Doing by deck or doing by luggage tag colours really is no different. So the only way they could do things different was to pull the easy walk off. Sorry I can't support that, I love easy walk off.

It appears that most are upset at NCL because of their own expectations not because NCL is doing anything wrong.

For example disembarkation. NCL recommends: "For cruise-only guests booking your own return flights, we suggest a departure time no less than six hours after the announced arrival time of the ship." Yet passengers still book their flights before the recommended time. So really there was no reason for a lot of their guests to get in that long unmoving line in the first place, unless they didn't follow the recommendations of NCL. NCL can't control a government department, so if Tampa knowingly does not bring in enough people to run their show that isn't NCL's issue.

Embarkation. One poster says that they stood in a line for 2 1/2 hours yet admits to ignoring NCL's recommendation of being at the port no earlier than 11:30 and going at 10:30. Had they actually followed what NCL recommended that would have only had them standing in line for 1 1/2 hrs. I stood in line for almost that long on my first cruise out of Miami for no other reason except that I happened to get there the same time as the majority of other passengers.

The long lines that extended outside, why wait in one, leave the line, go pull up a piece of grass and settle until the line goes down some, you obviously aren't going to get on the ship any faster if you stand in line or wait till the line goes down some.

I'm booked on one of these affected cruises and truthfully I don't have big issues with this, I see quite a few work arounds, some stated above. But then again, I'll be on vacation, so it takes an awful lot to annoy me on a vacation.

Hi again from the Dawn, Stabalizers went out last night the captain said, so a bumpy night, nothing major but way more movement, and the sea is not rough.

All the info I gave to you guys came from the officers at the CC meet & greet. The hotel director answered all questions posed to him about the 3 hours in the sun. The vast majority of passengers will have no idea they will likely miss early flights.

Also sorry I started a ruckus, not my intention.

Anyway the cruise is still going great.

Also they said this will occur on every voyage of the dawn this season out of Tampa except, the Christmas and New Years trip and the repositioning trip.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Hi again from the Dawn, Stabalizers went out last night the captain said, so a bumpy night, nothing major but way more movement, and the sea is not rough.

 

All the info I gave to you guys came from the officers at the CC meet & greet. The hotel director answered all questions posed to him about the 3 hours in the sun. The vast majority of passengers will have no idea they will likely miss early flights.

 

Also sorry I started a ruckus, not my intention.

 

Anyway the cruise is still going great.

 

Also they said this will occur on every voyage of the dawn this season out of Tampa except, the Christmas and New Years trip and the repositioning trip.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Cheers

Why does it not occur for Christmas and New Years sailings? Are they not allowing boarding in Cozumel? I am on the Christmas cruise and was just getting ready to alert the family. Not because of potential missed flights - we are all spending the night in Tampa before flying out on the 30th but from a standing in line perspective for the less mobile in the family.

OK, call me stupid but here's my questions to all you smart posters that know about these things. (just because I love to learn new things and am curious).

 

I no nothing about open and closed loop cruises, with the exception of one starts and stops in the U.S. without picking or dropping anyone off in between. The other does.

 

What I don't understand is why an open loop would hold up that many passengers. Border/Immigration services (whatever it is called in the U.S.) must know how many passengers got on I'm assuming. So why wouldn't they make them meet at a special border/immigration meeting at some ungodly hour in the morning like they do us Canadians. Clear them, stamp them and then they could just process everyone through like they do normal closed loop cruises. They have to come on the ship anyway to meet with us Canadians.

Great point. That's what Princess does. Handles them separately in the Vista Lounge so it doesn't hold up the rest of the ship.

The hotel director just said that they expect it the whole Tampa season but not those two cruises. The UK TA must not book those two because of cost?

One other thing. Yesterday, Wednesday, (not Monday) they announced that as an apology they will be giving some sort of free drink (s) (no specifics so I guess it could be pepsi ;)) at the white hot party.

Thats great if you attend I guess, we have small children and will not be attending. I imagine a great many of the older guests (and there are plenty) will not be attending. Thus we get nothing in that regard. And we are not big drinkers anyway.

So the drinkers get something but the rest...

How about a OBC for everyone so we can decide where to spend it.

Kind of a lame apology generally :rolleyes: but they think its enough.

Cheers, off to Cagny's for breakfast and then costa Maya

One more thing. Whatever the rules are and what boarder patrol or immigration or customs do, or how other cruise lines handle it, is irrelevent at the moment it is happening.

The Dawn picks up passengers in Cozumel - this is because NCL Miami HQ has set it up this way.

The Dawn is at the mercy of the agencies listed above when they return to Tampa - this is the US government doing its thing at that moment in Tampa.

The crew can only do so much.

In fact last sunday they went out and served those waiting in line, in the sun OJ. They have now gotten permission to have a permanent water station outside (permission had to come from boarder protection). So the Crew of the Dawn feels your pain and is trying. Or at least they say they are.

Once agin any fury should be directed at those actually doing this. NCL HQ Miami and the Federal Government agencies in Tampa.

PS the computer glitch did not help, hopefully thats the last of that.

Cheers - and still an awesome cruise...for us anyway. :cool:

Whatever the rules are and what boarder patrol or immigration or customs do, or how other cruise lines handle it, is irrelevent at the moment it is happening.

 

You could be right, however, it does play a part in who gets the blame. I got a warning from a friend who took a cruise out of Tampa on another line. Her words "Tampa was a nightmare getting off of the ship". And her cruise picked up no one from anywhere else.

So it sounds like the biggest percentage of the issue does lie with your border services in Tampa.

But glad you are still having a great time. And thanks again for all the info.

Hi again from the Dawn, Stabalizers went out last night the captain said, so a bumpy night, nothing major but way more movement, and the sea is not rough.

Wow, not fixed yet? They had two dive teams in Cozumel working on them all day and another team in Tampa when we were getting off

As far as waiting in line at 10:30 vs. 11:30 or noon, the difference is that waiting in line for 3 or more hours is more than 1 1/2 hours. Also, luckily those waiting outside had nice weather, what would have happened if you got to the port at noon as NCL specified, and it was raining?? Pick up some grass and find a nice spot in the rain? Not gonna do it!! Since it seems that NCL has gotten us into a fine mess, what do you think NCL should do other than wave some more pom poms? Seriously, the after cruise glow has really diminished for me, finally learning that NCL did not pick up stranded excursion passengers in Cozumel as we had been told, and not notifying us to show up after 1pm, which still was would have us waiting in line. Never saw the free water outside and inside was yanked from us earlier.

As far as waiting in line at 10:30 vs. 11:30 or noon, the difference is that waiting in line for 3 or more hours is more than 1 1/2 hours. Also, luckily those waiting outside had nice weather, what would have happened if you got to the port at noon as NCL specified, and it was raining?? Pick up some grass and find a nice spot in the rain? Not gonna do it!! Since it seems that NCL has gotten us into a fine mess, what do you think NCL should do other than wave some more pom poms? Seriously, the after cruise glow has really diminished for me, finally learning that NCL did not pick up stranded excursion passengers in Cozumel as we had been told, and not notifying us to show up after 1pm, which still was would have us waiting in line. Never saw the free water outside and inside was yanked from us earlier.

Jackparts you are upset about your wait, I get that. And I'm certainly not taking your right away to feel that way. If you expected to get in quicker than you did, fine, I get that too.

But seriously I have a lot more pressing, priority things in life to fret about than waiting in a line for a few hours for my well needed vacation, because at that time, I'm already on vacation.

Nothing in life is perfect and I don't expect it to be on my vacation. Very little would put as much impact as you have given this on my vacation unless the darn ship sank. Sorry I cannot feel the way you do, but such is life.

I understand that embarking and dropping off passengers in Cozumel changes the cruise from a closed-loop to an open loop. Does this mean that all US citizens now need passports to board? DH and I have passports - so we're good - but our DD and DSIL were intending to use birth certificates and driver's licenses.

Has anyone been able to embark in Tampa on one of these recent cruises with a BC and a DL? If so, was disembarkation affected (ie, slowed down) by having a BC/DL versus a passport?

I just did a search online. Looks like the Dawn will be doing these sailings Cozumel to Cozumel until at least the end of April 2014. I found this website.

 

http://www.playadelcarmen.com/general-info/cruise-from-cozumel-with-norwegian/

Thank you for sharing this and validating what the OP said about the arrival of new people in Cozumel to the ship. This explains a lot now about the delays being encountered. I do hope other cruisers coming up on the Dawn will understand it's CBP and Miami Corporate NCL who caused this issue and not the crew... the crew always get the brunt when things go wrong. :(

Thanks again for the link. :)

A. CBP has a modified processing of cruise passengers given a certain set of conditions mainly regarding travel to contiguous territories and adjacent islands. If your cruise was to ONLY these locations and it was a closed loop cruise the customs clearance process is very simple.

 

B. The western itinerary includes stops at two ports that are not a part of the modified processing (Roatan, Honduras and Belize City, Belize) these two ports do require that the "standard" processing be done for all passengers even when it is a closed loop cruise. You can not compare the processing times for different itineraries that may include all "adjacent island" ports of call.

 

C. The boarding of passengers in Cozumel means that the cruise is no longer a closed loop. This means that the modified and standard processing no longer apply for cruise passengers and instead the same processing that occurs when traveling by air from abroad are being conducted by a limited number of agents.

 

So if I'm reading this correctly. What you are saying is with or without NCL picking up the guests in Cozumel because this particular itinerary goes to Roatan and Belize City that it wouldn't be the modified process anyway? Therefore, passengers should be expecting longer delays at customs? Which would explain why my friends on a totally different line that never picked anyone up and have cruised many cruiselines and many ports stated "Tampa was a nightmare"

Sorry I haven't went to your link yet, I haven't had the time.

There's the person of wisdom, I've been waiting to hear from. I knew you must be lurking somewhere with this topic at hand. Glad to see some of the old regulars (before my 6 month break) have not disappeared.

 

Thank you for this information. Do you think that would mean us Canadian don't have to go to that silly early morning meeting because they are treating everyone to this strict process? ;) Probably not :(

Thank you for your kind words. Honestly, I don't know how this would effect Canadians, because this is such an uncommon arrangement. On one hand, you would be part of the original manifest but on the other hand, you would still be a foreign national on a ship that partially originates in a foreign port.

Ref other points being made, I did this cruise last year...same itinerary. Clearing Customs in Tampa was a breeze. At least, it was for Americans. As far as I know, though, this Coz to Coz route didn't exist.

On a somewhat related, but different topic, last year when Carnival Dream broke down in St. Martin, most of the passengers were flown home. Because they disembarked in a foreign port, their cruise was no longer deemed Closed Loop and it created some havoc with CBP...mostly because CBP was not made aware of the circumstances ahead of time and many of those passengers didn't have passports. Some of the plane loads experienced several hours of clearance time.

What's the latest you can board the ship? I think I'm going to hang out at the hotel until everything is cleared out. That will solve getting on the ship. Hopefully by being in a suite, I'll be able to be one of the first ones off, and avoid most of the lines.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience related to the longer than normal embarkation times for Norwegian Dawn in Tampa. We are working to resolve these customs-related issues and in the meantime, we appreciate our guests' patience and understanding. We continue to advise embarking guests to arrive to the terminal after 1pm. We hope that you have a wonderful time on your cruise.

What time is the muster scheduled? If persons are standing in line for so many hours, is the muster schedule adjusted?

What time is the muster scheduled? If persons are standing in line for so many hours, is the muster schedule adjusted?

According to one post and I'm sorry not sure who and which thread I read it on. Stated that some didn't make it and had to do a make up the next day.

Chock this though up to hearsay because I'm not really sure which thread I read it on.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience related to the longer than normal embarkation times for Norwegian Dawn in Tampa. We are working to resolve these customs-related issues and in the meantime, we appreciate our guests' patience and understanding. We continue to advise embarking guests to arrive to the terminal after 1pm. We hope that you have a wonderful time on your cruise.

Great to hear from you NCL. Yes some passengers now are saying they are getting a heads up by phone or email to arrive at the time you suggest above, Although my edocs that I received today, still say noon and no more than 1 hour before that. However, that doesn't really help all those that were not given the heads up right up to this current sailing. Those are the ones that appear very upset with NCL.

Also by asking passengers not to arrive until 1pm and passengers have to be there no later than 2 hrs prior to sail. Is that not going to create more congestion and confusion by trying to process 2000+ passengers in one hour (between 1pm and 2pm - 2 hrs before sail). At the most 2 hrs as the latest to be onboard at 3pm, because the muster is usually approximately an hour before sail.

Secondly, the pictures posted of the chaos disembarking the cruise is also quite intimidating to some. So although very happy to hear that NCL is aware of this problem and trying to solve it. Are they also doing anything on the disembarkation side to create less chaos during that process?

What's the latest you can board the ship? I think I'm going to hang out at the hotel until everything is cleared out. That will solve getting on the ship. Hopefully by being in a suite, I'll be able to be one of the first ones off, and avoid most of the lines.

My edocs say

"BOARDING TIME:

All Guests must be on board the ship no later than 2 hours prior to the departure time noted on these documents

or they will not be permitted to sail."

"Are they also doing anything on the disembarkation side to create less chaos during that process?"

That is my question and concern also.

Secondly, the pictures posted of the chaos disembarking the cruise is also quite intimidating to some. So although very happy to hear that NCL is aware of this problem and trying to solve it. Are they also doing anything on the disembarkation side to create less chaos during that process?

Thanks for posting this question. I'm not too worried about getting on the ship. I'll just stay at the hotel later than planned. It does concern me with getting off the ship. I'm hoping that being in a suite will make it easier, and I can get off before the long lines start. I have some problems with my back, and it will be a problem for me standing in a line so long.

So if I'm reading this correctly. What you are saying is with or without NCL picking up the guests in Cozumel because this particular itinerary goes to Roatan and Belize City that it wouldn't be the modified process anyway? Therefore, passengers should be expecting longer delays at customs? Which would explain why my friends on a totally different line that never picked anyone up and have cruised many cruiselines and many ports stated "Tampa was a nightmare"

 

Sorry I haven't went to your link yet, I haven't had the time.

I wondered this too. And I wonder if this was always the case for those 2 ports or recently changed. Because we were on the Carnival Legend in Feb of this year and didn't have any issues going through customs. The itinerary we were on went to both Roatan and Belize City.

Yes, I am unhappy. If only we knew ahead of time, as NCL knew, or if I hadn't been lied to, I could accept it and move on. Just that in life, the first and last impressions are what stay with you. That and missing my Super Shuttle ride that I am fighting for reimbursement that is now my fault for missing the pick up time. All the good things on the cruise to take a back seat except for the scratching due to the flies in Belize that will be with us for 2 more weeks. I know that I will get over it , but I know that Tampa or NCL Darn Dawn will never be in my future. NCL are you listening, you could have averted the problem by being proactive instead of being reactive. Will I cruise NCL again, Probably, I am unhappy, not stupid. Thanks to all you posters for having patience with my rants.

I wonder how many people will cancel, because of this. NCL made a contract to pick up passengers in Cozumel, and by the looks of it, it's a very small percentage of the total passengers. I wonder if they will loose more passengers than they gained. I know if I had seen this before I booked my non refundable airline tickets, I would have never booked my cruise in April on the Dawn.

What I still can't understand is the small number of customs agents at the Tampa port. My last cruise on Explorer in October there had to be at least 8 customs agents, and that was on a weekend.