Everything.. ESCAPE (live 29 Oct 2015!)

[SissasMomE]

Leaving St. Thomas at 3 p.m. now? Not really happy about that change. Three hours is a lot of time.

 

Way too much time. I'm really starting to get ticked off at NCL. Not cool at all.

Who the heck wants to leave in the middle of the afternoon??

[SissasMomE]

It was 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Now it's 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. We're losing 2 hours, not three.

 

Harriet

 

We are losing 3 hours in the afternoon. Arriving at 7am as opposed to 8am does nothing for most people.

[vacation44]

It was 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Now it's 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. We're losing 2 hours, not three.

 

Harriet

 

You are correct. However, losing three hours in the afternoon ruins our plans. The extra hour in the morning really doesn't do anything since it is 7:00 a.m. Now, we have to be back on the ship around 1:00 p.m. (if we follow their guidelines) instead of 4:00 p.m. For us, this is just not right. We just booked our December 26, 2015 Escape cruise three weeks ago and there has already been many changes.

[vacation44]

Way too much time. I'm really starting to get ticked off at NCL. Not cool at all.

Who the heck wants to leave in the middle of the afternoon??

 

I know!!! That means we have to be back on the ship around 1:00 p.m. if we follow their guidelines.

[vital1]

This is supposed to by our first NCL cruise. The only reason I picked the Escape over the Oasis or Allure is for the 10 hours on STT. I love STJ (stayed 10 days there this past June) and if I have to go on a cruise I'd like to at least have a day on STJ. If that time is shortened we'll probably do one of the Royal ships and just stay on the ship in each port. UGH.

[legion3]

Sooooo, does anyone know what would happen if we purposely missed the ship in STT and met up with it the next day in Tortola? We'd have our passports and credit cards with a few things with us "just in case we missed the ship". I'd only do this if they screw with the time on STT on the May 29 cruise. It would be fairly easy to do:cool::

 

Good grief. I guess you can't post a direct link to a certain website here to look at the ferry schedule so try this:

 

V I now dot com and click on ferry schedule in top right corner.

 

 

well you might delay the ship from leaving for some period as they will not have accounted for your return in their system.

 

Beyond that I don't think they would deny you entry back on the ship in Tortola. Maybe they will charge you a fee...;)

 

But you better hope nothing cancels that Tortola stop and you find yourself flying from Tortola to Nassau. :eek:

[peg013]

I know!!! That means we have to be back on the ship around 1:00 p.m. if we follow their guidelines.

 

While I agree it sucks they are cutting out three afternoon hours, their guidelines are 30 minutes before departure so you will have to be back onboard by 2:30PM not 1PM.. Only the embarkation port is 2 hours before.

[hpecorari]

You are correct. However, losing three hours in the afternoon ruins our plans. The extra hour in the morning really doesn't do anything since it is 7:00 a.m. Now, we have to be back on the ship around 1:00 p.m. (if we follow their guidelines) instead of 4:00 p.m. For us, this is just not right. We just booked our December 26, 2015 Escape cruise three weeks ago and there has already been many changes.

 

Why would you have to be back on the ship at 1 p.m. if the ship leaves at 3 p.m.? Usually, you have to be back on the ship 1/2 hour before the ship leaves.

 

Harriet

[vacation44]

Why would you have to be back on the ship at 1 p.m. if the ship leaves at 3 p.m.? Usually, you have to be back on the ship 1/2 hour before the ship leaves.

 

Harriet

 

I know and we usually get back about an hour before departure just to play it safe, but I did read somewhere that they would like you back two hours prior to departure.

[hpecorari]

I know and we usually get back about an hour before departure just to play it safe, but I did read somewhere that they would like you back two hours prior to departure.

 

Yes, for embarkation....not when in port.

 

Harriet

[vital1]

well you might delay the ship from leaving for some period as they will not have accounted for your return in their system.

 

Beyond that I don't think they would deny you entry back on the ship in Tortola. Maybe they will charge you a fee...;)

 

But you better hope nothing cancels that Tortola stop and you find yourself flying from Tortola to Nassau. :eek:

 

Shoot, if something happened to Tortola stop I'd go back to STJ and meet the ship back in Miami. I despise Nassau. HA!! Can you imagine what an adventure that would be?:p

[mattwright]

This is supposed to by our first NCL cruise. The only reason I picked the Escape over the Oasis or Allure is for the 10 hours on STT. I love STJ (stayed 10 days there this past June) and if I have to go on a cruise I'd like to at least have a day on STJ. If that time is shortened we'll probably do one of the Royal ships and just stay on the ship in each port. UGH.

 

Similar situation here. We've been to STT and STJ many times, but this cruise was going to be the first opportunity to get some friends and family over to STJ for the day so they could begin to understand why we love STJ so much. We picked the Escape cruise (Feb 27) in large part due to its original schedule at STT and the extra time we'd get at STJ.

 

Now, at best, we'd get to St. John at 8:30 (on the 8:00 ferry from Red Hook) and would have to be on the 1:00 ferry back. Taking the 2:00 ferry back from St. John doesn't leave enough time to be back onboard by 2:30 for a 3:00 departure.

 

If this new schedule holds, we will seriously consider canceling before final payment. I've been to the Virgin Islands enough to know that it absolutely does not take 17 hours to sail between St. Thomas and Tortola. It wouldn't even take that long to float over on an inflatable raft. There's no [good enough] excuse to have such a limited schedule at St. Thomas when Tortola is on the schedule for the next day. If anything, they should be staying in St. Thomas until 10PM or even midnight.

 

:mad:

[CruisinHarvey]

I don't understand the change. It's maybe 20 miles between the 2 islands. They're going to be to doing donuts out there so we feel like we're cruising. The only reason can be to get into international water sooner, and open the casino and shops. This change isn't for fuel savings.

[LrgPizza]

I don't understand the change. It's maybe 20 miles between the 2 islands. They're going to be to doing donuts out there so we feel like we're cruising. The only reason can be to get into international water sooner, and open the casino and shops. This change isn't for fuel savings.

And the change is only for a few months. If it was for fuel savings, they wouldn't be going back to 8am to 6pm after a few months, which is what appears to be happening.

[vital1]

Similar situation here. We've been to STT and STJ many times, but this cruise was going to be the first opportunity to get some friends and family over to STJ for the day so they could begin to understand why we love STJ so much. We picked the Escape cruise (Feb 27) in large part due to its original schedule at STT and the extra time we'd get at STJ.

 

Now, at best, we'd get to St. John at 8:30 (on the 8:00 ferry from Red Hook) and would have to be on the 1:00 ferry back. Taking the 2:00 ferry back from St. John doesn't leave enough time to be back onboard by 2:30 for a 3:00 departure.

 

If this new schedule holds, we will seriously consider canceling before final payment. I've been to the Virgin Islands enough to know that it absolutely does not take 17 hours to sail between St. Thomas and Tortola. It wouldn't even take that long to float over on an inflatable raft. There's no [good enough] excuse to have such a limited schedule at St. Thomas when Tortola is on the schedule for the next day. If anything, they should be staying in St. Thomas until 10PM or even midnight.

 

:mad:

 

Yup. When we stay on STJ we stay in Coral Bay and can see Tortola. Heck, if you go out to the East End you can dang near swim to Tortola.

[sjbdtz]

I know!!! That means we have to be back on the ship around 1:00 p.m. if we follow their guidelines.

 

1/2 hour before departure.

 

The 2 hour requirement is only on embarkation day.

 

 

 

 

It's entirely possible that the Port asked them to leave early (maybe to accommodate another ship arriving?).

 

 

.

[cruisegirl1963]

According to the Cruise timetables website, all the ships are docking in the morning. 5 ships scheduled. 5+ spots available in the 2 ports.

 

I'm another who chose this cruise partly due to the long time in port in St. T. There went my excursion to St. John.

 

And, yes, this is a 'first world problem' but it's also the reason I continue working hard to make money to be able to take vacations like this. :(

[cruisegirl1963]

Another question I have.. if NCL needs to make money off the liquor, WHY continue offering free liquor packages at booking??

[jason3695]

Another question I have.. if NCL needs to make money off the liquor, WHY continue offering free liquor packages at booking??

 

 

I agree with your point, but they probably are doing it because everyone is. Celebrity has the 123GO, Princess is offering free drink packages for certain sailings....it's becoming the new perk the lines almost have to give away. Good for us as guests I guess.

[happy cruzin]

And the change is only for a few months. If it was for fuel savings, they wouldn't be going back to 8am to 6pm after a few months, which is what appears to be happening.

 

 

Maybe it is - not sure when it's starting, but it's at least as far out as our sailing - 2/20/16! [emoji20]

[Labadoozer Cruizers]

1/2 hour before departure.

 

 

 

The 2 hour requirement is only on embarkation day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's entirely possible that the Port asked them to leave early (maybe to accommodate another ship arriving?).

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

Depending where you are on the island, you may need a hour to get back to the ship. There can be a lot of traffic getting through the downtown area. Getting a cab is sometimes a problem. Cab drivers want full cabs that may result in multiple stops. So many may be required to leave during the nicest part of the day.

[Planefixer]

https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/s720x720/11027962_722355421202386_623275333451101086_n.jpg?oh=31bd8a440a0909f47f3c65eb6f5777e5&oe=56162313

 

https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p480x480/1478921_722355404535721_8260373098055203573_n.jpg?oh=7425928ae5a4b8041a2062bd3262f410&oe=565629FB

Edited July 21, 2015 by Planefixer

[missdixie]

Good pictures Planefixer. Especially the painting.

[barnacle_boy]

It's entirely possible that the Port asked them to leave early (maybe to accommodate another ship arriving?).

 

Highly unlikely. If there's not enough dock space in St. Thomas, the additional ships simply anchor and run tenders. I've seen this happen with 4 ships at Havensight on the same day.

[love2bonboard]

Sooooo, does anyone know what would happen if we purposely missed the ship in STT and met up with it the next day in Tortola? We'd have our passports and credit cards with a few things with us "just in case we missed the ship". I'd only do this if they screw with the time on STT on the May 29 cruise. It would be fairly easy to do:cool::

 

Good grief. I guess you can't post a direct link to a certain website here to look at the ferry schedule so try this:

 

V I now dot com and click on ferry schedule in top right corner.

 

You can actually get pre-approved for "disembarking" in STT and then "embarking" in Tortola. We had to do this on a Scandinavia/Russia cruise as the military would not let my husband go into Russian Waters. It was a little bit of a hassle, but we got off, I think, in Helsinki and took a ferry over to Tallin, Estonia. We spent the night in Estonia and waited for the ship to come in after it had gone to St. Petersburg. While I would have loved to see St. Petersburg, it ended up being fabulous staying all that extra time in Estonia. It may, however, be easier for you just to "miss" the ship. We just wanted to make sure they knew what we were doing and that we were coming back; plus we didn't want to know that we were holding up the ship just in case they were calling our name out/looking for us. The ship security manager met us the morning we arrived in Helsinki and checked us out of our account and walked us off, then she met us back in Estonia and checked us back in. It was fairly easy. Also, the other good thing about doing it this way is that if a lot of people request this it should let them know that people are not happy with the shorter time in STT. Good luck.