First Epic Cruise back in the US

[20165]

I just read that the Epic is on a transatlantic cruise back to the US arriving on the 17th which is when our cruise to the Caribbean begins this week.  Im curious if the first cruise on a itinerary change is a bad thing or it really doesn't matter?  Any have any past experiences with this?

thanks

[dexddd]

Never sailed a TA but it seems (from reading here) every year that when a ship comes back to the US from Europe it gets an inspection which might delay the departure a bit.

[Georgia_Peaches]

We were the first group of passengers on the Epic after it repositioned from Europe last year (Thanksgiving).  A few days prior to embarkation we received an e-mail indicating that we should not arrive at the pier until 2PM (3 hours after the posted arrival time) as the boarding process would be delayed due to inspections and what not.  We arrived at 2 PM and it was utter chaos and madness as the ship had not cleared customs and the passengers were waiting to disembark.  We waited in lines that didn't move for several hours.  Once on board, we went immediately to the muster drill.  By that time I needed a cocktail but no such luck as everything had closed down for the drill.  Passengers waiting to embark were still lined up in the parking lot.  We were delayed leaving port until 7 PM (maybe later) and our first port of call (Nassau) arrival time was pushed back from 8 AM to 10AM.  Our excursion was also impacted.  It was a domino effect and the reason for the huge delay was never really clear except that we were told that the ship had to undergo several inspections since it was returning from abroad.  That was our experience.  I personally would never book a cruise that was first after a TA repositioning.  But perhaps our experience was an isolated incident and you will have a much smoother and easier embarkation experience.  I pray that you do.  After that day...all else was fine.

[memoak]

It is very likely that there may be a full Coast Guard inspection which will mean delays.  I am sailing Saturday (on a different line) and we were told a week ago that boarding would not begin until 2 and sailing at 5 (rather than 4).  I fully expect not to sail until about 6 but we will see.  Our plans are to drop luggage at 12:30 and then go have some lunch coming back around 3.

[20165]

Thats what i was afraid of.  Im not overly concerned about leaving late, but i would rather not wait in lines for hours to get on the ship.  I havent gotten an email from NCL telling us to show up later than we are scheduled.  I really hope if it is going to be delayed they tell us so we're not waiting around to get on the ship...