Disembarking 2 days early

[podaz1]

I'm sorry if this is asked a lot but looking for some recent advice. We are taking a family trip on the Escape in July. It has been impossible to get dates to suit everyone so the best we can do is have some family members leave ship 2 days early due to other commitments. The cruise starts and ends in Rome and they would disembark in Naples on day 5 of a 7 day cruise after having stopped in ports outside of Italy. The NCL CC said they can't guarantee it as it can't be arranged until we are on board.  There would be 5 people and an infant departing early in total.

 

Another  concern is that my sister and nephew need to leave early but my 13 year old niece would remain in their cabin and travel back with us, leaving her as the only person in their booking. She would be able to stay in another of our cabins so that's not a problem but I wondered if it would be an issue from the cruiselines perspective? Hope this question makes sense ! Thanks in advance.

[1025cruise]

You will need permission ahead of time from NCL. 

[podaz1]

5 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

You will need permission ahead of time from NCL. 

Thank you. The CC said I could only get permission for this once we are on board so do you know how I can go about this? It would be ideal if we could have all arranged prior to our trip but it didn't sound possible according to CC. 

[UKstages]

the CC is passing the buck and just doesn't want to - or doesn't know how to -  handle this or to whom to refer you. this question gets asked from time to time here in the forum and the answer is never "see somebody on board and they may be able to make it happen." the answer - on NCL - is almost always...no.

 

there are a variety of reasons, but it basically boils down to an extra cost incurred by NCL and lots of extra paperwork and fiddling with the ship's manifest as it relates to a closed loop cruise. if two people get off in naples, it's no longer a "closed loop" cruise for customs and immigration purposes. at least that's the way it works in the USA... not sure if italy has similar C/I restrictions.

 

in any case, if two people in your party have a hard exit after five days, you really need to confirm that this can be done before you set sail. 

[Cruise Wonderland]

The official terminology is called "downline". 

 

Before the pandemic, cruise lines may allow you to do so. You need to make the downline request in advance (prior to departure) and complete some paperwork. Cruise lines may charge a fee (for example, Royal Caribbean / Celebrity Cruises was USD 65 per person).

 

After the pandemic, some cruise lines no longer approve downline, even if you are willing to pay for a fee. 

 

Here is the reply from NCL previously:

 

Approval to embark or disembark mid-cruise may be allowed ONLY in cases of emergencies, for example:

1.     Guests miss the ship and wished to embark in the next port of call.

2.     Once onboard, a guest becomes ill or has a family emergency and needs to disembark the vessel.

No refunds or adjustments will be made for unused portions of a cruise. If any of our guests for any reason wish to not conclude their cruise, they may address this onboard.

 

With valid reason(s), you may embark or disembark at ports of call other than original ones. Please note that you MUST have valid travel document or Visa required for the country that you would like to embark/ disembark. Norwegian Cruise Line will not be responsible for any loss associated with itinerary change such as hotel, transportation or entertainment onshore which is not arranged by NCL directly.

 

And also be aware that even NCL approves it immediately on Day 1 of your cruise, there may be a chance that the ship cannot enter the port of Naples on Day 5 because of various unforseen situations (e.g. bad weather). If you have booked any hotels or air tickets from Naples, NCL will not be responsible for your loss.

[podaz1]

10 hours ago, UKstages said:

the CC is passing the buck and just doesn't want to - or doesn't know how to -  handle this or to whom to refer you. this question gets asked from time to time here in the forum and the answer is never "see somebody on board and they may be able to make it happen." the answer - on NCL - is almost always...no.

 

there are a variety of reasons, but it basically boils down to an extra cost incurred by NCL and lots of extra paperwork and fiddling with the ship's manifest as it relates to a closed loop cruise. if two people get off in naples, it's no longer a "closed loop" cruise for customs and immigration purposes. at least that's the way it works in the USA... not sure if italy has similar C/I restrictions.

 

in any case, if two people in your party have a hard exit after five days, you really need to confirm that this can be done before you set sail. 

Thank you so much for explaining that, I never fully understood the meaning of closed loop. Makes a lot of sense about customs and immigration ! Ideally we would have all approved in advance but my worry is asking for permission and not getting it! 

[podaz1]

5 hours ago, Cruise Wonderland said:

The official terminology is called "downline". 

 

Before the pandemic, cruise lines may allow you to do so. You need to make the downline request in advance (prior to departure) and complete some paperwork. Cruise lines may charge a fee (for example, Royal Caribbean / Celebrity Cruises was USD 65 per person).

 

After the pandemic, some cruise lines no longer approve downline, even if you are willing to pay for a fee. 

 

Here is the reply from NCL previously:

 

Approval to embark or disembark mid-cruise may be allowed ONLY in cases of emergencies, for example:

1.     Guests miss the ship and wished to embark in the next port of call.

2.     Once onboard, a guest becomes ill or has a family emergency and needs to disembark the vessel.

No refunds or adjustments will be made for unused portions of a cruise. If any of our guests for any reason wish to not conclude their cruise, they may address this onboard.

 

With valid reason(s), you may embark or disembark at ports of call other than original ones. Please note that you MUST have valid travel document or Visa required for the country that you would like to embark/ disembark. Norwegian Cruise Line will not be responsible for any loss associated with itinerary change such as hotel, transportation or entertainment onshore which is not arranged by NCL directly.

 

And also be aware that even NCL approves it immediately on Day 1 of your cruise, there may be a chance that the ship cannot enter the port of Naples on Day 5 because of various unforseen situations (e.g. bad weather). If you have booked any hotels or air tickets from Naples, NCL will not be responsible for your loss.

Thanks a million. That's so helpful to know and I'd never heard that terminology before "downline " . I'd never even thought of the possibility of bad weather or the like meaning we couldn't dock there. That would certainly throw the plans. But they really can't change their other plans so if they can't disembark early then they just can't go 🤷 😭