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- First Time Cruising With Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) – Part 1: Tips Before Booking
- First Time Cruising With Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) – Part 2: Boarding the Ship Embarkation Day
- First Time Cruising With Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) – Part 3: Making Your Onboard Experience The Best
- First Time Cruising With Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) – Part 4: Leaving the Ship Disembarkation Day
The saddest part of your cruise is the last day when they make you get off the ship (also a reason to book back to back sailings). Not only is your fun over but also you are returning to the world of stress about getting to the airport before your flight leaves. To reduce stress here are some tips to help you make this sad day a little bit better.
The first thing you want to do is something you really should have done well before you got to the ship, that is, book a flight departing after noon or even, if possible with connections, well past noon. This way you will not risk missing your flight as well as not having to get up stupid early and rushing off the ship as soon as possible.
Another thing you should do, if you don’t want to carry off all your bags on your own, is prep the bags before you go to dinner the last night of the sailing. That way before you go to bed you can simply place your bags outside your door and they will be taken to the dock upon arrival.
You will have to depart your cabin early no matter what (preferably by 8AM or sooner) because your room steward will want to get to work preparing everything for the next guest who will be coming onboard in a matter of hours. Please double check you have everything of yours out of the cabin (including the safe) so you do not have to return and slow down the steward who worked so hard to make your cruise one to remember.
If you have a later flight your last morning can be much more relaxing with a quick breakfast (main dining included – just bring whatever bags you have) and then find a lounge to chill in until they say we have called for everyone to disembark now. If you hear your name called over the ship’s system then you have stayed just a bit too long and need to hurry up and get off the ship NOW! 😉
Before you reach this final call be sure you have, the day before preferably, collected at the finance desk any remaining refundable on board credits you may have (we always load $1,000 refundable onboard every single sailing and rarely ever spend most or any of it). Also the last day either via paper or in the app, a final statement. Be sure to carefully review this so that any issues can be fixed before disembarkation day (but they open if you need them).
Be prepared for customs to take some time. You will have to collect your bags (if you left them out the next before) just before you clear customs even if you have arranged for the ship to take you to the airport. Since you just never know how long this is going to take it is wise to wait to request a ride share service until after you are past security so they will not have to either wait for you and possibly bill you for waiting or cancel the ride and again maybe have a fee imposed.
This covers just about everything you need to be aware of the last day(s) of your cruise. Hopefully this IS a sad day for you because it means you had an amazing voyage and are already looking forward to cruising again. After all, when people ask you what your favorite cruise is you can tell them what I say and that is – “THE NEXT ONE”! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
