Wow! If you want to see Organized Chaos, the check in and boarding process for Norwegian at their New Orleans port is it! Let’s just say… I was NOT impressed!
I haven’t been on a lot of cruises, but this was the most stressful and disorganized process I have been through so far. Maybe calling it disorganized is not the right word for it. It’s organized, but there seems to be a lack of information passed along to the passengers. If you are planning on sailing on Norwegian out of the Port of New Orleans, be sure to stay tuned as I walk you through what to expect.
I’m one of those people who likes to be prepared. I research as much as possible so that I will know what to expect in new situations. I find it very stressful to go into a new situation not knowing what is going to happen. If you are like me, you’ll want to be sure to check back for more videos on things that surprised us while sailing on Norwegian for the first time.
As someone who does quite a bit of research, I am surprised at the lack of information by Norwegian on their embarkation process.
We walked to the terminal from the Riverwalk Mall next door to arrive just before our set check in time, It was easy to find, probably because we knew were it was after passing it twice while attempting to drop off our luggage and park. If you missed that video, be sure to go back and check it out. Once inside the terminal we quickly got into line to show our boarding passes. This went quickly and wasn’t an issue. At that point we were directed to a line where we would go through the metal detector. A little hectic, but nothing unusual, and it went by fairly quickly. The next line was our actual check in station. They checked our passports and gave us our Freestyle cards,which is what Norwegian calls the cards you will use for everything on the ship: from accessing your stateroom to ordering drinks or getting on and off the ship at port. At this point, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to what we were used to besides getting our cruise cards prior to boarding.
Organized… Chaos! It was the next step in the boarding process that was confusing and annoying. After getting our Freestyle cards we were pointed in a general direction that ended up being a huge waiting room. Nobody explained anything to use. Up to this point, we had been hearing group numbers being called out and it became apparent that these were boarding groups. However, we weren’t given a group number and nothing was explained to us about how people where getting those numbers. We actually had to ask and were told we were in general boarding.
Since we were first time cruisers with Norwegian, and our cabin was a basic interior, we didn’t get a group number. If we were on the Titanic, we would have been in steerage and never made it off the ship! No lifeboat for us! Rose would have just watched us as we sunk into the cold waters!
Like I said, I’ve not been on a lot of cruises prior to this one, but I have never been placed in a holding area prior to boarding. I know they exist because I’ve seen other cruisers mention it on their videos, but on all my previous cruises with Carnival, I have boarded directly after going through security and check in. I may have had to wait in line, but I have never been directed to an area to sit and wait for an hour.
My question at this point is why did I need to pick a check in time, if I was going to have to sit and wait for general boarding for over an hour? I understand they don’t want everyone showing up at the same time, but why even allow general boarding passengers to choose check in times well before general boarding was going to occur? If general boarding isn’t going to start until around 1pm, then don’t let general boarding passengers book check in times prior to 12:30pm. Our boarding time was 11:30am and I saw times available as early as 10:30!
I am not sure if it is always this way at Norwegian terminals, or even THIS Norwegian terminal, or if it is possibly a holdover from the restart. I don’t know. However, I have NEVER had to wait to board after checking in when sailing with Carnival. I spoke to a few people over the week that are regular Norwegian cruisers who also said this was the worst check in and boarding process they had experienced with Norwegian, so hopefully this is just specific to their New Orleans terminal, but I have my doubts.
Maybe I missed the explanation for all of this on their website, but we were very confused which just added unnecessary stress to our day, especially after the stress and confusion around the baggage drop off and parking. I realize port authority workers are busy and trying to get everyone through the process as fast as possible, but for those of us who are doing this for the first time, there should be more information given. Even a few signs while standing in line that explain the process would be helpful. Good Grief! We were standing in line long enough to look around and read any informational signs out of boredom alone!
It was very obvious when we got to the last group of the steerage passengers, I mean general boarding group, that some of the people remaining had actually been through this before. They were already lined up, card in hand, ready to rush the entrance. They knew exactly how many boarding groups were going in front of them and were ready. If memory serves, it was 32.
I think it’s easy for people that do something every day, or every week in this case, to forget that there are people who are experiencing it for the first time. While about 30-40 general boarding guests were lined up ready to get through the final gauntlet, the port employees addressed them saying things like: “what are the rules?” And “you guys know the rules”… “hold your cards up”…”don’t rush”…”single file” etc, etc. Luckily, we had sat down right next to the roped off section where they were checking cards as they called off each group, so we heard all this and were able to grab our stuff and get through as they called for general boarding over the speakers. In fact, while everyone in front of us was using the right escalator, we jumped on the second set escalators and walked up while it was moving, managing to get in front of everyone else in general boarding. You’d think all those people who seemed to have a heads up as to what was going on would have realized you could use both sets of escalators.
After that, it was just a line of people working their way through the port, onto the gangway until we finally stepped onto the ship. For me, this was the first time I walked onto a ship and wasn’t walking into the atrium or lobby area. The gangway for the Breakaway led to deck 7 on an outer walkway and eventually into a lobby near stairs and elevators. It was disorienting because we weren’t expecting that, and since this was the first time on this ship, we had no clue where we were or where we should go. While that can be either exiting or panic inducing depending on how you deal with new situations, it isn’t really unusual when boarding a new ship.
If you are planning to sail on Norwegian out of New Orleans, did you find any of this helpful? Let me know!
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