Day 8 - Disembarkation in Miami

Early this morning, Norwegian Aqua arrived back at PortMiami. We could hear the bow thrusters at 4:30am. By 6:00am, I was out on deck to get some photos of the NCL Terminal B at sunrise.

Luggage on the bed is a sure sign that the cruise is officially over and our 150th cruise is now in the past. NCL requires guests to be out of their staterooms by 8:00am on the morning of disembarkation.

This is the first cruise we can think of where we did not get any disembarkation information in the stateroom. Most cruise lines will provide that information just a few days into the cruise. To get luggage tags, you have to go to Guest Services where they have the tags available for pick up.

Disembarkation seems much less regimented on Norwegian Aqua than on other ships we have sailed. We plan to carry our own luggage off the ship (3 rolling bags and hand luggage).

We leave our luggage in our stateroom until after breakfast. We usually have breakfast in the MDR on disembarkation day so, by 7:15 we arrive at Hudson’s and are quickly seated at a table for two.

Hudson’s Restaurant

I was disappointed to learn that the breakfast menu this morning at Hudson’s is an abbreviated version of their typical menu. I had my heart set on trying the Belgian waffle today, but it has been removed from the disembarkation menu. Eggs Benedict, Rickee’s favorite, is also not on the disembarkation menu. I settled for an order of the buttermilk pancakes, which were okay, but served lukewarm. They also need to bring more syrup with the pancakes.

The service at Hudson’s (and other venues as well) is hit or miss. Some food items arrive quickly, some items seem to take forever, and others never arrive. They do not appear understaffed, their system appears to be overly complicated. Every order is entered into an iPad-like device, so they have the technology, but that technology apparently is to benefit someone in the accounting department, not the customer.

Disembarkation Breakfast Menu

After breakfast, we returned to our stateroom to collect our luggage and grabbed an elevator to get to deck 6. Disembarkation was very efficient and we never had to stand in a long line. CBP uses facial recognition so we did not even have to show our passports to get through immigration/customs. Disembarkation was probably the smoothest we have experienced on a ship with 3,500 guests.

Once outside the terminal, we were directed to area B5 which is used for Lyft/Uber pickups. Within about 15 minutes, our Lyft driver arrived and we were on our way to our hotel.

Uber/Lyft Pick-Up Spot

Watch the video below to see our full review of Norwegian Aqua: