Time to get ready for disembarkation. Passengers were told to come to the Atrium, settle up accounts (if you used a credit card to guarantee, no worries), fill out U.S. Customs Forms and decide what you wanted to do about luggage. Express walk off disembarkation would start at 7:45-8:30 a.m. Once the ship was cleared, just walk down and off the gangway carrying your own bags.

Sounds a lot easier than it actually was. The crowds in the elevators and stairs were humungous and loaded with passengers dragging their own luggage off the ship, Even so, it only took around 15 minutes to have key cards scanned, into the building, give your U.S. Customs Forms to an official and we were outside waiting for our transport to LAX Airport. There was no x-ray, scans, showing of passports…nada…

Norwegian Star approaching Port of  Los Angeles
If you wanted the Norwegian Star to pick up your luggage and transport on the docks, you had to visit the atrium and select color coded baggage tags for designated times. Lime Green, Lavender, Pink, Red, Blue, Yellow, Orange and put your luggage outside the stateroom the night before. Every color stood for a certain time since your checked luggage would not be available until your color was called.

We had no choice but to use express walk off disembarkation because our flights back to Chicago were at noon. Finally, picked up by Roadrunner Shuttle Service, it was off to the LAX Airport for flights home. Almost every flight was completely sold out with families returning from the Christmas Holiday somewhere or another and ex-Marine and I volunteered to take another flight. Free round trip tickets for taking a later flight ain’t hay…