Freedom disembarkation this morning

It is a total nightmare getting off the ship this morning. The lines are huge and we have been standing for an hour in line and haven't even made it off the ship yet. This is very unusual.

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Had same experience a couple of weeks ago on FOS.

Had the fastest Embarkation ever on a cruise line!

Getting off a WHOLE different story.

We are sailing on Freedom in May. We went out of Port Canaveral only once on the Mariner and is was a breeze for embarkation and debarkation. I'm wondering what the issue is too. Thanks

Looks like there were only 2 customs agents this morning. My issue was calling our number and having us wait so long. Of course, I could just be bitter since the cruise is over.

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Same thing happened to us last Thanksgiving. When we finally made it down to customs they said just have your passport open and keep walking. They didn't check anything.

We are currently in the terminal waiting to board. We were probably about 30th in line outside before they let us in somewhere around 11. They said the ship was very late getting clearance this morning. It happens. Oh well we'll all be onboard eventually today.:)

Same situation today on Navigator. Walked into customs hall at 950 and didn't get out until 1120 and that was with a porter.

I hate waiting, but, it is frustrating when you have to leave the ship...

But.................

Waiting to get on is shear agony...............

But

All good things come to those who wait.

I will be waiting awhile till August

Sea Ya

it hapends

Similar thing happened to us when we disembarked Explorer on Thursday am. We chose to carry our own luggage, and by the time we finally got an elevator from the 7th floor to the 1st floor we couldn't get OUT of the elevator because the hallway was jam packed. We got yelled at by other passengers for cutting in line, but the "back of the line" was up 2 flights. Ugh. Once we started moving, we had no issue getting thought customs- that part was a breeze.

I think the hold up for us was that they were putting us right on busses to take us to the main terminal (construction at port in Bayonne) and it took time to load them up and get them moving.

Our last cruise, the week of August 24th, saw the same thing. We got off rather quick but once we were standing in front of the Customs Officer we found out that their computers were down. Took around 45 minutes for it to come back up. I glad we were one of the first ones off the ship.

We just disembarked the same cruise as well. I don't quite remember ever having to wait that long to get off the ship!

Our original debark tag time was 8:45am. It was changed to 9:30 and was finally called at a little before ten. We then waited over an hour in line from the promenade to the hotel shuttle.

We saw only 2 customs officers as well. Even one of the port agents directing inside said its the worst he's seen. Baggage claim wasn't too bad though. Luggage came around in under 5 minutes.

At 11am when we were passing thru the back side of the terminal and the next cruises guests were not even checking in yet. We were checked last Sunday around 10:30am and were sitting waiting to board lol.

The only thing we can figure is that yesterday we had a storm for most of the day with 50mph apparent wind and 10 foot seas which caused us to slow down. We got up at 6:45 and went out on the balcony and they were still getting the ship tied off and if anyone knows Freedoms schedule she usually gets in around 5-5:30am instead.

All in all it was a great cruise though. We had 6 days of perfect weather so can't complain too much. The islands have been cleaned up since the hurricane 2 weeks ago but you can still see damage like boats overturned on land and such.

I heard their was one passenger that they could not find.

Gary

Departure was the worst ever when we departed Freedom in Sept. Long lines and one of the workers in terminal said they call numbers too close together.Didn't used to be a problem as we have been on her many times.

Similar thing happened to us when we disembarked Explorer on Thursday am. We chose to carry our own luggage, and by the time we finally got an elevator from the 7th floor to the 1st floor we couldn't get OUT of the elevator because the hallway was jam packed. We got yelled at by other passengers for cutting in line, but the "back of the line" was up 2 flights. Ugh. Once we started moving, we had no issue getting thought customs- that part was a breeze.

 

I think the hold up for us was that they were putting us right on busses to take us to the main terminal (construction at port in Bayonne) and it took time to load them up and get them moving.

I really wish that RCI would not allow shipboard lines to cross an elevator lobby because stuff like this happens. I understand your frustration, but everyone else behind you was there first. I don't like waiting in line, but I hate the feeling that I am being bypassed by late-comers who shove their way in. That line keeps growing in fron if those doing what they are supposed to and that is not right.

Disembarkment was awful for us. We used self carry off. We were on deck 8, and used the elevator to go down to 4 around 7 am. We got in line beside the schooner bar. We stood in line for a good while, and people that came down way after us were able to get in line in front of use because they went on the other side of the centrum after getting off the elevator. Very frustrating and unorganized.

We never heard an announcement from anyone over the intercom. So we didn't know what exactly was going on.

We were able to finally get down to zone F at 8:20.

So glad to be home~

Our worst experiece was on the Liberty TA back in 2011, we had a post cruise tour and never made it curbside until 11 AM. Many had difficulties getting off the elevators because the hallways were jammed. Others never got off until after noon. RCCL reimbursed us for the missed tour. Due to the delay, we walked down 3 decks to get to our lounge, and waited 2 hours just to be called with another hour trying to get off the ship, before we got to customs.

Stories like this (and one experience of ours) are what make me cringe when people book airline reservations that cut it close should they get delayed in getting off the ship.

Stories like this (and one experience of ours) are what make me cringe when people book airline reservations that cut it close should they get delayed in getting off the ship.

Exactly what I was thinking

It is a total nightmare getting off the ship this morning. The lines are huge and we have been standing for an hour in line and haven't even made it off the ship yet. This is very unusual.

 

 

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Had this experience with Freedom in 2010. Almost missed my 11:30am flight out of MCO! Was told it was Customs & Boarder Control problem.

Had same experience a couple of weeks ago on FOS.

 

Had the fastest Embarkation ever on a cruise line!

 

Getting off a WHOLE different story.

Hmm,

A trend I'll be watching all winter. Currently thinking of doing a post cruise excursion, sometimes that helps.