Freedom debarkation today 12/13

We were zone one, with FTTF priority, and the line to go thru immigration was at least 75 minutes long...we exited at 1000 am which was ok, but my bet is people were still in line well past noon as the line got longer during our wait...the issue was there were only 4 Immigration people working today! And today, there really was no FTTF priority at all!

I got off the Freedom on the 23 Nov with zone one(also because of FttF), and was off the ship shortly after 8am, memory is already fading , but thinking about 8,10am. Got off ship, and got into the Customs line with about 20 people ahead of me. Two Customs agents only, and it moved quickly, but when I looked back, there were at least 200 people or more filing into those ropes, and I thought, Good Luck! considering the hordes that would follow, and only two agents on duty (maybe more came later,) don't know, but glad I was able to get off when I did.

P.S, hope you had a great cruise. I did, it was one my best.

I am not a Carnival Cheerleader but it seems they got you off fast unless I missed something, they have no control over the budget cuts that have left Homeland Security reducing staff at immigration check points. Its betting to be a pain at the airports and cruise ports how long it takes to check back into the US

We were zone one, with FTTF priority, and the line to go thru immigration was at least 75 minutes long...we exited at 1000 am which was ok, but my bet is people were still in line well past noon as the line got longer during our wait...the issue was there were only 4 Immigration people working today! And today, there really was no FTTF priority at all!

Immigration cares naught about FTTF. Once passengers debark the ship and are on land, Carnival, or any cruise line, is out of the picture. It doesn't matter if they were Diamond, Platinum, or purchased FTTF, if those passengers were able to leave the ship in Zone 1, the FTTF contract was fulfilled.

I do get your frustration, though. Waiting in those customs lines can be brutal.

Today though they never acknowleged FTTF debarkation nor did they really even announce zone 1 as we were all coralled in the lounge on deck 3, the entertainent lounge. You could sense during the self disembark that theu were even delaying debarkation during that.

I came back from an international flight a couple years ago when the government was cutting back on air traffic controllers, they failed to mention they cut back on all the other employees too at the time. The lines at DFW looked like Walmart, there were 30 booths with only 2 open. It took 2 hours just to get to the luggage area. I have flown in a couple time since then and the lines never even stopped. I wonder if your delays today were a result of the government possibly being "shut down" due to lack of "funding".

And that is why you dont book early flights home!!!

We are on the ship now. We were waiting in the platinum lounge and it filled up. They moved us upstairs and we finally got called to board about 12:15 or so after a couple of false starts.

We are on the ship now. We were waiting in the platinum lounge and it filled up. They moved us upstairs and we finally got called to board about 12:15 or so after a couple of false starts.

Isnt that time about normal? I have yet to get on a ship before noon.

And always in the first wave of passengers

I am not a Carnival Cheerleader but it seems they got you off fast unless I missed something, they have no control over the budget cuts that have left Homeland Security reducing staff at immigration check points. Its betting to be a pain at the airports and cruise ports how long it takes to check back into the US

But they don't need the same amount of immigration personnel on a daily basis at ports. Yesterday there were 12 large ships in port between FLL and Miami. If each ship had 4, that's 48. Other days there may be no ships in port. There are only just so many to keep employed when these are not full time jobs.

Today though they never acknowleged FTTF debarkation nor did they really even announce zone 1 as we were all coralled in the lounge on deck 3, the entertainent lounge. You could sense during the self disembark that theu were even delaying debarkation during that.

In our experiences there have never been announcements for FTTF passengers to debark, only self-assist then tag numbers. So if you had luggage tags 1, that was when you were to leave.

Isnt that time about normal? I have yet to get on a ship before noon.

And always in the first wave of passengers

Wow, we must be lucky. We are frequently on before noon, I can't even remember the last time we were not on board before noon.

We are platinum, the cabin was ready and we were unpacked by 1pm.

Was on the Freedom early last month, self assist took about 2 hours to get through Ft. Lauderdale customs....

Was on the Splendor a few weeks ago, self assist took about 20 min to get through Miami customs...

Difference between the two, Ft Lauderdale had 2 people the first hour then 2 others joined. They sat at their desks and were slooooww... Miami had 6-8 people, all standing in front of their desks at a podium quickly checking ID's and working very efficiently..

Port Everglades customs seriously needs to get their s#$@ together.

Isnt that time about normal? I have yet to get on a ship before noon.

And always in the first wave of passengers

We try to arrive at port by 10. Never have boarded latter than 11:15. Nothing better than a quick bite on the Lido and grabbing a pool side lounger to watch the late arrivals. Almost like squeezing an extra vacation day!

Was on the Freedom early last month, self assist took about 2 hours to get through Ft. Lauderdale customs....

 

Was on the Splendor a few weeks ago, self assist took about 20 min to get through Miami customs...

 

Difference between the two, Ft Lauderdale had 2 people the first hour then 2 others joined. They sat at their desks and were slooooww... Miami had 6-8 people, all standing in front of their desks at a podium quickly checking ID's and working very efficiently..

 

Port Everglades customs seriously needs to get their s#$@ together.

Totally agree about Port Everglades. Geesh what a cluster. I have been thinking about booking the Conquest but after yesterday not so sure. The police that were at the port trying to direct traffic were something else.

I guess I was lucky on the 23 Nov. Zone one was called at 8am, and I off by 8.10 am or so, but those ropes were quickly filling up behind me, and only two agents on duty.

Actually thinking back of my last debark in Fort Lauderdale four years ago, I did not have FttF, and did have a flight at 1pm ish, and only just managed to get off the ship about 10.30, but the customs line up was insane and while I did make my flight it was just barely. FttF was worth it this trip for me, in more ways than one.

We had never had FTTF before so was just going by the letter they gave to us night before stating be in entertainment lounge at 830 and a CCL employee will escort you to the gangway

When we asked the people if they would call FTTF people when ready he had no clue what I was talking about

Our Immigration agent was not efficient...he wanted to carry on a general conversation instead of processing us and moving on

We were not at risk of missing a flight cause ours was 100 pm

Talked tona couple who were on RCCL and they had a dozen agents and were out in 30 mins

I had read this thread prior to us leaving for our Dec 27 Freedom 8 day cruise as I had a 1045 am flight out of Fort Lauderdale and was interested in latest experiences in exiting the ship. We knew we were doing self assist and wanted to be off early. Ship was at port early on Sunday, Jan 4th. I had the family ready early and I happened to be down on deck 3 at 0650 and they had a few people already to disembark. I heard from one crew member that they were cleared to go and started letting those in the lounge go. I've never seen a disembark that early on any of my previous 15 cruises. I went back up to get the family, no line and we were off by 700am. No announcements that early that I heard but they probably started soon. Only 3 agents working for Homeland Security and assume they were overwhelmed within an hour.

We were on the 12/13 sailing so we debarked 12/21. We were off the ship by 6:45am and there were 2 people in front of us at Customs.

We parked at the port and made it to our car by 7am.

I had read this thread prior to us leaving for our Dec 27 Freedom 8 day cruise as I had a 1045 am flight out of Fort Lauderdale and was interested in latest experiences in exiting the ship. We knew we were doing self assist and wanted to be off early. Ship was at port early on Sunday, Jan 4th. I had the family ready early and I happened to be down on deck 3 at 0650 and they had a few people already to disembark. I heard from one crew member that they were cleared to go and started letting those in the lounge go. I've never seen a disembark that early on any of my previous 15 cruises. I went back up to get the family, no line and we were off by 700am. No announcements that early that I heard but they probably started soon. Only 3 agents working for Homeland Security and assume they were overwhelmed within an hour.

did you drive? or was finding a taxi at that time easy??

We did a taxi to Fort Lauderdale airport and when we came out the taxi's were already lined up and more than a few available.