Transatlantic arriving into Fort Lauderdale

We are on the Royal transatlantic in October arriving into Port Everglades, does anyone have an idea what time you could be disembarked of the ship, I'm guessing it may be more involved as that ship will be arriving from Europe.

No, I don't think so. Immigration and Customs will be the same, maybe a little more thorough. But I doubt you will notice much.

The things that will be complicated usually take place before the next set of pax come on board. When a ship has been away from a US port for a while (like a season in the Med), there are inspections done by USCG and Health, IIRC. Employees and contractors may get higher scrutiny.

Because the ship has been away from the USA for more than three months there will be a crew immigration inspection which must be completed before passenger clearance can begin. Whichever disembarkation group you usually put yourself in--whether self-carry, an early tag group, or one of the last ones--I would add a one hour cushion to the time you are used to being out and on your way. May be less but best to be safe.

Because the ship has been away from the USA for more than three months there will be a crew immigration inspection which must be completed before passenger clearance can begin. Whichever disembarkation group you usually put yourself in--whether self-carry, an early tag group, or one of the last ones--I would add a one hour cushion to the time you are used to being out and on your way. May be less but best to be safe.

As the ship wants to sail again at 4 or 5pm, the simple way around this issue is to get in at, say, 5am. The immigration issue can be resolved before most of the pax are ready to go. Again, I doubt the OP will notice much delay.

We are on the Royal transatlantic in October arriving into Port Everglades, does anyone have an idea what time you could be disembarked of the ship, I'm guessing it may be more involved as that ship will be arriving from Europe.

It will be slower then normal.

As the ship wants to sail again at 4 or 5pm, the simple way around this issue is to get in at, say, 5am. The immigration issue can be resolved before most of the pax are ready to go. Again, I doubt the OP will notice much delay.

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Because the ship has been away from the USA for more than three months there will be a crew immigration inspection which must be completed before passenger clearance can begin. Whichever disembarkation group you usually put yourself in--whether self-carry, an early tag group, or one of the last ones--I would add a one hour cushion to the time you are used to being out and on your way. May be less but best to be safe.

I do not think this is the case. The crew must be cleared before any new passengers can board, but crew clearance does not delay disembarkation.

On the west coast I was on one cruise which started in South America and ended in San Francisco. Disembarkation was delayed there by hours.

This was due to immigration/customs checking every passenger (in groups of six) and their hand luggage for contraband using specially trained dogs. It took about five minutes for each group of six to be processed before they could leave the ship. With 2600 passengers, that can take a while.

Many passengers missed plane flights.

On the west coast I was on one cruise which started in South America and ended in San Francisco. Disembarkation was delayed there by hours.

 

We boarded a cruise in Lima, Peru, and got off in San Diego. Small delay- as San Diego has been known for. But this ship had not been out of the US for an extended period- only 30 days.

Bruce, It is a big difference in FLL for transatlantic cruises. We have done two of them and both times the lines for immigration were huge due to them separating the right side of the immigration hall for all of the crew who were winding their way through the lines with all of us. The line wound around all the way around the luggage area and was a mess all around. I would recommend having patience and not having an early flight if at all possible.

It is a process, not easy and booking early flights, which normally wouldn't be a problem, I would not recommend it. I've been delayed coming into Ft. L. after a transatlantic, didn't get to the airport until after noon and another time after a repositioning from Canada, same thing. I never book a flight before 1:00 p.m. so I was good, others were not.

We have done many repositioning cruises to Florida ports (probably about 2 dozen) and never had any significant delays with disembarkation. While it is true that the crew is often subjected to some extra immigration issues, this has never delayed our disembarkation. Those taking the first cruise after that repo cruise might experience embarkation delays (generally not more then 1-2 hours)...because it is very common for the Coast Guard to do a thorough safety inspection when a ship returns to the USA..after an extended absence.

But there is another issue which one might want to consider before booking air. A TA cruise is moving a long distance over water...often on a pretty tight schedule. It is always possible that major weather problems (or a mechanical) problem can cause a ship to be late...into port (this has happened to us a few times). Booking an early flight has more risk then usual...so one might want to consider that in their plans. We often like to use Southwest since they do not impose any penalty if you have to rebook (although the cost of the flight can be higher). Other airlines have you totally at their mercy...as to whether they will waive rebooking fees.

Hank