Soooo.... How was Eclipse's first Disembark of the season ? With a HOT tip (11/30/13)

Hi Everyone,

I'm sure many of our members are eager to hear about today's Eclipse disembark. I returned home about 10 mins ago, dropped off the luggage, and bolted to the computer LOL.

In all honesty, once I knew that Hotel Director Rafaelle Bernardini was on this sailing, I had high hopes.... but I opted to keep my expectations low, due to a number of disappointing experiences over the past 3-4 sailings. I've known Mr Bernardini for many years. He's incredibly organized, so if anyone can get this right - he can.

Here's the scoop..... with a HUGE insider tip for those sailing on Eclipse this season. Surprisingly, it went quite well for the masses, with minimal logjams on and off the ship, and very little waiting on the LONG walkway once you debark the ship. We departed the ship VERY easily (partly due to the fact that Mom requires wheelchair assistance). We only waited on the covered walkway on the pier for about 10-15 minutes. That's a far cry from the 60-90+ minute waits that were commonplace last season. A+ so far !

You would think we were all set - right ? Well, for us, once we arrived inside the termimal (Pier 24/25) it all went downhill, but for us, and a few others - all using wheelchair assistance. Here's what happened, along with a HOT tip.

We were given luggage tags #25. Big Mistake. As a result, our luggage was in one of the latter groups to be offloaded from Eclipse. Several RCCL Pier personnel stated there were far less personnel offloading the luggage from the ship, resulting in major delays, especially for those with higher luggage tag numbers. Whether this is another RCCL cutback, or for other reasons, is unknown, but I always say the first and last impressions are critical. We were also advised there were less immigration personnel, but that's beyond Celebrity's & RCCL's control. Notably, the lines seemed to be moving fairly well, from what I observed.

Once inside the terminal, they stuck Mom & I in a corner, with about 12 other folks in wheelchairs, who all seemed to be given luggage tag numbers 18 or higher. Why does this matter you ask ? Well, they offload the luggage starting with #1 upward (makes sense), so the RCCL folks kept telling us, "our luggage was not available to claim yet", and kept us waiting for about 45 minutes, in a very warm terminal, while hundreds of other guests were able to continue moving briskly. I was very pleased to see their progress, though I wish we had a similar experience. Personally, I was handling it well, but Mom was very upset.

So the big tip ? For anyone sailing on Eclipse this season, insist on LOW luggage tag numbers. It seems anything under #18 should be ok, but one would think "the lower the better", as from #19 on became very problematic.

On top of that, one piece of luggage was damaged (probably ruined) - where 1 wheel was ripped out of it's housing. Unfortunately, I noticed the damage once outside the terminal. I think the porter intentionally hid it under a larger bag, so I would not see it, until outside the terminal, where RCCL personnel basically said "too late now". Tip #2 : Always inspect your luggage carefully, BEFORE leaving the terminal.

The sad part is, this could have been a near perfect disembark, had it not been for the delays getting the luggage to the terminal. Most all of the onboard & pier disorganization issues from last season were massively improved, much of the credit due to the Hotel Director, and the wonderful officers & crew of Eclipse.

All in all (other than the luggage delay & damage), it was a much improved experience, and I hope our fellow cruisers had similar experiences. Even with my negative experiences, it seemed that many others fared better than us, and I'd say there's reason to be hopeful this season, as there were a number of welcome positives / improvements along the way.

I hope this is helpful !

Thank you so much for the tips. Sorry your mom had to get so upset.

We have been doing self disembarkation the last 3 cruises, and that is what works for us. We are on the Jan.25th cruise and since we have a 12:05 p.m. flight, we will disembark ourselves once again.

Glad you had a great cruise minus today.

Ellen:)

I have cruised out of this terminal three times. Once with Carnival and twice with RCI. All three times have been horrible for one reason or another. Not sure why RCI doesn't require that the port upgrade the facility. I know that may not eliminate what happened today with the luggage but there are recent reports of issues with same terminal and the Liberty of the Seas. I think this terminal is doomed.

Welcome home and thanks for the report.

I have cruised out of this terminal three times. Once with Carnival and twice with RCI. All three times have been horrible for one reason or another. Not sure why RCI doesn't require that the port upgrade the facility. I know that may not eliminate what happened today with the luggage but there are recent reports of issues with same terminal and the Liberty of the Seas. I think this terminal is doomed.

 

Welcome home and thanks for the report.

Hi Cruisingator2,

I totally agree, and I'd give anything to know why RCCL does not put pressure (and throw some $$$ in the deal) on Port Everglades to upgrade this facility. As we've touched on previously, it's 2 smaller terminals - neither of which can solely handle a ship of this size. Sandwiching the 2 terminals together does not solve the problem either.

I can only presume this is why Celebrity is moving Eclipse to Miami in November 2014, but with all due respect to RCCL / Celebrity.... a long term viable solution, to build a "Pier 18" type terminal in this location, is the only way to go. No matter how you slice it and dice it, Celebrity/RCCL needs at least 1-2 additional state of the art facilities at Port Everglades, and it's long overdue. Let's hope they are working on making it a reality.

Hi Andy,

Welcome back! Missed not being onboard with you this year. Sounds like everything was good.

Regarding the disembark problem. I have found that filling out the questionnaire and indicating you need to get off early always works! That way, you get a much lower number and an early departure time. Pretty much ignore the departure time but my luggage is always there when I finally get off. :D

Next year in Miami will be MUCH better!! They do it right and have much more space to deal with. FLL is just a mess, as we all know.

Hi Andy,

Welcome back! Missed not being onboard with you this year. Sounds like everything was good.

 

Regarding the disembark problem. I have found that filling out the questionnaire and indicating you need to get off early always works! That way, you get a much lower number and an early departure time. Pretty much ignore the departure time but my luggage is always there when I finally get off. :D

 

Next year in Miami will be MUCH better!! They do it right and have much more space to deal with. FLL is just a mess, as we all know.

We were on the Reflection in March. We used self debarkation but it went very smooth. We were off the ship by 7:30 and in a taxi to the airport. :)

Welcome back Andy!!! Glad the rest of your cruise was much better than the disembarkation and thanks for the tip.

Did you have a chance to find out from Rafaelle how long he will be on board? If I am going to book Eclipse, I would love to do it while he is still there.

Thanks for your report Andy, it helps manage expectations, which for some of us lowers the level of frustration.

I agree that it appears Celebrities short term answer is to move the 2 week itinerary to Miami, which only time will tell, is better or not. We've had some not so pleasant disembarkation experiences at POM.

I wonder if Celebrity fully considered a schedule change for their 2 week cruises, having them not leaving and returning on a weekend. It appears to us the people who take 2 week cruises tend to have fairly flexible schedules. A mid week departure/arrival may have seen Terminal 18 available.

The long term solution is probably RCCL and Port Everglades working together on another terminal along the lines of Terminal 18 but until that happens we'll have to manage our expectations and react accordingly.

Welcome back Andy!!! Glad the rest of your cruise was much better than the disembarkation and thanks for the tip.

Did you have a chance to find out from Rafaelle how long he will be on board? If I am going to book Eclipse, I would love to do it while he is still there.

Hi Anne,

I believe he said he's onboard until February, but I will check my notes and report back later.

Welcome home Andy. Sorry to hear about your luggage.

We have not sailed out of Fort Lauderdale since 2009. But on our one and only S Class cruise on Silhouette in 2012 we were given luggage tags with # 52 on them. Disembarkation was horrible.

You have been greatly missed on these boards the past week.

Glad you had a great vacation.

Thanks for the update, Andy. So Luggage Valet would have helped here? Also how did Celebrity handle those that had post-cruise excursions, disembarkation-wise?

David

The negatives you experienced were on the side of the cruiselines and not the Port's terminal.

Thanks for the update, Andy. So Luggage Valet would have helped here? Also how did Celebrity handle those that had post-cruise excursions, disembarkation-wise?

 

David

Hi David,

My guess is, luggage valet would have helped - though you would think that's tough to do on a 14 day cruis. The onboard personnel make it very clear that you must carry off the luggage on your own.

As for post cruise excursions - we've never done them as we reside in South FL, but I'm sure they make provisions for those on Celebrity excursions.

The negatives you experienced were on the side of the cruiselines and not the Port's terminal.

The lousy condition and size of the terminal are factors as well. Is the lack of air conditioning Celebrity's fault ? I highly doubt it. The onboard organization (which is Celebrity) was actually quite good. I'm not solely blaming the port, nor the cruiseline. I think both sides should work together to resolve any and all issues.

At the very least, I believe we should at least be happy that things were improved over last season. Progress is always a good thing.

The lousy condition and size of the terminal are factors as well. Is the lack of air conditioning Celebrity's fault ? I highly doubt it. The onboard organization (which is Celebrity) was actually quite good. I'm not solely blaming the port, nor the cruiseline. I think both sides should work together to resolve any and all issues.

 

At the very least, I believe we should at least be happy that things were improved over last season. Progress is always a good thing.

I agree Andy. That specific terminal and the one used by the Independence are the only two to receive the negative reports regardless of line. They simply are not large enough to handle processing that many passengers.

Hi Andy,

Welcome back! -----

 

Next year in Miami will be MUCH better!! They do it right and have much more space to deal with. FLL is just a mess, as we all know.

We disembarked from Eclipse in April, on the Saturday after Easter at FLL with 7 other ships.

It was chaotic.

In November, we disembarked in Miami, from Infinity, with 3 other ships in port. Everything was well organised, including all luggage on a carousel.

One reason (IMO) was there were no Customs Officers in evidence.

We just walked from Immigration out into the bus Bays, no hold ups what-so-ever.

The luggage situation was not much different for us leaving the Reflection in Miami last week. We were staying over so were in no rush to leave, still given #25, so we lingered over breakfast saying our see ya later's and such. Got down to the baggage area and what a cluster:eek: No #25's to be seen, yet there were #30 to #35 rumbling around, on all 3 conveyors. Yes there were a few not so happy folks being very 'verbal':rolleyes:

Going thru custom's was hit an miss, one played 50 questions, one smiled and kept things moving. Sad to say that leaving the wonderful Reflection was also very simple.

Welcome back to land Andy!

Welcome home Andy. I can't believe you are posting 10 mins after your arrival home!!! Such a dedicated host. You don't have a dog to pet?

I hope I don't get flamed for this....We were on the sailing before yours and we got #29. I totally agree with you on the bigger numbers. We had 2 carry ons which we kept with us and the usual computer case and shoulder bag etc, so we had to send the big suitcase down the night before.

(We usually self disembark). We were instructed to meet in the theatre which was the other end of the ship from our cabin. Since I hurt my back doing Zumba (great classes) we didn't think we should haul all our stuff down there so we waited in the two chairs on deck 11 overlooking the library. Quiet and comfy. However, the numbers were not proceding like we hoped. We were to be off at 9 and had booked a car for 10. When it got to 10 and we were still sitting in our chairs, they were only at #24!! We were afraid our car would be given away so we just went down in the elevator close to where we had waited and queued with all the rest of the people. It went really fast and yes, our #29 case was already there. I agree they need to change a few things.

So sorry your Mom was upset by all this and also about your broken case but I'm glad you had a great cruise. So did we.

Thanks for the update, Andy. So Luggage Valet would have helped here? Also how did Celebrity handle those that had post-cruise excursions, disembarkation-wise?

 

David

I thought Luggage Valet is only a program for people who are flying and want their luggage to go directly to the airport!? Would not work for someone who is not flying.

The lousy condition and size of the terminal are factors as well. Is the lack of air conditioning Celebrity's fault ? I highly doubt it. The onboard organization (which is Celebrity) was actually quite good. I'm not solely blaming the port, nor the cruiseline. I think both sides should work together to resolve any and all issues.

 

At the very least, I believe we should at least be happy that things were improved over last season. Progress is always a good thing.

Terminal 22/24 is huge!!!...they could lay down all the luggage if they wanted to. Agree. When the current agreement expires, the Port will negotiate a new contract with terminal upgrades.

Read a press release that Terminal 4 starts renovations early next year.

Luggage valet would not solve your problem with damaged luggage. My son had it happen on HAL. The porter damaged his bag. Everyone blamed the other ine. Nobody wanted to take blame. Luggage was fixed. Travel insurance paid. Thanks for the tip on low numbers. I will be on the Eclipse in January. Spouse will be in wheelchair or at best using a cane.

I thought Luggage Valet is only a program for people who are flying and want their luggage to go directly to the airport!? Would not work for someone who is not flying.

We also think that the luggage valet is only for those flying out after 11:30 am. We are flying out of FLL on Southwest and hope to use luggage valet on our February cruise on Eclipse. Does anybody know if the service was offered on this cruise?

Thanks

Andy, welcome home. Thank you for the tip.

Did you depart early due to needing assistance or did you depart with the others that had the #25 number?

I am still searching for the best approach for debarkation. I tried the self approach once and I did not particularly like it either. I think I am more in the camp of just waiting until the last possible moment to get off the ship. I did this once in Auckland, but then we had a really long line to get a taxi.

Welcome back Host Andy!! Sorry to hear about the disembarkation and your broken luggage. Good to have you back with us! With all the changes on the CC you have been greatly missed on these boards!!:):)

So, two questions.

First, is this disembark problem for all Celebrity cruises ending up in Ft. Lauderdale, or only certain terminals there? I am planning to take Equinox to Ft Lauderdale on a TA in October 2014.

Second, if I have carryon bags only (and I will), is it any easier?

Thanks,

- Joel