embarkation on first US sailing of the season

We will be doing a Caribbean sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on the Royal on Nov. 5th. The prior cruise is a transatlantic out of Europe. Princess says not to arrive for boarding until 3pm. On a normal Caribbean sailing we arrive at the Fort Lauderdale port at 11 am and always get on the ship by noon. Princess tells us to arrive later but we are platinum and never seem to have to wait long. My question to those who have boarded a first US sailing of the season cruise is do we really have to wait till 3pm? What time would you show up at the port?

Thanks

We will be doing a Caribbean sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on the Royal on Nov. 5th. The prior cruise is a transatlantic out of Europe. Princess says not to arrive for boarding until 3pm. On a normal Caribbean sailing we arrive at the Fort Lauderdale port at 11 am and always get on the ship by noon. Princess tells us to arrive later but we are platinum and never seem to have to wait long. My question to those who have boarded a first US sailing of the season cruise is do we really have to wait till 3pm? What time would you show up at the port?

 

Thanks

They seem to recommend a boarding time for most, if not all, cruises over the past few years. They have a recommended staggered boarding schedule based on where your cabin is on the ship .. not your captain's club status. If this is the notice you received, you can go at the time when you are ready ... 11 AM would be my suggestion. However, if you received a notification that the boarding will not commence until 3 PM ... for anyone ... you may be in for a long wait. There are sometimes special inspections when a ship is coming in from other continents for the first time. They may not have everything set up much before this.

If you are unsure of which type of notification you received, you might consider checking your roll call out ... that's where I get most of my answers to these types of questions.

When arriving back to the US After a summer elsewhere there will be a Coastguard inspection and possibly a health inspection. Also crew have to clear immigration. This all takes time. You may be able to board earlier but ?.

We are also on this cruise and have been told our boarding time is 3pm. This is because of the extended customs and health inspections needed after a ship has arrived from outside the USA. On the cruise personalised it gives the boarding times depending on which deck you are on. We are on Aloha which is one of the first decks to board. Although I would love to get to the terminal at 11am I really don't fancy standing around for 4 hours!

When arriving back to the US After a summer elsewhere there will be a Coastguard inspection and possibly a health inspection. Also crew have to clear immigration. This all takes time. You may be able to board earlier but ?.

This has happened to us on a HAL cruise. Many people arrived at the usual 11AM, checked in and then had to wait until about 1PM when the early boarders were allowed to go on. While we all waited there were not enough seats for all to sit and so lots of crankiness began. Both the Coast Guard and the CDC inspection occurred that day. One can take ones chances - you might be lucky that things go smoothly.

My brother and his wife have taken a couple of westbound trans-Atlantic cruises. On one of them, they were not able to get off the ship until after noon due to delays with Immigration. They missed their flight home.

I have just been on the 14 day Circle Caribbean cruise on Caribbean Princess which was the first one after the ship had crossed the Atlantic. We arrived at the port at around 2pm and they had just started boarding elite passengers. Others did not board until at least 3pm. There was limited seating & the terminal was very crowded. The ship did not leave until approx 5pm.

We were looking at that date also but from what I've read about in past years made me think twice. :(

It's not a fun day waiting to board or waiting for the buffet to open.

I know the crew hates it even more than the passengers.

Yes, I have experienced this. Boarding will not begin until later after a slow disembarkation and all inspections are completed. While Princess states 3pm, it may actually begin a little earlier, maybe 2pm. The terminal will be packed. Passengers that arrive by plane, people that have to check out of the hotels by noon, they have no other place to go.

We are currently on the 15 day transatlantic, any info we get regarding late disembarkation I will post on this thread.

If there are any other ships returning to the US from being outside the country for months, it may further slow down the required inspections. To those returning to the US on a TA, it will most likely take longer for the disembarkation as the immigration/customs officers will be on alert for contraband etc.

What time is Royal scheduled to depart from FLL on your embarkation day?

Seems since you are not to arrive to board until 3 PM, the sail away time would have to be later than normal. :confused:

Thanks for all the feedback. We will definitely not show up too early and be stuck at the port in a huge crowd.

What time is Royal scheduled to depart from FLL on your embarkation day?

Seems since you are not to arrive to board until 3 PM, the sail away time would have to be later than normal. :confused:

They have us leaving at 5 pm. It will be interesting to see if they can board all the passengers and leave at 5 pm.

My brother and his wife have taken a couple of westbound trans-Atlantic cruises. On one of them, they were not able to get off the ship until after noon due to delays with Immigration. They missed their flight home.

That's why, during my four T/A's that ended in Florida, I never booked a flight out of FT. Lauderdale or Miami before 3-5 PM.....:):):)

Bob

We're sailing on Freedom of the Seas, on the same date, after her return from Europe as well. The email we got last week regarding embarkation recommends passengers arrive between 1230-430. I would think that starting the boarding process at 3pm would definitely push back the departure time!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

They have us leaving at 5 pm. It will be interesting to see if they can board all the passengers and leave at 5 pm.

Yes, it will. Also, wondering what the plans for Muster Drill will be. :confused:

Yes, it will. Also, wondering what the plans for Muster Drill will be. :confused:

i'm on this sailing too and that was my thought as well.

i arrive by air at 11:30am. i'm wondering whether to take the princess transfer--which i think will bring us to a hotel to wait until later to board--or just head to the pier by taxi and wait.

i've done the hotel route once in anchorage and the shuttles didn't come until much later and then there was a lot of elbowing, butting in line and harsh words as one bus arrived and 300 people tried to get on it. i don't want to start my cruise that way. if i take a taxi, is there anywhere around the port area to hang out and have lunch? (while shlepping around my suitcase)?

I'm hoping they will let us drop off luggage with the baggage porters by noon or so as many of us staying in the hotels have an 11am check out.

Yes, it will. Also, wondering what the plans for Muster Drill will be. :confused:

We did this on HAL last year. We were told 3 pm, we actually started at 1:45 or so. There was a muster at 4:15, and then a late muster for those who boarded late. But we also has a late departure from FLL, approx 10 pm or so.

 

i arrive by air at 11:30am. i'm wondering whether to take the princess transfer--which i think will bring us to a hotel to wait until later to board--or just head to the pier by taxi and wait.

 

I would not expect any xfer in Fort Lauderdale will bring you to a hotel. It will likely bring you to the crowded cruise terminal.

A US Coast Guard inspection is nearly guaranteed that day.

US Immigration inspection for all crew is a certainty.

A US Public Health Inspection is a strong possibility.

 

All the crew must go to the show lounge for the Immigration inspection, which always takes a few hours.

Nobody is allowed to leave the lounge until they have been inspected.

That means cabins are not getting cleaned and lunch is not getting prepped.

 

When you are finally allowed to board a few hours late, the ship still will not be ready for you. Lunch will be very late and very sparse.

 

You might be allowed to board earlier - but what is the point? Onboard services will be closed, your cabin will not be cleaned, there will be no food available, and you will be slowing down the crew who are trying to get the ship ready.

Several years ago I was on a Princess cruise from Fort Lauderdale which was the first after the trans-Atlantic.

We did board by around noon. Our cabin was ready and we ate lunch in the dining room.

But we did think that the ship was not as crowded as usual. It turned out that soon after we boarded they stopped embarkation and did not resume it until around 4 PM.

So while most passengers were waiting in the terminal until inspections were completed, we (along with others who boarded when we did) had a great time on the ship beginning our cruise experience as soon as possible.

Hi all! We are on the Nov. 5 Royal cruise as well. I have been sending emails back and forth with my Cruise Vacation Planner at Princess, and she says that we will not even have access to the terminal until 3 pm. We are arriving by bus around 11:30 and the bus company never alters their schedule, so we are stuck arriving at that time. I am sure there will be many more in our same situation. Just can't imagine having to wait outside the terminal for 3.5 hrs. My guess on this is that we will be able to enter the terminal at some point prior to 3, but the big question is when will the doors be opened?? Hopefully this situation will not start the cruise off on a bad note!:confused:

I'm hoping they will let us drop off luggage with the baggage porters by noon or so as many of us staying in the hotels have an 11am check out.

There is no need to rush out of the hotel to the port - even if you have to be out of your room, the hotel will hold your bags for you. You can also request a later check out, which many hotels will be happy to grant.

Regardless, you can have them hold your bags and head to the port as recommended due to the unique nature of this sailing.

i'm on this sailing too and that was my thought as well.

 

i arrive by air at 11:30am. i'm wondering whether to take the princess transfer--which i think will bring us to a hotel to wait until later to board--or just head to the pier by taxi and wait.

 

i've done the hotel route once in anchorage and the shuttles didn't come until much later and then there was a lot of elbowing, butting in line and harsh words as one bus arrived and 300 people tried to get on it. i don't want to start my cruise that way. if i take a taxi, is there anywhere around the port area to hang out and have lunch? (while shlepping around my suitcase)?

You could walk over to Harbor Shops (where Total Wine and grocery store is) if boarding at Terminal 2, but I would suggest taking a bag lunch/snacks to tide you over in the holding area.