Epic/Port Canaveral Embarkation ... Is it a nightmare every Saturday?

I've been reading report after report (not just after TA) of nightmarish embarkations of the Epic in Port Canaveral. Can anyone who has done this recently verify and give any helpful tips?

TIA

I was on the TA, best tip is to book a late flight and wait until the line ends before leaving enjoy your last bit of time on the ship. Otherwise do the self debarkation and be one of the first in line. Our time on the TA was about 1 hr 45 minutes from getting in line to walking out of the building.

We have decided since we always travel with just 2 large bags to always do the carry it off yourself, removes the where are my bags issue and saves some time. If you have more bags, or are not real mobile that is not really an option. You can get a porter and that will allow you to get into a shorter line but like many options it can get filled up by a lot of people deciding to use it. Sometimes the TSA PRE line is longer than the non PRE line.

Thanks Fred. Very helpful for getting off the boat. Does anyone have any tips about getting on??

Thanks Fred. Very helpful for getting off the boat. Does anyone have any tips about getting on??

Did the TA this past April. I do not remember anything being bad. I do remember the line for us to check in (1st time on NCL) was shorter, like no one, compared to the higher loyalty folks. We try to get to the port for all our cruises in the 11-12 range. Really haven't had a bad time with any of the cruiselines, 8-9 cruises in past 2 years.

Went on a cruise out of Port Canaveral in May, nice and smooth. I would say the biggest problem we encountered was vehicles parking where they weren't supposed to when the shuttle was dropping us off from the vehicle storage lot. Lines were fairly long, but moved at a decent pace.

When you have thousands of people getting off a ship and thousands of people getting on a ship, it's going to be busy. But I would hardly call my recent experiences a "nightmare." Our shuttle dropped us off at the escalator up to the embarkation area at about 11 am. There were at least 50 people checking people in and the line was very short. We were assigned to group 9, found a couple of seats, caught up on social media, and chatted with other cruisers. I don't remember the exact time that we were called to board but it was shortly after noon. The elevator dropped us off near the entrance to Spice H2O so we took that as a sign to begin using our unlimited beverage packages. A pleasant lunch was provided there as well. Shortly before two an announcement was made that cabins were ready. Yesterday's return to the airport was somewhat chaotic, but from the time we left our cabins shortly before 8 to the time we boarded our shuttle was less than an hour. Perhaps being the early bird is advantageous.

We were on the Nov. 25 cruise. What slowed our embarkation was the shuttle drop off system that put vehicles into a queue at the drop off points. We sat in line for over a hour. We were picked up at our hotel at 11:00 am but didn't get on the ship until about 2:30 pm. The registration process would have gone more quickly if NCL had more staff directing people to agents in the registration line. There were lots of agents open but people were not directed to them.

I have a 12pm flight from orlando do you think im cutting it short

When you have thousands of people getting off a ship and thousands of people getting on a ship, it's going to be busy. But I would hardly call my recent experiences a "nightmare." Our shuttle dropped us off at the escalator up to the embarkation area at about 11 am. There were at least 50 people checking people in and the line was very short. We were assigned to group 9, found a couple of seats, caught up on social media, and chatted with other cruisers. I don't remember the exact time that we were called to board but it was shortly after noon. The elevator dropped us off near the entrance to Spice H2O so we took that as a sign to begin using our unlimited beverage packages. A pleasant lunch was provided there as well. Shortly before two an announcement was made that cabins were ready. Yesterday's return to the airport was somewhat chaotic, but from the time we left our cabins shortly before 8 to the time we boarded our shuttle was less than an hour. Perhaps being the early bird is advantageous.

The Thanksgiving embarkation was a nightmare, we were on the cruise.

We’ve cruised on Epic our of Port Canaveral and it was quick/easy.

The big issue was due to customs after TA and is not the norm. Don’t stress.

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Embarked the Epic on 12/2/17. Drop off line was backed up maybe 20 minutes at noon. Security line was maybe 10-15 minutes, then check-in line similar. Nothing crazy. We were on the ship within 30-40 minutes of being dropped off at the curb.

Disembarked on 12/9 around 9:30am. Walk off started earlier than expected... just after 7am (scheduled for 8am). It took a few minutes to get off the ship due to a line of people, then customs line was about 15 minutes. Longest wait was for the rental car shuttle (Thrifty/Dollar) which was a good 30-45 minutes.

Walk off was easy and fast. On the road by 8:36am, heading north.

We’ve gone on a couple of cruises from PC with no problems at all.

Thanks Fred. Very helpful for getting off the boat. Does anyone have any tips about getting on??

Hi.

We embarked on 12/9. There were 2 Carnival and 1 Disney leaving also so traffic getting into Port Canaveral was a bit congested. I dropped the luggage and my in-laws off at the terminal at10:30 am. I then returned the rental car and rode the shuttle back. Dropping the luggage off took 10 minutes.

Entering the terminal took about 15 minutes (be prepared to walk up a flight of steps) and getting through the security checkpoint was about another 10. After that, You are at the mercy of the check in lines.

Have a great time on your cruise.

Regards,

Vinegarjoe

In 3/17 Epic out of PC fog got ship in late. We received text to come later. It happens.

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I've been reading report after report (not just after TA) of nightmarish embarkations of the Epic in Port Canaveral. Can anyone who has done this recently verify and give any helpful tips?

 

TIA

when we did it, yes, it was the worst I had ever seen, especially embarkation. Debarkation was bad, but not quite as bad. But to be honest, we did it the very first sailing out of the cape so that could contributed to the problem.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Leaving this Saturday, wish me luck!!

Thanks everyone for the replies. Leaving this Saturday, wish me luck!!

good luck and have a wonderful Christmas cruise.

The problem as I see it, with so many disembarking seems to have a lot to do with so many deciding to do the walk off with all their luggage. I think things moved faster when we all got off the ship and found our luggage.