Does Royal allow embarkation at a Port of call?

I called RCCL and they gave me an email address to send my request to board in Key West (or later)....if they answer back with the fee of $300 each to board in Key West, we will accept this offer. I already purchased the airfare for the two of us to Key West...so the math is pretty easy. Thank you for your help!

Just heard back fro RCCL; they will under no circumstances allow anyone to board in Key West. As a reminder we are sailing on the Rhapsody from Tampa and Key West is the first call. This is a family trip with multiple cabins booked. We found out last week (after final payment) that our daughter now has a mandatory competition and will not be able to travel to Tampa and board on Sunday. Knowing Monday was the first port call at Key West, I booked air to Key West for my daughter and I with the plan to just board there. RCCL says no one can board in Key West regardless of the fine from customs, you can however depart in Key West early and just pay the customs fine. I offered to pay the $300 fine for each of us to board in Key West and they said that was not an option.

As of now it looks like the two of us will fly into Cozumel, enjoy a couple of days there and then join the cruise on Wednesday.

Silly law that is really outdated. But we will deal with it and still have a good time:D.

Silly law that is really outdated.

If they don't allow boarding then it might not be a PVSA issue - it's probably a port issue in that they don't have things in place to embark anyone there.

I called RCCL and they gave me an email address to send my request to board in Key West (or later)....if they answer back with the fee of $300 each to board in Key West, we will accept this offer. I already purchased the airfare for the two of us to Key West...so the math is pretty easy. Thank you for your help!

I was once in a similar position. When I asked if we could just board in Kay West and pay the fine, the answer was a definite "NO!"

Just FYI

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I was once in a similar position. When I asked if we could just board in Kay West and pay the fine, the answer was a definite "NO!"

 

Just FYI

 

 

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Ah. I see that you got the same answer I did.

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Ah. I see that you got the same answer I did.

 

 

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Yep.....glad I asked here...it would have really been tough to get to Key West and see the ship and be told we can not get on! I know my daughter will be very disappointed that we will not be able to get on until Cozumel, but what are you going to do?! Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you respond.....We will fly to Cozumel and enjoy the family trip and ship at that point......we are blessed!

Yep.....glad I asked here...it would have really been tough to get to Key West and see the ship and be told we can not get on! I know my daughter will be very disappointed that we will not be able to get on until Cozumel, but what are you going to do?! Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you respond.....We will fly to Cozumel and enjoy the family trip and ship at that point......we are blessed!

In our case, winter weather and good ol' USAir kept us from getting to Fort Lauderdale in time to board the Jewel.

We didn't go and our travel insurance paid back every penny of cruise fare.

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Thought I would provide an update on our cruise that leaves this Sunday. As stated previously, we will not be able to get onboard Sunday due to a school commitment. Instead we will join the cruise in Cozumel on Wednesday. We contacted RCCL to coordinate and received their approval via email to board in Cozumel. There is an additional fee of $65 per person charged by the cruise line for this service.

Once again, many thanks to people here on CC for sharing their knowledge on this topic. Our original plan was to join in Key West on Monday and we fond out that this is not allowed. It would have been very disappointing to get to Key West and not be able to get on the ship and join the rest of the family that boarded in Tampa!

Thought I would provide an update on our cruise that leaves this Sunday. As stated previously, we will not be able to get onboard Sunday due to a school commitment. Instead we will join the cruise in Cozumel on Wednesday. We contacted RCCL to coordinate and received their approval via email to board in Cozumel. There is an additional fee of $65 per person charged by the cruise line for this service.

 

Once again, many thanks to people here on CC for sharing their knowledge on this topic. Our original plan was to join in Key West on Monday and we fond out that this is not allowed. It would have been very disappointing to get to Key West and not be able to get on the ship and join the rest of the family that boarded in Tampa!

Have a great trip although it's easy to see that you will with your positive attitude.

Have a great trip although it's easy to see that you will with your positive attitude.

Thanks. It does help a little that we will fly to Cozumel on Monday and spend two days there before we board the ship....... Also, the approval email I received from RCCL included a comment wishing my daughter good luck at her competition! I shared this with her and it brought a big smile to her face! Sometimes it is the small things in life that people do that bring us so much joy!

Thanks. It does help a little that we will fly to Cozumel on Monday and spend two days there before we board the ship....... Also, the approval email I received from RCCL included a comment wishing my daughter good luck at her competition! I shared this with her and it brought a big smile to her face! Sometimes it is the small things in life that people do that bring us so much joy!

Well said. [emoji4]

Bon Voyage.

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Thought I would provide a follow up, we just returned yesterday from our trip. As mentioned previously we boarded our cruise in Cozumel midway through the cruise after receiving permission from RCCL.

We arrived at the pier in Cozumel around 7:30am to board the ship. The local customs agent at the gate had our names listed on a report and after comparing our passports to the information they had we were allowed to enter. We rolled out luggage down the pier to the ship going against the grain of the disembarking guests. My daughter said she felt a little self conscious as we drew many looks and comments from those disembarking. Upon arrival to the ship, security radioed to guest services our arrival and shortly there after we were escorted to guest services to receive out sea pass cards. Simply and easy!

A couple of side notes......we were told that since we boarded the cruise midway and not in Tampa, that we will need to disembark in Tampa first before they clear the ship for others to disembark. We received a reminder letter in out cabin on the last full day of the cruise instructing us to meet at the R bar at 6:45am. They walked us off the ship and presented us to customs and then they allowed the rest of our party to disembark once we cleared customs. Sort of an odd feeling to exit the ship with nobody else, definitely a record time from leaving the ship to standing outside of the terminal! They did a hand search of our luggage which was quick and efficient. The only other notable item was the inability to purchase a drink package, they stopped selling them the day prior.

Although we missed the first three days of or cruise, I appreciated the way RCCL allowed us to join and how painless they made it for us. Interesting enough the rest of our party that boarded in Tampa were delayed in boarding due to a full coast guard inspection. They were notified multiple times of the delay in boarding and made arrangements to do a little touring on their own until around 2:30pm. Fortunately they arrived earlier from the airport and dropped their luggage and checked in around 11:00am, so they were allowed to go directly on the ship at 2:30pm. Others were not so lucky as the line extended outside the length of the terminal.

Great trip. Thank you to CC posters that offered advise and suggestions!

We are family!

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Thank you so much for the morning-after story. The details are very interesting.

Welcome back. [emoji4]

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really interesting! thanks for sharing that with us!!