Favorite Port? Cast your vote!

[ChefSusan]

Tampa - easiest embarkation we've ever seen.

Ft. Lauderdale - Long and winding road leading to a very comfortable waiting area. Love that they had cookies and lemon scented water in the VIP waiting area!

Miami - lots of lines, loved the check-in kiosks, and loved that we could maneuver around the photographers!

Port Canaveral - quick and painless and got on the ship in no time flat!

Seattle - crazy embarkation with a little bit of confusion, but we eventually made it on the ship.

Barcelona - excellent embarkation from start to finish, and loved that we were escorted on by someone in the VIP area (it was our first Platinum cruise)!

[2 cruzen]

Port Canaveral - our first cruise - fun times in waiting area, acrobats, beach balls. Don't know if they still do that (we cruised out of there in 2009), but since then FLL 2x, Miami - hated the self kiosks since we were traveling with 9 and not all had passports, Long Beach - easy enough. The only thing I don't like about Port C is the drive from the airport since we have to fly in. Then we ended up having to rent a car since we have to come the day before and the transfers are only good for day of embarkation.

[CRUISING71]

Long Beach and San Diego...so easy to get off...hardly any line for Immigration check.

 

Miami...Love the Kiosk check in...so easy and effortless...but hate the lines for immigration when we disembarked.

 

We will try FLL next...so we will see.

[Rosefloater]

Long Beach and San Diego...so easy to get off...hardly any line for Immigration check.

 

We once got a newbie Customs agent in LB - he took out our passports from the leather covers on them and scrutinized every little detail.:eek: Our line took 2x as long as the other lines.:mad:

 

But I did love it in SD where we just dropped the Declaration form into the unattended basket.

[finsupcruiser]

Port Everglades! Love the size of FLL airport too. The size of both lend itself to much less complication which suits me just fine.:)

 

I agree---Love FLL !!!! We have to fly thru Atlanta to get to Florida ports-FLL is a pleasant end to yucky fights thru ATL.

 

Sailing from Miami twice in 2013 port is OK but MIA is ATL other brother:D

[Florings]

Love Tampa. Close to home and everything is very compact...parking across the street and the ship so close you could touch it.

 

But I would definitely sail out of any port - any time! :D

[mountain06]

I also think Miami is great. I love the sailaway and going by Southbeach. I think my least favorite was PC, although, we did see dolphins which was really neat and the port was very organized, just not as scenic.

[maldenmusic]

4 cruises out of New Orleans and never had a problem; easiest embarkation for me ever.

[bluejay555]

4 cruises out of New Orleans and never had a problem; easiest embarkation for me ever.

 

Yep, us too. The terminal is very nice, and cruising down the Mississippi is something everyone should experience sometime in their life!

 

Worst port? One time, the Conquest was moved to Gulf Port, MS due to the Mississippi flooding and power lines being too low for the ship to pass under. We had no idea about this until our plane landed in NO. They had buses waiting to take us and we had to sit around and wait for other flights to come in. To embark, they had us in a hotel lobby and it was a huge amt of waiting and disorganization. When we debarked, our luggage was thrown in a big out bldg and it took us forever to locate ours. It was an industrial port, not set up to accommodate passengers and it was like 100 degrees and not pleasant. At all. We got our cruise though, so I guess that's the important thing! :)

[skittl1321]

We've cruised out of three ports, and all have been fantastic.

 

San Diego- super easy to access. We could walk to our rental car place with our luggage without any issues. Plus the weather was great in January. And there was SO much to see and do on our pre-cruise stay.

 

Fort Lauderdale- Maybe a little bit more hectic. Definitely more crowded, lots of large crowds and waiting, but there were so many hotels nearby and the shuttle services made it easy. Also beautiful weather in January. I guess this would get the vote as least favorite...but only because one has to.

 

Galveston- Amazing. Parking was super easy, and there was no wait at all. We never had to wait for more than a few seconds (in short lines), from dropping our luggage off to boarding the ship- it was one smooth process. Chilly though, in April. We would not choose to fly in here though- that seems like it would be a hassle.

[gatorgirlcruiser]

Embark at Jax port has always been very easy. Sailing out of Canaveral in 3 days so I'll get to compare then.

[DebBrown]

My vote is for Tampa- hands down. We experienced no lines at all. Miami was okay but lots of lines and Galveston is horrible!!

I agree! The parking garage is close (1 block) and VERY convenient. Getting through the terminal is a breeze!

[RRLLAL]

Have cruised out of PC, Tampa, Miami, NYC, Baltimore and Port Everglades. I think PC and Baltimore are the 2 best. No specific reason, just seemed easiest.

[TaraLynne]

I've cruised from San Juan, Miami, Vancouver, and Port Canaveral.

 

San Juan and Miami were just about equal levels of awfulness, but supposedly they've re-done the Miami port since I cruised out of there in 2005. I don't remember much about San Juan other than waiting forever to actually get into the port, which itself was nice enough but it was hot as all get out waiting outside in the sun to get on and off that ship. Miami was just a mess when I sailed out of there. Nearly 2 hours to get through security and all of it in an non-air conditioned warehouse type building. Ugh.

 

Vancouver was okay but the terminal was really...weird. Like a lot of small rooms/narrow hallways. But it was clean and the temperature was comfortable.

 

PC was by far the most pleasant, but I'm not fond of the Eastern Caribbean itineraries that sail from there...so it's back to Miami we go!

[Lovefuninthesun]

Port Canaveral is my hands-down fave, as well! 2nd is Tampa.

[Nannersmom]

Port Canaveral is my hands-down fave, as well! 2nd is Tampa.

 

 

I will agree with you on this. But we have only sailed out of PC,Tampa and Galveston. The worst was Galveston and DH said he will never cruise from there again.

[daijayx2]

I've cruised out of pc twice, Jax and Galveston. All of them were quick and easy for me.

I always use cash on my cruises for my s&s card. At all ports besides Jax I was able to give the cash to the person at embarkation, at Jax I had to wait till I boarded and go to guest services. I just went to the kiosk on the ship. Much better than waiting in line.

 

 

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[LBumb]

fort lauderdale