Legend disembarkation

[drog]

We are booked on the Legend for January 2013 and I am looking into air fare in/out of Tampa. There is a real nice price on one but it departs Tampa at 11:30 AM. Can any recent Legend cruisers give me their thoughts on making this flight? I would like to save the money but of course do not want to miss a flight, I believe Carnival says none before 12:30 but is this doable?

[Sparky2]

We are booked on the Legend for January 2013 and I am looking into air fare in/out of Tampa. There is a real nice price on one but it departs Tampa at 11:30 AM. Can any recent Legend cruisers give me their thoughts on making this flight? I would like to save the money but of course do not want to miss a flight, I believe Carnival says none before 12:30 but is this doable?

 

Actually, according to Carnival's web site the earliest flight from Tampa should be after 11:30 AM so you should be OK.

 

Our flight last year was 12:08 PM and we were there way early.

[Scott34787]

We are booked on the Legend for January 2013 and I am looking into air fare in/out of Tampa. There is a real nice price on one but it departs Tampa at 11:30 AM. Can any recent Legend cruisers give me their thoughts on making this flight? I would like to save the money but of course do not want to miss a flight, I believe Carnival says none before 12:30 but is this doable?

 

You should be aware that ICE will sometimes do

a very thorough inspection of ships coming

back from Western itinerary, esp. those going

to Belize.

 

These inspections have been known to delay

debarkation by several hours.

 

Just a heads up!

[cbMcruiser]

We are booked on the Legend for January 2013 and I am looking into air fare in/out of Tampa. There is a real nice price on one but it departs Tampa at 11:30 AM. Can any recent Legend cruisers give me their thoughts on making this flight? I would like to save the money but of course do not want to miss a flight, I believe Carnival says none before 12:30 but is this doable?

 

We sailed the Legend in January 2012. We arrived back at the dock at approximately 10:00 am. This was due to a problem with one of the "thruster motors" that propel the ship. Because of this, we had to wait beyond the bridge and be escorted in by tug for safety reasons.

 

I have also read about fog/weather issues out be the bridge delaying entry into the channel/port area.

 

I have also read past posts that reference delays for clearances based upon the ports of call.

 

So, yes you SHOULD make this...but you never know!

[klmorg]

We sailed the Legend in January 2012. We arrived back at the dock at approximately 10:00 am. This was due to a problem with one of the "thruster motors" that propel the ship. Because of this, we had to wait beyond the bridge and be escorted in by tug for safety reasons.

 

I have also read about fog/weather issues out be the bridge delaying entry into the channel/port area.

 

I have also read past posts that reference delays for clearances based upon the ports of call.

 

So, yes you SHOULD make this...but you never know!

 

And Tampa is a port in which non-US citizens must report early in the morning for Customs/clearance I believe. We were first delayed getting into port due to weather, then REALLY delayed when a few non-US citizens didn't show up to wherever they were supposed to report, and no one could get off the ship until they tracked them down. We had an 11:55 am flight that were barely made... but we did make it. If everything goes smoothly, you shouldnt' have any problems.

[CELTICGIRLCRUISER]

It could be done if all the stars were aligned and no unforeseen problems:D.

 

We were off the Legend in a reasonable time mainly because we had to get up at 5am to do passport control onboard.

 

They then had controlled disembarkation but folks were just doing what they wanted to really. You would probably have to be clear by no later than 10 am to get luggage, a taxi over to the airport and check in.

 

I probably wouldn't risk it unless they just automatically put you on the next flight gratis.

[skrufy]

All goes smoothly you should have no problem. If any one of the problems happen at sea you could be delayed outside the bridge for any length of time. You could miss a 2pm flight.

[ericrz]

We just got off the LEGEND on Sunday. Had a bit of delay in the morning, due to a few (and eventually just ONE) non-US citizen(s) being tardy in reporting to the lounge for Immigration checks.

 

Self-assist passengers were getting off between 9-9:30, and those of us with checked bags started close to 10. We were zone #12, and we were in the terminal around 10:30. That would sure make me nervous for an 11:30 flight!

 

If you can do self-assist luggage, that improves your chances. If your airline participates in Carnival's "Luggage Express" program, you can have it sent straight to the airport from your room the night before, at $20/person. Note that Southwest Airlines does NOT participate in this, which was a bummer for us.

 

Luggage Express passengers can disembark early, with the self-assist passengers. I'd definitely choose one of those options, to improve your odds.

[ncbeachteacher]

We have sailed the Legend many, many times.... and usually, she gets to Tampa on time. That said, there are always outliers and we have experienced those as well.

 

We are platinum... and I would risk it, knowing we can get off the ship first thing after self-embarkation. But....if I did, I would also be willing to roll with the punches if we missed it and NOT blame Carnival.... if I wasn't platinum, I wouldn't risk it. Can you self-embark???

[mndw09]

Just off the legend this past Sunday. As mentioned in a previous reply there was a slight delay in locating certain passengers. Even with that delay we were off the boat & dropping our friends off at the airport by 9:45. We did do self assist and had our car in the parking garage. I think you should be fine doing the self assist & taking a cab/shuttle. Have fun!

[thankful2]

We were on the Legend a few weeks ago and also had a bit of a delay due to a non US citizen not reporting. Things moved really well after that. We had an 11:45 flight and we were at the airport in plenty of time. We did not do self assist debarkation. One thing you can do if you have an early flight is speak with the guest service desk (bring proof) and they can issue you an earlier zone. We had zone 3. Of course it is still a gamble because of all the other possible issues. Enjoy your trip!!!

[FlaGrl4Evr]

We have sailed out of Tampa twice. Our first cruise, we did the regular debark and arrived at the airport around 10:45 am. We had a 2:15 flt so no worries but our last cruise we snagged an 11:30 direct flt and did the self-assist debark and was at the airport by 9:20 am.

 

Personally, I would do self assist debark for any flights before noon at TIA. The airport is only a quick 15 min drive but getting off the ship is the key. We had a 45 min hold-up while waiting for a few non-US citizens to report on the ship. We could not debark until they decided to drag their inconsiderate a$$es to the reported area. TIA is well organized, but again, depending on the day and time it can get backed up so better to be early and wait than late and stressed.

 

Good luck.

 

:):)

[Tggrtoes]

Just off legend yesterday... we had a 1:30 flight and we made it to the airport a little before 11:30. (there was a small wait to get our driver back to airport, so if we had hopped in one of the waiting taxis, we would have been there about 20-30 minutes earlier). We had one of the later zones. We also waited up in lido, so could have made it out a little faster if we were waiting down on deck 2. You also could get off much earlier with self assist, instead of doing zones.

 

Customs only had a few people working, so this may have been an anomaly and it may usually go much faster. (this was the longest we've ever waited in line for customs - not sure if it's Tampa since it's our first time going out of that port - or if it was just an odd thing with staffing there.)

 

Bottom line - you should still be fine for your flight.

[SueG]

We are booked on the Legend for January 2013 and I am looking into air fare in/out of Tampa. There is a real nice price on one but it departs Tampa at 11:30 AM. Can any recent Legend cruisers give me their thoughts on making this flight? I would like to save the money but of course do not want to miss a flight, I believe Carnival says none before 12:30 but is this doable?

 

I had an 11:30 flight last Sunday and I was at the airport 2 1/2 hours before the flight.

 

And, this was the worst debarkation I have ever had with Carnival. I am usually off the ship by 7:30. The international cruisers were a pain in the butt. They had to keep calling them down to customs.

 

I always do self assist. I would never take a chance of waiting for a number to be called.

[waykaylincruz]

We just got off the Legend this past Sunday as well. One thing to note is that they arrive back to port a little later. I think we docked around 7:30 or so. Yes, there was a delay is started disembarkation due to the non US citizens. However, we did self assist and was the last of that group called. I think we left the ship around 9:25 or so. When they called our group, we walked right off (we waited in the sitting area by Satchemo's) and through customs with no wait. I think the first group of self assist that went off was a HUGE group!! I am sure there were many others than just the passengers that should have gotten off which is the deck 1. Maybe that is why it bottlenecked. I hated being so late getting off the ship but was thankful that we were able to walk off without a single line or wait.

 

On a side note......this was the easiest disembarkation we have ever had. Security did a fabulous job of keeping the lobby area clear and the hallways opened. Many times people would step off the elevator and want to stand there but security was moving everyone quickly into other areas.

[mchatt92]

Note that Southwest Airlines does NOT participate in this, which was a bummer for us.

 

Luggage Express passengers can disembark early, with the self-assist passengers. I'd definitely choose one of those options, to improve your odds.

 

I thought South West participated in this program. Are you sure they don't? What did you do with your luggage?

[kenrod]

It seems that the delays, other than weather, is due to non-U.S. citizens not reporting to customs. Does this mean that non-U.S. citizens are among the first to disembark?

 

I ask because we are Canadians, and we have a 12:00 pm flight.

[SueG]

It seems that the delays, other than weather, is due to non-U.S. citizens not reporting to customs. Does this mean that non-U.S. citizens are among the first to disembark?

 

I ask because we are Canadians, and we have a 12:00 pm flight.

 

Yes. If I remember right, you have to meet down at the follies lounge (the forward lounge on deck 2) around 7 or 7:30.

The problem with last Sunday is NINE cabins did not follow this direction. Which resulted in the rest of the ship waiting on them.

[thinkpink4]

Just of the Legend on the 23rd. We did Self Assit debarkation and we were off the ship by 845 am and had to wait for our ride to arrive Since we were early getting off! If you do decide to get that flight I would get travel insurance incause you dont make it!!