Port Everglades - Long Debark Notice

[twosit]

Thanks for posting this. There was a story on our local news, two nights ago, detailing problems with disembarkation. The funny (or not so funny) thing is that the story was highlighting Carnival ships--as if they were the only ones having problems.

We experienced long lines on our Silhouette cruises in January. Not all of the problems can be blamed on current budget reductions.

[Happy2cruise]

I was curious if having the Luggage Valet service (the $20/pp one where Celebrity takes your luggage to the airport) would help?

Anyone out there that has used the Luggage Valet service out of Fort Lauderdale?

What was your experience like?

 

Disembarked the Silhouette a week ago and they did not offer the Luggage Valet service. Celebrity is not good in making that service available as other cruiselines are.

[phoenix_dream]

What happened to the days when the customs agents came on board and cleared you. I remember lining up the stage and answering all the same questions on board as I do in the terminal. It seemed to work well.

I remember when they came onboard as well, but if I remember correctly (which I admit is not all the time:)), you still had to go through Customs when you disembarked. In fact, in the olden days (20 years ago), on more than one occasion we were stopped and had our suitcases searched (randomly chosen as far as I know). That is a very, very rare occurrence now - can you imagine how that would holds things up?! So not so sure I want to go backwards.

[Lmack]

Upon my return to the US following my March 9 Reflection cruise I swore I would never go through Miami again because it was the worst disembarkation I have ever endured. I said to myself, Ft. Lauderdale never had this problem! So I figured I would change the next Reflection cruise to a ship sailing out of Ft.Lauderdale. I guess I should just expect to end a great cruise with frustration no matter which port. Now, if Celebrity could just sail one out of Pt Canaveral.........

 

Celebrity is just verbalizing this event and blaming it on politics. They need to get to another terminal and arrange with the Port Authority for more assistance.

 

We had the same problems at Port Everglades recently and for the last several yrs which is why we try to avoid the South Florida ports. I wish Celebrity would sail out of Charleston or Baltimore again. In our experience, Baltimore is the best organized and run port!

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We had the same problems at Port Everglades recently and for the last several yrs which is why we try to avoid the South Florida ports. I wish Celebrity would sail out of Charleston or Baltimore again. In our experience, Baltimore is the best organized and run port!

 

If there was a way to make money by sailing out of those ports

You would think there would be more sailing out of the New York area with the number of people living there

[Schmoe38]

What was the line up like on the non- us resident side for customs?

 

We're sailed on Eclipse in December 2012 and did the self disembarkation. We were off the ship at 8:45am and went straight to a "non US" line at customs. We were the first through and had no wait whatsoever. We grabbed a cab and were through security at Ft. Lauderdale airport at 9:15am.

 

Randy

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We're sailed on Eclipse in December 2012 and did the self disembarkation. We were off the ship at 8:45am and went straight to a "non US" line at customs. We were the first through and had no wait whatsoever. We grabbed a cab and were through security at Ft. Lauderdale airport at 9:15am.

 

Randy

When we got the Equniox in December it was also that way, I was wondering if it change since then

[kenorus]

We were lucky to be off right at 7 on the nieuw amsterdam. Others who disembarked 20 minutes after us waiting over 1 and half hours. The ship did not fully clear until after 1. It was the same with every ship that day. The hal employees helping everyone told us to believe every story you hear. Some colours that were to be called at 9 did not disembark till after 12. So watch your flight times, it is bad. We had 3 agents working for our ship.

[nijh]

3.5 hours from leaving the Infinity to seeing the Florida sky for us.

 

Going to have to consider if we want to cruise through FL again.

[kenorus]

another group of canadians just said they missed that 11.45 flight with air canada with self disembarkation. They are fingerprinting and photographing certain individuals, i guess non citizens, it took like 10 minutes with the group in front of us.

[SusieV]

Hope it'll be fixed by January. I just booked 10:30am flights out of Ft Lauderdale!

 

We will carry off our own luggage so hopefully it won't be too bad.

[Lindasmom8]

Thank you Cruisestitch for posting that. I am also on the Eclipse on April 6 and did not receive the email you did. Why can't X get its act together and alert ALL passengers on the cruise instead of a select few???? They certainly don't seem to have a problem ensuring that their marketing emails reach me!

 

Check you spam box,some have found it in there. Came from Royal C.

[cruisestitch]

SusieV -- an international flight? 10:30? That doesn't seem like a wise move. You should be at the airport 2 hours ahead for an international flight. That's going to be very, very difficult to do. Sometimes self-disembarking doesn't even begin until after 8 a.m. I wouldn't book a domestic flight for that early, much less an international one, myself!

[cruisestitch]

jaspersmommy

 

The actual e-mail came from everbridge.com -- as suggested, check your spam box

[Lois R]

Hope it'll be fixed by January. I just booked 10:30am flights out of Ft Lauderdale!

 

We will carry off our own luggage so hopefully it won't be too bad.

 

Hi Susie:).....you are a better woman than I......even with

self disembarkation? I would not attempt a 10:30 flight:eek:...not

with what everyone is saying.....I had a noon flight booked

and changed it to 3:45. Oh, I would not book a 10:30 flight even

if things were going smoothly.

[Andy]

Now, if Celebrity could just sail one out of Pt Canaveral.........

 

And they'd have the same problems there too. Long delays are being reported at most every US Cruise port. My guess is, unless the sequestration issues somehow resolves itself, it will continue to create a great deal of unhappiness for both Cruise lines, and passengers.

[nijh]

DW actually moved behind the immigration guy as he processed us. He was staring at a blank screen, tapping his keyboard until sufficient time had passed whereupon he stamped the passport.

 

Obviously they're working slow to make a point - shame its at our expense.

 

Welcome to America. :-(

[Kevnzworld]

I would like to hear from others to hear how quickly the agents are processing passengers vs before the sequester. They should avoid unnecessary conversation, and focus on processing passengers as quickly as possible ..

( like that's going to happen! )

[alcpa1]

As a friend's experience Monday off the Infinity proved.....go over your Custom's allowance with onboard purchases and you get priority disembarkation!!!! They beat us to the door by at least 30 minutes.

I truly think it's a combo of all cruise lines and our government at work (or not so much....) Our last domestic disembarkation was not on Celebrity and we had the same issues. Don't call numbers 25-41 from the Captain's Club lounge at the same time you are sending so many groups from other staging areas.

In days gone by there were porters everywhere...Monday only a few.

Luggage Valet was offered. It's great when available and we'd have used it if we had planned on flying out on disembarkation day, but it won't help much with the lines for C & I.

Frequent cruisers would never recommend a 10:30 flight. If it's BA you're in the same small terminal with Delta and the lines have NEVER been short since TSA was instituted.

[c-legs]

SusieV -- an international flight? 10:30? That doesn't seem like a wise move. You should be at the airport 2 hours ahead for an international flight. That's going to be very, very difficult to do. Sometimes self-disembarking doesn't even begin until after 8 a.m. I wouldn't book a domestic flight for that early, much less an international one, myself!

 

Waterloo.ON is transborder, NOT international !!!

10;30am is still way too early for sanity and comfort.

[kenorus]

Hope it'll be fixed by January. I just booked 10:30am flights out of Ft Lauderdale!

 

We will carry off our own luggage so hopefully it won't be too bad.

I would change your flight time. Hal will tell you after 12 even that is pushing it. You will probably miss your flight! We flew air canada and it took us over 1 hour to get through customs and security and we were first off the ship. Some people who walked off at 7.15 did not get off the ship till after 9.

[Schmoe38]

Hope it'll be fixed by January. I just booked 10:30am flights out of Ft Lauderdale!

 

We will carry off our own luggage so hopefully it won't be too bad.

When we sailed Eclipse in December 2012, we had booked a flight from FLL to Detroit at 11:15am. We chose self disembarkation thinking that would help us meet this time frame. We were delayed leaving the ship and I can tell you that tempers were getting really short as we waited to get off. There were many in line who had booked flights for 10:20am. Now, we were lucky in that we were able to pass through customs quickly and get a cab right away. We were at FLL airport at 9:15am. Listening to the experiences since that time, we will not push our luck with such an early flight in the future unless circumstances improve.

 

Randy

[drk]

We got off the Connie a couple weeks ago in Miami and the customs/immigration guy who processed us seemed to be going very slow punching lots of keys/staring at his screen/etc. Didn't ask us any questions and barely looked at our passports but took 2-3 times longer then usual.

[Kevnzworld]

We got off the Connie a couple weeks ago in Miami and the customs/immigration guy who processed us seemed to be going very slow punching lots of keys/staring at his screen/etc. Didn't ask us any questions and barely looked at our passports but took 2-3 times longer then usual.

 

It's a purposeful and intentional work slowdown. I will say something if the same happens to me.

[chamima]

It's a purposeful and intentional work slowdown. I will say something if the same happens to me.

 

 

 

Kevin

I agree with you that it does seem to be an intentional work slowdown but I don't think it's wise to say something while you're at their mercy. They have the power to make your life temporarily a LOT more miserable than just waiting in a long line.