Beward of Terminal 29 at Ft. Lauderdale

[burrma]

Hope you realize Chief Joe ; cabs to port and to airport plus hotels are higher priced in MIA and fewer flights so usually more expensive to and from MIA. Enjoy!

Edited January 15, 2016 by burrma

[DannyS]

I was also on this cruise, and agree that the process was the worst boarding I've ever seen. It took so long to board that for the first time in my 20+ cruises, my cabin was ready when I boarded the ship(!)

 

The set up of 29 is such that the same room is used for embarkation and customs/immigration. Thus nobody was allowed into the building until everyone from the previous cruise was through customs.

 

In 19 (and most other terminals) the processes happen on different floors. Embarkation is upstairs, Customs is downstairs, so the people who show up at 10AM can be processed and waiting for clearance to board. This time, the 10AM crew was lined up outside and processing of boarding passengers didn't start until everyone from the previous cruise was through customs.

 

That said, Security did an amazing job of keeping people calm and moving the lines out of traffic. The women walking around handing out free bottles of water were friendly and gracious. I saw a lot of people helping their fellow passengers by assisting in bottle water distribution.

 

One half of the couple in front of me had recently had hip replacement surgery and couldn't stand. They talked to a Celebrity rep, and he was taken to an area where he could sit. His wife waited in line, and he joined her when she got to the front.

 

It was crappy, but complaining wouldn't do anything anyway. It was what it was. As I said to the people around me, "In 10 days, we'll have forgotten this ever happened."

[DannyS]

Also, there isn't much advice for future cruises, as this VERY rarely happens. Equinox usually sails on Fridays and Mondays, when 19 is available. This cruise was an oddity because New Year's Day fell on a Friday and no cruises begin or end on New Year's Day. (Too much money is made on New Years Eve! How lame would the parties be if everyone had to be out by 8AM New Year's Day?)

 

As a result of the timing of New Year's, Equinox's schedule was adjusted to sail on a Saturday - when Oasis has 19. Independence of the Seas was also in port, so as the smallest of the RCI ships, Equinox got the smallest terminal that RCI has at Port Everglades. Equinox certainly won't be at 29 again this season. Maybe it will happen again on January 2, 2017? Or around Christmas?

[Flafun888]

We are sailing on March 27th on the Silhouette. I appreciate the heads up on Terminal 29 given on this thread. I will prepare for the debacle at Terminal 29 and hope that the problem is solved prior to my sailing.

 

I'm on that sailing as well...we leave on a Sun. Would you know if that's the assigned terminal for both departure and arrival? :eek: Or is that info not known until closer to sail date? I looked on my docs and online, but couldn't find specific terminal info.

[Islandbuoy]

U can debate all u want about who was responsible, but the situation ultimately reflected on Celeb & Royal.

 

We sat at muster with several "first time on celeb" cruisers and it certainly left a bad impression.

 

Things happen, but royal management had known which ships would be there that day for at least a year. They had plenty of time to plan to handle the situation.

 

Can't blame the workers on the ship, who were saddled with all the grumpy cruisers. Blame those people back in HQ.

 

Just my HO!

[Iamcruzin]

Fort Lauderdale terminal is a nightmare for any cruise line. It's only going to get worse as the ships get larger and carry more passengers. The CC members on the Princess board have experienced the same issues.

[chief joe]

Hope you realize Chief Joe ; cabs to port and to airport plus hotels are higher priced in MIA and fewer flights so usually more expensive to and from MIA. Enjoy!

 

Yes if i had to flyin but i drive down and stay 3 or 4 hrs north of miami and drive in morning of departure and park in garage which is cheaper than flying.

[Saturngrl]

I'm on that sailing as well...we leave on a Sun. Would you know if that's the assigned terminal for both departure and arrival? :eek: Or is that info not known until closer to sail date? I looked on my docs and online, but couldn't find specific terminal info.

 

 

According to Port Everglades' ship schedule, the Silhouette sails out of Terminal 25. The ship schedule is available via Port Everglades' website. I'll be on the ship February 14th and can't wait!

 

Terminal 29 is currently regularly used for one small RC ship, one day a week. Otherwise, it's assigned to cargo ships. Hope this helps.

[Flafun888]

According to Port Everglades' ship schedule, the Silhouette sails out of Terminal 25. The ship schedule is available via Port Everglades' website. I'll be on the ship February 14th and can't wait!

 

Terminal 29 is currently regularly used for one small RC ship, one day a week. Otherwise, it's assigned to cargo ships. Hope this helps.

 

Big help, Saturngrl: thank you. I must have missed it when I was on PEG website. It's Easter Sunday and probably busy, so hopefully we won't be bumped into dreaded Terminal 29. (Starting to sound like a good name for a horror flick!):D

Edited January 15, 2016 by Flafun888

[HokiePoq]

Also, there isn't much advice for future cruises, as this VERY rarely happens. Equinox usually sails on Fridays and Mondays, when 19 is available. This cruise was an oddity because New Year's Day fell on a Friday and no cruises begin or end on New Year's Day. (Too much money is made on New Years Eve! How lame would the parties be if everyone had to be out by 8AM New Year's Day?)

 

As a result of the timing of New Year's, Equinox's schedule was adjusted to sail on a Saturday - when Oasis has 19. Independence of the Seas was also in port, so as the smallest of the RCI ships, Equinox got the smallest terminal that RCI has at Port Everglades. Equinox certainly won't be at 29 again this season. Maybe it will happen again on January 2, 2017? Or around Christmas?

 

Thanks for the explanation. I'd already decided never to cruise this week again...and that was before the foot pain from the three hours' standing. Hotel costs were way more than the other two times we sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale. We ended up in a place I wasn't crazy about but it was the only reasonably priced park and cruise deal we could find. Figured we could tolerate a rundown room (as long as no bed bugs and there weren't any) for one night.

[HokiePoq]

According to Port Everglades' ship schedule, the Silhouette sails out of Terminal 25. The ship schedule is available via Port Everglades' website. I'll be on the ship February 14th and can't wait!

 

Terminal 29 is currently regularly used for one small RC ship, one day a week. Otherwise, it's assigned to cargo ships. Hope this helps.

 

This is very helpful. Do you know which RCCL ship sails out of 29?

[HokiePoq]

The port is responsible for the terminal issues. We sailed on Regent two years ago from Ft. Lauderdale and had the exact same experience. The previous Regent Cruise had sailed from South America and customs did not allow passengers to start the disembarkation process until 10:00am. We waited for over two hours in line prior to boarding. Regent was at the mercy of government officials as well as the local terminal operation. The cruise lines don't want their passengers to be subjected to this treatment as the experience was poor for both the disembarking and embarking passengers.

 

We are sailing on March 27th on the Silhouette. I appreciate the heads up on Terminal 29 given on this thread. I will prepare for the debacle at Terminal 29 and hope that the problem is solved prior to my sailing.

 

Hopefully you won't have any trouble this time. I'm thinking your Regent cruise was from another terminal? Actually I can't see that it's the port's fault...but from what has been explained in this particular case, it's that the number of ships RCCL had in port that day necessitated one ship getting the undesirable terminal that they rent. I can see that terminal for cargo ships as an earlier poster informed us....will not sail on whatever ship goes out of there routinely. Any port can have problems like you mention with Regent sailing. I posted about a time noro caused a CDC inspection of every debarking passenger on the cruise before us on another line. In that terminal in Miami we waited in comfortable chairs for way less time. We had debarkation delayed at San Diego on a third line and had to literally run for the gate at the airport. Fortunately it was only a short cab ride from the port. (Yes, we could have had a later flight but the 11 a.m. one was the only direct flight to our area and had about half the time enroute.) Difficult customs causes problems there...not the fault of the cruise line or the port. If we'd known about this ahead of time, we might have stayed an additional night in San Diego.

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

Edited January 15, 2016 by HokiePoq

[HokiePoq]

So what do some of you recommend. We are departing on a Friday - only ship departing that day. Would you still advise arriving late? We are flexible but would want to avoid standing for hours.

 

I think you'll be fine if there are so few ships in port that day. Only time on any line (X in Santiago) we have not waited in any line at all was the time our land tour group arrived about 15 minutes before the muster drill. After reading the helpful explanations from previous posters, it seems the number of ships due to the holiday sailings caused this problem. I am also now wondering if the reason so few people were checking passengers in is because RCCL/X have a finite pool of land based employees who do this and the Equinox got the short end of the stick on that as well. Don't know that but it would explain the relatively small number of people checking passengers in that day.

[Cindy]

I just checked the Port Everglades calendar for my Equinox cruise in March, and I'm pretty sure I'm "safe" from Terminal 29. We're one of 4 ships on the Monday we depart, with the Connie and two Princess ships. I'm going to assume the Equinox will get Terminal 18 since it's the bigger ship. On the Friday we return we'll be the only real ship in port (with a Bahamas ferry). Maybe we can park wherever we want!;)

[Nashna]

Hopefully you won't have any trouble this time. I'm thinking your Regent cruise was from another terminal? Actually I can't see that it's the port's fault...but from what has been explained in this particular case, it's that the number of ships RCCL had in port that day necessitated one ship getting the undesirable terminal that they rent. I can see that terminal for cargo ships as an earlier poster informed us....will not sail on whatever ship goes out of there routinely. Any port can have problems like you mention with Regent sailing. I posted about a time noro caused a CDC inspection of every debarking passenger on the cruise before us on another line. In that terminal in Miami we waited in comfortable chairs for way less time. We had debarkation delayed at San Diego on a third line and had to literally run for the gate at the airport. Fortunately it was only a short cab ride from the port. (Yes, we could have had a later flight but the 11 a.m. one was the only direct flight to our area and had about half the time enroute.) Difficult customs causes problems there...not the fault of the cruise line or the port. If we'd known about this ahead of time, we might have stayed an additional night in San Diego.

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

 

Only one Regent ship was sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale. I do not recall the terminal number...just that we needed to wait for the entire ship to disembark before we could enter the terminal check in area. The issue was customs and immigration doing a major inspection of the ship after a 60 day sail around South America.

 

Having retired after 30 years in the travel industry, I can tell you that the travel experience during Christmas, New Years & Spring Break is typically as bad as it gets. When you consider the cost is at its highest and flights, hotels, and cruises are filled to capacity, this is a recipe for disaster. I always advised my clients to avoid the holidays at all cost. For those who can't avoid taking their vacations during holiday time, please plan for the crowds you will encounter.

[Nashna]

I'm on that sailing as well...we leave on a Sun. Would you know if that's the assigned terminal for both departure and arrival? :eek: Or is that info not known until closer to sail date? I looked on my docs and online, but couldn't find specific terminal info.

 

It looks like we should be fine for our embarkation. I'll check closer to our sailing to make sure we are not at the dreaded Terminal 29. I typically arrive around 1130am for our sailings, if we were to be assigned that terminal, I would just plan my arrival for a later hour. When we first started sailing (many years ago) it was customary to wait in line for an hour upon arrival at the terminal. For the last 15 years, (with the exception of that Regent experience and a Queen Mary sailing in NYC when a credible threat was received and we waited for three hours until security cleared us to board) we have always boarded quickly. The chances are excellent that we will board quickly on the Silhouette as the big Spring break sailing is actually the prior week.

[HokiePoq]

Only one Regent ship was sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale. I do not recall the terminal number...just that we needed to wait for the entire ship to disembark before we could enter the terminal check in area. The issue was customs and immigration doing a major inspection of the ship after a 60 day sail around South America.

 

Having retired after 30 years in the travel industry, I can tell you that the travel experience during Christmas, New Years & Spring Break is typically as bad as it gets. When you consider the cost is at its highest and flights, hotels, and cruises are filled to capacity, this is a recipe for disaster. I always advised my clients to avoid the holidays at all cost. For those who can't avoid taking their vacations during holiday time, please plan for the crowds you will encounter.

 

Great advice for all, thanks! This was the first and last time we've been this close to a holiday. Our travel friends picked the date and we didn't realize the implications until we started to book a hotel.

[hcat]

True.. altho our criuse fare was reasonable, hotels for Port Ev were very hi..we stayed with grandma

 

Next winter our EQ cruise is later in Jan...just beyond holiday time...maybe better rates, better pier assgnent and less boarding stress!

[Gordoncruickshank]

Every Celbrity cruise that we have been on out of port Everglades at the weekend has embarked at terminal 25 which is ok. The problem is that they disembark through terminal 22/24 so everyone has to walk the full length of the ship on an uncovered walkway to reach that terminal. Princess usually use 21 and Hal have used 26 and 29. Silhouette left from 25 two years ago and returned to same berth but disembarkation was through 22/24.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Gordoncruickshank

[notsomadhatter]

So what do some of you recommend. We are departing on a Friday - only ship departing that day. Would you still advise arriving late? We are flexible but would want to avoid standing for hours.

 

 

We arrived late (not many people behind us) and still stood in line for hours. We had our carry on bags with us at muster. No time to go to the room.

[Nashna]

I think you should be fine arriving at the time that Celebrity advised you to which is indicated in your documents. That is what I intend to do.

[Kirsten T]

We were also on the January 2 departure from Terminal 29. Weekends mean RCCL uses Terminal 18, so we knew it wouldn't be the usual easy check-in. Checked the PEG schedule to find out where we'd be - ugh. 29 is out least favorite terminal both in location and size. We decided to arrive early rather than late, got there 11ish and joined the queue outside the terminal. X staff were apologizing to us for the wait; said they'd had more than 900 foreign nationals on the prior cruise and they were still clearing US Customs and Immigration at 11:30. According to staff we spoke with, they also had a lot of new check-in clerks (we had one) so the actual check-in process was slower than normal. (But as someone mentioned, having passports, credit card and a filled out express pass ready to go would have helped a lot of people.) It took us about 90 minutes from arrival to boarding, and judging from the line we saw an hour later from the Oceanview, that was pretty speedy. 29 is just a terrible passenger terminal, but we figured there wasn't anything we could do but make the best of it. We did feel bad for older folks having to stand out in the hot sun for a long time, then stand some more inside. Our experience was that the staff did the best they could given it's a very small terminal set up more for cargo than people. Disembarkation at Terminal 18, for us, went very smoothly and took only 20 minutes from walking off the ship to getting a taxi.

[SuiteTraveler]

For those who cannot stand for long periods of time, there are carry on bags that are designed to meet this need with an integrated seat. Here is an example:

 

 

http://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Bags/WalkinBag-ZipCart-Lite-Carry-on-Rolling-Upright-w-Seat/6101995/product.html

 

In regards to the diabetic person, besides having a carry on bag with a seat, they would also be well-advised to always carry an appropriate pre-packaged snack regardless of if they are traveling or if they are just in their own town. Especially when traveling, you must always assume that it may not be possible to get a snack if you need it and should therefore always be prepared because sometimes you just can't predict what will happen.

[HokiePoq]

For those who cannot stand for long periods of time, there are carry on bags that are designed to meet this need with an integrated seat. Here is an example:

 

 

http://www.overstock.com/Luggage-Bags/WalkinBag-ZipCart-Lite-Carry-on-Rolling-Upright-w-Seat/6101995/product.html

 

In regards to the diabetic person, besides having a carry on bag with a seat, they would also be well-advised to always carry an appropriate pre-packaged snack regardless of if they are traveling or if they are just in their own town. Especially when traveling, you must always assume that it may not be possible to get a snack if you need it and should therefore always be prepared because sometimes you just can't predict what will happen.

 

Good suggestions, thanks. Have never seen a carry on with a seat. Will look at that! Didn't think I'd need my cane with a chair and it would have been hard to manage pulling two suitcases. Good idea.

[HokiePoq]

We arrived late (not many people behind us) and still stood in line for hours. We had our carry on bags with us at muster. No time to go to the room.

 

Thanks for the info. Now I know that coming later as someone suggested would not have helped at all. We came about the time we were told to (11:30 as opposed to 12) and that didn't work, either.