Magic Reposition to Miami what time can you board

[phoneman69]

My upcoming May 2020 Magic cruise out of Miami looks like a reposition cruise for the ship. Dropping off passengers in Fort Lauderdale to end their cruise then moving to Miami were I will be boarding. Ship is not scheduled to depart Miami until 9pm. So my question is what time will i be able to board the ship? Has anyone gone threw this and know how long it takes. No sense in flying in early or getting a room for the night if i cant board until 2pm? Who wants to sit in a terminal all morning waiting on the ship.

[jbethel11]

1 hour ago, phoneman69 said:

No sense in flying in early or getting a room for the night if i cant board until 2pm?

Not really. If you fly in the day of, what happens if your flight gets delayed, or worse yet, cancelled? If you have loyalty with a hotel brand (Hilton for me) they can give you complimentary late-checkout, which is usually between 12pm and 1pm anyway.

[Garth2]

You won't be able to pick the earliest arrival appointment until 90 days prior to the cruise so it might be a good idea to call Carnival.  The earliest is usually 11:30 for the standard 4:00 departure.

[kings2001]

We are on this sailing and somebody on our cruise group on social media called Carnival regarding this and was told that the first boarding group would be at 2:30pm.

[JaxsMama]

I would still fly in the day before and choose a hotel that will do a late check out, even if for a fee. If you end up with a really late check in time you could do a day use room at the hotel and then hang out, swim etc.  I've had a flight canceled before tho and drove and barely made the ship so I only do day before. 

[phoneman69]

4 hours ago, kings2001 said:

We are on this sailing and somebody on our cruise group on social media called Carnival regarding this and was told that the first boarding group would be at 2:30pm.

Thank you for this info. Makes looking at travel plans (flights ) easier to book. No need to get up at 4am for a 6:30am flight to MIA that arrives at 9:30 to only wait around a terminal until 2:30pm. can sleep in and take a later flight that still arrives in plenty of time with backups in case AA has an issue.

[lasvegascruising]

So funny you ask this question.  I just went on the Magic when is repositioned to Fort Lauderdale from Miami(May 5 1019).  We received a boarding time of 4-4:30pm but headed over to Port Everglades about 2pm from the hotel we stayed at.  We were on the ship about 3:30pm.  The very best part of this was that cabins were ready.  We took all of our luggage(didn't give one piece to the porters)and went straight to our cabin.  We had one large piece and two carry on(the airplane type of carry on).  My husband rolled the large piece and one carry on and I rolled the other carry on.  It was a small pain and I kind of felt funny bringing so many pieces on with us but in the end, it was great having all our luggage with us and in the room right away.  After dropping it all off and meeting our cabin steward, we went out for drinks and lunch.  We didn't have to go back to our room to see if luggage had arrived.  I thought I would not like leaving port until 9pm but it didn't bother me at all.  I heard some folks complaining that they got ripped off for a whole day due to the fact we were not leaving until 9pm but I thought to myself they should have read the itinerary closer.  I too thought I could have just arrived that day from Las Vegas but it was not worth the worry for me.  We would have had plenty of time if we left Las Vegas on a early, early flight to Fort Lauderdale since all aboard time was 8pm.  We came in the day before and requested a late check out which was 1pm.  It worked out perfect.  The morning of the cruise, we walked around and then hopped on a $1 shuttle bus they have in Fort Lauderdale.  I will say that our flight to Fort Lauderdale the day before did have some delays.  We left Las Vegas and as we were getting close to Florida there were storms and the pilot told us they were holding off landings.  Our flight was Las Vegas or Orlando and then onto Fort Lauderdale.  Once we landed in Orlando, more delays due to storms.  You might want to consider this since you too are coming to Florida in May.

[lasvegascruising]

OOPS, May 5 2019 not the year 1019!!  My typing is bad, Las Vegas TO Orlando and onto Fort Lauderdale.

[phoneman69]

46 minutes ago, lasvegascruising said:

So funny you ask this question.  I just went on the Magic when is repositioned to Fort Lauderdale from Miami(May 5 1019).  We received a boarding time of 4-4:30pm but headed over to Port Everglades about 2pm from the hotel we stayed at.  We were on the ship about 3:30pm.  The very best part of this was that cabins were ready.  We took all of our luggage(didn't give one piece to the porters)and went straight to our cabin.  We had one large piece and two carry on(the airplane type of carry on).  My husband rolled the large piece and one carry on and I rolled the other carry on.  It was a small pain and I kind of felt funny bringing so many pieces on with us but in the end, it was great having all our luggage with us and in the room right away.  After dropping it all off and meeting our cabin steward, we went out for drinks and lunch.  We didn't have to go back to our room to see if luggage had arrived.  I thought I would not like leaving port until 9pm but it didn't bother me at all.  I heard some folks complaining that they got ripped off for a whole day due to the fact we were not leaving until 9pm but I thought to myself they should have read the itinerary closer.  I too thought I could have just arrived that day from Las Vegas but it was not worth the worry for me.  We would have had plenty of time if we left Las Vegas on a early, early flight to Fort Lauderdale since all aboard time was 8pm.  We came in the day before and requested a late check out which was 1pm.  It worked out perfect.  The morning of the cruise, we walked around and then hopped on a $1 shuttle bus they have in Fort Lauderdale.  I will say that our flight to Fort Lauderdale the day before did have some delays.  We left Las Vegas and as we were getting close to Florida there were storms and the pilot told us they were holding off landings.  Our flight was Las Vegas or Orlando and then onto Fort Lauderdale.  Once we landed in Orlando, more delays due to storms.  You might want to consider this since you too are coming to Florida in May.

Thank you for the info. If i may ask how did they handle Life boat drill while still in port or did they have it after departing at 9pm ? We have booked early dinner 6pm will that still happen on time?

Thank you

[phoneman69]

48 minutes ago, lasvegascruising said:

OOPS, May 5 2019 not the year 1019!!  My typing is bad, Las Vegas TO Orlando and onto Fort Lauderdale.

No problem our flight would be non stop from Boston as AA has multiple flights to MIA everyday.

[phoneman69]

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[lasvegascruising]

It was anytime dining for all guests on embark day.  I don't remember what time we did muster drill and our location was in the main showroom on the bottom level.

[lasvegascruising]

One other thing, if I remember correctly dinner was from 5:30 to 7:30.  I think it was closed after 7:30pm so all guests could attend muster.  I will say I was a little worried that embark day would be not good due to getting on the ship later than normal and leaving at 9pm but it turned out to be wonderful.  I had no issues at all.  As a matter of fact, I usually get to the port as soon as I can and try to get on the ship as early as possible but I am now thinking about planning my arrival so that it happens at about 1:30pm when cabins are ready.  Taking all our luggage straight to our cabin was really nice.  I do not buy faster to the fun for the privilege of it, too costly for me.