New Embarcation Lounge in Ft. Lauderdale

[Host CJSKIDS]

8 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Thanks for your detailed report.  I hope we get more of these because your experience sounds much worse than the earlier reports from last Winter/Spring when it started.

 

I think it is stupid of them to shuttle over small groups when they have space for more.  All they do is hold you back from getting onto the ship.  If I were there, I'd want to be shuttled over before boarding began.  I'd wait in the lounge upstairs at that point.  I think it is very poor to have this "special" service and location and then be very inefficient with getting the folks onto the ship. 

 

Also, why can't they let the GO Lounge group onto the ship ahead of others, like they used to do with wedding parties and the old BVE group?  (I know, why would I advocate to let people onto the ship ahead of me...LOL?).  Doesn't matter if they get on ahead if they have had a jump at Sanctuary at the GO.

 

It is also terribly inefficient to have the lounge host contact the Suite Concierge who in turn is supposed to communicate with the Sanctuary or Dine Line.  Sure, many of these hosts are top service employees, but to put these requests aside shows a complete lack of understanding of product demand.  Also, the more people involved in the chain, means the details may not even get to the Sanctuary properly as to chair type and location request.  IMO, it should be interactive so that the lounge host is speaking with the Sanctuary rep who has the map and can advise availability.  I'd be mad as a hatter if that happened to me.

 

 

All excellent points. 

[dog]

20 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

So, we arrived at the Go Lounge around 10:15. It is outside of Port Everglades on 17th Street two buildings before the famous Walgreens. The door is not facing the street so if traveling by foot walk down the driveway and you will see the entrance on the back. 

 

We walked in and they took our luggage and gave us a tour of the small place. There were probably 15-20 people already there with couches and chairs to sit on. A nice spread of food was in the middle including fruits, cheeses, meats, little sandwiches and desserts. I think the spread was better than Celebrity’s pre-embarkation lounge at FLL. 

 

The host came over and took our passports to process and was back within a couple of minutes. They she asked if we wanted to make any reservations for the specialty dinning, spa or Sanctuary.  We said yes we would like 3 people for the Sanctuary, all day, for all three sea days. We were worried about asking for 3 of us together and she said no problem and her biggest challenge yet was a group of 10 asking to sit together. She said that our request shouldn’t be a problem. She typed our request into her handheld device and said “done, anything else?”  We also asked to move one of our specialty restaurant reservations to a different day and add one more. All for seating at 8(ish). Since we didn’t want to eat Crown Grill and Sabatinis on consecutive nights we had plane B if they couldn’t move our one current reservation.  She stopped us and said that we will put this in implying that it wouldn’t be a problem and consider it done. 

 

From there we enjoyed the quiet relaxing lounge away from all the hustle and bustle of the cruise terminal. We snacked on some food, had some alcohol free drinks and began a nice conversation about the coming week. Very quiet and relaxing atmosphere. 

 

About 10:50, the host approached a group of four and told them that they were ready to take them to the terminal. It was a nice black coach van that sat roughly 10 people comfortably, I think. The host then approached a second group and said they were next once the van came back. That they don’t like to crowd the van for everyone’s comfort. The turnaround time was probably 10 minutes and the next group went. The turn around time kept getting longer and longer. We were the 5th group to go and were on the shuttle at 11:45. They should have more people go at once or have two vans alternating like the tenders to Princess Cays. Note:  One couple did come after us but that was it for those using the lounge. And they didn’t take our group of three and the couple at the same time. Again, just one party at a time. And it was (I assume) in the order that you arrived).

 

When we got to terminal 2 we could see why the shuttle took longer and longer. The shuttle was in the same traffic as everyone else showing up including that big circle around the parking lot where the shuttles sit on disembarkation. So we waited. They should have allowed us to park in that shuttle lot or diverted us somewhere to avoid the traffic. Anyway, once we made the big loop we immediately pulled to the right and was parked right in front of the steps (that are roped off) in front of the entrance. (People dropping off luggage passed us and pulled farther ahead). 

 

There was someone waiting for us there and they escorted us up the steps (or ramp right there if we needed it) and right past everyone. Think of the “Disney line” roped path that makes you walk back and forth. We walked right the front of the line and they opened the rope for us to go through. (None of the lines were super long but it was still nice to skip them). That escort then handed us off to the next person always making sure that there we 3 of us and we were sticking together. 

 

Now we were in the building and time for security. While every walked straight ahead to the end of the (small) room to then turn right and get in a security line, we took an immediate right (again moving the ropes for us and us only) and went to the closest luggage scanner. There was only one person ahead of us in line.  She met us on the other side and walk us to the processing area with blue lane folks to the left and green lane folks to the right. Before we got to those lines and the folks with the little check in pads, we again took and immediately right, she moved the rope and we were standing in front of the domed arch that is the way to the ship.  We heard “Have a great cruise!” And walked on the ship (up the escalator and gangway) and were onboard. (Not sure what would have happened if they hadn’t started boarding yet.). We were on board by 12:10 with the longest time spent waiting in the traffic. 

We would totally do it again!

 

(I think I already explained the Sanctuary debacle and trying to put that out of my head!  But don’t count on getting any benefit to Sanctuary access through the Go Lounge or stress that they need to call the actual place and not just relay your desire to the Suite Concierge.)

Thanks for taking the time to share. I will probably skip this if invited , as I have a Suite on the Sun with use of the Signature Sun Deck and prefer to choose my time to go over to the terminal.

[Hlitner]

We boarded the Sky last Saturday.  Are simply Elite with Green Lane.  Took an Uber to the port at 10:35 and was on the ship at 10:56 (DW looked at her watch). Embarkation was so easy and fast we could not imagine that VIP lounge thing worthwhile except for the Red Eye folks who need somewhere to go.

 

Hank

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

8 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We boarded the Sky last Saturday.  Are simply Elite with Green Lane.  Took an Uber to the port at 10:35 and was on the ship at 10:56 (DW looked at her watch). Embarkation was so easy and fast we could not imagine that VIP lounge thing worthwhile except for the Red Eye folks who need somewhere to go.

 

Hank

Agreed. Took one for the Cruise Critic team and let you all know what it was like.  

[New England Gal]

How far in advance were you invited to the lounge?

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

They call you something like 2 weeks before but they don't leave a message.  And they don't call back.  So if you they don't get you the first time I guess you are out of luck.  We raised it to our Cruise Vacation Planner the week of our cruise and she was able to get us added to the list 2 days before the cruise (the day before we were flying out).

[worldtraveller]

We leave on Saturday and got the call last night.

[cajuncruisecouple]

We are booked in a suite on the Caribbean Princess at the end of next month.  We leave the house and drive to the port about 5am on the day of embarkation. (I know - many people don't recommend this, but it works for us)   I wonder if the lounge is even offered to those driving to the port.  And since it is not located inside the port, this may not be a good option for us anyway, since we would need to park the car at the terminal. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

It would not be worth it for you.  You would be going backwards. 

[Roberto256]

8 hours ago, cajuncruisecouple said:

We leave the house and drive to the port about 5am on the day of embarkation.

What do you do for the 5+ hours before boarding starts?

 

On of the strangest things I have seen...

One couple brought lawn chairs, and sat down outside the entry door around 09:00,

so they would be 'first'.

I don't know what you then do with your lawn chair...

[cajuncruisecouple]

7 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

What do you do for the 5+ hours before boarding starts?

We don't arrive at 5am - We leave our house at 5am to arrive at the port between 10-10:30am.  Haven't cruised Princess lately, but have been cruising with Celebrity, and our timing seems perfect.  We drop off luggage, park, check in and walk on the ship with very little wait.  

[skynight]

1 hour ago, cajuncruisecouple said:

We don't arrive at 5am - We leave our house at 5am to arrive at the port between 10-10:30am.  Haven't cruised Princess lately, but have been cruising with Celebrity, and our timing seems perfect.  We drop off luggage, park, check in and walk on the ship with very little wait.  

Very much the same timing. Boarding usually begins around 11am or so.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

2 hours ago, cajuncruisecouple said:

We don't arrive at 5am - We leave our house at 5am to arrive at the port between 10-10:30am.  Haven't cruised Princess lately, but have been cruising with Celebrity, and our timing seems perfect.  We drop off luggage, park, check in and walk on the ship with very little wait.  

Yeah, no need for the Go Lounge then. 

[Roberto256]

Just now, cajuncruisecouple said:

We don't arrive at 5am - We leave our house at 5am to arrive at the port between 10-10:30am.  Haven't cruised Princess lately, but have been cruising with Celebrity, and our timing seems perfect.  We drop off luggage, park, check in and walk on the ship with very little wait.  

Ah.  Thank you.

[ggprincess2004]

We did get the invitation, and we did give it a try for our embarkation on the Enchanted. First, it was pouring rain that day, and we were able to stay under cover completely. 

We arrived about 9:15 and were the second couple there. The two concierges on duty were wonderful and welcoming. They tagged our luggage, which was already fully tagged, but perhaps it had something to do with the priority of delivery? No idea for sure. 

Also, we do not have our medallions shipped, we always plan to pick them up at the pier, as we tend to fly in a number of days ahead. Anyway, they completed our check in for us, and had the shore side staff retrieve our medallions for us - we were handed them in the lounge.

No booze, but plenty of non alcoholic beverages and a nice little brunchy spread of food from which to choose. It was quite relaxing, actually.

Our luggage was taken over to the port in a Meredes van, we did not see it again until it got to our room. We did not have to verify that it was in the hands of the porters or anything like that. It was simply whisked away at the entry to the lounge and appeared in our suite. 

There were apparently very long embarkation lines at the pier and the traffic line was long as well, so the concierges decided to wait a bit after embarkation began to shuttle the first group over. They took 4 of us at about 11:30, and yes, those lines were absolutely the longest i have ever, ever seen in over 90 cruises on Princess, and the traffic back up was to the entry to the port. The ship was apparently sailing with over 3700 passengers, lots of kids since a holiday sailing. The stated capacity is around 3600.

Anyway, once we got inside the port area, they even had a way to jump the traffic line by moving some traffic cones, Two Princess reps escorted us through security, jumping the rope lines, and then a "back way" to the boarding line, putting us immediately at the Medallion reader entrance to the ship. All in all, quite a nice little experience. I will gladly accept future invitations to the GO lounge, much more enjoyable than standing in line for security and then in line to board. I did not observe any dirty looks from people standing in line, when we were officially "gypped in". It was only 4 people, maybe they deliberately do small groups at a time to avoid such issues.

We were on board before noon. The concierge in the GO lounge handled our restaurant and 360 booking, by communicating with the on board concierge. Our reservations were confirmed to us about 10 minutes after our request. And the on board concierge greeted us when we dropped by for a latte after lunch, telling us he remembered making our dining reservations. So, the reservations you want to make early, are at the mercy of the on board concierge doing his or her job, but they really did it for us. 

The whole experience was very positive. 

Edited January 1 by ggprincess2004

[Steelers36]

7 minutes ago, ggprincess2004 said:

We did get the invitation, and we did give it a try for our embarkation on the Enchanted.

 

 

The whole experience was very positive. 

This is a great way to treat Suite guests considering what is paid for the voyage.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I’m glad you were able to cut the traffic line too as that was a cluster for us when we did it. Glad they are improving the process. 

[pool_lounger]

We were invited to the Go Lounge before boarding the Caribbean Princess at the end of December 2023. We received a call the day before the cruise (Thanks to reading earlier postings, I was sure to answer any phone calls from Carnival/Princess.)

This was an overall great experience. We drove to Florida, so after we unloaded our luggage at the Go Lounge, my husband parked our car in the Terminal parking, and the concierge arranged for transport back to the lounge. 

The concierge set up reservations for the Sanctuary, Crown Grill, and the spa. All of which worked out just as they confirmed it would. 

The lounge is very comfortable- including non-alcoholic beverages, sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and desserts. They have space to charge your technology too. 

We were the first group to arrive, so we had the first transfer over to the terminal. The transportation is a gorgeously equipped sprinter-type van. We had planned on picking up our medallions at the terminal, and our concierge had already called ahead, so that another employee met our van with our medallions- amazing!
One of the Concierges rode with us, and she arranged for our family to basically cut through the lines- which was the only awkward part of the experience, because they basically moved stanchion dividers so we could cut across the midsection of the embarkation lines. 

Our luggage was among the last to be delivered... but we just headed to dinner in our travel clothes- no problem. 

I would definitely do this again if invited! We asked about why we were invited- and they said it was a random selection from suite guest reservations. 

Edited January 15 by pool_lounger

[Mary Kelly]

Thanks for all the great information. We just received our email today inviting us to the Go lounge in Fort Lauderdale for our Regal Princess TA sailing on April 5th. I asked if they could make our Sanctuary Reservations and they said they could. So we will see how this goes. I am cautiously optimistic. I’ll report back after our experience and let you know how it goes. This is a first for us with the Go Lounge. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Be sure to press them on your sanctuary reservations. Make sure they do they immediately 

[Mary Kelly]

Good advice. Thank you. 

[jmelnick]

Sailing on Sunday.  Still haven't gotten "the call". Oh well. Just as long as we get on board, all will be well.

[marcoigna]

16 hours ago, Mary Kelly said:

Thanks for all the great information. We just received our email today inviting us to the Go lounge in Fort Lauderdale for our Regal Princess TA sailing on April 5th. I asked if they could make our Sanctuary Reservations and they said they could. So we will see how this goes. I am cautiously optimistic. I’ll report back after our experience and let you know how it goes. This is a first for us with the Go Lounge. 

Good day

 

We did the Go Lounge on our recent Sky Princess Cruise - lovely, and very VIP, almost ridiculous but was fantastic, after dropped off at Pier we were on the ship in less than 2 minutes cutting every single line along the way.  I can assure you that they will book the Sanctuary for you - We had them book 2 days in a Cabana and was confirmed.  When on board, we went to look at the Sanctuary and he confirmed our reservation and even showed us the Cabanas that were reserved for us.....fantastic - 

 

That being said, we were disappointed in the service in the Santuary and would not pay for this again.

 

We are excited about our reservation on the new Sun Princess, in a suite, which includes access the the Santuary for no fee - not going to argue FREE!  and better yet, is aft on the Ship which is where it should be to cut the wind issue.  - 

 

Enjoy the Go Lounge, - I still do not understand the concept and why they do it, as there is great waste as you will see... but enjoy - we did!!!!

[Mary Kelly]

Thank you so much. Good to hear about the sanctuary reservations. 
 

We are also going to be on the Sun in a suite (Barcelona to Rome) June 1st. We are also excited about the Sun Sanctuary on the Aft. 
 

We have had outstanding to mediocre service in the Sanctuary. I think it all depends on the management. On the Enchanted, we had the absolute best experience. A woman named Alice was in charge and she did a fantastic job. On the Sapphire, the service was definitely mediocre. The staff spent more time on their phones than they did working. Very disappointing. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

3 hours ago, jmelnick said:

Sailing on Sunday.  Still haven't gotten "the call". Oh well. Just as long as we get on board, all will be well.

Do you have a Princess Cruise Vacation Planner. Call them. They can get you on the list.