"Live" Enchanted Princess, 26 Days, Nov 12th to Dec 8th, Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale (+ Madrid Pre-Cruise)

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, nv2hogs said:

@LACruiser88 it was nice meeting you and Debbie and we will see you again on the Majestic for SA or somewhere sooner....have an enjoyable journey home...

Mike and Margarete

 

one journey ends and another begins soon.....

It was a pleasure, safe travels home! 🙂

[LACruiser88]

Good morning Ft Lauderdale!

 

[Host CJSKIDS]

Welcome home!  

[LACruiser88]

Getting off the ship was a bit of a cluster.  We finally made it curbside by 10 am.

 

Well folks that's it for us.  Thank you for following along.  Until the next journey.

 

¡Adiós!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JGmf]

1 hour ago, LACruiser88 said:

Getting off the ship was a bit of a cluster

 

@LACruiser88 can you explain why you think it was backed-up like that?  Did you self-embark with your own luggage or leave the ship in the later groups?

 

(Asking b/c I'm testing the notion that I can make an early FLL flight after my cruise in February)...

[LACruiser88]

39 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

@LACruiser88 can you explain why you think it was backed-up like that?  Did you self-embark with your own luggage or leave the ship in the later groups?

 

(Asking b/c I'm testing the notion that I can make an early FLL flight after my cruise in February)...

Our assigned meet time was at 8:20 and we had to collect our luggage in the terminal.

 

The delay was definitely because the ship was entering the U.S. for the first time since spending the season in Europe.  We have experienced this several times in the past on TA's.

 

The entire crew had to go thru a passport/visa inspection in the terminal.  They had 3 lanes dedicated for the crew.

 

 

 

Edited December 8, 2023 by LACruiser88

[hllwdcruiser]

We were delayed boarding. It was supposed to be 10:30 and it was closer to 11:30.  We did get to enjoy priority boarding due to our status. The line was long when we got to the port, but green line moved quickly and then we were ushered into the priority lounge. So priority boarding does still exist!

[Ombud]

1 hour ago, JGmf said:

 

@LACruiser88 can you explain why you think it was backed-up like that?  Did you self-embark with your own luggage or leave the ship in the later groups?

 

(Asking b/c I'm testing the notion that I can make an early FLL flight after my cruise in February)...

Facial recognition and global were down. Then the announcement that I-95 was closed in both directions! But at least border security was in a good mood. Nothing like going Old School

[Kmkub]

I95 wasn't closed for us. We were off ship by 7:30 and home by 8:30. Getting a porter is the way to go.  They have their own lane. We breezed through customs in 10 minutes.

[EDVM96]

7 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

The delay was definitely because the ship was entering the U.S. for the first time since spending the season in Europe.  We have experienced this several times in the past on TA's.

 

The entire crew had to go thru a passport/visa inspection in the terminal.  They had 3 lanes dedicated for the crew.

Does Port Everglades have Global Entry?

[EDVM96]

6 hours ago, Ombud said:

Facial recognition and global were down. 

Ah, got it.

[fannym123]

8 hours ago, JGmf said:

 

@LACruiser88 can you explain why you think it was backed-up like that?  Did you self-embark with your own luggage or leave the ship in the later groups?

 

(Asking b/c I'm testing the notion that I can make an early FLL flight after my cruise in February)...

@JGmf we walked off the ship with our own luggage this morning as our flight was 11:20am to Canada (international flight). Left ship at 7:20, 35-40 mins wait to go through immigration. Took taxi and arrived  FLL airport at 8:20 am. Just give you some idea on the timing.

[fannym123]

7 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

Does Port Everglades have Global Entry?

Not at terminal 2

[Yehootu]

5 hours ago, Kmkub said:

Getting a porter is the way to go.  They have their own lane. We breezed through customs in 10 minutes.

That's good to know, the Porters weren't to happy when we disembarked the Regal on 10/24. No porter line! The fun part was watching as people who had gotten off earlier than there ticket time were forced to wait for their bags, even though the bags were out. They were trying to keep it organized.

[dog]

Saw a fb post by Leanne Ward- has Gonzalez luggage at her hotel. See post at Princess Passenger forum.

[MissP22]

9 hours ago, fannym123 said:

Not at terminal 2

They used to.

Maybe that discontinued after the facial recognition began?

[Ombud]

Still trying to get out of Fort Lauderdale. Hope today's flight goes. Changing back to United

 

As to I95. Just repeated what we were told. Google it for yesterday morning

[dockhl]

19 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Still trying to get out of Fort Lauderdale. Hope today's flight goes. Changing back to United

 

As to I95. Just repeated what we were told. Google it for yesterday morning

What happened to your flight?

[Ombud]

@dockhl after 3 maintenance crews tried to close the rear door (unsuccessfully) it was canceled.  Then Alaska rebooked everyone on a flight into SeaTac arriving at 1am but failed to notify anyone, I would've taken it & spent today in Seattle.  Love Seattle.  Looking at a screen saying I could've even laid over in Portland (OR). Ah well. I'm back at the airport off to a 3 hr layover at O'Hara.  With the same Xmas songs playing (over & over as nauseum) for a flight leaving in 4 hrs. Worst experience ever. No games on yet just 1 sound track. Hoping that changes soon -- 

[dockhl]

2 minutes ago, Ombud said:

@dockhl after 3 maintenance crews tried to close the rear door (unsuccessfully) it was canceled.  Then Alaska rebooked everyone on a flight into SeaTac arriving at 1am but failed to notify anyone, I would've taken it & spent today in Seattle.  Love Seattle.  Looking at a screen saying I could've even laid over in Portland (OR). Ah well. I'm back at the airport off to a 3 hr layover at O'Hara.  With the same Xmas songs playing (over & over as nauseum) for a flight leaving in 4 hrs. Worst experience ever. No games on yet just 1 sound track. Hoping that changes soon -- 

Oh man, I am sorry. That is horrible.

 

[dockhl]

4 minutes ago, Ombud said:

@dockhl after 3 maintenance crews tried to close the rear door (unsuccessfully) it was canceled.  Then Alaska rebooked everyone on a flight into SeaTac arriving at 1am but failed to notify anyone, I would've taken it & spent today in Seattle.  Love Seattle.  Looking at a screen saying I could've even laid over in Portland (OR). Ah well. I'm back at the airport off to a 3 hr layover at O'Hara.  With the same Xmas songs playing (over & over as nauseum) for a flight leaving in 4 hrs. Worst experience ever. No games on yet just 1 sound track. Hoping that changes soon -- 

Oh man, I am sorry. That is horrible.....sorry, inadvertant repost. (Is there no way to undo it/delete it?)

 

Edited December 9, 2023 by dockhl

[LACruiser88]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

Still trying to get out of Fort Lauderdale. Hope today's flight goes. Changing back to United

 

As to I95. Just repeated what we were told. Google it for yesterday morning

FWIW, we stopped flying out of Ft Lauderdale years ago.  We only fly out of Miami.  So many more non-stop flights to the west coast and it's only 20 minutes away from the port.

 

Hope your flight works out today!

[mistyPA]

11 hours ago, fannym123 said:

@JGmf we walked off the ship with our own luggage this morning as our flight was 11:20am to Canada (international flight). Left ship at 7:20, 35-40 mins wait to go through immigration. Took taxi and arrived  FLL airport at 8:20 am. Just give you some idea on the timing.

That's great to know as we have an early flight out when we cruise. Our flight is 957 am. Hopefully things will go as smoothly for us.

[StartrainDD]

Sorry to hear of everyone's troubles getting out.  We left the ship at 7:35, waited 40 minutes for customs to take our photo (didn't even look at our passports).  It was the Florida Turnpike that was closed about an hour North of FLL due to a tanker truck explosion.

 

Our driver takes the Express Lanes of I-95 and we were home at 10:30.  We did have some slow going, likely added 20 minutes to the trip.

 

We very much enjoyed the cruise.  I submitted my review and will post the link here once posted.

[GonzoWCS]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:19 PM, hllwdcruiser said:

We were delayed boarding. It was supposed to be 10:30 and it was closer to 11:30.  We did get to enjoy priority boarding due to our status. The line was long when we got to the port, but green line moved quickly and then we were ushered into the priority lounge. So priority boarding does still exist!

Thanks for the update!

 

Cheers