Side by side cruisers, I need to know...

[aubreyc1988]

How you get from one terminal to the next?! I have a little storytime for you and more questions

 

Recently, I did my first side by side cruise. First leg was on Independence, second leg was on Freedom. Independence disembarked at terminal G and Freedom was embarking in terminal A. Diamond Concierge AND Guest Services told me there would be a shuttle for me at 8am to catch to terminal A. After disembarking Indy, I asked a porter about the shuttle and he said "It would be around". After waiting for 30 minutes, I asked the porter if it was possible to walk to terminal A. He looked stunned and said "Sure,  but it's a mile walk".  I said "Ok, is it flat and are there sidewalks like this the whole way" and he said "Yeah, totally walkable, just a loooong walk"

 

So at this point I decided yes, I could walk it. I had a small carry-on suitcase and a backpack, but I usually walk 3 miles daily at home so I was not deterred. Plus, had to walk off all that pizza! So I started my trek from G-A. Once I got to terminal D, which was MSC, a porter stopped me asking me if I needed a taxi and I sort of mentioned I was on my way to terminal A. He laughed and said it was so far, take the shuttle. And I asked him how long of a wait for the shuttle and he said "30 min". So I said "it's ok, I'll just walk." then I asked him "Is it possible to walk from D-A, are sidewalks like this the whole way there, I won't encounter a busy road where there isn't pedestrian path" and he said "Oh you can walk it, it's just far" 

 

So again, I decided to continue my trek to terminal A. Once I got to C, a Norwegian terminal, I came across my first roadblock. The sidewalk ended, and it was just a dark parking garage. NCL didn't have a ship in port that day so it seemed pretty deserted. Google Maps seemed pretty confused about what I was supposed to do, and it seemed like my only option was to walk on the side of a busy road that didn't have any pedestrian sidewalks. My walking optimism was gone and just wanted to GET to terminal A, I just gave up and called an Uber to get me the rest of the way to terminal A, LOL!! 

 

SO my question is, IS it really possible to walk to terminal A from terminal G or is a car the only way to get there? I wonder if I could have walked. through the NCL parking garage but it was so dark and I was by myself, I decided it wouldn't be in my best interest to find out in that manner, but I am curious. 🙂 

Edited January 27 by aubreyc1988

[cruiselvr04]

We did this in December and it was a $20 taxi ride.  We asked Royal people outside and no one acknowledged there was even a shuttle. Google did not show it was walkable.

 

Getting to FLL to Miami or other way is actually better.  They will put you a free bus.  It’s a bit irritating that it isn’t handled better but not a huge deal. 

[aubreyc1988]

57 minutes ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We did this in December and it was a $20 taxi ride.  We asked Royal people outside and no one acknowledged there was even a shuttle. Google did not show it was walkable.

 

Getting to FLL to Miami or other way is actually better.  They will put you a free bus.  It’s a bit irritating that it isn’t handled better but not a huge deal. 

wow that is crazy about the free bus. Going forward, I will just take an uber or something from G-A, but it was weird all the port employees insisted it was walkable (even though far) when it actually wasn't. 

 

D concierge and Guest Services INSISTED there was a free shuttle. When I asked how to locate said shuttle in the morning/where to meet it/what time, they said "Oh it will be OBVIOUS". I knew it wasn't going to be obvious and I felt like they were really dismissive onboard about what my plan should be. I would have preferred it if they said: "You will need to take your transport".  Of course, as you know, it was NOT obvious, like I predicted, and who knows if the shuttle even existed anyhow. I certainly didn't want to wait forever. I DO wonder if one could potentially walk through that parking garage, but it just seemed super sketchy to me. 

[Tlbecker1]

4 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

wow that is crazy about the free bus. Going forward, I will just take an uber or something from G-A, but it was weird all the port employees insisted it was walkable (even though far) when it actually wasn't. 

 

D concierge and Guest Services INSISTED there was a free shuttle. When I asked how to locate said shuttle in the morning/where to meet it/what time, they said "Oh it will be OBVIOUS". I knew it wasn't going to be obvious and I felt like they were really dismissive onboard about what my plan should be. I would have preferred it if they said: "You will need to take your transport".  Of course, as you know, it was NOT obvious, like I predicted, and who knows if the shuttle even existed anyhow. I certainly didn't want to wait forever. I DO wonder if one could potentially walk through that parking garage, but it just seemed super sketchy to me. 

We had this same issue.  We got the same “there will be a shuttle,” but it didn’t happen.  After waiting and going back and forth asking about the shuttle, we just called an UBER.

[jam19872016]

I have walked from D to A no problem. There is one spot the sidewalk ends and you have to cross traffic but if I recall correctly it was by a stop sign so traffic should be stopped for you to easily cross.

 

I have never tried from G but if you made it that far, yes you were indeed close to reaching your goal but it can be rather daunting if you are unsure it is possible or not. It is indeed possible as long as you are able bodied because as you mentioned, it is quite a hike.

[catsmit]

We encountered a similar situation in Port Everglades. We had to get from Terminal 18 (Indy) to Terminal 29 (Serenade.) We got the same response onboard the Indy. Take the shuttle, it will be right outside by the other buses, yada, yada. There was no shuttle, no one pier side knew of a shuttle and not walkable. We all but begged one of the bus drivers to drop us off at Terminal 29 on his way out the port area; he was kind enough to do so.

[aubreyc1988]

11 hours ago, jam19872016 said:

I have walked from D to A no problem. There is one spot the sidewalk ends and you have to cross traffic but if I recall correctly it was by a stop sign so traffic should be stopped for you to easily cross.

 

I have never tried from G but if you made it that far, yes you were indeed close to reaching your goal but it can be rather daunting if you are unsure it is possible or not. It is indeed possible as long as you are able bodied because as you mentioned, it is quite a hike.

When was this? I didn't see any spot to cross the street at terminal C. I definitely could have made it if there were sidewalks, but I was not chancing going into that parking garage by myself. In future, I'll just prebook an uber, but it was frustrating about the lack of the promised "Easy to find shuttle" and how it was "totally possible to walk it" but really it wasn't. 

[Jussabitconfused]

We have a similar issue coming up at Port Canaveral where we will be getting off of Allure in terminal 1 and getting on Mariner in terminal 5. I know it is not walkable but I am not sure how to go about getting my family over to 5.

[catsmit]

16 minutes ago, Jussabitconfused said:

We have a similar issue coming up at Port Canaveral where we will be getting off of Allure in terminal 1 and getting on Mariner in terminal 5. I know it is not walkable but I am not sure how to go about getting my family over to 5.

 

I'd hail a cab and make a cash deal and when he hems and haws, remind him, he'll pick up another fare at the Mariner OTS.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

10 hours ago, catsmit said:

We encountered a similar situation in Port Everglades. We had to get from Terminal 18 (Indy) to Terminal 29 (Serenade.) We got the same response onboard the Indy. Take the shuttle, it will be right outside by the other buses, yada, yada. There was no shuttle, no one pier side knew of a shuttle and not walkable. We all but begged one of the bus drivers to drop us off at Terminal 29 on his way out the port area; he was kind enough to do so.

We had a similar transfer when we had a 3-day sail on Liberty and then we moved to the Vision.  I did a live review.  this is What I wrote at the time.

 

"Our transfer was fairly easy. When we were ready to leave the ship, we got our luggage and then went all the way down the front of them terminal to a shuttle desk right beside the suite entrance.
 

DH needs disembarking assistance, so we got to that desk at about 8:25am. (Timing was up to wheelchair assistance.)  Other guests eventually arrived. There were 12 of us total that took the shuttle. It arrived at 9:45am. We had benches, it was in shade and an OK wait. 
 

It ended up being a 55 passenger bus. It was about a 5 to 10 minute drive just around this one inlet. And they let us come into the terminal immediately. We are in a junior suite so now we’re in the suite lounge but others that were in regular cabins were permitted in as well. 

 

It was a pretty seamless process. I would do it again."

[catsmit]

@DragonOfTheSeas Thank you for sharing your experience. What port was this at? Was the shuttle desk inside or outside the terminal as you exited?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

25 minutes ago, catsmit said:

@DragonOfTheSeas Thank you for sharing your experience. What port was this at? Was the shuttle desk inside or outside the terminal as you exited?

This was Fort Lauderdale and the desk was outside, but under an overhang.