What is "Express Departure"???

[houstontx]

I noticed this on Azamara FAQ page.

Can someone tell me what it is. Have you used it before??

 

We have an early flight out of Miami on debarkation day, that's why I ask.

 

Thx,

Alan (& Regina)

[Xcruiser]

I noticed this on Azamara FAQ page.

Can someone tell me what it is. Have you used it before??

 

We have an early flight out of Miami on debarkation day, that's why I ask.

 

Thx,

Alan (& Regina)

 

The first thing that comes to mind when your ship is sinking:D

 

Really it's when your travel plans require a early debarkation from the ship, first call etc.

[Host Karen]

Hi Alan!

 

They may be referring to when you carry off your own luggage. Rather than putting your bags out the night prior, you request express departure and then you (and your luggage) are either the first or second passenger group off the ship. You should probably check with guest relations once onboard to find out the exact procedure.

 

Karen

[Bodger]

We disembarked the Journey on Oct.27. Azamara had booked horrible return flights (Newark-Montreal-Toronto) for us and I managed to get Air Canada to change it to an earlier direct flight that got us home about nine hours earlier. (Air Canada 1 - Azamara 0)

 

I advised the front desk on boarding. They were unhappy that we had a departure time before 12:30. We got conflicting information about taking our bags off by ourselves. As we had met a couple that we were going to travel home with and they had put there bags out we did the same. My concern was that if we walked off with our luggage they might decide to X-ray it and that would actually delay us further.

 

We were in the first group for departure from the ship. It seemed that almost everyone else was too! I was impressed that there was a disembarkation time (9:05) printed on the coloured tag. This gave one an idea of when you should be ready. Unfortunately this time was missed, possibly due to US immigration and it was about 9:30 that we disembarked.

 

Finding luggage was extremely quick, but I was amazed that there were no taxis waiting at the pier. Fortunately our taxi was driven by someone from the Andretti family and we got to the airport in Newark very quickly, 80 minutes before our flight time.

 

All worked out well, albeit a little tight, but at no time did the term "Express Departure" come up, so while everything worked out I can't directly tell you what it means.

 

Bodger

[Ms. J.]

Hi, Bodger....

 

You may not be able to directly tell what "Express Departure" means, but this was the most entertaining post I've read in a long while! Thanks for the laugh! Jini

[NorthernLite]

We left the Journey on November 10th in Miami. Express anything probably alluded to diving overboard. Our tags said 7:55 and we missed our 12:10 flight to BWI by, well, we were in the gate check line at 12:10. Next flight was at 21:30. Made for a long day. According to some woman with an Immigration/Port of Miami crest on her blazer it appears Journey had to hand carry off every piece of lugggage. How a cruise line can forget the luggage bins or at least to arrange rental of some at the debarkation port is beyond me.

 

Of course with 3 stops in Columbia maybe they assumed all of us old folks were touting home dope and hand searched every bag instead of using dogs...

[nlvc12]

I, too, was on the 10/27 - 11/10/07 Journey. Our departure off of the ship was delayed, as someone said, due to some Immigration problems. We met someone who missed their 11:30 flight. We were in the 3rd or 4th group called (though our flight was at 4:50!**), and we were delayed in getting our luggage (I'll get into that below). Bottom line - I agree that any morning flights are taking a chance of being missed. You may be lucky and you may not...

 

Regarding the Cruise Terminal situation...

 

First of all, in disembarking, all passengers are expected to go down a flight of stairs with their hand luggage. Though not in a wheelchair, I have severe arthritis and have trouble with stairs so I asked for an elevator and was told it was only for wheelchairs.

 

Next, we quickly found our luggage, which is understandable with the lower amount of passengers.

 

However, be prepared to handle all of your luggage yourself. The number of porters was VERY low (maybe 6-8), and there was no organization to how/who they were assigned (to). There were a few empty handcarts which people helped themselves to. This was disallowed, and porters were obliged to intervene when they observed it. In my case, I had finally gotten a porter, and he noticed this situation on the way to my luggage. I had to wait about 20 minutes for him to go through the Customs line with someone else, and then return to me.

 

Next, a young woman from Customs, tried to snag him to help the disabled. What was happening was 'able-bodied' people were standing at the entrance where the porters were, in order to get the services of one. Obviously, the disabled (moreso than I), were not able to fight through the crowds to do the same. She wanted him to walk away from me, initially. Then she wanted him to assign porters to help them, but he wasn't the boss and said she needed to talk to him. Then she told him to go to the front of the line with me so that he'd get back sooner. Both he and I objected, noting that all the people in line in front of us would object if we did as she asked!

 

He came outside with us and there was a long line of taxis and car services. When I saw the situation, I was sorry I hadn't arranged for a car service pickup. However, the porter walked us to the back of the line and helped us get an SUV Taxi, which was able to accomodate all of our luggage. (Many taxis were regular sedans - I had my doubts that they could handle it all.)

 

Lastly, I hadn't heard about the lack of luggage bins, which sounds like a typical screw-up for Azamara. Nice people but some major gaps in communication become evident.

 

**Since our flight was in the late afternoon, I asked how late we could stay on board. I was told 8:30am (though due to the delays, obviously we were on there a good hour after that...), so don't plan on lingering aboard.

 

I'll try to answer questions as I notice them, and will be posting a Negative/Positive list when I find it in my luggage.

 

nlvc

[houstontx]

Thanks for the posts cruisers. It's a nightmare getting out of Ft Lauderdale...I was hoping for a quick & smooth disembarkation in Miami on this small ship.

 

I would be interested in your positive / negative notes when you post them. Thanks.

 

Alan & Regina

[Andy]

Thanks for the posts cruisers. It's a nightmare getting out of Ft Lauderdale...I was hoping for a quick & smooth disembarkation in Miami on this small ship.

 

I would be interested in your positive / negative notes when you post them. Thanks.

 

Alan & Regina

 

Hi Houston !

 

Quest has been using Termimal J in Miami. We found this terminal to be excellent and in its own area. You should have a good embarkation and/or disembarkation there. We only embarked there on our Quest sailing (as the ship was diverted to Tampa on our return), but we found the Miami embarkation process to be wonderful !

 

Interesting comment about Ft Lauderdale, as we have sailed from there dozens of times, and I would say our experiences have been wonderful at least 95% of the time. I feel they do a great job there.

[houstontx]

Hey there Andy,

 

Yea, I was reading your posts when you were on the Quest. I'll bet those waves were really really rocking that little ship when that storm was churning out there. I must say, very glad to not have been on the ship then.

 

We've sailed from Ft Lauderdale two times and both times it was a bad experience. Just too many ships in port at once and too many people. The wait for getting on the ship and off the ship both times was horrible.

 

Don't know if you recognized my handle but we on the Nov 24th sailing of the Quest. The one you were originally on.

 

You leave for the Constellation, I believe, pretty quick?

Have a great cruise and thanks for your feedback.

 

Alan & Regina

[Andy]

Hey there Andy,

 

Yea, I was reading your posts when you were on the Quest. I'll bet those waves were really really rocking that little ship when that storm was churning out there. I must say, very glad to not have been on the ship then.

 

We've sailed from Ft Lauderdale two times and both times it was a bad experience. Just too many ships in port at once and too many people. The wait for getting on the ship and off the ship both times was horrible.

 

Don't know if you recognized my handle but we on the Nov 24th sailing of the Quest. The one you were originally on.

 

You leave for the Constellation, I believe, pretty quick?

Have a great cruise and thanks for your feedback.

 

Alan & Regina

 

Hi Houston !

 

Yes, I did recognize your SN. Quest was a bit rocky as we approached the storm, but considering how rough the seas were, I thought she handled it well.

 

Yes, we are sailing on Constellation this week. We planned this sailing quite some time ago. On the other hand, the Quest sailing was booked only a few months ago. Typically, we wouldnt book 2 cruises so close to each other, but I truly wanted to be one of the first on Quest, and the 11/24 sailing couldnt work for us due to a conflict in our schedule.

 

Sorry to hear you had problems in Ft Lauderdale. I suppose much of it depends how many ships are in port on any given day. Overall, I feel they do a fantastic job there. Hopefully, it will be better for you if you sail of of Ft Lauderdale in the future !

[floridatravelersforlife]

Got off the Quest yesterday 12 Nov. although there was a 45 min delay in the start of debarkation (probably Lisa the dog was taking extra runs down the aisle of bags) we were off the ship and in our car at the parking garage in 20 min. I think express is the fact that Immigration through Miami J teminial is covered by computer processing of manifest lists. There was no immigration officer booth. Just the customs officer checking items for duty. With all the Homeland Security databases, I believe most frequent cruisers like me and my wife are profiled as the good guys.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Got off the Quest yesterday 12 Nov. although there was a 45 min delay in the start of debarkation (probably Lisa the dog was taking extra runs down the aisle of bags) we were off the ship and in our car at the parking garage in 20 min. I think express is the fact that Immigration through Miami J teminial is covered by computer processing of manifest lists. There was no immigration officer booth. Just the customs officer checking items for duty. With all the Homeland Security databases, I believe most frequent cruisers like me and my wife are profiled as the good guys.