Disembarkation process & timing in Port Everglades

We board the Silhouette on Sunday, 2/14 for our first Celebrity cruise ever. We're very excited, and have done our best to educate ourselves about the process. But, the one thing I'm still a little unclear about is the disembarkation procedure and experience in Port Everglades.

I've searched the forum, and have found lots of references to self-disembarkation, and some tales of unpleasant experiences, long waits, etc., associated with the standard disembarkation process. But, I haven't really seen any descriptions of how the standard disembarkation process works, or passengers' recent experiences - other that suite passengers, whom I understand have a special escorted process. We are Aqua Class, but not in a suite.

We have a 12:30 flight out of FLL, so don't feel the need for early self-disembarkation. Plus, we cruise with 2 large suitcases which would make that less than optimal.

Can anyone help me understand the standard disembarkation process for Celebrity at Port Everglades and/or relate any recent experiences?

We are very familiar with Princess' process, which is extremely well organized, but I have read hints that the Celebrity process may be somewhat different. If it were Princess we would just do regular disembarkation and grab a cab to the airport, and probably be there by 9:30 or earlier. Just wondering if we might reasonably expect a similar time frame with Celebrity.

And, yes, I know that timing is variable depending on when the ship arrives, clears customs, and how many customs agents are assigned. I'm just trying to get an idea of the usual process and average timing.

Thanks for any guidance. :)

We board the Silhouette on Sunday, 2/14 for our first Celebrity cruise ever. We're very excited, and have done our best to educate ourselves about the process. But, the one thing I'm still a little unclear about is the disembarkation procedure and experience in Port Everglades.

 

I've searched the forum, and have found lots of references to self-disembarkation, and some tales of unpleasant experiences, long waits, etc., associated with the standard disembarkation process. But, I haven't really seen any descriptions of how the standard disembarkation process works, or passengers' recent experiences - other that suite passengers, whom I understand have a special escorted process. We are Aqua Class, but not in a suite.

 

We have a 12:30 flight out of FLL, so don't feel the need for early self-disembarkation. Plus, we cruise with 2 large suitcases which would make that less than optimal.

 

Can anyone help me understand the standard disembarkation process for Celebrity at Port Everglades and/or relate any recent experiences?

 

We are very familiar with Princess' process, which is extremely well organized, but I have read hints that the Celebrity process may be somewhat different. If it were Princess we would just do regular disembarkation and grab a cab to the airport, and probably be there by 9:30 or earlier. Just wondering if we might reasonably expect a similar time frame with Celebrity.

 

And, yes, I know that timing is variable depending on when the ship arrives, clears customs, and how many customs agents are assigned. I'm just trying to get an idea of the usual process and average timing.

 

Thanks for any guidance. :)

Since you are in Aqua Class you will be assigned to one of the lounges or specialty restaurants. Usually they have coffee and pastries and you just sit and wait until they call you. It is a very relaxed atmosphere, no rushing. At that point you walk off and pick up your luggage, go through customs and you are off. Taxis are waiting outside. It's not really a big deal. The self debarkation can be a hassle because everyone is carrying their luggage and seems to be in a hurry. Your flight is 12:30, should be no problem.

Probably nothing much to add except we used Luggage Valet for our large suitcases (same port, same ship) and were very happy with the service. Could not believe our bags made it home at the same time we did since we flew several weeks ago when planes were all delayed by the massive storm that hit the NE.

You can only sign up onboard (I understand they have to have a minimum number of people sign up to make the service "work.") Would do it again every time if possible.

The biggest variable is US Customs and Immigration. They can be fast or very very slow. Not sure of your concern. It is a short walk from where you pick up your luggage - put outside your cabin before you go to bed - in the terminal building. I agree Luggage Valet is great but it all depends on if people sign up, if your airline participates and your flight time (12:30 is right at the usual cutoff). It is well worth $20pp cost to have your bags simply arrive at your destination and have your boarding passes in hand as you leave the ship.

Once you exit the ship you are on a sidewalk with a canopy outside the terminal waiting to enter the terminal. Once you enter the terminal, you are in another line to wait to be told to get your luggage; then you enter the line to reach the custom agents. Depending how early you get off the ship, I would plan for the process to take 1 hour.

Thanks for the info, everyone. It doesn't sound all that different from Princess. I wasn't actually concerned about it, until I started reading on here that people seemed to be having horrible experiences with disembarking in FL, and waiting in long lines outside in the weather. Seemed odd, but I saw a few references to this.

What you all have described is very much like Princess, with the possible exception that Princess releases people from their designated "departure lounge" in groups and you go immediately to luggage pick-up, then to customs. There is no waiting outside (which does not worry me, particularly).

And yes, I read about the Luggage Valet. Again, Princess has a similar service that we use whenever our flight qualifies. If they service Jetblue and our departure time qualifies, I think we will most likely be doing this as well.

Thanks again for your help. I'm normally not a "worrier" about such things but, as I said, having seen a number of concerning comments about the process, I thought it was worth asking.

Now I can tick off my list one more item I don't have to be concerned about, so I can just enjoy the cruise. :)

We disembarked last Sunday from Silhouette. Our number was one of the last called (we were also in Aqua). After picking our luggage up and standing in the very, very long customs line we were in our taxi to the airport at 10:00. You shouldn't have any trouble with a 12:30 flight. Our's wasn't until 2:15 and we were soooo bored!

I have never had to wait outside in the weather. I think that must have been an exception when something went wrong. Plus people never write about when everything goes right. FYI, my BF and I are on the same cruise on 2/14!!

It's basically the same as what you are familiar with. You fill out the form stating when your flight is and then will be assigned a time that you will be asked to leave. It's all very easy. And since your flight is late, I'd have a leisurely breakfast and then hang out anywhere you want. You don't have to stay in any particular public room. We like to sit in the buffet area or on an outside deck over coffee watching the activities outside and then head to the lounge at disembarkation time.

Maybe what you read about people waiting was for those waiting for a cab. Sometimes, the line can get pretty long. But we have never waited more than 20 min or so.

You are only 15 min from the airport. And with you leaving later, you will have nothing to worry about. have a great cruise!

Thanks for the info, everyone. It doesn't sound all that different from Princess. I wasn't actually concerned about it, until I started reading on here that people seemed to be having horrible experiences with disembarking in FL, and waiting in long lines outside in the weather. Seemed odd, but I saw a few references to this.

 

What you all have described is very much like Princess, with the possible exception that Princess releases people from their designated "departure lounge" in groups and you go immediately to luggage pick-up, then to customs. There is no waiting outside (which does not worry me, particularly).

 

And yes, I read about the Luggage Valet. Again, Princess has a similar service that we use whenever our flight qualifies. If they service Jetblue and our departure time qualifies, I think we will most likely be doing this as well.

 

Thanks again for your help. I'm normally not a "worrier" about such things but, as I said, having seen a number of concerning comments about the process, I thought it was worth asking.

 

Now I can tick off my list one more item I don't have to be concerned about, so I can just enjoy the cruise. :)

The horror stories you heard were a couple of recent embarkations - one where an employee shouted a "joke" that there was a bomb on board. A second where the power went down and nothing could be processed until they got it going again.

The leaving part is TOTALLY dependent on the US Government. They have been late - arriving after 8am, had only 2 agents show up per ship and all sorts of things. And it indeed has gone really really poorly for lots of ships at both MIA and FLL over the last 6 months or so.

There was also something in recent posts about terminal 29 (as I recall) which as I recall is a terminal, not really designed for passengers and was a bad adventure for some. When I read those posts I went to the port FLL website to see which terminals we had for Silhouette, and they were 24 and 25, I also google mapped the port so that I could see what people were talking about...the use of 29 may change apparently depending on who/how many ships is/are in port. You just may want to check.

emelle

Thanks for the info, everyone. It doesn't sound all that different from Princess. I wasn't actually concerned about it, until I started reading on here that people seemed to be having horrible experiences with disembarking in FL, and waiting in long lines outside in the weather. Seemed odd, but I saw a few references to this.

 

What you all have described is very much like Princess, with the possible exception that Princess releases people from their designated "departure lounge" in groups and you go immediately to luggage pick-up, then to customs. There is no waiting outside (which does not worry me, particularly).

 

And yes, I read about the Luggage Valet. Again, Princess has a similar service that we use whenever our flight qualifies. If they service Jetblue and our departure time qualifies, I think we will most likely be doing this as well.

 

Thanks again for your help. I'm normally not a "worrier" about such things but, as I said, having seen a number of concerning comments about the process, I thought it was worth asking.

 

Now I can tick off my list one more item I don't have to be concerned about, so I can just enjoy the cruise. :)

We sail mostly on Princess and Celebrity and the disembarkation process is really quite similar on the two lines. I might mention that we have been in Aqua Class before on Celebrity and the disembarkation lounge was nothing close to relaxing ... as a matter of fact, not a seat to be found and had to find a spot on the edge of a planter box just to sit down. I am sure this was an anomaly ... but the same thing happens on Princess if they put the elite disembarkation lounge in the Explorer's Lounge.

Anyhow, I second using the luggage valet if it is available for Jet Blue. Your flight time certainly lends itself to using it. Have fun on your cruise.

Disembarked Silhouette on Jan 24th in Port Everglades. We were part of a large group and were scheduled to depart at 0800 hrs. They finally called our number at 0830 hrs. We left the ship and walked to the waiting area. It took over one hour to get to where the luggage was waiting. The people who left the ship after us waited outside for over one hour, at least we were under cover. It was cool and raining when we left the ship. We found our luggage quickly and then waited for over 45 mins for the custom agents. They only had 3 customs agents and things were moving very slowly. It was almost 1100 hrs when we got to our transport bus.

The Ft. Lauderdale is airport is only 10-15 mins from the port by taxi. Even if your disembarkation is as slow as ours was you would still be able to make your flight.

On Jan 17 Silhouette cruise, we were assigned to the theater 9:30, since we weren't flying home the same day. We had to vacate our cabin by 8, so we headed up to the OceanView cafe for a leisurely breakfast and then to the theater. We were released from the theater on time, but were stuck in the stairwell for 30 minutes as passengers bottle necked from the elevators and other decks.

That wasn't the worst part. It took over two hours to process through the understaffed cruise terminals. I'm not exaggerating. There were 6 or 7 large (Carnival, Princess, Norwegian, Hal...) cruise ships in port, as is typical on Sundays. I have no idea why they aren't better prepared for the influx. There were three agents assigned to our terminal and they had to have their breaks, so sometimes two.more

From there, we queued in the taxi line, which was organized by two young men from the cab company, who did a pretty good job of keeping everyone in line and getting us on cabs and shuttles.

Valet service is available from Ft Lauderdale on many airlines, for $20 pp, you can park your luggage outside your cabin the night before and you won't see it again until you collect it at your home airport. They'll also print up your boarding pass and deliver it to your cabin.

*ETA - JetBlue is one of the airlines that participates in this program.

Good news, it took us less than fifteen minutes to board the Silhouette.

But, the one thing I'm still a little unclear about is the disembarkation procedure and experience in Port Everglades.

 

I recently sailed on two X cruises in Aqua Class within the past 10 months. Both out of Port Everglades. My disembarkation experiences were pretty straight forward. Waited in Customs line prolly about 30 minutes.

Transportation to FLL is quick & easy, too.

As previously mentioned, you may enjoy breakfast in Blu & then wait in your designated lounge area.

This last time, we hung out in the bar that's near the Blu after breakfast. It is comfy & was deserted, of course. And it was closer to the exit than our designated lounge.

... It took over one hour to get to where the luggage was waiting. The people who left the ship after us waited outside for over one hour, at least we were under cover. It was cool and raining when we left the ship. We found our luggage quickly and then waited for over 45 mins for the custom agents. They only had 3 customs agents and things were moving very slowly. It was almost 1100 hrs when we got to our transport bus.

...

That is exactly why we always do self disembarkation (and if others can't do that I would highly recommend to get in the first group of regular disembarkers)...

If you leave the ship early, the backups likely haven't happened yet and you get out before the madness.

I would rather get off the ship and get to airport (or wherever else you are going), and then have a "leisurely breakfast or meal), than have that leisure time on the ship and then have to wait in long backed up lines!

There was also something in recent posts about terminal 29 (as I recall) which as I recall is a terminal, not really designed for passengers and was a bad adventure for some. When I read those posts I went to the port FLL website to see which terminals we had for Silhouette, and they were 24 and 25, I also google mapped the port so that I could see what people were talking about...the use of 29 may change apparently depending on who/how many ships is/are in port. You just may want to check.

 

emelle

Please be aware that on our disembarkation on the Silhouette on Jan 24th that while the arriving passengers were embarking at terminal 25 the disembarking passengers were going through another terminal, not sure of the # but this is what caused the long walk outside in the unseasonably cold, 45f weather for over an hour that was described above.

Disembarked Silhouette on Jan 24th in Port Everglades. We were part of a large group and were scheduled to depart at 0800 hrs. They finally called our number at 0830 hrs. We left the ship and walked to the waiting area. It took over one hour to get to where the luggage was waiting. The people who left the ship after us waited outside for over one hour, at least we were under cover. It was cool and raining when we left the ship. We found our luggage quickly and then waited for over 45 mins for the custom agents. They only had 3 customs agents and things were moving very slowly. It was almost 1100 hrs when we got to our transport bus.

 

The Ft. Lauderdale is airport is only 10-15 mins from the port by taxi. Even if your disembarkation is as slow as ours was you would still be able to make your flight.

We were on this cruise and were some of the last people off the ship, the reports of being in line, outside, for well over an hour are no exaggeration.

The best advice I could give is do luggage valet and get off early.

In almost 30 cruises I have never experienced such a long disembarkation.

We disembarked the Silhouette on Jan 24 also, and it was the worst disembarkation we've ever experienced in Port Everglades. Our group was called about 40 minutes late, we waited about an hour outside in the cold, and once inside, the line moved very slowly. Thankfully we have Global Entry, which cut down our inside wait time tremendously because once we had our luggage, we were able to bypass the regular line.

Again, I sincerely thank you all for your responses. The diversity of experiences has been very interesting, and demonstrated that I was not completely crazy for asking what would otherwise have seemed a simple question. This all has been extremely helpful for my planning purposes. No one wants to end a good vacation on a bad note.

I think I will do as several have suggested: if Luggage Concierge is offered for our flight (several sources, including here, suggest that Jetblue participates), we will do that and then do self-disembarkation. If it's not offered, it still sounds like we should make it to the airport in plenty of time; we'll just make sure to have our "standing in line shoes" on. ;)

We disembarked the Silhouette on Jan 24 also, and it was the worst disembarkation we've ever experienced in Port Everglades. Our group was called about 40 minutes late, we waited about an hour outside in the cold, and once inside, the line moved very slowly. Thankfully we have Global Entry, which cut down our inside wait time tremendously because once we had our luggage, we were able to bypass the regular line.

I keep meaning to look into Global Entry. We have TSA Pre-Check, but as often as we cruise and otherwise travel internationally, Global Entry might be well worth the extra expense.

One final question in this regard: Is information about signing up for Luggage Concierge delivered to staterooms (such as Princess does), or should we be pro-active and go to guest services to ask about it early on?

Thanks again for all your helpful input!

We asked the concierge about it first day or so and she had the forms delivered to our suite. We returned them to her for processing. I would be proactive if I were you--not knowing when "they" decide if there are enough people to make it a "go" or not.

emelle

Last time we came into Ft Lauderdale, those with Global Entry went along the right side to a shorter line (which also had wheel chairs and handicapped. Probably saved them 20-40 minutes after getting luggage. We didn't have it, so just shuffled along. Cab wait was maybe 10 minutes at most. Flight was a 1, so had plenty of time after checking bags and going through security.

If you travel a lot, Global Entry probably worth it for convenience.

We asked the concierge about it first day or so and she had the forms delivered to our suite. We returned them to her for processing. I would be proactive if I were you--not knowing when "they" decide if there are enough people to make it a "go" or not.

 

emelle

One quick additional point, we did the Silhouette two years ago and the walk was quite long to get off the ship. I was three months out of Open Heart Surgery and it turned out to be a little tough. Don't know if you're using the same terminal.

We board the Silhouette on Sunday, 2/14 for our first Celebrity cruise ever. :)

Hello 5:00_Somewhere and SoxFanCruiser,

Welcome to the Celebrity board!

Hope you have a wonderful time on the Silhouette. Please post your thoughts on Solstice class on X vs. Royal class on Princess when you get back. While the Princess ships were nice, we liked the Celebrity product much more, although we did miss the International Cafe.

Given the frigid weather forecast here in Boston for the weekend, you are wise to be leaving town. :D

One quick additional point, we did the Silhouette two years ago and the walk was quite long to get off the ship. I was three months out of Open Heart Surgery and it turned out to be a little tough. Don't know if you're using the same terminal.

For anyone who has difficulty walking long distances or even standing in long slow moving lines, it can be beneficial to use the wheelchair service provided, even though it may cause a delay needing to wait before they take you off the ship.

I went through this with my own mother who stubbornly refused to use a wheelchair for years, even though she almost passed out while standing in line a few times.

She kept insisting that the wheelchairs are for disabled people, not for able-bodied people like her who are able to walk, despite needing to stop and rest to get her breath about every 100 feet along the way.

She was very aware of the people who abuse the system and use wheelchairs when they don't really need them, so she never wanted to be considered one of them.

Traveling with her was always an ordeal.

Even though we would leave early to allow extra time, we almost missed our flight a couple of times because she was so slow on the long walks through airports when we had to get to the last gate out at the end of a concourse.

(That old corollary to Murphy's Law - - when you have plenty of time to make a connection, your connecting gate will be right next door, but when you have a tight connection, your gate will be at the far end of another concourse or even in a different terminal.)

But after she finally relented and agreed to use a wheelchair one time, she was amazed at the difference it made. After that she kept saying "How could I have been so foolish for so long."

This is what we do for self-disembarkation, and we normally sail in suites. First, we have never been escorted or even really come into contact with our stateroom attendant or butler on our disembarkation morning.

We like to self-disembark as if we're flying out of FLL we usually have about a 10:10 nonstop 90 minute flight home. We can be in our house in south La. right after lunch.

So.... you have to be able to carry everything yourself. If you need to do stairs in tandem it's ok. We've handled a set of golf clubs, two large suitcases, and up to 3 carry-ons. You will sign up and they'll give you a time to show up in a particular location. Whatever that time is, say it's 7:30 - go down with all your luggage at 6:45.

Typically they'll have you line up your suitcases to hold your place in line. Go ahead and do that. We don't worry too much about breakfast on those days. We might alternate getting a muffin or something at Cafe' al Bacio. If you do this, you'll be early off the ship, among the first handful really. If you have to go up or down a flight, try not to use the elevator unless you're standing right next to it. Just take the cases down in tandem. Usually you'll disembark on that same level that you lined up on.

You'll pass through the process and normally you'll get through pretty fast. I suggest not pre-arranging transportation. Just come out of the terminal and grab a taxi. They'll be there, particularly if you're one of the first off.

We have often been in the airport by 8:00. That's where we take a few minutes to breathe and enjoy a beverage and a bagel or something.