getting to the port late on embarkation

we are going on the majesty of seas out of Tampa in September and because of work I cant get to the port till 245 and the ship leaves at 4

online it says you have to be there 2 hours ahead? has anyone ran late to the port before? should I call ?

thanks for your help

I don't think a call will do any good, rules are rules when it comes to boarding time.

Due to a flight delay, I once got to the port around 2:30; with the ship leaving at 4. No issue whatsoever boarding. I was also told that we were not the last passengers to arrive and we still had time before we would have had a problem boarding.

Assuming you live and work within driving distance to the port, I would arrive a little earlier on embarkation day, just to be safe - better safe than sorry when it comes to your well-earned vacation! You also never know what to expect as far as traffic and other unexpected events that may occur. I would recommend leaving work a little early, I’m sure they will understand. Have a wonderful time!

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How do you know you will make it to the port at 2:45? Better ask your boss for some extra time off.

I'm wondering if you are pulling our collective leg - this is absolutely the latest I have ever read anybody post about cutting it so close and trying to make it. ;p;p;p

Well, one of my clients is located within 10 min driving distance to a major port and I am told they leave work at 4pm to make 5pm departure on a regular basis.

HOWEVER, I am talking about extremely inexpensive weekend cruises, usually last minute fares, and even if they can’t make it it is not a big deal. And they seem to know the port area and the cruise lines extremely well.

YMMV if it’s a longer and/or more expensive cruise and you are coming from afar.

I don't think a call will do any good, rules are rules when it comes to boarding time.

We made the (VERY bad) decision to drive from our home in Atlanta to Port Canaveral the same day of the cruise (will NEVER do that again), and we hit massive traffic that delayed us a couple of hours. We calculated that, with any luck, we’d arrive at the port a few minutes before departure. We called the cruise line (Carnival) and told them about our predicament. They told us to keep going but that they couldn’t guarantee that the ship would wait for us.

Long story short, we arrived at the terminal around 10 minutes before departure. We pulled right up to the eerily deserted terminal where a lonely agent with a walkie talkie was standing on the sidewalk. She was actually waiting for us. She got on the walkie talkie and said “they are here!” and directed us to the parking garage. We parked as fast as we could and ran into the terminal. We went through the security checkpoint and then agent after agent told us to just keep moving, bypassing the check in counter. One final agent finally took a quick look at our passports and waved us onboard. The ship literally started moving within 5 minutes of our boarding. We hadn’t even been issued our cards!

Apparently our call had reached the right ears and gotten some gears turning in preparation for our arrival. They had done enough in advance to clear us onboard. We were directed to Guest Services once onboard to complete our check-in process, set up our account, and get our cards.

So even though there are definitely rules in place, after our experience I do believe that placing a call to the cruise line if running late (not on purpose obviously) can do a lot of good. If we hadn’t called and alerted them, I’m positive we would’ve missed the cruise.

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we are going on the majesty of seas out of Tampa in September and because of work I cant get to the port till 245 and the ship leaves at 4

 

online it says you have to be there 2 hours ahead? has anyone ran late to the port before? should I call ?

thanks for your help

they won't let you into the terminal at all past the cut off time. in your case, that's probably 230. there is no calling ahead or begging for an exception to policy unless you are flying in the day of on a cruise line arranged flight.

Well, one of my clients is located within 10 min driving distance to a major port and I am told they leave work at 4pm to make 5pm departure on a regular basis.

 

HOWEVER, I am talking about extremely inexpensive weekend cruises, usually last minute fares, and even if they can’t make it it is not a big deal. And they seem to know the port area and the cruise lines extremely well.

 

YMMV if it’s a longer and/or more expensive cruise and you are coming from afar.

I would not believe your client. Official passenger manifests sent off to Immigration and Homeland Security 90 minutes before sailing. If you are not on the list you won't be on the ship. I think the latest official Government deadline is 60 minutes before sailing.

they won't let you into the terminal at all past the cut off time...

 

there is no calling ahead or begging for an exception to policy...

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I would not believe your client. Official passenger manifests sent off to Immigration and Homeland Security 90 minutes before sailing. If you are not on the list you won't be on the ship. I think the latest official Government deadline is 60 minutes before sailing.

I was quite surprised myself. But then I was there one Friday afternoon and one person had her suitcase ready and waiting for her family to pick her up for a ride to the cruise port. I asked her wasn’t she cutting it a little too close and she was like “nah, it’s fine”. She left shortly after 4.

From this thread it looks like people can definitely cut it very close and still make it. But then I wouldn’t do it myself, at least by choice.

Well, one of my clients is located within 10 min driving distance to a major port and I am told they leave work at 4pm to make 5pm departure on a regular basis.

 

HOWEVER, I am talking about extremely inexpensive weekend cruises, usually last minute fares, and even if they can’t make it it is not a big deal. And they seem to know the port area and the cruise lines extremely well.

 

YMMV if it’s a longer and/or more expensive cruise and you are coming from afar.

The rule is manifests MUST go to the government 60 minutes before departure. Not scheduled departure, it's whatever RCI decides it will be.

RCI's rule in the US. You must be ONBOARD 90 minutes before departure.

That does not mean RCI can't delay departure.

I was quite surprised myself. But then I was there one Friday afternoon and one person had her suitcase ready and waiting for her family to pick her up for a ride to the cruise port. I asked her wasn’t she cutting it a little too close and she was like “nah, it’s fine”. She left shortly after 4.

 

From this thread it looks like people can definitely cut it very close and still make it. But then I wouldn’t do it myself, at least by choice.

The ship did not leave at 5PM.

The rule is manifests MUST go to the government 60 minutes before departure. Not scheduled departure, it's whatever RCI decides it will be.

 

RCI's rule in the US. You must be ONBOARD 90 minutes before departure.

 

That does not mean RCI can't delay departure.

Here on CC I read stories about people make it within 60 minutes or even closer but I was under the impression those were exceptions.

What surprised me about that client site they say they all do it on a regular basis and talk about it like it’s nothing.

Here on CC I read stories about people make it within 60 minutes or even closer but I was under the impression those were exceptions.

 

What surprised me about that client site they say they all do it on a regular basis and talk about it like it’s nothing.

Don't know what to say. The US law for Homeland Security is 60 minutes. If some cruise lines assume you'll show up and include you in the manifest, who knows?

Don't know what to say. The US law for Homeland Security is 60 minutes. If some cruise lines assume you'll show up and include you in the manifest, who knows?

Maybe they had all of their forms filled out online and were repeat passengers who have already shown the correct documents?

If some cruise lines assume you'll show up and include you in the manifest, who knows?

I think that this is exactly what happened in our case. When we called and told them that we were running late but that we’d be there shortly before departure, they must’ve added us to the manifest. They were waiting for us. That’s why I think that it’s a good idea to call!

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Why, why would you chance it?

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Lol this is my 27 cruise and have never gone late. I am a new manager and dont want to take off 5 days so i really want to work monday and have everything in place before i go. If it wasnt for my husband wanting to go so bad i would of canceled :rolleyes:

I think i will leave work at 1 and get there at 2

Just because i am now stressed out about being late lol i think i would cry if i saw the ship leave me :eek:

Cannot speak for Tampa but there have been multiple reports on cruise critic from people denied boarding in Miami and Fort Lauderdale when they were just a few minutes late.

We have been on several cruises. A few years ago we we turned on a princess cruise out of Fort Lauderdale. We must have gone on cruises from the port at least 10 times prior. We really needed to get home as early as possible on a that Saturday to attend a party later that evening.

Being “experts” on Port Everglades cruises we thought nothing about Looking a flight that departed at 11 AM. Every other time sailed out of Port Everglades we were always off the ship by 8:30 the latest.

not this time, due to customs not clearing the ship early we didn’t get off the ship until 10 AM when we got to Fort Lauderdale and checked our bags then stood on the longest security line we have ever seen in the airport.

The bottom line is we missed the flight earliest flight we can get on west 6 PM that evening and missed the party. Moral of the story this is what happens when you plan on just making it something always happens.

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