Equinox Port of Miami check-in question

for recent Equinox cruisers - what time were you allowed to enter the terminal building in Miami to go through security and check-in? I know boarding typically starts around 1130-noon.

We may arrive around 10:15-10:30ish due to transportation arrangements from FLL area hotel. Don't want to be standing outside waiting with all the chaos and humidity.

10:00 - 10:30 will be fine as they will start boarding around 11:00. You will be able to enter the terminal once you drop off your luggage. The people still exiting the terminal at that time come out from a an exit that is separate from the entrance and the departure transportation area is also separate from the arrival area. And by that time very few people are still departing. That is typically when we arrive for our Celebrity / RCI cruises and was about the time we arrived for Equinox last July.

You should be fine.. We arrived a little after 10 and it seemed like the chaos had all ended (not so much for the other ships disembarking, they still had lots of ppl).. was able to get on around 10:45

I'm sailing Equinox out of PortMiami three weeks from today...

When I booked this cruise at the beginning of the year, the invoice indicated that check-in would occur from 10:30 until 2:00 for a 3:30 sail-away... My final invoice--following final payment in September--changed the check-in period so as to start at 11:00 AM and end at 2:30 PM in anticipation of the same 3:30 sail-away...

If you have a final invoice in Celebrity format [some travel agents use their own], the anticipated check-in period will be printed just above the summary itinerary for your cruise... Sometimes [have sailed out of PortMiami quite a few times]--but not always--I have seen check-in start just a bit earlier [and, now and then, just a bit later] than published...

Surely you should be able to drop-off your luggage with a curb-side porter before check-in begins and you may be able to line-up for entry to the terminal for security/check-in before those processes start... That said, I don't recall that there is much--if any--seating outside the terminal or in the terminal until after one passes both the security and check-in areas... Equinox may or may not be available for immediate boarding once you have completed security/check-in but generally the process begins by 11:00 or 11:30...

Arrive early? Sure... But be prepared to stand... I live locally--eight miles south of Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale and nineteen miles north of PortMiami--and have personally timed my transfer [traffic can sometimes be heavy even on Saturday morning] on 2 December so as to arrive at PortMiami between 11:00 and 11:15...

Hope this is helpful... Enjoy your cruise!

I'm sailing Equinox out of PortMiami three weeks from today...

 

When I booked this cruise at the beginning of the year, the invoice indicated that check-in would occur from 10:30 until 2:00 for a 3:30 sail-away... My final invoice--following final payment in September--changed the check-in period so as to start at 11:00 AM and end at 2:30 PM in anticipation of the same 3:30 sail-away...

I would question this 2:30 arrival for a 3:30 departure - and certainly wouldn't follow this time - as every cruise we've been on you had to be on board at least 90 minutes prior to departure for manifest submissions reasons. Arrive after that and you will be denied boarding unless it is due to a cruise booked transportation delay, at which point they will delay departure to accommodate.

In over 25 years of cruising we have always arrived at the departure port between 10:00 and 11:00 and never had an issue with having to wait outside. Typically the suggested check in times are guidelines only.

Hi, we just got off Equinox last Monday. On the morning of our embarkation we arrived at the terminal building at 9.45am and it was chaos ( our fault as too early ), Our info said embarkation was 11-3. Amidst the chaos a lovely porter took our cases and we went for a coffee to a local cafe a 2 minute walk from the chaos.We returned at 10.30 and it was calm and quiet. We walked straight into the terminal building and were on the ship by 11am. My advice would be to aim to arrive for 10.30. Hope this helps but I suppose it will vary .You will have a great holiday we loved it.

I should have said the chaos was due to people getting off the ship not getting on it

I would question this 2:30 arrival for a 3:30 departure - and certainly wouldn't follow this time - as every cruise we've been on you had to be on board at least 90 minutes prior to departure for manifest submissions reasons. Arrive after that and you will be denied boarding unless it is due to a cruise booked transportation delay, at which point they will delay departure to accommodate.

From their wacky website:

"Please note Xpress Pass guests (checked-in online) whose cruise departs from ports in the United States are required to be at the pier and checked-in no later than 60 minutes prior to the published sailing time or you may not be permitted to board. For a cruise that departs from other ports not in the United States, please review your travel documents carefully for your boarding time."

Hope people read their documents an don't go by the website info.

From their wacky website:

"Please note Xpress Pass guests (checked-in online) whose cruise departs from ports in the United States are required to be at the pier and checked-in no later than 60 minutes prior to the published sailing time or you may not be permitted to board. For a cruise that departs from other ports not in the United States, please review your travel documents carefully for your boarding time."

 

 

Hope people read their documents an don't go by the website info.

Well I still wouldn't trust it - we've always been told 90 minutes. Besides, as per my original post we are always at the terminal by 11:00, so for us that point is moot. :)

I would question this 2:30 arrival for a 3:30 departure - and certainly wouldn't follow this time - as every cruise we've been on you had to be on board at least 90 minutes prior to departure for manifest submissions reasons. Arrive after that and you will be denied boarding unless it is due to a cruise booked transportation delay, at which point they will delay departure to accommodate.

 

In over 25 years of cruising we have always arrived at the departure port between 10:00 and 11:00 and never had an issue with having to wait outside. Typically the suggested check in times are guidelines only.

I've completed 36 ocean cruises [30 Celebrity, 5 Azamara, 1 Royal Caribbean]--with 395 days at sea--since March 2009... So I'm not new to the rodeo either...

I wouldn't personally arrive at 2:30 for a 3:30 scheduled departure either but the check-in guidelines I cited are consistent with Celebrity's published advice relative to my 2 December cruise--I'm looking at them [and as noted in my earlier post; the timing was adjusted by a half hour from what was initially published]--and are seemingly consistent [with very little margin for error] with TSA guidelines relative to manifest submission prior to ship departure; they're published here on Cruise Critic and have been updated within the last month...

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=47

You are correct; oftentimes the security/check-in/boarding processes starts early... But there are also times--I've had it occur six/seven times out of Florida---in which things have been seriously delayed [once by more than three hours; the terminal at Port Everglades could not accommodate all of the guests who were waiting; hundreds were milling about outdoors] as a consequence of late ship arrival due to weather or mechanical problems, surprise inspections [by ICE, CDC and/or The Coast Guard beyond those that typically occur after a ship's return following an extended absence from US waters], last-minute or pre-scheduled maintenance/repairs that needs to be accomplished between cruises, gangway problems, reprovisioning delays, medical emergencies, police activity, and security breeches... Lots of possibilities beyond cruise-booked transport delays [and yes, I've seen that one too--years ago--when sailing Cunard]...

Guidelines are indeed guidelines... But sometimes they don't work to the advantage of those eager to check-in/board... All I'm saying is that one needs to be prepared for such eventualities--no matter how unlikely--and that issues can/do spring up at the last possible moment; one thing certain--at least in my experience--is that the ship isn't apt to leave early on embarkation day [sometimes occurs a bit early at intermediate ports if all expected are aboard]...

I've completed 36 ocean cruises [30 Celebrity, 5 Azamara, 1 Royal Caribbean]--with 395 days at sea--since March 2009... So I'm not new to the rodeo either...

 

I wouldn't personally arrive at 2:30 for a 3:30 scheduled departure either but the check-in guidelines I cited are consistent with Celebrity's published advice relative to my 2 December cruise

Wasn't suggesting you weren't an experienced cruiser - just was indicating our experience with arrival times. To be fair, perhaps the 60 minute / 90 minute time frame may be cruise line specific and most of our experience has been with RCI where their policy definitely is 90 minutes on board prior to departure. Maybe with Celebrity it is 60 and we've not been aware as we are always on board prior to noon.

That being said we board early as, first, day 1 starts with embarkation and, second, to board later in the afternoon - especially that close to departure - would not only interrupt our time on board but would have me uncomfortable cutting it that close. So we clearly are aligned with that! :)

Hi, we just got off Equinox last Monday. On the morning of our embarkation we arrived at the terminal building at 9.45am and it was chaos ( our fault as too early ), Our info said embarkation was 11-3. Amidst the chaos a lovely porter took our cases and we went for a coffee to a local cafe a 2 minute walk from the chaos.We returned at 10.30 and it was calm and quiet. We walked straight into the terminal building and were on the ship by 11am. My advice would be to aim to arrive for 10.30. Hope this helps but I suppose it will vary .You will have a great holiday we loved it.

A local cafe, a two-minute walk away? I can't picture that -- not at Miami nor at Port Everglades.

Well, maybe if you were at the furthest north docks at Port Everglades.

September 25th sailing, we arrived at 10:30am; only 1 or 2 couples in front of us in the Elite line and made it on board about 10:45 - would have been a few minutes earlier but the Celebrity had misplaced some of the paper work for the couple with us and we had to wait for them to complete their check in.

Note: both couples were in Aqua and we were able to board along with Suites and Concierge before other passengers. I am sure the others started boarding at least by 11:00, but they did have to stand in a line for some time prior to boarding.

Just found out the cruise before mine is a Charter sailing - so setting shuttle from our FLL hotel for 1130am rather than 930am as Charters usually seem to result in delayed embarkation for the next cruise in most cases.

Thanks for all the advice and replies!

We always arrive at the port between 10:30 and 11:00, drop the bags with a curbside porter and enter the terminal. With the exception on once in Port Everglades we were on the ship within a half hour or less sailing in either Concierge or Aqua class. The one time that took longer and had long lines was due to a power outage in the terminal due to a tornedo that morning in Fort Lauderdale that blew deck chairs from the pool deck onto the roof of the terminal (among other things) and caused the captains of disembarking ships to order passengers into safe areas of the ships and delay disembarkation. Since power was out in the terminals the computers, xray machines and conveyer belts weren't working. With all of that chaos we were on board by 11:45 and sail away was delayed by an hour and a half.

A local cafe, a two-minute walk away? I can't picture that -- not at Miami nor at Port Everglades.

 

Well, maybe if you were at the furthest north docks at Port Everglades.

Hi, I know what cruise terminal I sailed from and it was Miami. I was trying to be helpful. If you ask a porter they will direct you. Look on google earth for “seaman’s Cafe “ at seafarers park, it even had a swimming pool if you fancy a dip. It was fine for a cup of coffee and there were many early cruisers like ourself there. It was better than standing amidst chaos and as I said a 2 minute walk from the terminal.

A local cafe, a two-minute walk away? I can't picture that -- not at Miami nor at Port Everglades.

 

Well, maybe if you were at the furthest north docks at Port Everglades.

Hi May, it is there..........if you do a google search, it shows up on Trip Advisor, Yelp and it has a FB page.

It is the Port of Miami. The address is 1180 S American Way and from the photos, you can see the ships while

having a coffee.

Hi, I know what cruise terminal I sailed from and it was Miami. I was trying to be helpful. If you ask a porter they will direct you. Look on google earth for “seaman’s Cafe “ at seafarers park, it even had a swimming pool if you fancy a dip. It was fine for a cup of coffee and there were many early cruisers like ourself there. It was better than standing amidst chaos and as I said a 2 minute walk from the terminal.

Perhaps I have never been at that terminal. There are of course quite a few different ones. I think I've always been at the one closest to the city.

Thx for the tip.

Hi May, it is there..........if you do a google search, it shows up on Trip Advisor, Yelp and it has a FB page.

It is the Port of Miami. The address is 1180 S American Way and from the photos, you can see the ships while

having a coffee.

Hi Lois.

That's neat, thx for telling me.

In over 25 years of cruising we have always arrived at the departure port between 10:00 and 11:00 and never had an issue with having to wait outside. Typically the suggested check in times are guidelines only.

This is exactly our experience as well. Miami has a large waiting area. You may not be able to board, but will be able to check in and then directed be to a seating area based on your status, cabin type, etc. Never had to wait outside and have only stood in line for check in for no more than a couple of minutes.

Thanks for the information on the Miami check in.