4000 people boarding Epic in MIA

[AFT_LOVER]

YIKES! IS ALL I CAN SAY.

 

 

2000 for Jewel last December was a 2 hour wait to get to the clerk to get keycards and we were new SILVER members. The Silver Latitudes line merged with Bronze, so we had to wait our turn after walking thru an Orlando style 6 tier of roping to go back & forth thru.

 

SO will they have a Platinum area, Gold area, Silver area, Bronze area, and new cruiser area to cut the line down? Just getting in from the outside took over an hour and it is hot, wet from storms, and folks in a very bad mood which was not great way to start a cruise. Then they pass our health certificates to fill out & we are writing on our backs. This should be included in the docs to do ahead of time. NCL has to control this to get folks on quicker & friendlier.

[Beanie01]

I got on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas in Miami last October. That ship is Freedom Class - approx. 3500 people. We got there at 11:15. By 12:15-12:30-ish, we were on the ship. And we were first time RC cruisers. The port is very large, and very organized. We dropped our luggage off with a porter before parking the car. Got right through security and check-in, had our photo taken for the room card, waited on a line for about 15 minutes, then it started moving and we got right on.

[KandJCruising]

2 of my 3 NCL embarkations have been very smooth and fairly quick. The last trip from Miami took the better part of an hour to get through the line. Thankfully the wait outside was only a few minutes since it was cool and raining at the time. Once inside the Latitudes line took about 45 minutes.

Should be interesting to see the process work for Epic.

[cruzmaven]

I find that everyone rushes to get on the ship between 11:00 and noon, causing long lines. If you hold back and arrive at the ship after 2:30 or so the lines are gone and you can walk right on.

[rav4lady]

My last cruise was on Princess and we waited over 2 hrs to board. Not quick at all!!

[boat.drinks]

We sailed on the Liberty of the Seas out of Miami and boarded around 11am and it was only 27 minutesfrom drop off until on the ship. We just got off the Oasis of the Seas and were dropped off at 11:45am and were on the ship in 11 minutes.

[CaptData]

It took 15 mins for Oasis of the Seas. at 11 am. There were 4800 peple for this trip not full cap of 6500

[InverStone]

 

2000 for Jewel last December was a 2 hour wait to get to the clerk to get keycards and we were new SILVER members. The Silver Latitudes line merged with Bronze, so we had to wait our turn after walking thru an Orlando style 6 tier of roping to go back & forth thru.

 

 

 

We were on the same cruise as you on the Jewel, it took us all of 15 min to get on. We got in line around 11:45. Took 15 min to get upstairs to the NCL lounge. We did see bigger line ups after from the promenade when we had a look down, but that was around 1pm. It still didn't look too bad. Of course once we were in the lounge we had to wait for the ship to clear...but I think our card number was called around 12:30.

 

We saw you upstairs in the NCL lounge as soon as we got up there, what time did you line up? Maybe we just got lucky and missed a rush? We were a part of the roll call and recognized you.

 

I think it's all just the timing of when you show up, luck of the draw.

 

Inver

[negc]

A lengthy boarding process is not necessary as evidenced by many folks experiences boarding ships with as many or more passengers as Epic will carry. It does require providing sufficient personnel to handle a large number of passengers and facilities designed to make the boarding process quick and efficient. Unless there was a problem offloading the previous week's passengers, there is no excuse for the process to take more than 15 to 30 minutes. We have boarded ships in both Ft. Lauderdale and Miami and have usually been onboard before noon. Debarkation, when properly planned and executed, should also be quick and easy.:)