Cannot find info on boarding time on Freedom

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

I am not sure why I can't find the boarding time for our Freedom cruise leaving from Ft. Lauderdale! What time should we plan to be there? I would like to try and avoid the lines as I am prego and will have my DD4 with me and my DH.

 

Thanks!!

[manmtnmike]

I am not sure why I can't find the boarding time for our Freedom cruise leaving from Ft. Lauderdale! What time should we plan to be there? I would like to try and avoid the lines as I am prego and will have my DD4 with me and my DH.

 

Thanks!!

 

It sails at 4:00 pm ...we like to be at port by 11:30.

 

Happy sailing!

 

Mike

[pcrum]

We try to get to the port early...around 10:30 am. We'd rather check in without a line and sit and wait until they allow boarding.

 

We made the mistake of arriving after 12 noon and snaked our way in a Disney like line one time. That was all it took. We like to be early!

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

Thanks so much! We will def be there early! :)

[reno3]

We just got off the Freedom on Saturday.

We got to the port about 10:00 and the porter took our luggage and we walked right in, up to the counter, no lines.

We got Zone 1 and then waited about 1 1/2 hours to board.

I would rather wait in the terminal for the 1 plus hour than in long lines.

About noon the line was very long.

[kimba6539]

Reno3,

What time did you disembark? Airtran has changed my flight by four hours. It now leaves at 10:15 am and I think if we self disembark, we might make it. Just curious. Thanks.

 

Kim

[swcjlc]

taken from the FAQ section of :

Important Embarkation Arrival Advisory and Process

 

Embarkation Hours:

Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Mobile, Galveston, Seattle, Tampa, Port Canaveral, New Orleans and San Diego - 12:30 P.M.

Charleston - Carnival Fantasy at 12:30 P.M.; Carnival Glory at 5:00 P.M.

Honolulu & New York - 1:00 P.M.

Los Angeles (Long Beach) - 1:30 P.M.

Baltimore - 2:00 P.M.

San Juan - 2:30 P.M.

Ensenada - 6:00 P.M.

 

Note: You must check in at least 1 1/2 hours prior to departure or risk cancellation of your reservation.

 

also found on the top of the 2nd page on E-docs

[HaveKidsWillTravel]

Thank you so much for your responses :)

[JenSinMA]

Reno3,

What time did you disembark? Airtran has changed my flight by four hours. It now leaves at 10:15 am and I think if we self disembark, we might make it. Just curious. Thanks.

 

Kim

 

I was on the same cruise as Reno3. Our ship was schedule to arrive back in port at 8am but when we woke up a 6, we were docked. They started calling self disembarkers by deck at 6:30 from the bottom up. We were on deck 11, dead last, scheduled for 7:40. Some on our floor "cheated" and went down early, but we waited and went down at 7:30. No back up, walked right off, very short line for customs, and away we went. We were in our car, parking paid, leaving the garage at 7:59. Given how close the airport is to the port, you should have no problem making your flight. Barring any unforeseen delays with the ship arriving in port or clearing customs, etc.

[kimba6539]

Thanks JenSinMA. I thought we should be okay but we have one problem in our group. She holds a German passport and has to go through customs differently. Still I am crossing my fingers and hoping they change our flight to just a little later. I would feel more comfortable.

 

Kim

[crzycick]

We were on deck 10 of the Freedom a year and a half ago to Panama, Costa Rica, and Cozumel out of Ft. Lauderdale. We decided to carry our luggage off to beat the long lines at Customs that we had the year before in Miami. We had some last minute things to pack in the morning and thought we were giving ourselves plenty of time because we didn't think our deck would be called until 7 or or something like that.

 

I guess a lot of people weren't getting off with their luggage because they called our deck much earlier than we thought, somewhere between 6-6:30 I believe so we were scrambling to get finished. We had no lines getting off and it took minutes from leaving the ship, down the ramp, through customs, into a taxi. We were back at our hotel (car parked there for free) long before 7 am.