Embarking

[dm5201]

I run on high anxiety! We are cruising for the first time in March aboard the Princess Ruby. I'm wondering about embarking already. Are there just loads of porters ready to grab your luggage and get it aboard the ship? How does that work? Thanks, Donna

[paul929207]

Yes, when you get to the cruise terminal, there will be porters to take your luggage and get it on its way to your cabin.

[trish1c]

Embarkation (& disembarkation) are both a bit of oprganized chaos. The porters & cruise lines have done this a million times so don't worry.

You arrive & get out of your vehicle. A porter will rush over to help you. These guys hustle for tips. Your big luggage goes with them; you keep your carry on. You then go to another line where you fill out a few forms & go through the TSA screening & metal detectors. From there you go to another line to a teller where you open your on board account.

Once that is done, you get your key cards & you walk up stairs / take an escalator or elevator to the deck where your vacation begins.

[LindaKE]

Embarkation (& disembarkation) are both a bit of oprganized chaos. The porters & cruise lines have done this a million times so don't worry.

You arrive & get out of your vehicle. A porter will rush over to help you. These guys hustle for tips. Your big luggage goes with them; you keep your carry on. You then go to another line where you fill out a few forms & go through the TSA screening & metal detectors. From there you go to another line to a teller where you open your on board account.

Once that is done, you get your key cards & you walk up stairs / take an escalator or elevator to the deck where your vacation begins.

 

Good description, but leaves out the long lines you must wait through. Plan to allow plenty of time for the lines that often move slowly and can be quite long. If you're really, really lucky, you'll arrive at the exact right time in the lull between the passsengers who are early and already aboard and those that still haven't arrived. If you do that, you'll be able to practically walk right aboard, but we've never been that lucky. The first time it was a shock when we saw how long the lines were. It took well over an hour just to get to the ship's personnel for begin all the paper work. It was almost time to sail by the time we got aboard, and there were people behind us in the line. Don't do what we did on our first cruise and try to eat lunch before embarking. Lunch is served on embarkation day.

[geoherb]

And I've found that Princess does a great job with embarkation, especially in Fort Lauderdale. They have it down to a science. Make sure you print off your luggage tags. Attach them to your large bags that morning. Those are the ones that the porters will take and then they're loaded into huge crates to be loaded onto the ship. We generally get them within a couple of hours, but don't start to panic if yours haven't arrived.

 

And if you forget the luggage tags, the porters will have plenty to fill out at the dock. We did this for our last cruise because we did not get our cabin assignment until right before we left.

[AltarEgo]

You then go to another line where you fill out a few forms & go through the TSA screening & metal detectors.

Did I miss something?

 

When did the TSA start screening cruise ship passengers?

[njhorseman]

Did I miss something?

 

When did the TSA start screening cruise ship passengers?

 

You didn't miss anything. TSA doesn't screen cruise ship passengers.

[Treven]

Yet I've had two very different embarking experiences at FLL. Two years ago there were the hours long lines just to get into the building. I have to use a walker, and I asked one of the young men who are supposed to assist people if there was a handicapped line and was told to complain inside. He was VERY helpful:rolleyes:.

Last May however, I was in my cabin within 20 minutes of arriving. :D

Next September I'm sailing out of SFO. We'll see what the mad house is like there.

[LindaKE]

You didn't miss anything. TSA doesn't screen cruise ship passengers.

 

She probably meant Customs and Immigration - the ones employed by the government to check everyone's passport.

[trish1c]

No I meant TSA. We went through a screening process complete with metal detectors & uniformed workers. We were also told that we couldn't take pictures in the area for security reasons. This was in both Miami & NYC.

[njhorseman]

No I meant TSA. We went through a screening process complete with metal detectors & uniformed workers. We were also told that we couldn't take pictures in the area for security reasons. This was in both Miami & NYC.

 

But those weren't TSA officers doing the screening, they were personnel hired by the port operating authority. TSA doesn't do screening of departing cruise ship passengers.

 

Yes, you're not allowed to take pictures...the customs hall is a secure area under the control of United States Customs and Border Protection.