Photos from our embarkation in the commercial pier

[ekerr19]

Well, as discussed in a few of the reviews - here are a few of the photos taken from the Volendam 3/20/05 sailing, which had been delegated to the commercial pier for embarkation - boy, was it ever warm out there!

 

Not one of our best embarkation experiences...

[ekerr19]

Another shot from the balcony...

[ekerr19]

And yet another...

[dakrewser]

Sure that wasn't the line for the port-o-potty?

 

 

:) -dave

[Bill S]

Laura: wow! Where was that? Remind me not to embark out of that port!!!!

[ekerr19]

Sure that wasn't the line for the port-o-potty?

 

 

:) -dave

 

Sorry, no - it was the actual line for embarkation, believe it or not! We were pretty lucky, we'd been aboard for about an hour when the balcony shots were taken...

[ekerr19]

Laura: wow! Where was that? Remind me not to embark out of that port!!!!

 

It was Ft. Lauderdale, which is not the highest on my list for embarkation... this experience had some poor folks almost passed out from the heat.

[stanford's girl]

It was Ft. Lauderdale

Oh great!! I'll be looking forward to that in Oct. 2006.:eek:

[peaches from georgia]

Oh great!! I'll be looking forward to that in Oct. 2006.:eek:

Ekerr having to board from this commercial dock was very unusual, so don't expect it will happen to you or that this is normal embarkation in Ft. Lauderdale. The regular HAL terminal is very nice. :)

 

Glad you still had a great cruise, though, after it starting off this way, ekerr. What a mess. Glad this happens few and far between.

[Esme]

Embarking at the Commercial Pier is not the norm for HAL ships. In all the many years that I have embarked from FLL, we have always been at one of the regular terminals.

 

There must have been a reason for the embarkation from the Commercial pier - maybe too many ships in at that time.

 

Stanford's Girl - don't worry - I am sure you will be at one of the regular terminals that HAL uses.

 

Ekeer - what is it that you don't like about embarking from Port Everglades? Which ports are high on your list?

[doone]

I was on this sailing with Ekerr on the Volendam, what a nightmare embarkation was. I have never encountered anything like it and I hope I never do.

 

We asked one of the HAL ladies that was directing us once we reached this area why this was happening. From what she said was this probably will never happen again, but the captain of the Volendam was just a few minutes late getting back into Ft. Lauderdale and the Westerdam took the Volendam's spot. So, that leads me to believe that day one ship was going to be in this area, lucky us!!!!!

 

I am a bit concerned about our Volendam cruise next year as its a Saturday that we're sailing. Saturday's are very busy in Ft. Lauderdale. This past Volendam's cruise we sailed on a Sunday. Let's hope the Volendam, or any other ship, ever goes to that area ever again.

[sail7seas]

That is so awful.

 

Some of the senior folks, especially those with health issues, could become seriously ill being forced to endure that.

There had to have been something HAL could have/should have done to improve those circumstances.

I'm trying hard to find a way to 'excuse' HAL for handling the use of the commercial pier so poorly but, frankly, I cannot find a way to excuse it. They are in the hospitality business and should have been creative enough to have handled it better. JMHO My blood pressure is up just looking at those pictures....I can't imagine what it would have registered if we had stood in that line in the hot sun with no sunblock etc etc

[peaches from georgia]

Not only is it unusual for a HAL ship not to embark from a regular HAL pax terminal, it is VERY unusual for a HAL ship not to be placed in another cruiseline's berth if there is no room at a HAL pier. When we came in on the Rotterdam several years ago, all HAL piers were full, so we were sent to Pier 2, normally a Princess berth.

 

Though I'm sure it probably has happened before, I can't remember a report on CC of another HAL ship being sent to a commercial pier, so I wouldn't spend my time worrying about it happening if I was scheduled to embark from FLL.

[ekerr19]

 

Ekeer - what is it that you don't like about embarking from Port Everglades? Which ports are high on your list?

 

I just think it's too busy and crowded. Especially during any holiday sailings. We like to cruise over the holidays and it is always stressful in FLL.

 

Personally, I like Norfolk and San Diego. Loved Copenhagen. We get to try Seattle this summer, it's pretty busy up there so not sure what to expect.

 

Everyone is correct in saying that the commercial pier is not the norm - just wanted to share some of the pics, we couldn't believe the line was that long, we felt like we were in the last group to leave the normal pier, but I think all these folks were coming directly from the airport.

[jhannah]

Truth be told, I'm sure HAL didn't like this arrangement either. But it was fluke of a circumstance, last minute deal, and I would imagine there was no time to call a tent rental place or make any environmental arrangements. The commercial port itself probably would limit what you could put up even temporarily. Let's just hope this circumstance doesn't happen again.

[sail7seas]

It certainly is rare for HAL to use the commercial pier in Port Everglades. We have embarked/disembarked there literally dozens of times. I never before heard of them using that pier. That isn't relevant IMO to what those pax endured that day.

 

It is still my opinion that HAL handled it very poorly. They have resources and funds. They should have used them. They have very able shore staff. They should have used their abilities to make alternative arrangements.

Passengers should never have been left standing in those outragious lines. If necessary, they could have made arrangements for pax to be brought to the dock in 'batches'. They should have opened their purse strings and arranged a place where pax could wait in comfort to be brought to the dock to stand in a reasonable line for a reasonable length of time. There are enough hotels in the Port Everglades area that would have been happy to rent space to HAL and provide cold drinks/rest rooms/comfort.

I am sure there are other alternatives that could have/should have been arranged.

That long, hot line was a recipe for serious illness to fragile pax without the stamina to withstand it.

JMHO.........

[HeatherInFlorida]

I have embarked from Fort Lauderdale a number of times and the experience has never been anything less than smooth and easy. But we always travel in late October to early December which makes a big difference.

 

This particular cruise was during one of the many school spring breaks and there were simply too many ships at Port Everglades. No one should take this fluke exprience as the norm. But it seems to me that HAL could have made better plans to deal with it.

 

That said, Laura, seeing the pictures of that horrendous line just points out your extremely good humor. When you wrote your review, I never sensed you were complaining which you would have had a right to do. I've heard people whine over far less.

 

I don't think they'll be posting your pictures in any cruise brochures any time soon!:D

[stormyc]

:eek: eek!

[RevNeal]

Horrible.

I've sailed out of or into Ft. Lauderdale on 4 cruises and have NEVER seen anything like that before. I sure hope they don't do this to us in November!

 

I cannot excuse HAL for this ... not at all. They dropped the ball, BIG TIME.

[peaches from georgia]

I'm surprised there is so much blame being thrown at HAL. I know the cruiselines are at the mercy of the port authorities and at this point we have no idea how much forewarning HAL had that the Volendam would come into this commercial pier and what would have been possible for HAL to arrange at short notice to make the situation more pleasant, if anything.

 

Surely it was possible for elderly pax or those with health concerns to be moved indoors or to the very head of the line and I'm sure be given water if there were any heat/health problems, though the weather was cool in FLL in March. There have been no reports (or pictures) of people fainting or worse, so give HAL a break that all that could have been done, was done. This was NOT a situation that was desirable for HAL reps either and we have no idea of the details of the situation HAL faced, so let's ease up unless we hear worse.

[doone]

I have sailed out of Ft. Lauderdale numerous times and never, ever had a bad experience, everything was always so smooth. This time was an exception for sure. HAL did everything they could to make people as comfortable as possible, but with those long lines, the heat and the sun beating down on you, it was impossible.

 

Peaches, your right, HAL is at the mercy of the port authorities, and I am sure HAL didn't like this situation any more than we all did. I am sure they had very little warning and very little time to throw together an embarkation area, because there is nothing in this area at all. I feel HAL did the best they could in a very tough situation. But it was still an awful experience to say the least.

[ekerr19]

When I posted about it from the ship I said I believed HAL was at the mercy of the port authorities and I still do -

 

What I am really curious about is why there was no ship at the pier the Volendam was supposed be berthed at? I think it was 27, but nothing was there and nothing had left that morning either.

 

I will say there were quite a few disgruntled pax that couldn't seem to put it behind them.

 

Also, there were some folks who did go to the front of the line and wait in the shade and water was brought out after we embarked, we saw them bringing out the containers they use on shore at the tender locations.

 

I did not hear that anyone was injured or passed out or anything of that nature. It was just a bad experience that hopefully will not be repeated. I DO hope HAL will be prepared for something like this just in case it happens again in the future.

[RuthC]

Those pictures make my heart sink. I realize this was a fluke, but I would hate to begin a cruise this way. Didn't someone post at the time that people were cutting ahead of others to board busses to transfer them to the correct pier? That it was quite chaotic?

I hope HAL did learn from this and now has contingency plans in place for all their embarkation ports so this doesn't happen again.

[ekerr19]

Those pictures make my heart sink. I realize this was a fluke, but I would hate to begin a cruise this way. Didn't someone post at the time that people were cutting ahead of others to board busses to transfer them to the correct pier? That it was quite chaotic?

 

I hope HAL did learn from this and now has contingency plans in place for all their embarkation ports so this doesn't happen again.

 

RuthC - There were a few line cutters, but I think most folks were just confused.. we did only note a couple groups that needed to be "special" and jump in front of the folks patiently waiting to be shuttled to the commercial pier.

 

DH & I left them all go - we knew our cabin would be there when we boarded and the last thing I wanted to do was join the cattle call. We also knew that we could stand out there a bit longer than some of the others as we are pretty healthy and a tad younger.

 

I think it was the lack of information and the utter confusion that caused me the most irritation. For a good part of the afternoon, there was one 1 (count 'em - one) HAL shore staff rep - and she knew very little. We were told something completely different than doones group, so I still don't know what the whole story was.

[bcc99]

What I am really curious about is why there was no ship at the pier the Volendam was supposed be berthed at? I think it was 27, but nothing was there and nothing had left that morning either.

 

Ugh, that line looks dreadful, and talk about starting off a cruise on the wrong foot. I was going to ask if Volendam got stuck with the boon-dock because she's smaller than some of the other Lauderdale-based ships, thinking that a port official might have been trying to inconvenience the smallest number of people possible (still 1400 people, but less than the 3100 on Caribbean Princess). That explanation would only hold if all the good berths were taken, though--if a better spot was avaliable and not being used, that's pretty bad. Hopefully the berth-availability problem won't get worse after Carnival Liberty jumps into the fray this winter.