New Checkin Procedures at Port Everglades

[kdkmilwaukee]

We just got off last week and it was the worse boarding we have ever seen. I wrote a blow by blow account of what we want through on Dec 15th. The system that Princess try"s to do just does not work. They have been doing it for years and this was the worse yet. No really follows the boarding e-mail they have been sending out for awhile now. One of the reasons for going early is for booking of the Crown Grill, Enclave which could be done by booking on-line months or weeks ahead of time. Don't waste your time on booking the Sanacutary because you will need a act of god to do that. It was already full in the first 30 minutes of our cruise. Something is up with that? I would be happy to fill you in on boarding! It was a real mess in the terminal!

 

Oh no, I'm sorry you had such an awful experience! If you can fill me in or point me to your thread here, I would be grateful. When we last cruised with my parents two years ago, it was a very smooth boarding process in FLL. We arrived before 11 and were in our cabins before noon with reservations to specialty restaurants secured, carry-on beer of our choice in our fridges, and luggage arriving well before sail away. Sounds like times have changed, and not for the better. Please say it ain't so :(

[fielddreamer]

Oh no, I'm sorry you had such an awful experience! If you can fill me in or point me to your thread here, I would be grateful. When we last cruised with my parents two years ago, it was a very smooth boarding process in FLL. We arrived before 11 and were in our cabins before noon with reservations to specialty restaurants secured, carry-on beer of our choice in our fridges, and luggage arriving well before sail away. Sounds like times have changed, and not for the better. Please say it ain't so :(

I wrote a review on Cruise Critic a couple of days ago . I am not sure if they will post since they only approve a few every week. Keep a eye on the Cruise Critic reviews in the next couple of days. I wish what I have told you was not true, but it really was as bad as I wrote. We backed off our next cruise and are looking at another cruise line. I do have a few picture's of that day if you want so send me a e-mail address if you would like to see them 1

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

We are boarding the Royal on 01.12.14 and received an email from Princess yesterday stating that they would be utilizing progressive boarding :( Has anyone on a recent Royal cruise experienced this? I so hope CruisinChris is spot on in that this is a suggestion and is not enforced.

 

We like to get to the port by 10:30 - 11:00 am or so to board as early as they'll allow us so that we can have a fighting chance at making reservations at the sanctuary, specialty dining, etc., and just to get acquainted with the ship. We're on the Aloha deck and if we have to wait it out until the time noted in the email, we won't be allowed to board until 2 pm. We'd waste so much of the day. :(

 

We were apon the Royal for the 11/10 sailing and embarkation was horrible. It was not progressive and we waiting in the preferred boarding line for over 2 hours. Not sure if it was the extra passengers or too many preferreds. Maybe they were just getting used to the Royal at the time. But it was horrible.

 

And you know what, within 3 minutes of getting the ship it was all forgotten and we had a wonderful cruise! :)

[AlaskaGolden]

We are new to Princess, not to cruising.

We will not need to be on board early to reserve specialty dining, nor any other option.

We are fine without eating lunch in the MDR.

When is the best time to board to miss the lines? We will be sailing on the Crown on Feb 1, and our cabin is on the Emerald deck. We are thinking about arriving around 2:00 PM.

Good time? Too early/late?

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

Based on my experiences with a few crowded ports and before having preferred boarding (and even after!), 2 PM should be perfect! By then, all the folks from the prior cruise should be on their way, and most of the people on your cruise should already be on the ship. You might be on the ship by 2:15 PM if all goes well.

[beach_fever_4ever]

Thank you very much. I truly hope that we are allowed to board before 2 pm. Otherwise it'd be like getting punished for reserving a sweet cabin on the Aloha deck. I just want to start my vacation that I've been lusting over for the past seven months. :(

 

Exactly what I was thinking. Wish I had not clicked on this thread. Ignorance is bliss. LOL. We did not get an email about this. Just checked the important notices link and it was there. We have transfers from the 17th Street Embassy Suites so we'll do whatever they allow us to do.

[Stevesan]

Our December 7th out of Houston is using it, got an "Emergency Notification" last weekend.

 

Ditto for Jan 11. There are a number of cruisers fitting the exceptions. Some might be a "group" of three.:p

 

Passengers with a Preferred Boarding Pass, Transfer, and/or part of a group may check-in anytime during embarkation.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Stevesan

[the kids]

If you decide to arrive early, that is between 10:30 -11:30, the wait outside the terminal 2 is terrible. Passengers from the previous cruise are still disembarking which causes a lack of space for those that are going aboard. Frankly, the earlier you go, the more problems you face. We were on the Dec.8 cruise and it was literately a zoo trying to board. Good luck!!

[kdkmilwaukee]

When we were on the Ruby out of Port Everglades almost exactly two years ago, we arrived before 11 and it was a totally smooth boarding process. What has changed that has made things become so horrible? I know that the Royal is a larger ship, but still!

[Colo Cruiser]

When we were on the Ruby out of Port Everglades almost exactly two years ago, we arrived before 11 and it was a totally smooth boarding process. What has changed that has made things become so horrible? I know that the Royal is a larger ship, but still!

 

Its not any different.

The lines still snake along the front of the building and always have.

We always try and arrive around 10:00am. We don't mind waiting and enjoy people watching! :)

[JohnBoy in NC]

checked cruise personalizer for my Crown Jan 18th sailing and it does say progressive boarding...on Plaza right now which says 1pm. HMMMM....I have always arrived at FLL at 10:45am time frame and usually eating at 11:30am (previous experiences with Carnival). I hate waiting...so may delay arrival to 12pm and try to recoop at the hotel (sleep in for me) from NC-FL drive the day before. I will keep tabs on this thread from recent cruisers....

 

Thanks OP for starting...I never would have checked otherwise.

 

John in NC

[AKman2495]

One of the reasons for going early is for booking of the Crown Grill, Enclave which could be done by booking on-line months or weeks ahead of time. Don't waste your time on booking the Sanacutary because you will need a act of god to do that. It was already full in the first 30 minutes of our cruise. Something is up with that?

 

That's simple. There are many cruisers doing a B2B. They can go up there first thing in the morning of disembarkation day and sign up llong before anyone can get aboard.

[kdkmilwaukee]

I wrote a review on Cruise Critic a couple of days ago . I am not sure if they will post since they only approve a few every week. Keep a eye on the Cruise Critic reviews in the next couple of days. I wish what I have told you was not true, but it really was as bad as I wrote. We backed off our next cruise and are looking at another cruise line. I do have a few picture's of that day if you want so send me a e-mail address if you would like to see them 1

 

Please pardon my ignorance, but is there a way for me to send you my email address? Does Cruise Critic have a messaging option? Thank you very much for offering to send photos...we've only had stellar experiences in the past while boarding in FLL, so this has become somewhat of a black cloud above our excitement for next Saturday. I know it won't ruin our cruise, but we will be very disappointed if we have to wait to board until 2 pm.

[caribill]

Please pardon my ignorance, but is there a way for me to send you my email address?

 

Only way is to post it here. If you do that, spell it out not using symbols. Example myname at yahoo dot com

 

If you do not want to post your normal e-mail address, just go to yahoo, hotmail, gmail etc and set up a new one that you will only use here.

[caber]

We are on Emerald Princess on 18th January and have an overnight stay in Embassy Suites, Miami and transfers to the ship, booked through Princess. Does anyone know what time they usually pick you up at the hotel to take you to the port?

[FireFighter115]

We are on the Royal Jan 12th and also on the Aloha (see you at 2pm) deck. They are doing the progressive boarding for this sailing. I do not have a problem with the new system except for the fact that if I wanted to abide by the rule/suggestion/guideline then I can forget about the Sanctuary or Chef's Table or Enclave or anything that is popular and is first come first served.

 

Princess should do online registration for these venues based on days cruised or circle status and not make is conditional upon where your boarding priority is. Putting the specialty registration online would take some of the pressure of the boarding process.

 

For this cruise it will not be an issue for me. I have done the chef's table twice and would love to do it again but can spend that money elsewhere. We are staying with my parents in FLL the night before so it just means our breakfast can linger later in the morning. We plan on going to the grocery store and liquor store for supplies and arriving between 1 and 2. We are traveling with two other couples and really do not want the trip to start out feeling like a cattle being herded around. It will be the first cruise for the others and do not want the first impression to be mass chaos.

 

Wish Princess would figure something else out about this. We have many other cruising options and will not hesitate to go elsewhere for our Jan 15 cruise.

 

With everything the right perspective and a little patients goes a long way toward having a good experience.

 

FF115

Edited January 1, 2014 by FireFighter115

[pablo222]

[quote name='fielddreamer']We just got off last week and it was the worse boarding we have ever seen. I wrote a blow by blow account of what we want through on Dec 15th. The system that Princess try"s to do just does not work. They have been doing it for years and this was the worse yet. No really follows the boarding e-mail they have been sending out for awhile now. One of the reasons for going early is for booking of the Crown Grill, Enclave which could be done by booking on-line months or weeks ahead of time. Don't waste your time on booking the Sanacutary because you will need a act of god to do that[/quote]

Princess needs to raise the price on these amenities.
They are not maximizing their revenue on the sanctuary,
if people who are late are locked out of booking.