Three hour embarkation in Miami

[gumbeaux58]

So we are back from the Celtic Thunder Cruise. I have to write about the embarkation delays because it was downright inhumane. We arrived around 1:45 which I know is right in the middle of the busiest time. Our flight arrived in FLL at 12:30 and we had others to pick up in the shuttle. The line when we arrived was past the back of the ship outside. OMG. It took 3 hours to get checked in. No water or seating other than the little benches every 50 feet or so. There were a lot of older people too on this cruise having a very difficult time. When we got within sight of the terminal door we saw a food truck and were at least able to get water. That was just inhumane treatment. I've been on many other cruise lines and bigger ships with more people and NEVER had more than a half hour wait. I mean there really is just no excuse. It was abusive. Thank God it wasn't a hot day.

 

MSC, what say you on this debacle? And don't blame the tour because you had to hand out laminates. Inexcusable. I would never choose MSC but have to for my theme cruises from On the Blue. Thankfully changing to NCL later next year.

Edited November 16, 2014 by gumbeaux58

[jkgourmet]

Inhumane? Abusive? Unacceptable - yes, with that I agree. (I have no idea what you mean by laminates)

 

For your sake, I'm glad your next cruise is on NCL. I will admit that embarkation and disembarkation on our 21 day NCL cruise in January 2014 (rome-rome) WAS excellent. I will also warn you that the food was lousy to adequate (except for the extra cost Cagney's).

 

Personally, I'll take 3 hours of "abuse" for the WAY better food on the Divina.

[gumbeaux58]

Standing with no available water or place to sit until you got into the terminal 20 minutes from boarding is inhumane. No one thought to bring food or water for the embarkation process. And then when we finally did get on board, there was practically nothing on the buffet to eat. They had picked everything up for 4:30. We had been on a plane since early morning and had no lunch and were dehydrated.

The food has always been excellent on NCL cruises that I have been on.

I have one more cruise on Divina in April then November will be NCL Pearl.

[anamarieus]

Thanks for the heads up. We will be sure to arrive very early for embarkation.

[Mikesa1721]

The people who check you in,,the baggage porters,,,etc. are not employed by MSC. They are employed by a third party company who service most all of the cruise lines which dock at the Port Of Miami,,,but I'm sure you knew this!!!:rolleyes:

[MsTabbyKats]

What time does boarding start?

[Thompsolonian]

Did you check in online prior to 24 hours before the cruise?

 

I was told by experienced Divian travelers that this greatly cut down on wait time during embarkation.

[Tatka]

This is definitely is not a standard for MSC or Miami, or Divina, as we had normal embarkation procedure just two months ago.

[flahagan]

We had the smoothest embarkation ever on the Divina in March - even had different juices and water offered in the terminal.

However, last week we were on a Princess ship that left from Ft. Lauderdale and we encountered the same thing you're talking about. We stood in an incredibly long line that wrapped around the terminal and past the end of the ship and didn't move an inch for 1 1/2 hours, took 2 1/2 hours to get on the ship. There were no places to sit and no water was available. I share your pain.

I guess it shows this can happen anywhere on any cruise line and it isn't fun.

On a side note, how was the cruise? We had an offer for that sailing but in the end decided against it. What are your thoughts?

[AmoMondo]

We had the smoothest embarkation ever on the Divina in March - even had different juices and water offered in the terminal.

However, last week we were on a Princess ship that left from Ft. Lauderdale and we encountered the same thing you're talking about. We stood in an incredibly long line that wrapped around the terminal and past the end of the ship and didn't move an inch for 1 1/2 hours, took 2 1/2 hours to get on the ship. There were no places to sit and no water was available. I share your pain.

I guess it shows this can happen anywhere on any cruise line and it isn't fun.

On a side note, how was the cruise? We had an offer for that sailing but in the end decided against it. What are your thoughts?

 

Sounds like there was anissue at the port.

 

When the Divina returned from her repo from Rio, there were long delays in the cruise disembarking because of some incident (vaguely remember a suspected gas leak being mentioned). This caused huge delays to the next cruise embarking.

 

I'm sure if this was the norm, we'd hear this mentioned frequently on here. Sounds more like something happened locally be it weather, security scare or something else within the port.

[KellyW25]

I was also on that sailing. We arrived to the port about 11:00, got through the line pretty quickly and found seats. They started boarding by 12:45, immediately AFTER the Celtic Thunder performers boarded. I don't know if they were waiting for them, but I can say boarding did start right after the last of them disappeared up the boarding ramp. Unfortunately by that time, the terminal was jammed, with the line of people snaking out the doors of the terminal.

 

Our travel documents did say boarding would begin at 1:00, but I've never seen a boarding so backed up. Some people weren't boarded until after the muster drill, and that's just insane.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Standing with no available water or place to sit until you got into the terminal 20 minutes from boarding is inhumane. No one thought to bring food or water for the embarkation process. And then when we finally did get on board, there was practically nothing on the buffet to eat. They had picked everything up for 4:30. We had been on a plane since early morning and had no lunch and were dehydrated.

The food has always been excellent on NCL cruises that I have been on.

I have one more cruise on Divina in April then November will be NCL Pearl.

 

Cruising is so inhumane those days ....poor people no water no food for whole 20 minutes .:eek: No one thought to bring water ? Sure it's MSC fault.:rolleyes:

[gumbeaux58]

Cruising is so inhumane those days ....poor people no water no food for whole 20 minutes .:eek: No one thought to bring water ? Sure it's MSC fault.:rolleyes:

 

It was three hours with no water not 20 minutes :confused: there was water once you got past security in the terminal. That was the last 20 minutes of the 3 to 3 and half hour wait.

 

Our boarding documents said arrive at 2:00. I thought that was weird when they wanted you on board by 3. We missed muster drill too. I never did hear what the problem was that caused the snafu. They don't usually wait for the artists to board before general boarding. They have their own boarding agents so makes no sense. Just bring them to the head of the line for security then escort them through the terminal. I will find out though.

 

Other than that the cruise was great. The music was really good. I loved the celtic rock acts. The food was better than my last cruise on Divina but a lot of the first timers said it was horrible. I told then this was a vast improvement. The staff I thought was a lot nicer and friendlier this time. Some were even out dancing to the music. Some folks complained about the wait for drinks but there are so many bars, I always just went to another one. There are hidden gems all over the ship. No reason to wait three deep at the pool bars. Run up to the disco or to the back pool bar on 15. We discovered fish and chips in the sports bar and gourmet burgers too. Here's a heads up. We went to the ding room for dinner and were in a bit of a hurry to get out to see a show. We only ordered one app and an entrée. Unfortunately our table mates orders 5 courses. They refused, yes we asked several times, to bring our entrees before the other people's. It was 40 minutes between our app and entree. Never again.

 

Any other questions?

Edited November 18, 2014 by gumbeaux58

[gumbeaux58]

The people who check you in,,the baggage porters,,,etc. are not employed by MSC. They are employed by a third party company who service most all of the cruise lines which dock at the Port Of Miami,,,but I'm sure you knew this!!!:rolleyes:

 

What was this in reference to?

[gumbeaux58]

Did you check in online prior to 24 hours before the cruise?

 

I was told by experienced Divian travelers that this greatly cut down on wait time during embarkation.

 

Yes, everyone said they had checked in online prior. Only a handful of people I know of had issues with the online check in and couldn't. I don't thank that had anything to do with the delays.

[American Bear]

What was this in reference to?

 

 

From what you said, and what another person on your cruise said,,,,,

 

1)(from the other person on your cruise) the delay might have been the fault of the tour operators as they didn't allow boarding by passengers until all the performers were on board! Thus the reason for the 1 pm boarding time! On Divina cruises that aren't tours, boarding starts much earlier!

Did you ask the tour operator why they didn't allow passengers to board until all the performers were on board? This certainly would back up embarkation!:eek:

 

2) Answering your question above, because you're complaining about the delay in getting aboard, and because the cruise terminal employees don't work for MSC, they work for the Port!

 

3) Coming off the Getaway a few months ago, I'll also state the food on Divina is vastly superior to NCL, and NCL's is better then RCL!

Edited November 18, 2014 by American Bear

[cruisingcanadian]

"Coming off the Getaway a few months ago, I'll also state the food on Divina is vastly superior to NCL, and NCL's is better then RCL! " (quote American Bear).

 

Very subjective opinion, AB!

[cruiseguyinorl]

What is not mentioned here is that this cruise with the embarkation issue was a charter. Others on here have praised the speedy embarkation process for "normal" sailings. Not sure how being a charter affected check-in but it is highly suspect.

 

Bret

[mrstrod]

I have to agree with GoldenBonny - You had no way of getting water? You make it sound as if security locked you behind bars. You could have had who ever you were cruising with stay in line and walked your grumpy self to get some water. Or even if you were cruising solo, You can not tell me that the person behind or in front of you would not have held your place in line for the 2 minutes it would have taken you to get a drink. And you can't even say there was nowhere to get a drink because there are water fountains by the restrooms. Seriously, lines happen and while they do suck, you have a choice, you can make the best of it or you can be miserable. It appears you chose the latter option.

 

You mentioned the dining staff would not rush your plates out because YOU were late to see a show? Well, if YOU were in such a rush, why did you feel the need to go to the dining room? It seems to me that it was your tablemates that should be complaining as I am sure, despite what they may have said, you made them feel uncomfortable about enjoying a leisurely pace in their meal.

__________________

Edited November 19, 2014 by mrstrod

[Bosjoe]

Inhumane. LOL. that's a first I have heard for waiting in line for hours. I bet in the end it had nothing to do with MSC, but they do get blamed for it. As this was a charter cruise it sounds like this had something to do with it. Or there was a huge delay on the debarkation of the prior cruise.

 

Most delays are caused by issues, most of the time out of the cruise lines hands, such as customs after a cruise with TA cruises the worst, the emergency that happened over the summer at the port of Miami, a noro outbreak or that last customer who does not want to leave, these hold up the boarding process.

 

With over 20 cruises I have been on I have only had a long delay once, due to an explosion on the Norway in Miami many years ago.

 

MSC and other cruiselines are not perfect, but customers will always feel they are in the right, sometimes they are and sometimes they are totally wrong. If you go through this forum you will barely see a complaint about boarding, its always been great.

 

btw you complained about dinner one night because you were in a rush and only wanted something limited. Why should they change their procedures? When other table mates are not on your schedule. I don't agree that this is poor service IMHO.

 

I am glad you still had a good time and you made some great points about other venues about bar service. That pool bar does get crazy on pool days and a quick walk to another bar is simple.

[LMaxwell]

 

btw you complained about dinner one night because you were in a rush and only wanted something limited. Why should they change their procedures? When other table mates are not on your schedule. I don't agree that this is poor service IMHO.

 

 

I think that's a pretty legitimate gripe. Why should the wait staff bring food to a paying customer in a timely manner in a floating resort so they can get to entertainment in time? For real? Come on. That's the definition of poor service. I sure wouldn't be slipping anyone an extra $50 for the week with that crap wait staff response.

 

Even if you don't feel it is a legitimate gripe it is at least a valid observation and useful to know for anyone that plans to go on this ship. I'm not familiar with MSC, the line I'm most familiar with speeds things right up at request if you mention a schedule conflict.

[Bosjoe]

I think that's a pretty legitimate gripe. Why should the wait staff bring food to a paying customer in a timely manner in a floating resort so they can get to entertainment in time? For real? Come on. That's the definition of poor service. I sure wouldn't be slipping anyone an extra $50 for the week with that crap wait staff response.

 

Even if you don't feel it is a legitimate gripe it is at least a valid observation and useful to know for anyone that plans to go on this ship. I'm not familiar with MSC, the line I'm most familiar with speeds things right up at request if you mention a schedule conflict.

 

If the OP where at their own table and not sharing it with other people they just met, then they have a good gripe.

 

This is one of the reasons I do My Time dining on other ships, on my time and at my pace fast or slow without interfering with others pleasures . MSC have recently added limited MTD on select categories.

[AmoMondo]

If the OP where at their own table and not sharing it with other people they just met, then they have a good gripe.

 

This is one of the reasons I do My Time dining on other ships, on my time and at my pace fast or slow without interfering with others pleasures . MSC have recently added limited MTD on select categories.

 

Completely agree. MDR is not meant to be a speedy dining experience. Sure if you have a table to yourselves and only want one course, then maybe OK. Sharing with others, definitely not OK. If you don't have time, in my view, go to the buffet.

[KellyW25]

On the one night I wanted a quicker dinner service, my niece and I sat at our own table. We were through dinner pretty quickly. On another night, we went to dinner after 8:00, and we spent a good amount of time chatting with our tablemates after dinner. The staff was waiting for us to be done, but we weren't the last table there, so we didn't rush.

 

We were seated in the same general area of the Black Crab every night, and we had pretty decent service. I really think there was a wide range of experiences on this sailing, some good, some less than good.

 

I've been on a lot of cruises, and the MDR service speeds can vary. For me, an hour and a half is the least I plan for (and what I like the most).

[gumbeaux58]

Wow, some of you can sure be mean. "My grumpy ass" did go get water when a food truck showed up. Before that where do you suppose I go to get water? Get in a cab and ask them to bring me to a 7Eleven and get 3000 waters for the people waiting in line? Bear in mind a good portion of the passengers were quite older. There was also no bathroom facilities for three hours. I guess I should wear Depends next time. Maybe the fault wasn't with MSC. Maybe it was the tour operator. I have no idea. The check in agents had MSC tags on so I figured they worked for MSC.

 

The dining room issue was unacceptable mainly because we asked them to bring our entrees out after our appetizers. They didn't bother to tell us they wouldn't or couldn't. They just didn't. It's never acceptable to leave a person sitting at the table for 40 minutes between courses. And we couldn't even get them to refill our water in that time. If they had told us when we ordered, we would have happily left and gone to the buffet.

 

I posted this as information not to be raked over and abused like it was high school. I really am surprised that grown adults have taken this tone in response to information that was posted about a cruise. Excuse me for posting information that happened on a cruise on Cruise Critic. If that's not what it's for, then I'm not sure why any of us are here reading anything.

:mad: