Jacksonville

[georgia1980]

My first cruise is not til Memorial Day next year, on Elation, but was wondering how the boarding is in Jacksonville. As far as how well it is, etc. Should I get faster to the fun, or ? We are going down the day before and plan on getting to the port right at 10:30, which is earliest they allow.

[Muumuu]

I love Jax as it is the easiest and quickest for boarding. Carnival is the only line out of it and they only have one ship. The ship now is a fantasy class the Fascination. The Elation is the same class and that class is the smallest of all their ships. We have been on 6 cruises from Jax and loved every one of them. Be sure to be outside when the ship goes under the bridge.

Debarkation is super easy and quick too. Enjoy😊

[hermitstyle]

I love Jax as it is the easiest and quickest for boarding. Carnival is the only line out of it and they only have one ship. The ship now is a fantasy class the Fascination. The Elation is the same class and that class is the smallest of all their ships. We have been on 6 cruises from Jax and loved every one of them. Be sure to be outside when the ship goes under the bridge.

 

Debarkation is super easy and quick too. Enjoy[emoji4]

 

 

I think that's debatable and up to the particular port staff that day. The one time I cruised out of Jacksonville, it was horrible. The staff had no idea what they were doing and everything was a chaotic mess. Jacksonville is easily one of the worst embarkation experiences I've had crushing carnival

[marshhawk]

First time out of Jacksonville was a breeze,

 

the second time, the moon was full, the tide was high, there was a storm at sea, the ship was late coming in, slow to unload, and we did not get the ok to go to the ship til 5 p.m. We were in line for over two hours, computers were down, scanners didn't work-my friend was recovering from surgery, someone asked her how she was, and she told them, and I mean told them, we were rushed through

 

third time, no problem

 

fourth time, they could have cared less that I paid for FTTF, put us in the same line with everyone else, didn't even acknowledge or apologize for their error.

 

one ship, they work one or two days a week, what a joke, to not be better organized.

[SteelerCruiser]

Getting on the ship is not usually the problem in Jax as that usually goes pretty smoothly. The rather challenging part is usually getting off the ship at the end of the cruise. We have cruised from here several times and each and every time it is the slowest process! I sometimes feel like we could get off a boat in Port Canaveral over 2 hours farther down I95 and still be farther north up 95 by the time we get off the boat in Jax. Other than that we usually thoroughly enjoy our cruises from there!

[janm8144]

I read such mixed responses to Jacksonville boarding. Both times we've sailed on her the ship was late getting in and the waits were long. We sailed Thanksgiving once and January the next time. I would book FTTF (if you can afford it) to hedge my bets. We waited in a long line at least 2 hrs, while those traveling with us who were platinum were on board in 15 mins! The 2nd we were with wedding party, so cut to the front, lines were still pretty long for the general boarding.

[The4Cruisers]

We've sailed from Jax several times on Celebration and then Fascination. Getting on the ship is a breeze. Getting off can be a pain.

 

Don't get to the port too early. If they are still disembarking pax from the earlier cruise, they'll corral you into an alternate parking lot until they open the main lot. Then they merge your car with the others that are just arriving. Kills the benefits of getting there early.

 

With that said, it's still a GREAT port to sail in and out of.

 

Another note... the people in the area like to park along the river to watch/wave to the cruise ship as it heads out at 4PM. We always make it a point to stand out by the rail and watch the houses, the people, and the naval ships on the way out to sea.

[JawjaFatBoy]

We have only sailed out of Jacksonville once, but it was easily one of the best for both embarkation and debarkation. Only bad spots about that cruise were that customs actually charged me the duty on the extra bottles of liquor I had brought back and we found we had a flat tire when we got to the parking lot. :mad:

[georgia1980]

The last time I looked the ship will have come in the day before or 2 days before, not the same day we board, so.....

[liquorstore]

The last time I looked the ship will have come in the day before or 2 days before, not the same day we board, so.....

 

As a resident and go over the Dames Point (Bowtie) Bridge every day, it always departs the same day as arrival except mechanical issues.

Sometimes there is a short delay at the bridge due to tides and currents.

Never had embark/disembark problems. Looking forward to cruising the repositioning cruise in April.

[halterk]

The last time I looked the ship will have come in the day before or 2 days before, not the same day we board, so.....

 

The ship always leaves the same day with the next batch of passengers unless they are planning a drydock (which they don't at JAX).

 

If you are leaving May 30th (Memorial Day), the ship is coming in on May 30th with the last cruise, and setting sail again on May 30th.

 

I've sailed out of JAX a couple times now, and like any port it can be hit or miss how things are working. It only takes one little glitch to throw the whole routine off, and making the loading process that much longer.

[NavarreCruiser]

We have been on cruises departing from 16 different ports. Our worst boarding experience was the last time we boarded from Jacksonville. We spoke about it with some senior officers aboard the Fascination. They were well aware of that port's difficulties and were hoping for some management changes.

 

Those changes may have occurred, that cruise was in May 2014.

[storm1507]

Cruised one time out of Jacksonville. Super easy on and off for us.

[Angela61280]

It was awful for us... Only did it once, and although we live super close to jax port, we flat out refuse to go again. Lol