Did anyone embark or debark Independence today?

[emory2001]

Did Indy dock and leave today? Was anyone here on it? Just wondering how embark/debark went.

[Jmicozzi]

Yes it did dock today and leave. Embarking was a nightmare but it was a series of unusual issues. Disembarking was very organized and was fairly quick compared to previous cruises. Took about 45-50 minutes from gangway to exit.

[CocoCandy]

Yes, I debarked the ship today. We got off the ship at 7:30am and were back to our car in the mid-port parking garage about 40 mins later.

 

When we embarked on Thursday 1/30/16, we waited outside the terminal in lines with thousands of people, in the sun and heat, for a little over 3 hours before we made it inside the terminal.

[Cruises are us]

Wow! A 3 hour wait?!? What time did you arrive and begin your wait?

[serious sealeggs]

We're sailing the Indy for b2b in 3 days. Hope all go smoothly. Will report back about next 2 sailings.

[BRUKREW]

We'll be sailing on the Indy in 3 days also! I can hardly wait!!:)

[emory2001]

We're sailing the Indy for b2b in 3 days. Hope all go smoothly. Will report back about next 2 sailings.

 

I'm on Monday's sailing as well, planning to get there super early and thankful the weather will be cooler.

[CocoCandy]

Wow! A 3 hour wait?!? What time did you arrive and begin your wait?

 

We arrived around 12pm on 1/30/16 and there were already thousands of people waiting outside in line. Broward County Sheriff Deputies kept the line organized for hours that day. Luggage handlers said they had never had seen anything like that at the port.

 

We did not get on board until after 3:30pm on the 1/30/16.

 

RC blamed the problem on the port in announcements throughout the week. When we debarked yesterday, we asked port workers what had happened and they said it was 100% the cruise lines fault and were not suprised to see the blame put on the port.

 

Who knows what really happened or whose fault it was, but it was definitely inconvenient for us passengers made to wait outside for hours that day.

Edited February 5, 2016 by CocoCandy

[Firefighterhoop]

Just curious... I had heard about the long lines... anyone know what caused this.... it is highly unusual for boarding to be delayed that long.

[emory2001]

My heart goes out to everyone who had to endure that. That is inexcusable.

[Ocean Boy]

I, also, would be interested to know what might have causes this.

[BND]

We arrived around 12pm on 1/30/16 and there were already thousands of people waiting outside in line. Broward County Sheriff Deputies kept the line organized for hours that day. Luggage handlers said they had never had seen anything like that at the port.

 

We did not get on board until after 3:30pm on the 1/30/16.

 

RC blamed the problem on the port in announcements throughout the week. When we debarked yesterday, we asked port workers what had happened and they said it was 100% the cruise lines fault and were not suprised to see the blame put on the port.

 

Who knows what really happened or whose fault it was, but it was definitely inconvenient for us passengers made to wait outside for hours that day.

 

He said, she said. LOL Probably a little bit of both.

 

With all the reports I've seen about the port, I'm glad we haven't had to ever deal with this.

[canuckcruiselover]

On Feb 27 when our IOS cruise returns to Port Everglades, I see that the Emerald Princess and Oasis will also be returning.http://ports.cruisett.com/

No doubt, I should expect long wait times for debarkation and customs. With only Celebrity Equinox on the 21st, I would think that the turnaround would be OK barring any mechanical glitches.