Disembark question for Regal Princess

[kywildcatfanone]

Hi folks,

 

I'm booking a cruise in December on Regal Princess, first one in a while. It appears the disembarkation time now starts at 6am on some of these cruises instead of 7am. Has that been folks experience, that if you are doing walkoff, you will start to disembark by 6-6:30 of the time listed for the cruise is 6am?

 

Trying to determine how early of a flight I can book out of FLL.

 

Thanks!

[umuva]

Customs has to clear the ship. At Port Everglades don't bet on getting off before 7:30.

 

 

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[PghCruiseGrrrl]

The earliest flight Princess recommends is 10.30 am. Could you possibly make an earlier one? Yes, but I would hate to be worrying about if I am going to make my flight home. That would just make me anxious my whole cruise. Getting off the ship isn't controlled by Princess. It depends on how many customs agents the government decides to have working that day and how thin they are spread depending on many ships are in port.

[pablo222]

Customs has to clear the ship. At Port Everglades don't bet on getting off before 7:30.

 

Not for walk-offs, but the last time I disembarked regal,

the porters were in some dispute with the cruise line, or

the port, and would not start work until 7:00.

 

We were in the terminal at 6:45, sitting around with the

porters, until they started work at 7:00.

 

We then has to wait a bit more, as they wouldn't let passengers

take bags until all bags in a color were on the floor in the terminal.

 

And, they used hand carts rather than fork lifts to bring the bags from

the back of the terminal to the passenger pick up area -- they said

someone had been hit by a forklift.

[kywildcatfanone]

Well, it used to be with express walk off, if the ship was scheduled for 7, and you got off the ship by 7:30, if you were in the first or 2nd group off the ship, you could be at the port and thru security by 7:45, so I booked several 9am flights and had time to spare.

Looking at flight options, if they are letting folks off by say 6:30, then I should be able to make an 8am flight with express walk off, wanted to find out if indeed the ship had been disembarking between 6 and 6:30am from recent travelers using express walk off.

[skynight]

Well, it used to be with express walk off, if the ship was scheduled for 7, and you got off the ship by 7:30, if you were in the first or 2nd group off the ship, you could be at the port and thru security by 7:45, so I booked several 9am flights and had time to spare.

Looking at flight options, if they are letting folks off by say 6:30, then I should be able to make an 8am flight with express walk off, wanted to find out if indeed the ship had been disembarking between 6 and 6:30am from recent travelers using express walk off.

6am is the time the ship is scheduled to arrive at the pier, not the time passengers begin to disembark. My experience with early walk off is that it may begin around 7 to 7:30am, depends on when Immigration/Customs is ready. In over 30 cruises I have never seen it start at 6am. If you use 7:15 as an estimated walk off time you should be able to get a taxi by 7:45 and be at the airport by 8:00. It can take anywhere from 30 mins to an hour to get through check in and security. If you have TSA pre-check it will be closer to the 30 mins. To me 9am seems tight, with no wiggle room. Also, if you are arriving back into port on a Sunday that will be a busy day at the piers and at the airport with so many passengers from so many ships.

[kywildcatfanone]

6am is the time the ship is scheduled to arrive at the pier, not the time passengers begin to disembark. My experience with early walk off is that it may begin around 7 to 7:30am, depends on when Immigration/Customs is ready. In over 30 cruises I have never seen it start at 6am. If you use 7:15 as an estimated walk off time you should be able to get a taxi by 7:45 and be at the airport by 8:00. It can take anywhere from 30 mins to an hour to get through check in and security. If you have TSA pre-check it will be closer to the 30 mins. To me 9am seems tight, with no wiggle room. Also, if you are arriving back into port on a Sunday that will be a busy day at the piers and at the airport with so many passengers from so many ships.

 

Thanks for the reply. On our last cruise, a 7 day, I noticed the time for arriving at the port was 6am as well, and when we got our express walk off, it stared at 6:20am, so we were at the airport by 7am and thru security by 7:15. Wasn't sure if that was now a norm or not. This cruise, disembarkation day is a Thursday, so I would expect it not to be as crowded, but I don't know. Might shoot for a 9am flight, just in case.

[windsurferfirst]

Earlier this year we were walk off's on the Regal, they gave us a 6.10 time slot to be in the dinning room. Everything went super fast and we were at the immigration desk for 6.45 and the airport for 7.10am.

 

Not sure if we were lucky or this is the norm.

[riclop]

It varies every week.

[capriccio]

This cruise, disembarkation day is a Thursday, so I would expect it not to be as crowded, but I don't know. Might shoot for a 9am flight, just in case.

 

Most of the time Princess recommends flights after 11 or 11:30 am - no doubt to avoid angry passengers blaming them for missed flights. Just make sure you have a Plan B in case customs/immigration is short staffed thereby making the disembarkation process slow - that has happened to us on Princess and to our DD on Royal Caribbean last winter. Know when the next flight is scheduled and if it will cost you a change fee. I would also keep an eye on seat availability on the next flight which might not be such a problem mid-week but if anyone is considering doing the same for a weekend flight it could be very problematic with lots of ships in port.

[easyboy]

Hi folks,

 

I'm booking a cruise in December on Regal Princess, first one in a while. It appears the disembarkation time now starts at 6am on some of these cruises instead of 7am. Has that been folks experience, that if you are doing walkoff, you will start to disembark by 6-6:30 of the time listed for the cruise is 6am?

 

Trying to determine how early of a flight I can book out of FLL.

 

Thanks!

After you book the cruise, use Princess' suggested earliest flight time as the guide.

[Lucky TGO]

Hi folks,

 

I'm booking a cruise in December on Regal Princess, first one in a while. It appears the disembarkation time now starts at 6am on some of these cruises instead of 7am. Has that been folks experience, that if you are doing walkoff, you will start to disembark by 6-6:30 of the time listed for the cruise is 6am?

 

Trying to determine how early of a flight I can book out of FLL.

 

Thanks!

It's more like 7 or 7:30. Don't book your flights to early things happen.

Tony

[luv2travel06]

Early flights are a great plan until you have to make an extra stop for a medical emergency and can't make up the time....like on our last cruise.

 

 

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[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for the reply. On our last cruise, a 7 day, I noticed the time for arriving at the port was 6am as well, and when we got our express walk off, it stared at 6:20am, so we were at the airport by 7am and thru security by 7:15. Wasn't sure if that was now a norm or not. This cruise, disembarkation day is a Thursday, so I would expect it not to be as crowded, but I don't know. Might shoot for a 9am flight, just in case.

 

Good luck with that. Any problem that arises could completely throw off your arrival schedule. We had a problem once and weren't let off the ship until around 10am. You never know. Another time, the customs computers were down. That took an extra hour. I would NEVER attempt to make a 9am flight and I'm a get-the-lead-out-kind-of-person.

Edited September 17, 2016 by DrivesLikeMario