MSC Seaside Express Disembarkation

[Naya2018]

Hello!  Can anyone who has utilized the self walk off on the Seaside tell me whats the earliest they were able to walk off and get curbside in Miami?  I am finding a few reviews where folks are saying they were off and curbside by 7am, can anyone confirm this?  Thank you so much!!

Edited January 14, 2020 by Naya2018

[grandgeezer]

5 hours ago, Naya2018 said:

Hello!  Can anyone who has utilized the self walk off on the Seaside tell me whats the earliest they were able to walk off and get curbside in Miami?  I am finding a few reviews where folks are saying they were off and curbside by 7am, can anyone confirm this?  Thank you so much!!

We’ve done it twice, once in 2018 and one this past October, both in Miami. In 2018 walk off started shortly after 7am. In October it didn’t start until about 7:40. Everybody was getting nervous an even the regular disembarkation people were getting in line, wall to wall people. Luckily they had facial recognition in Customs and things moved pretty quickly.

Things happen, I wouldn’t try to cut it too close and make sure you have a Plan B in case things get out of hand and you miss your flight.

[Naya2018]

10 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

We’ve done it twice, once in 2018 and one this past October, both in Miami. In 2018 walk off started shortly after 7am. In October it didn’t start until about 7:40. Everybody was getting nervous an even the regular disembarkation people were getting in line, wall to wall people. Luckily they had facial recognition in Customs and things moved pretty quickly.

Things happen, I wouldn’t try to cut it too close and make sure you have a Plan B in case things get out of hand and you miss your flight.

Thank you!  We currently have an evening flight, for some reason there is no afternoon flights to Las Vegas, only morning and evening. We have TSApre and global entry so we could pull off am flight if we could be off the ship by 7am, 730a at the latest. Makes me nervous though lol.

[capriccio]

3 hours ago, Naya2018 said:

We have TSApre and global entry so we could pull off am flight if we could be off the ship by 7am, 730a at the latest. Makes me nervous though lol.

 

Just an FYI - a Global Entry lane is marked (by a sign) in the MSC terminal but this past Sunday the lane wasn't open.  We were directed to stand in a regular lane.  The line was long but moving.  When we got to the immigration officer, he apologized for the GE line not being open but gave no explanation (staffing issues I would guess).

[Naya2018]

27 minutes ago, capriccio said:

 

Just an FYI - a Global Entry lane is marked (by a sign) in the MSC terminal but this past Sunday the lane wasn't open.  We were directed to stand in a regular lane.  The line was long but moving.  When we got to the immigration officer, he apologized for the GE line not being open but gave no explanation (staffing issues I would guess).

Did you opp for self disembark? What time were you curbside through customs? 😊

[modes]

12 hours ago, Naya2018 said:

Hello!  Can anyone who has utilized the self walk off on the Seaside tell me whats the earliest they were able to walk off and get curbside in Miami?  I am finding a few reviews where folks are saying they were off and curbside by 7am, can anyone confirm this?  Thank you so much!!

 

2 hours ago, Naya2018 said:

Did you opp for self disembark? What time were you curbside through customs? 😊

Outside at 7am.

[capriccio]

We didn't do self disembarkation so I don't remember when it started.   I do know that a general announcement was made around 8:30 that the immigration lines had gotten so long that CBP stopped anyone disembarking until they cleared the backup.  That lasted about 10 - 15 minutes until it resumed.  We disembarked around 9:15 and were on the curb around 9:35.

[grandgeezer]

You are going to read about successes, failures, and opinions, evaluate them all and do you think is best, it's all a crap shoot when the day arrives. Besides getting off the ship, you have the traffic and airport congestion. In October, we got in a taxi shortly after 8am but didn't get to our gate until 9:30 and we had  TSA Precheck. Luckily our flight didn't leave until 11am.

Evaluate all the pluses and minuses and do what helps you sleep at night, especially the night before disembarkation.

 

[Naya2018]

33 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

You are going to read about successes, failures, and opinions, evaluate them all and do you think is best, it's all a crap shoot when the day arrives. Besides getting off the ship, you have the traffic and airport congestion. In October, we got in a taxi shortly after 8am but didn't get to our gate until 9:30 and we had  TSA Precheck. Luckily our flight didn't leave until 11am.

Evaluate all the pluses and minuses and do what helps you sleep at night, especially the night before disembarkation.

 

Good advise! Thank you! 😊

[kealalani]

We always do early disembarkation. In 2018 on the Seaside it was supposed to start at 6:45 so we got there at 6:30 and there was already a huge line. They didn't start until 7 to let people off. When we did Divina in 2019 it was basically the same thing. Get there super early if you want to be the first off! Each time though, immigration was a breeze for us and we don't have passports. (Family of four and US citizens.)  Finding a cab was another story...

Edited January 16, 2020 by kealalani

[Naya2018]

33 minutes ago, kealalani said:

We always do early disembarkation. In 2018 on the Seaside it was supposed to start at 6:45 so we got there at 6:30 and there was already a huge line. They didn't start until 7 to let people off. When we did Divina in 2019 it was basically the same thing. Get there super early if you want to be the first off! Each time though, immigration was a breeze for us and we don't have passports. (Family of four and US citizens.)  Finding a cab was another story...

Great! We're early birds so I'd set up shop bright and early lol!  Thank you for the info!

[jdvmd]

On 1/14/2020 at 9:30 PM, capriccio said:

 

Just an FYI - a Global Entry lane is marked (by a sign) in the MSC terminal but this past Sunday the lane wasn't open.  We were directed to stand in a regular lane.  The line was long but moving.  When we got to the immigration officer, he apologized for the GE line not being open but gave no explanation (staffing issues I would guess).

I have only seen the Miami Global Entry lane open one time in the seven years.

[Cruising_Gals]

On 1/18/2020 at 7:31 PM, jdvmd said:

I have only seen the Miami Global Entry lane open one time in the seven years.

 

That's disappointing, I just got approved Monday and planned to use it this trip.  I'm flying to Jamaica in July and wanted it for that flight but decided to get it early to use this trip, bummer.  Maybe I'll get lucky...

[GOLDENBONNY]

We did it twice and twice they open door at 7:20 . Took about 20 min to walk to curb.