Port of Miami Dock Report - Upcoming Serenity Sailings

[travelberlin]

Thanks Keith. I will be fine in Miami. You are right that things can happen.

 

I remember that in January this year I traveled to Buenos Aires to take my Azamara cruise to the Beagle Channel and other beautiful places. On embarkation day, I requested a taxi at my hotel at 12.00 to get to the port at around 12.30. The taxi never came. The hotel was helpless. I went out of the hotel to look for a taxi myself with my luggage. Taxis refused to drive to the port. The reason? There was a meeting of South American politicians at the Sheraton hotel in Buenos Aires which is near the port,  and people were demonstrating against that meeting. I have walked to the port dragging my luggage! And besides that, I had difficulties finding my small Azamara ship, who was hiding behind several MSC ships 😂 . I was able to embark at 15.30. It was an adventure ☺️.

 

Ivi

[Keith1010]

Ivi, that's an incredible story.  And I know Buenos Aires port is a bit complicated too.

 

I remember once coming back on a group bus in Ashdod there was a lot of confusion by the bus driver as to how to get into the port and it took about 30 minutes for him to figure it out.  

 

We've had interesting experience in several USA ports.

 

The time in Los Angeles where we got delayed getting off I believe the long showmen wouldn't remove the luggage from the ship because they smelled fuel.

 

In San Francisco we were boarding after the World Cruise ended there in 2016 and I don't think all of the luggage from the previous voyage got off until something like noon or later and guess were still on the ship. 

 

On our 2004 Crossing on Symphony we were delayed by 90 minutes to get off. Not an issue for us as we were staying over in the city but I remember one of our table-mates (a pilot) and his wife had a flight at 10;00 AM which is crazy to begin with so they missed it.

 

Then again one time I was flying from Dallas to St. Louis. Got on first flight early afternoon. It was canceled for mechanical reasons. A few hours later go on a second flight and it was cancelled for mechanical reasons. Got on a third flight in the evening and about 30 minutes from touchdown they said we couldn't land due to severe thunderstorms and we were turning back to go to Dallas.  As it turned out they took us to North Carolina. Are you kidding me?  I arrive to St. Louis at 3:00 the next morning. I could have driven it quicker than that.

 

This is why I am a believer in Murphy's Law when it comes to many things including travel.

 

Maybe one day they will be able to beam people to their desitination like they do in Star Trek.  Or maybe not.

 

Keith

[travelberlin]

Great stories Keith👍 I am sure all of us have lots of them to tell. Even though at the moment they create stress and anxiety, later on they make good memories. And we always learn something new… it is a wonderful world indeed🤗

 

Ivi

[ctjon]

Last time I did Miami - we got there the night before and had rented a car. I spent a lot of my youth in the area and wanted to look around again.   hertz offered bus transfers to the dock from their Miami Beach location and it worked out great.   Not positive that they still do that but it worked out great for us.

[ryndam]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

The time in Los Angeles where we got delayed getting off I believe the long showmen wouldn't remove the luggage from the ship because they smelled fuel.

 

 

Well, some of those showmen are short...love autocorrect!

I wouldn't remove fuel-smelling luggage, either!

 😁🤣😆

Edited December 17, 2023 by ryndam
typo

[FlyerTalker]

9 hours ago, BEAV said:

@travelberlin, the obvious moral of the story to this thread is to only sail from the Port of San Francisco where you’ll never have issues locating your ship! 😉

 

Or San Diego, where you can visually navigate from the airport to the ship.  And if at a downtown hotel, almost walk there.

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Keith1010 said:

The time in Los Angeles where we got delayed getting off I believe the long showmen wouldn't remove the luggage from the ship because they smelled fuel.

 

 I thought that the long showmen were the ones doing Million Dollar Musicals.  Now THAT was a long show.  😀

 

Or as the crew called it "Million Costume Changes".

 

 

[Keith1010]

20 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

 I thought that the long showmen were the ones doing Million Dollar Musicals.  Now THAT was a long show.  😀

 

Or as the crew called it "Million Costume Changes".

 

 

Yes, autocorrect strikes again. Or was it the longshoreman strikes again?  😀  Either is possible.  LOL.

[Keith1010]

And then there is Tampa during fog season.  That is when people say can I make a 10:00 AM flight. My answer.  The next day yes.  The day you debark.  No way.

 

Keith

[Texas Tillie]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

 

 

In San Francisco we were boarding after the World Cruise ended there in 2016 and I don't think all of the luggage from the previous voyage got off until something like noon or later and guess were still on the ship. 

 

 

 

Keith

 

I was on that segment from Tokyo to San Francisco. I'd booked a flight later than I might from a US port and was so glad. Was supposed to be on a Crystal transfer that went to a hotel first but they had to take us directly to the airport. This was the longshoremen trying to show the port authority who was boss.😵

 

Patty

[KenzSailing]

13 hours ago, BEAV said:

@travelberlin, the obvious moral of the story to this thread is to only sail from the Port of San Francisco where you’ll never have issues locating your ship! 😉

 

(not to mention a more scenic sailaway!) 

 

Has SF completely abandoned use of the old, and I do mean old, terminal?

[BEAV]

46 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

 

Has SF completely abandoned use of the old, and I do mean old, terminal?

Not entirely.
 

They do use the old cavernous Pier 35 on the very few days there’s two ships in town. Maybe the historical society wanted to keep it as a memorial to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds as that’s where they all hang out now. 

 

It’s a shame the new Pier 27 wasn’t built to accommodate more than one lone vessel. 🙄

[FlyerTalker]

8 hours ago, BEAV said:

It’s a shame the new Pier 27 wasn’t built to accommodate more than one lone vessel. 🙄

 

Public works planning in America?  We see it on cruise ships every day....public rooms that look very attractive, but are completely impractical and inefficient.

 

 

[imcpa]

I cruised out of Terminal J on the Regent Grandeur christening cruise.  It is a "private" terminal but the signage to get to it is somewhat confusing because there is a decent amount of construction near the port.

[Keith1010]

So you all remember when I said berth assignments may change our has. We will now sail out of Terminal E and not J on 12/23.

 

Crystal informed the TA's today and we received notification from our TA.

 

Keith

[ryndam]

2 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

So you all remember when I said berth assignments may change our has. We will now sail out of Terminal E and not J on 12/23.

 

Crystal informed the TA's today and we received notification from our TA.

 

Keith

We sailed from Terminal E on 12/2/23. It's certainly a larger terminal, check-in counters, waiting area and luggage drop off area than Terminal J. It was heavily "Carnival Cruises" branded on the inside though...

 

Rob

[KenzSailing]

Tomorrow we depart for Miami, to do the obvious.  Just finished packing. It's been literally years since we've packed for anything more involved than five nights in NYC.  Man, that was a lousy several hours.

[KenzSailing]

23 minutes ago, KenzSailing said:

Tomorrow we depart for Miami, to do the obvious.  Just finished packing. It's been literally years since we've packed for anything more involved than five nights in NYC.  Man, that was a lousy several hours.

 

Ooops, sorry, meant to post the above to the off-topic thread.  Didn't intend to step on someone else's topic.

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by KenzSailing
typo

[FlyerTalker]

6 hours ago, KenzSailing said:

Ooops, sorry, meant to post the above to the off-topic thread.  Didn't intend to step on someone else's topic.

 

Consider yourself reported to the Thread Police.

 

As for your sentence, you must do community service by buying drinks in the Crystal Cove.

 

😀

 

 

[cruisr]

Easy peezy leaving Terminal E this am.  Uber arrived in 8 minutes and it was $31.96 for the ride to MIA.  Tons of taxis also for people who do not use Uber or Lyft.

[Keith1010]

And easy peasy boarding in Terminal E. 

 

Serenity was easy to spot even though we were the smaller of the ships in port today with eight other ships.

 

Keith