boarding time on Freedom

[corsies]

Hi All:

 

Sailing on FOS on 11/19/2006 RC Documents say boarding time is 2:00 pm. Has anyone had experience getting on the ship earlier than 2:00 pm. Don't want to miss lunch.

 

Thanks

 

Corrie

[ColumbiaMDCanadian]

Never been on Freedom but I'm sure it's the same as others. 2pm is the 'official' boarding time.

(Cruise line's 'cover' for people that get there when the ship's not ready and *demand* to board!)

 

We've boarded as early as 12:30 - and some were already on well ahead of us.

 

As I understand it, the biggest question mark is customs since they dictate how fast the incoming cruise passengers can disembark.The cabins most likely won't be ready until close to 2pm but from what we've been told by our agent, they expect lunch service to start at 12:30 - 1:00! :)

 

(BTW: even if the cabin's not ready, we've been allowed to leave our carry ons in the cabin - at our own risk, mind you - as soon as we boarded.)

[bargainshopper]

We were on Freedom on Oct 8-15... We arrived at the port around 12:45 and were on the ship before one. As matter of fact, we have to wait for a few minutes before we have access to our cabin.

[gumballz]

An aquaintance of mine recently sailed on the Freedom and he said that boarding was a mess. He sailed on 10/15. Here's what he said about his experience:

They are having a VERY hard time embarking and disembarking passengers. We got there at noon and STOOD in line for 2.5 hours. With over 800 diamond members on board during that sailing, I'm sure they got an earful! When we finally got to the check in desk, the agent was a bit rude...she had obviously been mistreated earlier. She asked how things were going out there. I said, "oy! it's a nightmare." Then she replied, "Well...then I guess you should pay attention to your cruise book. When it says BOARDING at 2pm, you should arrive at 2PM!"

 

I was a little taken aback. I hadn't complained or anything...all I did was answer her question, and jokingly at that...we were happy to be so close to getting on board. I replied, "How about, 'Welcome to your Cruise'"? She turned a little red in the face and quickly checked us in.

 

Honestly, I think I had just assumed check in was at noon as it had been on every one of our previous cruises...especially with the ship leaving at 5pm (I'm used to the 11pm San Juan departures).

 

I would say, get there at 2pm. But, if everybody DID get there at 2pm, there is NO WAY they would have that ship loaded by 5pm. We were 30 minutes late because they were still loading luggage.

 

Also, note that the porters are near the beginning of the line. Drop your bags off there first, and then get into the line. We had never embarked from Miami before, so we got in line with out luggage.

 

Probably not what you wanted to read......but hopefully it will help you with your timing (and patience) a little.

 

Have fun!!

[joycemoore]

We just returned from Freedom and they started boarding at 11;25. We arrived at the port at 10:30. Our driver told us the best time to go to the port was between 10 and 10:30. After that, it was extremely crowded.