costa dembarkation

[sparky.mi]

I am going on the Costa Magica 1-21-07/1-28-07 and I know the ship arrives in Fll and says you can start to desembark at 8:00am. I also know that you can't depart until customs has cleared you. Does anyone know what time you usually start to leave when they have cleared you, is it pretty accurate at 8:00am? Also, are they like Carnival and let the people with one bag and keeps it with them leave right away? Before the 8:00am. Hope someone can help thanks:rolleyes:

[joetrizeo]

you are usually off the ship between 8 and 10am.

i do not think costa has self dembarkation like carnival does.

 

do you have an early flight to catch or something?

[sparky.mi]

No but we are trying to get onto an earlier flight that would be departing at 10:47am. I would like the earlier flight so we would get home asap. Thanks for the info.

[joetrizeo]

from reading these forums i can say that 11am is pretty much the cut off time. anything earlier than that is risky but not to say it hasent been done.

 

there are so many variables that could delay you from a smooth and on schedual debarkation time.

 

if at all possible, book something later.

 

imho

[oshun11]

I am going on the Costa Magica 1-21-07/1-28-07 and I know the ship arrives in Fll and says you can start to desembark at 8:00am. I also know that you can't depart until customs has cleared you. Does anyone know what time you usually start to leave when they have cleared you, is it pretty accurate at 8:00am? Also, are they like Carnival and let the people with one bag and keeps it with them leave right away? Before the 8:00am. Hope someone can help thanks:rolleyes:

Got off the Magica this morning. Had luggage tags for earliest group off and we actually left the ship at 8:25. Supposed to be 8:00 AM. so they missed it a little. If you drag your luggage or can find it in the warehouse quickly, you should be at airport around 9:00 in cab.

[lazygal]

We just got in. They had a small announcement in the daily two days before departure that the first 300 passengers with US passports to register could get off at 7:00 am if they handled their own luggage. They must have not had many takers as the announcement also appeared the next day.

 

We got off the ship as smooth as could be at 8:30. There were no announcements though and we walked off amidst no line at all.

[sparky.mi]

We just got in. They had a small announcement in the daily two days before departure that the first 300 passengers with US passports to register could get off at 7:00 am if they handled their own luggage. They must have not had many takers as the announcement also appeared the next day.

 

We got off the ship as smooth as could be at 8:30. There were no announcements though and we walked off amidst no line at all.

Thanks this gives me hope that we could make the early flight. :p

[Morgsmom]

We walked off the Magica this morning at 8:30, but could have gone even earlier -- so much easier to get OFF the ship than on it! There wasn't even a customs line at all; an agent just collected the declarations form in a stack (and my 10 y.o. was disappointed not to get a stamp in her passport!)

[Florida1947]

We were part of the small group of about 70 who elected to get off at 7 am. It seemed to be for passengers who had cars at the Park & Fly or who parked in the port's parking garage. It was not for passengers who needed to connect with flights from FLL. It worked okay for us since we live in SoFla.

[JoeAndrew]

We got off the Magica on the 23rd and just walked off at about 9AM. We usually choose to just keep our luggage with us (instead of placing it outside the door the night before) and it worked out fine. Still had time in the morning for breakfast and then closed our bags and walked off...no need to look for our bags in the terminal.

[shawnonrev]

My question is the reverse. We are staying a post cruise day at the Ramada Inn and we aren't supposted to be able to check in until 3:00 p.m. I was wondering how long can we hang around before we are kicked off the ship? I know that they only serve breakfast in the main dining room and if we want to eat, we will have to get there before 7:30.

[Highlander0108]

Back in April when we were on her, we we about the last to get off and not really by choice. The terminal was running a little behind in Customs according to the Costa staff. We did not have a flight to catch as we were being picked up at the terminal and were given brown luggage tags which cooresponded to the last group to get off the ship. We actually slept in a bit, the latest we slept in the cabin the entire cruise and had a leisurely Buffet breakfast. We were instructed to wait in the main theater for about an hour, but had grabbed fruits from the Buffet earlier to keep the kids fed. We probably could have walked our own luggage off, but the bags were pretty heavy. We were in no hurry to get off the ship either and the kids were sad to leave (adults too). I recall we got the call for our group to leave around 10:45AM. We had to wait probably another 30 minutes to clear customs, but the lines moved quickly. The whole process went very smoothly for us both getting on the ship and leaving the ship.

[GOLDENBONNY]

No but we are trying to get onto an earlier flight that would be departing at 10:47am. I would like the earlier flight so we would get home asap. Thanks for the info.

 

Its too early for flight,even if you get off the ship at 9 am,you can have problem with taxi,too many people going ,so I would not risk.and againe its customs,who know how long its can take?what if they have problem?

[RitaJean]

Hi: We were on the Christmas cruise (12/23-12/30). We chose self-debarkation. That is, we handled our luggage and met in the theater at 7:00 a.m. We had a quick breakfast @ the buffet. The ship was packed! But only about 200 chose this option.

THE SHORT ANSWER: YES, THIS OPTION IS AVAILABLE.

THE LONG ANSWER:

Unfortunately, Costa Magica staff loves to play mystery games. We were waiting for word to leave; the Costa staff member who is standing on stage shouts at people who are leaving...runs toward them telling them SHE has the YELLOW jacket; but another staff member(in yellow) QUIETLY instructs people in the corner (not announced to the rest of us waiting in the theater) to leave; our YELLOW jacket leaves -- no announcement!!! Bottom line: appear very disorganized and forget they are there to SERVE their patrons, not their egos.

 

If we hadn't asked, we would have remained in the theater longer than necessary. The advantage: quick access to taxi's and Customs (customs officials are fresh and ready...still smiling).