What time can you usually board at Fort Lauderdale?

[honeymoon06]

We'll be on the Emerald on March 25. We're flying in from the UK the day before and staying at a hotel near the port overnight.

 

How early should/can we arrive at the port the morning of the cruise? It says boarding is from 1pm on our travel summary but has anyone found it is possible to board earlier?

 

Also, silly question probably.......we'll be taking a taxi to the port. Do we simply tell the driver to drop us by the emerald princess or is there a taxi drop off area?

 

Thanks

[M&MCruisin]

We'll be on the Emerald on March 25. We're flying in from the UK the day before and staying at a hotel near the port overnight.

 

How early should/can we arrive at the port the morning of the cruise? It says boarding is from 1pm on our travel summary but has anyone found it is possible to board earlier?

 

Also, silly question probably.......we'll be taking a taxi to the port. Do we simply tell the driver to drop us by the emerald princess or is there a taxi drop off area?

 

Thanks

 

when we went to ft lauderdale, we got on the ship by 12 noon. I can honestly say I dont remember what we told the taxi driver other than the cruise port. Have fun on your trip!

[Colo Cruiser]

Come and join our roll call for this cruise.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=387

 

 

We will be there by 9:00 as we have a red eye flight that gets in at 5:30.

Cant board until about noon.

[chrysalis]

about noon, and we are on the same sailing.....why don't you join our Roll Call here.......and meet others going on the same cruise....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=535053

[Scooter-n-GB]

DW and I got to the port at about 11:20, and waited until 12:10 before the boarding process actually began. From that point, we were on the ship by 12:40.

 

When boarding actually starts, has some to do with how quickly the ship clears customs. :p

 

Have a great cruise!

[nschurr]

In December 07 we were in our cabin by 11:30 AM. Tell the driver the name of your ship and he will drop you off where your ship is docked.

[DanJ]

I remember hearing a Princess official talking to someone in line when we boarded the CB on Jan 20th, and he said they had started boarding at some ridiculously early time. Can't recall exactly what he said but it was well before 11am. Something about a new procedure based on how early the prior cruise clears out. If so, this would change week to week.

 

As for what to tell the taxi driver, the name of the ship will do fine. They know where each ship is. If the driver is new or something, there are signs as you drive in the port entrance with the ship's name and which pier it's at.

[mncyclist]

While the precise time of boarding will vary depending on how quickly the disembarking from the previous cruise went, I think it's safe to say that after 2PM, it's much less crowded. On our recent Emerald Princess cruise from FLL, we also flew in the night before and we decided that we were in no hurry to rush to the port. So we had a leisurely breakfast, we did a short walk on the beach south of the port and then we dropped off our bags at the port around noon, when the lines were coming out the door, though moving. Then our only remaining task was to return the rental car, so we took our time and did some more exploring and last-minute post office and grocery errands and ended up back at the port shortly before 2PM. As hoped, the building was nearly empty and we were on board in 5 minutes. Our cabin was ready and our bags arrived less than 1 hour later. Of course, our relaxed morning was made possible with a rental car.

[captainron]

Hi,

I have seen boarding commence as early as 11:20am and been in my stateroom by noon.

 

Sometimes certain parts of the vessel may be closed off so that cabin stewards may prepare the staterooms. A sign generally indicates that staterooms may not be accessed until 1:00pm. I have seen this on Carnival and RCCL but not on Princess. On Princess I have actually sought out our stateroom steward and introduced myself requesting egg crate, extra chair for the balcony etc and slipping a pre-cruise tip which is a great help.

 

As to when the embarkation process starts...who knows? I thoroughly believe that much depends on when the ship has been cleared and security determines that all pax from the preceding voyage have cleared the vessel. That is then an indicator that the ship is ready to accept pax for the embarkation process, even tho' supplies have been loaded onboard since she pulled alongside at 6:45am.

 

If you arrive at the ship by 11:30am you should be in a decent spot in the lineup for the embarkation process. Given that, you should be onboard by noon or soon thereafter.

 

Ciao for now!!!

[paintchip8]

One thing I want to mention...we just returned from the Coral, loved it, great time. When we arrived to board the gentleman at the terminal door was asking everyone for their boarding passes. I didn't print mine from the internet, just didn't think it was necessary. I stepped aside to look for other documentation that proved we were on this sailing and a manager came by and told the first gentleman to check for the name in the passenger book that he had by his elbow. I was sweating bullets! What about people that don't have e-mail or computers. They finally let us into the terminal and the lady at the desk, the one that gives you your ship card, was agast that I hadn't printed off the boarding pass. So...if you want to feel stupid don't print off your boarding pass!:o

[LeeW]

There are huge signs just inside the port pointing to which ship is at which pier. Princess uses the north port (usually berth 2) unless there are other ships using it. See the broward.org/port web site for good maps of the port and maybe a listing of which berth you will be at (current listings seem to be only one day).

[retpoda]

hi, going on the cb 2/17. Can we get lunch in dining room or do we have to go to Horizon ct after we board?

[DanJ]

There wasn't any dining room lunch when we boarded on Jan 20th. Horizon Court, Cafe Caribe, and the burger and pizza booths out by the pool.

[sunsetbeachgal]

One our Emerald cruise we were in/out of Berth Two..also good advice to print out the boarding pass beforehand...the process went very quickly and we were on around noon. Oh, expect that when you go to the Horizon Court for lunch the first day that it will be mobbed-you won't be disappointed!

[rianvi]

We are sailing on Feb. 24th on the Emerald. We usually get to the port around 11:30. I don't mind if I have to wait...I am just glad to be ther and starting our vacation.

Peace, Rianvi:)