Fort Lauderdale Departures -- 2011/2012- earlier departure time (edited title)

[PescadoAmarillo]

The departure time from Fort Lauderdale on embarkation day for all Emerald Princess cruises from 11/8 until 1/27 has been changed from 5pm to 4pm. This may also affect cruises prior to 11/8, but as we didn't have those booked, we were not notified about those. It also appears to not affect cruises from 2/6 onwards; at least, we were not notified about those either.

 

If you are flying to FLL the day of the cruise, it might be worthwhile to check with your TA about this.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The departure time from Fort Lauderdale on embarkation day for all Emerald Princess cruises from 11/8 until 1/27 has been changed from 5pm to 4pm. This may also affect cruises prior to 11/8, but as we didn't have those booked, we were not notified about those. It also appears to not affect cruises from 2/6 onwards; at least, we were not notified about those either.

 

If you are flying to FLL the day of the cruise, it might be worthwhile to check with your TA about this.

Will thay be boarding earler

[Pam in CA]

Will thay be boarding earler

No. No matter whether the ship sails at 4pm or 10pm, boarding starts some time between 11:30am -Noon. They make sure the ship is cleaned and all the cabins are ready before allowing boarding to start. That schedule doesn't change with the sail time.

[DTW Cruiser]

Thanks for the information! We are sailing 2/26/12 on Emerald Princess and it looks like our departure has been moved up to 4pm also. No notice from Princess but the itinerary on my Cruise Personalizer does reflect the new time. We're flyng to FLL one day ahead of departure so it's not an issue for us, but I am surprised that Princess didn't send out notification. Thanks again for sharing this!

Elaine

[Coolmama_1]

I was wondering why we weren't notified and then I figured it out! We sail in 8 weeks!!!!:D:D

[FawnRiver]

Glad to know my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. I downloaded the countdown widget to my computer before the change and one day not too long ago I noticed that I'd somehow gained an hour. :confused: (now if I could only gain 160 days) I thought I just had the time in my memory wrong.

The change doesn't really affect us - we fly in at least one day in advance, but for some it may make a difference.

[Host CJSKIDS]

This notice is in our booking and I can see that they have made the change to our departure time. Since our first stop is Princess Cay which is so close to Fort Lauderdale, what could be the reasoning for the change? Operational considerations?

 

Not an issue for me, just curious.

 

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to operational considerations, your ship will now

now depart Ft. Lauderdale at 4:00 pm and not 5:00 pm as originally scheduled.

As a result of this change, our flight guidelines have changed. Passengers with

Princess eZAir will be rescheduled on earlier flights as needed and a new

confirmation will be sent. Passengers with independent air arrangements will

need to reschedule their flights to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at or prior to

2:30 pm (domestic) and 1:45 pm (international). If you are you are flying into

Miami, you will need to reschedule your flights to arrive at or prior to

1:30 pm (domestic) and 12:30 pm (international). Please contact Customer

Relations at 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) if you have any questions

regarding air change fees. The revised itinerary displays in full at the end

of this notification.

[Pia1913]

This notice is in our booking and I can see that they have made the change to our departure time. Since our first stop is Princess Cay which is so close to Fort Lauderdale, what could be the reasoning for the change? Operational considerations?

 

Not an issue for me, just curious.

 

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to operational considerations, your ship will now

now depart Ft. Lauderdale at 4:00 pm and not 5:00 pm as originally scheduled.

As a result of this change, our flight guidelines have changed. Passengers with

Princess eZAir will be rescheduled on earlier flights as needed and a new

confirmation will be sent. Passengers with independent air arrangements will

need to reschedule their flights to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at or prior to

2:30 pm (domestic) and 1:45 pm (international). If you are you are flying into

Miami, you will need to reschedule your flights to arrive at or prior to

1:30 pm (domestic) and 12:30 pm (international). Please contact Customer

Relations at 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) if you have any questions

regarding air change fees. The revised itinerary displays in full at the end

of this notification.

 

Could be because of multiple ships in port leaving at the same time.

[TracieABD]

This is the first time I have heard of them leaving early. I wonder why? I have heard of rescheduling to a later time...

[zacc]

Pia is correct. The number of ships may have influenced the change. It may also have something to do with tide levels and the draft of the ship.

[xxoocruiser]

This notice is in our booking and I can see that they have made the change to our departure time. Since our first stop is Princess Cay which is so close to Fort Lauderdale, what could be the reasoning for the change? Operational considerations?

 

Not an issue for me, just curious.

 

quote]

 

Departure time is controlled by the Port Authority and not the Cruise line. When a change like this happens it generally due to a large amount of freighter traffic in and out of the port at that time of day. Freighters generally have the right away in port. Much the same that Amtrac has to yield the right away to frieght trains on the rails.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I have guests coming for the Bon Voyage experience so I guess their visit is cut short by an hour. Sure doesn't give them much time on the ship.

[luvtravel88]

I don't know what day your cruise is, but I received the same notification for a cruise we are taking out of Ft. Lauderdale on November 9.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I don't know what day your cruise is, but I received the same notification for a cruise we are taking out of Ft. Lauderdale on November 9.

 

We are leaving on the 11/12 Crown sailing. The 11/5 sailing also had the change.

 

Someone on our roll call posted the change as they had received an email from Princess. So far we have yet to receive anything.

[christinelee]

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to operational considerations, your ship will now

now depart Ft. Lauderdale at 4:00 pm and not 5:00 pm as originally scheduled.

As a result of this change, our flight guidelines have changed. Passengers with

Princess eZAir will be rescheduled on earlier flights as needed and a new

confirmation will be sent. Passengers with independent air arrangements will

need to reschedule their flights to arrive in Ft. Lauderdale at or prior to

2:30 pm (domestic) and 1:45 pm (international). If you are you are flying into

Miami, you will need to reschedule your flights to arrive at or prior to

1:30 pm (domestic) and 12:30 pm (international). Please contact Customer

Relations at 1-800-PRINCESS (1-800-774-6237) if you have any questions

regarding air change fees. The revised itinerary displays in full at the end

of this notification.

[Northender]

Altho we are not cruising until April, 2012 I figued I would take a look at the Cruise Personalizer and yes, our cruise was moved up to 4PM also.

 

Thanks Pescado for posting this. Altho we are planning being in FLL a few days ahead of time, others on our cruise will be coming in the same day.

Lets hope that they did not make plane ressies just yet.:eek:

[JWJs]

Emerald leaving at 4 instead of 5 PM is a good deal. Better chance of having a sail away during daylight hours. At 5 PM...if any delays...sail away is in the dark which was our experience.

[Host CJSKIDS]

The Crown has also changed their departure time to 4 pm.

[Northender]

We also have a time change and we do not sail until April 2012.:):)

[avcruz]

We also have a time change and we do not sail until April 2012.:):)

Well, until your post I was going to guess that it might be due to those departures being in the first week after we go off daylight savings. But if it's happening in April too, that blows my theory out of the water! :p

[luvtravel88]

Well, until your post I was going to guess that it might be due to those departures being in the first week after we go off daylight savings. But if it's happening in April too, that blows my theory out of the water! :p

A very good theory that is too!!

I'm happy to leave an hour earlier. I'm hoping that means that if we arrive at the ship at 11:00 on embarkation day, that we won't have to wait too long to board.

[Stevesan]

This notice is in our booking and I can see that they have made the change to our departure time. Since our first stop is Princess Cay which is so close to Fort Lauderdale, what could be the reasoning for the change? Operational considerations?

 

Not an issue for me, just curious.

 

 

Very interesting. Both my Emerald Nov 18 and 28 sailings were moved up to 4pm.

Judging from posts other ships have moved up as well.

 

It can't be a "ships in port" issue: Nov 18 there are only two other ships scheduled, Carnival Miracle and RCI's 7 Seas Navigator for a total port load of 9,011. The 28th has just 7 Seas Navigator and Emerald.

 

That's a mere pittance for Port Everglades. Weekends, RCI's Oasis and Allure each contribute 6,126!

[TracieABD]

After reading this, I checked our departure time on Dec. 23 out of FLL and it has also been changed to 4 pm. I always get there early, but to some this may be much needed news!

[Whimsy]

I seen someone else posted a change in departure time a few days back. I checked our cruise in January and sure enough ours had changed from 5 to 4. It's fine by me as we always board early but I sent an email around as some are driving in the day of the cruise that live in Florida.

 

I have not recieved anything yet from Princess either. We did make a change on our booking last week and had a new confirmation and the new time was on there but I did not notice.

 

It's good with me. I would rather have an extra hour on the water. :D

[Stevesan]

I called Princess. The phone rep said the 4PM sailaway is effective for all cruises out of Port Everglades from Nov 1st onward.

 

She doesn't know why it was changed, but we can keep this thread open by speculating about the reason.:p