Delays at POE and FLL

[HDS]

Curious to hear from other passengers if disembarkation through Port of the Everglades is normally as slow as we experienced.

 

When we arrived last month, on one of four large cruise ships disembarking that morning, there were only three agents employed to process more than eight thousand passengers.

 

For us it was a long, boring wait and minor additional expense to get the only rental car left on the lot, a huge gas guzzler, instead of the small economical car we had ordered. For passengers with international flight connections it was a nail-biting finish to the cruise.

 

Add to this the crowds and delays at security we encountered at Fort Lauderdale airport a few days later and I wondered if there is a better way to enter and exit Florida.

[CruiserBruce]

I think you got this confused. If, as you say, there were 4 ships in port, that is 4 different terminals, each with their own agents. So if you saw 4 staff, that was for one ship, the one you were getting on. Not for all four ships.

 

FLL airport also has a couple of terminals. So you only saw part of the rush and crowd.

 

If you arrive at the thick of the crowds, yes, there are lines. But, as you see if you read a little here, there are always people asking when it is "best" to arrive to avoid the crowds.

 

Edit: I have now re-read your post about 5 times. I am confused about what you are saying. Are you talking about customs/immigration getting off the ship? At no time are all the pax from 4 large ships mingled together. Are you talking the rental car company? Again, at no time are 8k pax at one car rental place.

 

It sounds like you had lines at the airport. It is standard in the US to recommend you be at the airport 60-90 minutes in advance for domestic flights, 120 minutes for international. That almost always takes care of any line issues.

[capriccio]

Curious to hear from other passengers if disembarkation through Port of the Everglades is normally as slow as we experienced.

 

When we arrived last month, on one of four large cruise ships disembarking that morning, there were only three agents employed to process more than eight thousand passengers.

 

For us it was a long, boring wait and minor additional expense to get the only rental car left on the lot, a huge gas guzzler, instead of the small economical car we had ordered. For passengers with international flight connections it was a nail-biting finish to the cruise.

 

Add to this the crowds and delays at security we encountered at Fort Lauderdale airport a few days later and I wondered if there is a better way to enter and exit Florida.

 

What day did you disembark and fly out of FLL? The weekend of March 17/18 set records for the number of passengers embarking and disembarking at Port Everglades. I think the rest of March (after all it is high season and spring break) has been very, very busy.

 

I wasn't cruising but flew into FLL on March 17 and the lines at 9:15 am for Spirit airlines check-in were out the door. We were picked up on the departures level because the tour bus transfers were clogging the lower level (and traffic on the arrivals level is always slow but this was the worst my brother had ever seen). I dropped him off on March 24 at 8:45 am and Southwest lines for curbside check-in stretched the length of the building.

 

It's always best to check the port schedule (https://pevweb01.broward.org/Public/PublicMovements.aspx) and determine how many ships are in port -- that could definitely impact your disembarkation plans.