Late Boarding AGAIN on Liberty??

[Ykgorbie]

We're in Miami waiting to board the Liberty for our Western Carib. cruise and I got an "Urgent" message from Carnival in an email saying not to show up at the cruise ship terminal until 1:30. I had read on these boards that people were thinking that if a ship had returned from an itinerary that included Belize, there were huge delays getting off and on the ship. BUT, pretty sure the Liberty just finished an Eastern itinerary. Any comments?

[Scott34787]

We're in Miami waiting to board the Liberty for our Western Carib. cruise and I got an "Urgent" message from Carnival in an email saying not to show up at the cruise ship terminal until 1:30. I had read on these boards that people were thinking that if a ship had returned from an itinerary that included Belize, there were huge delays getting off and on the ship. BUT, pretty sure the Liberty just finished an Eastern itinerary. Any comments?

 

That email is to space everyone out -

many get it regardless of ship/port/iten.

[tiggerman101]

I am here in Miami waiting to head over to Liberty myself. There is a group of about 20 of us. We all got the email. They are just trying to space us all out.

[Express Man]

Thats there way on new cutbacks to save $$..The later you arrive the less they have to feed people for free...LOL......:D

[Unknotted]

I obeyed the message for the first cruise we received it on and the crowd was crazier than usual when we got to the port. The next cruise we also got the message but went to the port early anyway and the crowd was much less. I was glad a lot of people had payed attention to the message because it made early boarding so much nicer for us. We'll never wait til 1:30 again.

[soccersharon]

I agree - CCL is trying to get folks to arrive at different times, rather than early (which I'm going to do anyway!).

 

Have a wonderful trip - just did the Eastern Carribbean in March, and it's wonderful! Boarding the Liberty again in 70 days. You will love her!

[beachbum53]

So you ignore the e-mail and arrive early anyhow. What are they going to do? Lock the doors and refuse entrance? I will admit, it can be a little hectic out in front, with people coming and going, taxi cabs trying to get in and out, etc. But, once you're inside, seated with your boarding zone number, at least you can relax while eagerly waiting to board, anticipating that familiar "ding ding" when your S&S card is scanned for the first time. :)

By the way, I just checked the P.O.M. web cam. Looks like a beautiful Saturday morning there in Miami. While you're drinking your first D.O.D. of the day, think of us poor shlubs back at home wishing we were with you. Hope you have perfect weather and a great cruise!

[Colorado Beach Bum]

Do just assume its to space out passengers. We were on the Liberty in early Sept and received the email. And sure enough, boarding was delayed until 1:30. Wasn't much fun sitting around for a few hours.

[GROUCHPUSS]

we got the message last week and where on board by 11:30am and were not the 1st to board.

[KirkNC]

Thats no fun, I wonder if they had trouble with noro on the previous cruise.

[Scott34787]

Do just assume its to space out passengers. We were on the Liberty in early Sept and received the email. And sure enough, boarding was delayed until 1:30. Wasn't much fun sitting around for a few hours.

 

That is true - it could be a boarding delay -

The email gives Carnival a good out

if this is the case. If they get complaints

about the delay it's an easy answer for them:

"Well we did send an email

telling you not to arrive until 1:30"

[SadieN]

1:30 seems to be the default message.

[GROUCHPUSS]

1:30 seems to be the default message.

 

I have gotten this message on my last 3 cruises. Never had a delayed in boarding.

[Scott34787]

I'm guessing they got on board on-time???

[Ykgorbie]

We are just in transit coming home from that cruise (did a B2B); we ended up getting to the port just after 11:30am and my husband, who detests line ups, commented to me "Well, another smooth embarkation process." We were on the Lido easily within a half hour. One thing we noticed is that the POM terminal does not have seating, while the Fort Lauderdale one does. I think they want everyone spaced out and also want to cover their butts in case there is a delay of any kind. When the Liberty was doing their debarkation on Oct 13th, we were watching the Valor from our aft balcony. We could hear all of their announcements we were parked so close to her. For some reason the Valor was still calling self assist at around 10am, whereas the Liberty was nearly done calling all of the zones by then.