Carnival Freedom delayed bording

[Cupcrazy]

I love Cruise Critic! I just checked the Port Everglades webcam and noticed the Freedom was still at port. Of course I come to CC and there is a thread on why's she still there. FAN-tastic!

[Dicedlr711]

I understand that we are blaming the late debarkation and departure of the Freedom on customs. However there were 4 other ships there today that left pretty close to on time. Wouldn't they have had the same issues with customs?

[Laurin612]

I'm pretty sure they had delays also, as we could see the people on the holland America ship--Nieuw Amsterdam while we were sitting on deck waiting to debark.

[uncletr21]

 

The announcements by the CD said there were very few Customs Agents, although he stopped short of saying it was due to sequestration. Signs in the terminal confirmed longer waits due to being very short staffed. Compounded with the ships being full due to it being spring break means craziness!

 

We all felt terrible for those folks waiting in the hot sun to get on the ship--the line wrapped around the building! We saw Carnival passing out water to them.

 

Left Freedom today as well but can't complain, rolled off luggage.

 

Supposedly, ok, total hearsay rumor but i can see it................ b/c their funding was cut, they (port authority) WANT you to be miserable and have long lines b/c they want you to complain and they WANT to get the funding back. They always have the ability to decide to fingerprint and take pictures of those w/o passports. BUT, somehow, right when funding cut, they decide to do it frequently, including Easter Sunday when they are already short staffed. That slowed things down and made it even longer than necessary. Sometimes, a govt run business might operate differently than a private one and actually try to cause problems b/c it is in their organization's interest.

 

Could be wrong.......... if so, maybe the port authorities could announce why they suddenly need to finger print American adults and kids on a spring break vacation on Easter Sunday. The rumor is they have every incentive to slow it down so that we complain so that they get funding. If some crime was committed onboard and there was a valid reason to start the finger printing process, I eat my words. I'd like to see a chart of the % of pax fingerprinted after sequestration as oppose to before.

 

I am curious why Carnival has more delay issues than other ships as it does seem to be a port issue. Any guesses on that? Did Carnival complain less than RCCL about sequestration?

 

A complete aside..... RCCL does a better job of emptying people into docked ports than Carnival does based on my limited experience. RCCL ships had more pax and maybe used more scanners and more places to disembark but Carnival Freedom was chaotic to exit on port days, long hot lines, where RCCL Liberty and Allure were fine.

 

As a further aside, several in our group had digestive issues on Freedom, dining on food onboard. Could not track it and it wasn't serious enough to report or follow up on and there was lots of diligent handwashing so, fyi to cruisers. It was NOT norovirus, no fever or throwing up............... just other gross stuff.............

[kicia]

I just watched her sail out at 6:30 PM. Finally! We'll be on her in two weeks from today so we'll see what happens then.

[uncletr21]

I just watched her sail out at 6:30 PM. Finally! We'll be on her in two weeks from today so we'll see what happens then.

 

Get in line to roll luggage off at 6:15 and you will be fine.

 

"Good" to hear other lines also had issues. I'm not in love with Carnival but do NOT blame Carnival for this. They did the best they could to keep guests comfortable during the wait. It's a port issue and I'd like to think all of the delay was short staffing but I can't help but be skeptical b/c of the fingerprinting and photo holdup that, as far as I know, was not warranted.

[rch3]

If their funding was "cut" I might understand. All that was cut was 2.5-3% of future growth in spending. If they could process before, the funding is there to do it now. As long as Napolitano is joined at the hip with you know who we all can expect this to continue. Making political points at the expense of the people. Sick.

[big_duck]

I just watched her sail out at 6:30 PM. Finally! We'll be on her in two weeks from today so we'll see what happens then.

 

Usually there are a lot of ships in FLL, and you can't leave until the port control says you can. We left that late last year and there were no boarding delays.

 

It's luck of the draw.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

[MickCruiser]

Being union has nothing to do with it, could it be bad management or even budget cuts, doing more with less, big business making more profits with less service.

 

Well....one can't say union has nothing to do with it.....just like one cannot say its not bad management, budget cuts or doing more with less. Best thing is that it looks like their vacation started. Wish I was there so now I am jealous. :-(

[lovebelle]

I disembarked the Allure of the Seas last Sunday in Ft. Lauderdale. There were 6 or 7 immigration officials and we were off in about 10 minutes (at approximately 9AM). The process was very smooth. Maybe it's a Carnival issue?

 

I doubt Carnival has control over immigration personnel. Perhaps homeland security (or port authority or whomever) gave too many people this holiday off. Either way, Port Everglades should have been better prepared and had adequate staffing. They know how many people are on these ships, so shame on them.

[camarowesley]

What about people who had early flights? We'll be returning May 12th on the Freedom and have an 11:30 AM return flight. Now I'm nervous.

[big_duck]

Strange this should come up today, then hours later JH breaks his long Facebook silence talking about this very thing.

[Boston Bill]

Strange this should come up today, then hours later JH breaks his long Facebook silence talking about this very thing.

 

please explain

[lylone]

the cuts were supposed to start April 1st on the TSA, so I am sure the ports are being affected as well. Everyone is cutting costs..welcome to the new reality folks...

[phatsneaks]

Wasn't aware Customs and Immigration made profits or had stockholders.

No they have budget cuts that tax payers who also happen to be cruisers dont want to pay for these services.

[scm200]

Those cuts have not taken place yet, I bet this is a holiday mess...shame on whoever did the scheduling today!

[usd2bmd]

I believe they have already begun making staffing cuts because of the mess in Washington. So it is very possible (and IMO very probable) that a lack of Customs Officers was the reason for the delay.

[MDSue]

I was there- debarked today and it was a total nightmare. We did the self debark, left the ship at 7am and it took us about an hour and a half to get through the line. There was only 3 Customs agents working. The line only got worse after us. They were keeping people on the ship to lessen the lines of people waiting to getting out.

The other issue I noticed is that they did not even begin unloading the luggage until after 7am when we were standing in line despite the fact that the ship was docked around 4am.

It appears that dock workers, not cruise ship personnel unload the bags, but I don't know why they started so late. They didn't seem to be anticipating any delays the night before when they asked that all passengers be off the ship by 09:30 am.

I did ask the customs agent if the delay was due to the sequestration and he he just rolled his eyes and shook his head, yes. You could see the frustration in his eyes.

That doesn't expalin the late luggage unloading though.

I wonder if many people missed their flights. I'm glad we did the walk-off service, but it was still a long, frustrating mess.

Otherwise, it was a great cruise!

[Dare2Believe]

John Heald just posted this....

 

"So baring this in mind it was no surprise when some of the ships had the same problems due to less than the normal amount of inspectors checking disembarking guests and I am told the same signs I saw in the airport were also placed at the Customs Hall in the cruise terminals today. I know the Carnival Freedom had a longer than usual debarkation as did all the ships in Port Everglades. Other ports were and will be affected by this as well and while carnival will work hard with our friends from USCBP they are it seems working under the new federal budgets as the signs tell us.

 

The reason I am mentioning this is to ask for your understanding and your patience when disembarking the ships. It may not affect your home port, let's hope so but if there is a longer delay in disembarking than usual please realise it is beyond our control and that the USCBP are working as hard as they can under the current austerity measures. And meanwhile the staff on board will keep you updated and informed."

[Swampbaby]

I just watched her sail out at 6:30 PM. Finally! We'll be on her in two weeks from today so we'll see what happens then.

 

We will be with on that cruise in two weeks. Last on the Freedom in Oct 2011 where we were off and out of the port very quickly.

[Homer714]

We will be with on that cruise in two weeks. Last on the Freedom in Oct 2011 where we were off and out of the port very quickly.

 

 

We we will be there also in 2 Weeks :)

 

Please Please have this all worked out :(

[RDC1]

I was there- debarked today and it was a total nightmare. We did the self debark, left the ship at 7am and it took us about an hour and a half to get through the line. There was only 3 Customs agents working. The line only got worse after us. They were keeping people on the ship to lessen the lines of people waiting to getting out.

The other issue I noticed is that they did not even begin unloading the luggage until after 7am when we were standing in line despite the fact that the ship was docked around 4am.

It appears that dock workers, not cruise ship personnel unload the bags, but I don't know why they started so late. They didn't seem to be anticipating any delays the night before when they asked that all passengers be off the ship by 09:30 am.

I did ask the customs agent if the delay was due to the sequestration and he he just rolled his eyes and shook his head, yes. You could see the frustration in his eyes.

That doesn't expalin the late luggage unloading though.

I wonder if many people missed their flights. I'm glad we did the walk-off service, but it was still a long, frustrating mess.

Otherwise, it was a great cruise!

 

Not unexpected. Whenever government gets a budget cut, they always cut in ways that impact the visible service the most in order to try and get the budget restored. Note that they are cutting the hours on the line workers, not management level or senior positions in Washington. Same thing going on with the National Park Service.

[matj2000]

A very strategic way to implement the most misery possible on the public.

 

Don't look at me, I didn't vote for him....

[green man]

I like others were not happy today getting off the Freedom , but Carnival in no way had any dog in this one ! They were bending over backwards keeping people informed of what was going on.

After an hour to get off then a 45 min to a hr in the terminal we could see the problem 4 custom guys for 3,000 folks. By the time we got up to the counter 1 customs guy went to lunch ! So they were down to three. The customs service should have a min. of 8 guys working a ship that big !

I sure hope a VP from Carnival has a come to Jesus meeting with the boys over at customs tomorrow. Like I said Carnival going to take some heat because of this , but it is not there fault at all. It is all on our US Customs Service

" service that's a big joke " ( I mean lack of service ! )

[Big_G]

I like others were not happy today getting off the Freedom , but Carnival in no way had any dog in this one ! They were bending over backwards keeping people informed of what was going on.

After an hour to get off then a 45 min to a hr in the terminal we could see the problem 4 custom guys for 3,000 folks. By the time we got up to the counter 1 customs guy went to lunch ! So they were down to three. The customs service should have a min. of 8 guys working a ship that big !

I sure hope a VP from Carnival has a come to Jesus meeting with the boys over at customs tomorrow. Like I said Carnival going to take some heat because of this , but it is not there fault at all. It is all on our US Customs Service

" service that's a big joke " ( I mean lack of service ! )

 

Doubtful it will have any effect. All the cruise lines are experiencing the same problem. It's our government at it's best...NOT!