Turnaround Day in Ft Lauderdale Horrible

[alwaysfrantic]

Hopefully the system will improve.

Edited November 17, 2013 by alwaysfrantic

[hal lover]

We too, have done a few "turn around" cruise's and we've never had any big issues with it. We go with an attitude that this is what it is and calm & slow gets us back on the ship quickly enough. Also, I have read that some are not allowed to use the Hydropool area when they do a turn around but I have never had any problems.

I hope the next segment of your cruise will be wonderful! Enjoy!:)

[taxmantoo]

We normally used that day to get off the ship and take a taxi to Total Wine to replenish our supply for the second leg of the trip. Wonder what we will do now ??? :rolleyes:

[Linda&Vern]

If I am ever on another Collector's Cruise, I will do exactly what we did in March. Others don't seem to agree with me ... but I can do FLL sightseeing anytime. Before my cruise or after. But I refuse to give up a "cruise day" to tour FLL.

While our experience was not as long as the OP's (maybe under 30 min), I don't understand the big deal about getting off the ship (and I doubt there was a cattle prod) and staying in a terminal room for an hour. OP, if you were not able to stand that long without distress, then you should have asked the Neptune Lounge staff to arrange wheelchair assistance for you. There is a system in place for those who cannot stand. I'm sorry you were not able to handle this stress ... but "stuff" does happen on a cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Everyone was given a form to read a couple of days before the turn around day asking if you needed wheelchair assistance. I, as well an many others who had walkers and scooters did not ask for a wheelchair.

We were all told that there would be plenty of chairs for people to sit and wait to get back on the chair. That was not the case.

And there were not enough wheelchairs to accommondate everyone. There was a TA at the Question and Answer session who mentioned that she knew of a couple of people who could not get wheelchair assistance. There are only so many wheelchairs on the ship.

[catl331]

On our recent Disney cruise out of Port Canaveral, our dinner mates were doing a back to back and had to get off at the port but they said it wasn't long before they were allowed back on again. There were only two ships in port on a Thursday so maybe customs weren't overly busy. We embarked smoothly carrying our luggage and were home by 8 a.m singing "It's a small world..":p

[celle]

The one and only time we have done a Collectors' cruise out of FLL, we did get off the ship early and head to a hotel and the Inland Waterway fotr the boat tour. After reading these posts, if we ever do a Collectors' again, we will leave the ship and do the same thing.

 

We did something very similar on a turnaround day in New York. Off the ship as early as possible, through immigration, taxi to Central Park. Coffee sitting under the trees. Leisurely lunch somewhere and back on the ship mid-afternoon. No hassles.

 

We've been through FLL and agree that disembarkation there is a mess!

[ger_77]

I'm sorry to hear you had such an upsetting turn-around day. Hopefully you've now had a chance to catch your breath, relax and enjoy the rest of the cruise. There have to be better times ahead, heck, you're on a cruise ship!

 

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I wonder what will happen when the new alcohol regulations come into effect; on a back-to-back will those staying on be able to disembark and return with another bottle of wine each, or will it count as their original cruise?

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[jtl513]

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but I wonder what will happen when the new alcohol regulations come into effect; on a back-to-back will those staying on be able to disembark and return with another bottle of wine each, or will it count as their original cruise?

That may depend on whether you have one booking number (a Collector's Cruise) or two.

[Thebes]

On b-bo-b's, we leave the ship independently to clear Immigration as required but always by the time designated, catch a taxi and spend the day ashore. Last November, we had a delightful brunch at nearby hotel where we are known, sat at the pool, I used their free internet and we returned to the ship long after we knew embarkation would have begun. We had our in transit cards so bypassed the check in, went directly to security check and immediately back on board.

 

My advice to those who wish to avoid the awful experience OP endured, is leave the ship and go shopping, go have a late brunch, do something that gets you away from the stress and mess.

 

 

Agree. We booked a ship excursion for our upcoming cruise. That sounds like a logical solution. Is to go away till the dust settles and have a good time while at it.

[Himself]

We just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam this morning from spending 2 weeks on her.

We also had a very bad experience last Sunday for our turn-around day. We were called at 10 AM to go through immigration (even though we had just gone through a bad immigration the day before in Key West). We completed immigration by 10:10 AM. There were only 402 of us but we had to stand down in the luggage area until the last 2 people were escorted off the ship at 10:45 by an officer. There were only 9 chairs for people to sit -- thankfully I had a walker and could sit on the seat. But many people were complaining. We were fortunate to get back on the ship by 10:55 since I have to use an elevator -- but even that line was long with wheelchair people.

I feel sorry for anyone taking Collector Cruises. We are seriously thinking about cancelling 2 that we have already booked.

The officials won't let us go upstairs to where the chairs are as HAL is allowing people into the terminal staring around 9:30 to check in and those people get the chairs. We have to wait downstairs in awful conditions.

This was brought up at the Question and Answer session by 6 of the 8 of us who attended. The CD, Guest Relations Manager and Head of Shore Excursions know about these problems and are discussing them with Seattle and hopefully something can/will be done in the near future (I would not hold my breath).

Last week we were fortunate to get an elevator back up to the 7th deck right away.

Self disembarkation began at about 7:30 this morning and there were 5 Officers on duty at that time. We left the ship at 8:30 (that is when my wheelchair assistance arrived) and there were only 2 Officers on duty. The rest were gone and the lines were backing up.

 

Ithink your problem is with Customs rather than HAL. The last couple of years, the customs have become more difficult to go through.

[GregnChris]

Some confusion about B2B layovers may come because it is done differently in US ports than in ports in other countries. In the US ports, US Immigration requires that the ship be "Zeroed", that is all passengers have to be off the ship. This is not something HAL has any control over. Certainly HAL should arranbe for comfortable waiting areas for the B2B passengers. But this is just something you have to anticipate for a B2B in a US port.

 

On the other hand, we have done B2Bs in several non-US ports (Athens, Dover and Valparaiso) and didn't have to leave the ship for Immigration. So it seems to depend on where the B2B exchange happens.

 

Greg

[momatibm]

We've done a couple of turnarounds --- the best was in Tampa -- off the ship -through imigration for US and sit for about 5 minutes, in FT Lauderdale -- off the ship and wait around for the 2-4 people who didn't think it applied to them, but the shoreside staff worked to find us a place to wait with chairs, I think that if the folks who cause the problem were identified there would have been two very upset people.

[Tampa Girl]

We just got off the Ryndam in Tampa, and it did not seem that it was required for those continuing on to get off. Immigration was done on the ship and no one could get off until the ship was cleared. And, of course, there were those two or three individuals who had to be summoned! However, the Cruise Director made it clear that getting off the ship for those continuing on was optional. But, if they did disembark, they would have to wait to get back on until embarkation commenced at 11:30.

[Hlitner]

We have done our share of back to backs and are very sympathetic to the plight of the OP. The situation in any US port can be hectic...primarily because of the demands of the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) folks who insist on a ship "zero out" procedure. Although most of our cruises are outside this part of the world, we still like to do one Caribbean cruise per year (DW and I are beach and ocean people) but prefer to do the true 14 day cruise offered by Celebrity. Not only is the ship (Eclipse) that does this gorgeous, but it is a real 14 day cruise with no back to back issues.

 

Hank

P.S. Complaining to HA does no good in this situation and there is little that HA can do to ease the process.

Edited November 17, 2013 by Hlitner

[TracieABD]

I am sorry that you had such an awful experience. Not a fun way to start the second half of your cruise.

[Fouremco]

Some confusion about B2B layovers may come because it is done differently in US ports than in ports in other countries. In the US ports, US Immigration requires that the ship be "Zeroed", that is all passengers have to be off the ship. This is not something HAL has any control over. Certainly HAL should arranbe for comfortable waiting areas for the B2B passengers. But this is just something you have to anticipate for a B2B in a US port.

 

On the other hand, we have done B2Bs in several non-US ports (Athens, Dover and Valparaiso) and didn't have to leave the ship for Immigration. So it seems to depend on where the B2B exchange happens.

 

Greg

Greg, can you explain why they want the ship zeroed? I'm not challenging it, I simply don't know the underlying rationale. If a passenger or crew member poses an immigration issue of some kind, could that not be addressed at the point when they finally disembark?

 

[HokiePoq]

HAL is prohibited from letting you re-board by US Customs & Immigration until the ship is zeroed out - everybody including the B2Bers. In other words everyone must be off the ship and accounted for. The 2 very very inconsiderate people who chose to selfishly disregard the directions are the cause of you miserable experience. If they were also doing a B2B they should be not be allowed to continue on the second leg. We’ve done B2Bs before and never had anything but a very easy and well orchestrated experience. You could probably take at least a dozen more of them and never encounter a similar experience again.

 

Glad you upbeat attitude has returned and I wish you a wonderful next 7

days.

 

Agree. This is a BIG problem. We were held hostage in San Diego on the Rotterdam while repeated announcements were made for certain people to come to customs. No one was allowed to leave the ship until everyone went through customs. We were so late that I ran with two suitcases and tore my knee, requiring surgery. Made the plane, though, lol, although boarding had started by the time we got there. Never had that problem at any other port. Next cruise is HAL out of Ft. Lauderdale....glad we are driving to the port.

[Thebes]

We just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam this morning from spending 2 weeks on her.

We also had a very bad experience last Sunday for our turn-around day. We were called at 10 AM to go through immigration (even though we had just gone through a bad immigration the day before in Key West). We completed immigration by 10:10 AM. There were only 402 of us but we had to stand down in the luggage area until the last 2 people were escorted off the ship at 10:45 by an officer. There were only 9 chairs for people to sit -- thankfully I had a walker and could sit on the seat. But many people were complaining. We were fortunate to get back on the ship by 10:55 since I have to use an elevator -- but even that line was long with wheelchair people.

I feel sorry for anyone taking Collector Cruises. We are seriously thinking about cancelling 2 that we have already booked.

The officials won't let us go upstairs to where the chairs are as HAL is allowing people into the terminal staring around 9:30 to check in and those people get the chairs. We have to wait downstairs in awful conditions.

This was brought up at the Question and Answer session by 6 of the 8 of us who attended. The CD, Guest Relations Manager and Head of Shore Excursions know about these problems and are discussing them with Seattle and hopefully something can/will be done in the near future (I would not hold my breath).

Last week we were fortunate to get an elevator back up to the 7th deck right away.

Self disembarkation began at about 7:30 this morning and there were 5 Officers on duty at that time. We left the ship at 8:30 (that is when my wheelchair assistance arrived) and there were only 2 Officers on duty. The rest were gone and the lines were backing up.

 

Welcome back KK :)

Sorry u too had an awful experience with turnaround day & key west delays?

u said Key west was bad too ???

So how do people with ship excursions do in FLL or key west ? Were they been held up too till 10 or 11 ?

 

Hope we can see even a small report about your trip. But first and foremost is to relax and get settled.

Edited November 18, 2013 by Thebes

[erewhon]

In September we did the Volendam Trans Pacific cruise, boarding in Vancouver.

The first port of call was Long Beach, there were numerous passengers who did only the Vancouver to Long Beach segment, so there were many new passengers embarking at Long Beach.

We were given In Transit Cards, went off the ship for a look around on the Hop on Hop off bus for about an hour.

When we returned to the Terminal there was a long line of embarking passengers, no separate line for those in transit to re-board the ship.

We were told that the In Transit passengers had to wait, in a separate area from the new passengers.

Fortunately there was seating available, at approximately 1150 we realised that the new passengers were boarding. None of the shore side staff informed us that we could board.

There was no separate line for those in transit.

When we spoke with the Hotel Manager he said that they were aware of the problem but HAL could do nothing, in fact the port wanted to charge HAL several thousand dollars extra.

[Ineke]

Oh yikes, sure hope they get a few things straightened out soon. Now I'm worried. There 's no way I can stand that long for one thing, and when we booked this I told DH not to be concerned, people do this all the time, and it's a short and simple process. Hope he doesn't read this! Sorry for all the other folks who had to wait this out, and it sounds like it is not unusual.

[Hlitner]

Greg, can you explain why they want the ship zeroed? I'm not challenging it, I simply don't know the underlying rationale. If a passenger or crew member poses an immigration issue of some kind, could that not be addressed at the point when they finally disembark?

 

 

Not Greg, but will be happy to respond to your question (already answered in my prior post). The zeroing procedure is a requirement of the US Government (CBP) as a part of the ship clearance procedure necessary before they can start boarding and re-boarding passengers. It also serves a cruise line purpose of ensuring that there are no stowaways (whether deliberate or accidental) on the next cruise. As to the logic.....well we are talking about the government....so what more can one say :)

 

Hank

[celle]

Greg, can you explain why they want the ship zeroed? I'm not challenging it, I simply don't know the underlying rationale. If a passenger or crew member poses an immigration issue of some kind, could that not be addressed at the point when they finally disembark?

 

I guess for the same reason that US immigration make all aircraft passengers, even those in transit who are getting back on the same plane, go through US immigration at a US airport. Passengers in transit are not entering a country. They are already in the secure, airside area of the airport. Their checked baggage has already been screened at their departure airport, in a process that has to be US-approved. Why make them reclaim their checked baggage and have it screened again?

 

That insanity does not happen when you transit other countries. Usually, all that is necessary is to have carry-on baggage re-screened.

[IRL_Joanie]

Not Greg, but will be happy to respond to your question (already answered in my prior post). The zeroing procedure is a requirement of the US Government (CBP) as a part of the ship clearance procedure necessary before they can start boarding and re-boarding passengers. It also serves a cruise line purpose of ensuring that there are no stowaways (whether deliberate or accidental) on the next cruise. As to the logic.....well we are talking about the government....so what more can one say :)

 

Hank

And That my friend says it all:(

 

Joanie

Edited November 18, 2013 by IRL_Joanie

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The moral of the story: Expect the unexpected on turnaround day.

Very well said ...