Fort Lauderdale Disembarkation

[SEFlyer]

My wife and I are booked on QV from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale next April. I am now looking at flights from FLL back to Toronto. I'd like to book a flight at 10.50 a.m. as it is cheaper than a later flight and early enough to let me drive home upon arrival while a later flight would likely require an overnight hotel stay in Toronto.

 

I am curious about disembarkation procedures at Fort Lauderdale and hoping some-one with experience arriving there can share their experience. Will QV have an early self-disembark option like QM2 arriving in NY or Southampton? Are US Customs processes fairly quick? Are taxis readily available?

 

I have checked Cruise Timetable and QV is the only cruise ship arriving and departing Fort Lauderdale on April 21 so the port is not busy with many ships.

 

The good thing is the distance from port to airport is very short and I'm confident I can make the plane if I arrive 60-75 minutes before departure.

 

Advice from CC members would be much appreciated.

Edited October 6, 2014 by SEFlyer

[Calliope]

I am interested in others' responses, but I sure wouldn't book a 10:15 AM international flight. Do yourself a favor and stay an extra night in Ft. Lauderdale.

[gentlemancruiser]

I have flown from FLL to YYZ many times and the main reason the earlier flight is cheaper is because it is very, very tight for cruise passengers to catch that flight. It's possible but it is VERY tight and doesn't allow for any mistakes. There is also a chance that AC may change that flight times. AC knows that FLL is a cruise destination and this route will be turned into Rouge which has big penalty's to change tickets.

[Dcoy]

I disembarked from the QV this April in Fort Lauderdale and some passengers weren't even scheduled to leave the ship till 11:00.

 

I was lucky and disembarked at 8:30 but still had to locate my luggage, go through customs, so it was after 9 before I was out of the building.

 

Seeing that you still have to get to the airport, and get through security, it could be real hard to make that flight.

 

Have fun on the QV, it is a great ship.

 

Don

[SEFlyer]

I am interested in others' responses, but I sure wouldn't book a 10:15 AM international flight. Do yourself a favor and stay an extra night in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

The flight is 10:50, not 10:15. There is no difference in the boarding and security process for a flight to Canada than a US domestic flight. I'm spending 9 nights in Fort Lauderdale at the end of this month so another night in April wouldn't be a 'favor.'

 

I, too, am interested in responses from those who have gone through the arrival process at Fort Lauderdale.

 

Thanks for your concern.

[SEFlyer]

I disembarked from the QV this April in Fort Lauderdale and some passengers weren't even scheduled to leave the ship till 11:00.

 

I was lucky and disembarked at 8:30 but still had to locate my luggage, go through customs, so it was after 9 before I was out of the building.

 

Seeing that you still have to get to the airport, and get through security, it could be real hard to make that flight.

 

Have fun on the QV, it is a great ship.

 

Don

 

Can you tell me if there is an early self-disembarkation process? If there is, I don't need to worry about locating my luggage, just walking off with my luggage and going through US Customs.

[Artemis]

Yes, if you are able to handle your own luggage, you can keep your luggage in your stateroom overnight, ignore all the scheduled departure times and simply walk off whenever you want! As you've already checked and confirmed you are the only ship in port, there will be plenty of taxi support. It is about a 15 minute ride from the port, and the cost is just under or at $20 USD including tip. As April 21 is a non-holiday Tuesday, and again, with no other cruise ship arrivals, the airport security line should be mostly biz travelers and manageable, but FLL is often under-staffed, so do allow for a 30-45 min. security clearance if you don't have cut-the-line privileges. We often fly in/out of FLL, and I don't foresee any problem with your flight time, unless the ship is unexpectedly delayed getting into port. Just know your Plan B for that occurrence.

 

Have a wonderful voyage!

 

 

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[Victoria2]

Yes, if you are able to handle your own luggage, you can keep your luggage in your stateroom overnight, ignore all the scheduled departure times and simply walk off whenever you want! As you've already checked and confirmed you are the only ship in port, there will be plenty of taxi support. It is about a 15 minute ride from the port, and the cost is just under or at $20 USD including tip. As April 21 is a non-holiday Tuesday, and again, with no other cruise ship arrivals, the airport security line should be mostly biz travelers and manageable, but FLL is often under-staffed, so do allow for a 30-45 min. security clearance if you don't have cut-the-line privileges. We often fly in/out of FLL, and I don't foresee any problem with your flight time, unless the ship is unexpectedly delayed getting into port. Just know your Plan B for that occurrence.

 

Have a wonderful voyage!

 

 

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To be accurate, you can't 'simply walk off' for early disembarkation. You have to register for this either at the front desk or with the Grills concierge. You'll be given a small 'self disembarkation' card which you must hand in as you are 'registered out' for the last time. If you can carry all your luggage, it's a great way to beat the hordes.

[SEFlyer]

Thanks for the information. We have registered and walked off QM2 in NY and Southampton many times so we are used to that process. Its nice to know its available in Fort Lauderdale on QV.

 

As long as the ship is not late I think I'll make my flight. I will have plan B figured out if something goes wrong.

[Artemis]

Victoria2, I am sort of a rules follower, so I agree in principle with what you are saying, but sometimes, we haven't done all the paperwork niceties because we know we have our stuff and are just getting off, and in practice, they really don't care--if you are fully paid up and just walk off, Cunard is happy, and no one will bat an eyelash whether you said you'd be in Group A or Z. I add this only for those who might want to keep their options open--the OP clearly has a good understanding of the process and a plan. Cheers!

 

 

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Edited October 8, 2014 by Artemis

[Victoria2]

Victoria2, I am sort of a rules follower, so I agree in principle with what you are saying, but sometimes, we haven't done all the paperwork niceties because we know we have our stuff and are just getting off, and in practice, they really don't care--if you are fully paid up and just walk off, Cunard is happy, and no one will bat an eyelash whether you said you'd be in Group A or Z. I add this only for those who might want to keep their options open--the OP clearly has a good understanding of the process and a plan. Cheers!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

I'm a rules sort of person too and rarely use self disembarkation as we have too many cases. If we do self disembark, it's because we have an early tight connection and in that scenario I would not want to test the system. The paperwork niceties involve one or two minutes with the concierge or front desk.

Each to their own but we prefer to make sure we're OK.

[SEFlyer]

I thought I would update CC readers on my actual Fort Lauderdale disembarkation experience yesterday.

 

We registered for Self-Disembarkation at the Pursers Office the day before arrival. The stateroom info was clear and specific, arrival would be at 7.00 a.m. and self-disembark would be first off. There was a delay in getting security clearance but at 7.30 we were among the first off the ship and the first at US Customs. We got a very pleasant customs guy, were through in a few minutes and into one of the many waiting taxis. We arrived at the airport a few minutes after 8 a.m.

 

Since this thread started Air Canada moved the departure forward from 10:50 to 10:35. So we had an airport wait of over 2 hours. Every seat on the plane was filled but it pushed back on time and arrived in Toronto early. It was an A320, gentlemancruiser, so it has not yet been 'rouged' and it had decent legroom.

 

After Toronto we had a 4 hour drive home so it was a long day but we arrived home early evening, happy to have the journey all in one.

 

Clearly, the key to being able to do this was to use self-disembarkation carrying your own bags off. We don't mind that and would rather do that than sit around waiting to be called ashore to search for bags and wait for US customs. And the bonus in Fort Lauderdale is that the distance from ship to customs wheeling our own luggage was very short.

 

It was a good ending to an enjoyable cruise!

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for coming back to let us know, it's always nice to know how the story ends (especially when the ending is happy).

[Captiveguru]

I thought I would update CC readers on my actual Fort Lauderdale disembarkation experience yesterday.

 

We registered for Self-Disembarkation at the Pursers Office the day before arrival. The stateroom info was clear and specific, arrival would be at 7.00 a.m. and self-disembark would be first off. There was a delay in getting security clearance but at 7.30 we were among the first off the ship and the first at US Customs. We got a very pleasant customs guy, were through in a few minutes and into one of the many waiting taxis. We arrived at the airport a few minutes after 8 a.m.

 

Since this thread started Air Canada moved the departure forward from 10:50 to 10:35. So we had an airport wait of over 2 hours. Every seat on the plane was filled but it pushed back on time and arrived in Toronto early. It was an A320, gentlemancruiser, so it has not yet been 'rouged' and it had decent legroom.

 

After Toronto we had a 4 hour drive home so it was a long day but we arrived home early evening, happy to have the journey all in one.

 

Clearly, the key to being able to do this was to use self-disembarkation carrying your own bags off. We don't mind that and would rather do that than sit around waiting to be called ashore to search for bags and wait for US customs. And the bonus in Fort Lauderdale is that the distance from ship to customs wheeling our own luggage was very short.

 

It was a good ending to an enjoyable cruise!

 

We also disembarked QV on Tuesday, 4/12/2015. Registered with the purser the day before. No card issued. Arrived Queens Room on Deck 2 at 7:00 AM. Much to my surprise there was NO CUNARD PERSONNEL in sight, so at 7:20 the self-helpers made their way to Deck 1 and created a monstrous queue. Finally an officer arrived and told those waiting for elevators to return to the QR and wait. WE were released and were off the ship at 7:45. Waited in the US immigration line for 30 minutes due to only one immigration officer on duty. I think the non-US line moved faster. We were ready to get into a cab around 8:20.

 

If I had a tight connection I would report to the QR and then determine where the exit would be (for a while it looked like we would leave from Deck 2), and then get to the front of the queue.

[SEFlyer]

We also disembarked QV on Tuesday, 4/12/2015. Registered with the purser the day before. No card issued. Arrived Queens Room on Deck 2 at 7:00 AM. Much to my surprise there was NO CUNARD PERSONNEL in sight, so at 7:20 the self-helpers made their way to Deck 1 and created a monstrous queue. Finally an officer arrived and told those waiting for elevators to return to the QR and wait. WE were released and were off the ship at 7:45. Waited in the US immigration line for 30 minutes due to only one immigration officer on duty. I think the non-US line moved faster. We were ready to get into a cab around 8:20.

 

If I had a tight connection I would report to the QR and then determine where the exit would be (for a while it looked like we would leave from Deck 2), and then get to the front of the queue.

 

We followed your last advice and we got to the front of the monstrous queue you refer to on Deck 1. If we hadn't been at the front of the line we wouldn't have made such a quick exit and arrival at FLL.

 

I completely agree with your comments about no Cunard personnel in sight in the Queen's Room. I found that to be very poor customer service, not up to Cunard's usual standards.

Edited April 25, 2015 by SEFlyer

[Captiveguru]

We followed your last advice and we got to the front of the monstrous queue you refer to on Deck 1. If we hadn't been at the front of the line we wouldn't have made such a quick exit and arrival at FLL.

 

I completely agree with your comments about no Cunard personnel in sight in the Queen's Room. I found that to be very poor customer service, not up to Cunard's usual standards.

 

When everyone started leaving the QR I looked out the window at the Deck 2 gang plank and saw no movement. The passageway from the QR to the Deck 2 gang plank was stuffed full of people. I assumed we were still disembarking from Deck 2. When the crowd on 2 thinned I was able to get to the Grand Lobby and see the Deck 1 queue. Went back to get wife and luggage and went tot he elevators. 90% of the selfhelpers were now on Deck 1. At that point the officer arrives and tells the rest of us to return to the QR and wait.

 

Too bad he did not show up at 7:00 AM as all of the selfhelpers were firmly instructed.

[jimmybean]

We have self-disembarked from Cunard ships eight times in three different ports (Brooklyn, Southampton and Los Angeles).

 

(Agreeing with comments above) Cunard staff has never been helpful on any of these occasions. In addition, conflicting and/or misinformation has been given to those disembarking by Cunard staff.

 

Self-disembarkation is for hearty-souls, who can manage their own luggage and sometimes find their own way off the ship.

 

Still---DH and I have disembarked successfully each time AND we do keep booking additional (Cunard) voyages.

 

It could be an opportunity for Cunard to make a last favorable impression. ...It is a shame they don't do a better job of it.