Serenade Embarkation/Disembarkation

[cruzingduo]

Going on Serenade soon. Where does it leave from in Ft Lauderdale?

 

I read a while back that getting off Serenade was not organized. Have things improved?

[Clarea]

Going on Serenade soon. Where does it leave from in Ft Lauderdale?

 

I read a while back that getting off Serenade was not organized. Have things improved?

Serenade leaves from one of the terminals in Port Everglades. The terminal can vary cruise to cruise. The terminal number will be displayed on signs as you enter the port.

[ONECRUISER]

Serenade leaves from one of the terminals in Port Everglades. The terminal can vary cruise to cruise. The terminal number will be displayed on signs as you enter the port.

 

Last two times I got off in 2015 wasn't Serenade issue was long/slow customs lines. Suggest you walk off early if you can...

[SeaTeach]

Last two times I got off in 2015 wasn't Serenade issue was long/slow customs lines. Suggest you walk off early if you can...

Also our problem, not enough agents on duty. Very long serpentine lines.

[debshomespun]

When we got off on 2/26/16...they only had 2 immigration officers working. Took us over an hour from the time we left the ship to get through just the immigration line. Not RC fault. In the terminal the luggage was all in a very orderly fashion and very clearly marked. If you have an early flight, I would definitely walk off ASAP.

Edited March 19, 2016 by debshomespun

[knittinggirl]

Taxis usually know where to go, but not always. It's a good idea to look for the ship's name on the bow.

 

Heard horror stories of people getting dropped at the wrong ship and don't realize it until they visit the check-in staff to get their seapass card. I guess security is checking to see if they have a set sail form, but not reading the details.

 

It's also good to look up the port to see what ships are listed and where. We had Celebrity give us the wrong dock number in our final paperwork, but it happened only once.

Edited March 19, 2016 by knittinggirl

[island lady]

Agree. Embarkation and especially disembarkation at Ft. Lauderdale is always the

worst. Our 2/5 Serenade had us waiting a long time to board, but at least we were

seated and chatting with new friends. Was told previous cruise disembarkation was

delayed getting pax off the ship.

 

Disembarkation was the pits. Officer crew member that was organizing the numbers

being called told me they had more self assist on that cruise than any she could remember.

Delay (ambulance picking up a patient) caused the self assist line to hold up for about

45 minutes. Pax standing in line were getting grouchy, but did not want to lose their place

in line to sit somewhere. We were comfortable in the waiting lounge. Glad we did not

do self assist that day.

 

Once our number was called, late of course, we waited in that horrible long serpentine line

inside the terminal with just three customs agents working, and then one went on break

(down to two). Over an hour in that line. Seven ships were in that morning, obviously

spreading the customs agents thin.

 

With the traffic to get to the port, and the embarkation/disembarkation nightmare,

we really don't like using PE. :(

Edited March 19, 2016 by island lady

[cruzingduo]

Thank you for all the information. Good to be prepared. We'll check the signs for the terminal for disembarkation.

 

We plan on doing luggage valet and our flight is at 3 pm. Hopefully that will lessen the stress of the long customs lines.

[peteukmcr]

Embarkation on 15th Feb onto Serenade at terminal 18 was fine.

 

Disembarkation as mentioned was a mess. We were tag number 7 due at 8am, finally called at 8:45. Left the ship to be held in line in the upper area of the terminal for a while. Finally allowed down into the baggage hall, located bags and joined the lines for the 3 immigration officials on duty. Took what felt like forever to exit.

[ljclay0130]

Disembarked on Monday March 28th---- was terrible.

 

We were tag # 25 and supposed to get off at 9:05 a.m. We didn't called off until 10:30... then had to wait over an hour to get through customs. There was only 2 customs agents and the line was just as long as Disney World!

[msmayor]

Disembarked on Monday March 28th---- was terrible.

 

We were tag # 25 and supposed to get off at 9:05 a.m. We didn't called off until 10:30... then had to wait over an hour to get through customs. There was only 2 customs agents and the line was just as long as Disney World!

 

We disembarked on the 28th as well...had a 12:20pm flight home from Miami.

 

When we filled out the forms I requested first group but told my husband we may still opt for walk-off with our luggage. I had a private car picking us up around 8:30am for the drive up to Miami and since it was a Monday (therefore workday) I wanted to allow for commuter traffic. I'd also heard that Miami can be crazy to get through.

 

When we got our tags we were assigned Group 4, scheduled for 7:45am. The earliest group was scheduled at 7:40 so we decided to skip leaving the bags out and walk off. Glad we did.

 

I had already read about the challenges with disembarkation so we were up early for breakfast and then around 7am headed up to deck 5 with our bags. The line was already long outside so rather than wait in the lounge we took our bags outside and got in line. Two ambulances had pulled up while we stood there.

 

All in all, we waited over 45 min for the line to move in earnest. I actually called our limo company to alert them that we were still standing on the ship and had to clear customs just before 8am, but they told me not to worry.

 

When we got to the customs lines there were three agents and we waited maybe 1 minute...the lines were moving very quickly. Looking at all the bags being sorted and such, though, I knew we'd made the right choice to get off early with bags in hand.

[Firefighterhoop]

Serenade leaves from one of the terminals in Port Everglades. The terminal can vary cruise to cruise. The terminal number will be displayed on signs as you enter the port.

 

It has been #18 all winter except for the one cruise that the Independence had to dock at 18 due to crane usage (Had to get a large amount of sound equipment off the pool deck after a charter).

 

The last time I was on SR they only had TWO customs agents clearing the ship - thus causing the delays.

[sellwingri]

Anyone who can advise, I'd appreciate it. We're flying out of Miami but have plenty of time with a 1:55pm flight. We've got a car service picking us up and I told them 9am. Should I call them and change the pickup time?

 

We sail this Friday so I'd have to change it soon if necessary.

 

Thanks

[Clarea]

Anyone who can advise, I'd appreciate it. We're flying out of Miami but have plenty of time with a 1:55pm flight. We've got a car service picking us up and I told them 9am. Should I call them and change the pickup time?

 

We sail this Friday so I'd have to change it soon if necessary.

 

Thanks

I think you should be OK, as long as you can start to walk off the ship by 8am or so.

[lanabanana]

If you've sailed recently from this port on the Serenade, can you please tell me what time boarding began? Trying to gauge what time to arrive at the pier.

[Clarea]

If you've sailed recently from this port on the Serenade, can you please tell me what time boarding began? Trying to gauge what time to arrive at the pier.

Boarding normally begins between 11am and 11:30am.

[lanabanana]

Boarding normally begins between 11am and 11:30am.

 

Thanks so much!

[msmayor]

We sailed on March 18th....arrived at the port around 10:30am. Lines to check in were virtually non-existent and after getting our sea passes were told we could go right on board. We walked onto the ship about 10 minutes before 11am.