Dawn out of Tampa embarkment and disembarkment

[Jagggg]

Just wanted to give people a heads up about the embarkment and disembarkment at the Tampa port for the Dawn. Just got off yesterday. Embarkment line was about 1 hour and 50 minutes and disembarkment line took 2 hours. The problem is not with Norwegian, but with customs. They only had 2 agents checking passport at disembarkment until 11:00, then added 3 more. With 2000 plus passengers and lack of agents delays the whole process for boarding and leaving. Make sure to allow yourself plenty of time if you have a flight. Yesterday we were in line at 9:00 didn't get off ship until 11:00.

[B+S]

You would think that as much "influence" as corporations have with the government that this would be more rare a problem. There were indeed five customs officers at 11:00 - so I wondered what the problem was - thanks for informing us what it was.

[Rebels82]

Thanks for the info. I will be on the Dawn 3/11. Hopefully the issue will be better!

[zqvol]

Any other ships in Tampa yesterday?

[Jagggg]

Any other ships in Tampa yesterday?

Dawn only ship yesterday

[Mrdell]

Yes... we were on the Dawn also and it was a nightmare at customs. While we enjoyed our cruise very much, this backup at customs was just awful. We were the only ship in port so there was no excuse for this. I felt bad for the people that were trying to get to the airport in a timely fashion. The agents had an "I don't care" attitude and even told one person to get off her phone because she was on federal property and her phone could be confiscated!! I couldn't believe my ears!!

[Alan C]

I can only imagine that it could get worse if the Government shuts down again... WE sail on the 18th of this month, and hope it is rectified way before this sailing for everyone.

[Motegi]

I've sailed out of Tampa a couple times and noted on both occasions that the embarkation process was MUCH MUCH slower than what I've experienced elsewhere. It's the only port where I experienced the Latitudes Rewards check in line move slower than the standard check in line.

 

The port is just 15-20 minutes from my home so I really wish they could get their act together and streamline the process a little better. I drive by the port almost every day on my way to work.

 

In contrast I find that the embarkation process in Miami is very efficient with the Latitudes Rewards check in markedly faster than the standard check in line. The best parking lot to walking on the ship time I've had there was under 30 minutes.

 

I think one of the reasons for the discrepancy is that Miami is a year round cruise ship hub while Tampa is very seasonal. I believe that Carnival may be the only line that has regular year round sailings from the Port of Tampa with most of the other lines mainly in the winter months. So I feel that the Port of Tampa is not as well staffed for handling larger volumes of cruise traffic like Miami or Port Canaveral.

[CP3o]

What's the best time to arrive at Tampa port if focus is on quick boarding as opposed to being the first few on the ship?

 

Thanks

[Jagggg]

What's the best time to arrive at Tampa port if focus is on quick boarding as opposed to being the first few on the ship?

 

Thanks

I don't think at this port there is any quick boarding time. If you get there early you still have to wait until the ship is cleared out from prior sailing, but you have a place to sit. We got there around 12:45 and stood in line for 1 hour 50 minute. No lines for latitude members either.

[Norway97]

Will absolutely NEVER sail from Tampa again. With over 50 cruises under our belt it is probably not hyperbole to say that our embarkation in Tampa took longer than all others combined! High 90’s and no A/C until the last few minutes of that horrible line. And we have priority embarkation! Emphasizing above that employees at pier are not NCL.

 

 

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[Rebels82]

Is there anything NCL can do, since their customers are very unhappy, to help this problem?

[brookie848]

My parents sailed out of Tampa back in 2012 and the embarkation/debarkation process was a nightmare then. I think this is just standard for Tampa.

[jfarri4230]

We have sailed out of there 3 times in the last 2 years in January and February and never had any problems with embarkation or debarkation. Perhaps we were just lucky. That being said, we are sailing on the Dawn again next weekend. Fingers crossed that the issue is resolved by then.

[Luvmypups]

We have sailed out of there 3 times in the last 2 years in January and February and never had any problems with embarkation or debarkation. Perhaps we were just lucky. That being said, we are sailing on the Dawn again next weekend. Fingers crossed that the issue is resolved by then.

 

 

 

Let us know how it goes.....maybe there is still hope that it won’t be terrible!! Have fun!

 

 

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[beached<3mermaid]

We sailed out of Tampa on both of our previous cruises (NCL Feb 2016 and Carnival Feb 2017) and both times had only minimal wait, maybe a one hour from leaving the parking deck to actually boarding). We are sailing on the Dawn leaving the 18th, and hoping it will be at least the same or better.

 

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[johnandlinda]

We are just off Dawn also.

Embarkation day looked like a zoo...our shuttle dropped us off at the dropoff zone and there was a very long line, however there were 2 other doors open adjacent to the long line that had only a couple people so we said lets see if this line works and sure enough we walked right in

We carried bags off and it was very orderly...off ship at 745 am

Customs delays were terrible on our last cruise outta FLL...three agents for 2700 people!

[CP3o]

[quote name=beached

What time did you arrive at port?

 

 

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What time did you arrive at port?

[Luvmypups]

I hope there won’t be a problem making a 12:00 flight!! We will probably plan on doing self walk-off.

 

 

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[GlamorousGirl]

Thanks for the heads up; we are sailing on the Dawn out of Tampa next month.

[Boat Drinks56]

we are travelling home the next day - just going to a hotel the day of disembarkment...so I think we will wait as long as we possibly can to get off the ship........:) Thanks for the heads up. We normally cruise out of Miami..so will be ready for a bit of a wait. The nice thing is there is no VIBE on the Dawn/so we don't have to be so stressed bout getting there early/getting in group 1 :)..thanks for the headsup.

[johnandlinda]

[quote name=beached

What time did you arrive at port?

 

 

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What time did you arrive at port?

[johnandlinda]

We arrived about 1045...we boarded at noonish...we were boarding number 3...we got through registration and all in about 15 minutes

[azkcruizers]

I was wondering about what time you could start disembarking the ship? Thanks!!

[MyTMo777]

We just got off the Dawn later Wednesday in Tampa and it was a nightmare. It was NOT just customs fault. We walked off with our luggage. The first colored tag disembarkation was scheduled for 9 am, so we figured we’d line up at 8:45. But as we were heading to do so, they started calling the colored tags! Then after standing in line for 30 minutes, they rerouted us around the ship and allowed the tag holders in line ahead of us! It took us an hour to get to the security check out onboard the ship. When we were about 10 people away from the security team, the hotel director, Tony Winkler, showed up. He loudly and firmly called out, “Step it up, security! You need to move faster!” And did they ever pick up the pace!

 

Customs was long also, and the lovely lady directing the line wouldn’t let us Canadians into the non-US passport line. She said she had been sending the Canadians through it, but there were too many of them, so she decided to send them through the US line. We watched about two dozen other people go through the non-US line during the hour we spent in line at customs. Much of the time the agent in the non-US line just sat there doing nothing.

 

 

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