peter1975 Posted April 10, 2018 #1 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We got off the Majesty of the Seas yesterday. Port Canaveral customs was HORRIBLE! I have been on 16 cruises -- probably half of them out of Port Canaveral. I have never waited so long to clear customs (an hour +). There were three windows open. The porters got priority at one of them, slowing the line down even further. I kindly complained to several people who all emphatically explained that this was not Royal Caribbean's fault, but rather the fault of changes made by Port Canaveral people. I believe it. Everyone was frustrated -- customers, agents, shuttle drivers, etc. Multiple people stressed that we call the Port directly to complain. I was told that the day before was even worse (bigger ship)! If you have experienced problems or experience them in the future please reach out to the Port to complain -- that is the only way this thing will get fixed. I would very seriously reconsider cruising out of Port Canaveral in the future if this does not get fixed. Nobody wants to end a cruise with such a negative (and easily fixable) experience. Has anyone else experienced this recently at Port Canaveral? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 10, 2018 #2 Share Posted April 10, 2018 That's a shame to hear. Actually for us, the embarkation was very fast and had to almost run to keep up with the line the last 5 cruises we have been on out of PC. Sorry to hear you had a bad glitch in the process. With U.S. citizens not having to fill out the customs forms it has helped speed it up also. Have you cruised out of Tampa at the "new terminal six". Now THAT one is a total nightmare. Old refurbished terminal is way too small for the size of even those mid sized ships. Terrible. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelblu Posted April 10, 2018 #3 Share Posted April 10, 2018 How far is port from airport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted April 10, 2018 #4 Share Posted April 10, 2018 How far is port from airport. MCO (Orlando) to PC is 40+ miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueSkySailing Posted April 10, 2018 #5 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Did a cruise in Jan. and breezed right through customs. Not having to fill out the forms I thought made things flow quicker. I do use the porters because we are always a party of 6-9 people and need help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drewsmom123 Posted April 10, 2018 #6 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Debarked from Epic 4/ with 5000 of my newest friends. Those who left very early made it through. We were not so lucky. 2 hours 15 minutes from "let's get in line" to getting in the shuttle. I will very much think twice before choosing a cruise out of there. Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torpeedo Posted April 10, 2018 #7 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We always get a porter and breeze right through. Even if I just have a purse, I'm getting a porter!! (of course that would never happen because I'm a big over packer) Porters are very helpful in getting you through fast and taking you right to where ever your transportation is. I have seen the big lines you are talking about and I guess it's a lack of home land security staff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkacmom Posted April 10, 2018 #8 Share Posted April 10, 2018 I’ve been in that situation in NYC, seems to happen on Sundays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted April 10, 2018 #9 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Have not heard this being an issue with Oasis - perhaps they are better prepared on that turnaround day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter1975 Posted April 10, 2018 Author #10 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Have not heard this being an issue with Oasis - perhaps they are better prepared on that turnaround day. My understanding is that it is a relatively new issue. I can only speak for my cruise (and what I was told about the Oasis debarkation that occurred the day before mine). I, also, had previous good experiences with Port Canaveral. In fact, I was very happy to be taking a cruise out of PC again -- previous four cruises were Galveston, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa). Port Canaveral HAD always been the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtu_huskies Posted April 10, 2018 #11 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We had a similar experience getting off Oasis in October. Extremely long lines and we were a somewhat early number. With the dedicated line at Customs for the Porters - it created a pay the Porters system to jump everyone else waiting in line that I don't think I've seen. It was horrible. We try to leave Porters to people that have many bags and need the help. But the Porters were actually selling their services not from a help standpoint but from the fact you can jump in front of everyone to go in the dedicated Porters customs line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdy0354 Posted April 10, 2018 #12 Share Posted April 10, 2018 (edited) Just off Oasis this past Sunday.. To be courteous to others with early flights we had 9:00 tags to meet limo at 10:15. No need to hang on pier for 2 hours. Disembarking was a breeze until customs. I believe they had 13 Customs agent booths there, but only had 4 open. Long lines. Yes, if I had to do over I would of spent the $5- 10 for a porter and go ahead of all others waiting in line. Doesn't seem fair l, but that's the system. Edited April 10, 2018 by gdy0354 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brighton Line Posted April 10, 2018 #13 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Got off Majesty end of March and one of the port employees (Not customs) says it is worse now because the ship brings down food for the Customs Agents and they go have breakfast and the line crawls. Don't know the truth, I always pay for a porter even with rollaboards on a short cruise, just to speed up the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribbeanboy Posted April 10, 2018 #14 Share Posted April 10, 2018 That's a shame to hear. Actually for us, the embarkation was very fast and had to almost run to keep up with the line the last 5 cruises we have been on out of PC. Sorry to hear you had a bad glitch in the process. With U.S. citizens not having to fill out the customs forms it has helped speed it up also. Have you cruised out of Tampa at the "new terminal six". Now THAT one is a total nightmare. Old refurbished terminal is way too small for the size of even those mid sized ships. Terrible. :( Actually my sister arrived yesterday in Philly from Rome, and she told me that she had to fill out the customs paper. Guess it's something new, because last time I entered the USA on March 17 ( Aruba Pre Clearance) I didn't have to fill out the blue form. Will see in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewenix Posted April 10, 2018 #15 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We had no issues with customs at port canaveral last month. Took about 20 minutes from the point we left the ship to standing outside the terminal, including finding our luggage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare island lady Posted April 10, 2018 #16 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Actually my sister arrived yesterday in Philly from Rome, and she told me that she had to fill out the customs paper. Guess it's something new, because last time I entered the USA on March 17 ( Aruba Pre Clearance) I didn't have to fill out the blue form. Will see in a couple of weeks. Did she embark in Rome? I am talking about closed loop U.S. citizens leaving from the U.S. and returning to the U.S. not having to fill out the customs forms now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biker19 Posted April 10, 2018 #17 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Actually my sister arrived yesterday in Philly from Rome, and she told me that she had to fill out the customs paper. That usually only happens if the kiosks at the airport are down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
griffy116 Posted April 10, 2018 #18 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We were in line for over 2 hours returning to Galveston last summer. We've never been in a line this long. No idea why, but it certainly wasn't because we didn't get up early enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haply Posted April 10, 2018 #19 Share Posted April 10, 2018 On our cruise last year we decided to wait and get off with the very last group. We checked out of the room around 8:15, then went up to the Cafeteria and had a nice, relaxing breakfast. Got off the ship at around 9:15 and no lines. Granted we were on a smaller Carnival ship out of Port Canaveral. We plan to again stay on the ship as long as possible on this year's cruise also-will see how it goes.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbjen Posted April 10, 2018 #20 Share Posted April 10, 2018 We also did the last ones off thing last summer and had the same experience, walked off when our number was called, luggage was waiting for us and no line at Customs. We didn’t have anywhere to be afterwards so there was no need to stand in 2 hours of lines or wake up at the butt crack of dawn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunny0528 Posted April 10, 2018 #21 Share Posted April 10, 2018 my friend had the same problem, huge lines to get off and only porters which you pay for had priority and this caused backups & delays as only 2 lines for others, I believe she was told that the port is under new management and this has been issue the last couple weeks, so those who cruised earlier may have escaped the massive lines and wait. Call Royal Caribbean and complain its the only way things will change and with summer coming its going to be bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbjen Posted April 10, 2018 #22 Share Posted April 10, 2018 So they are promoting the use of paid porters by making the lines for those that don’t use them painfully slow? Hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrclean3 Posted April 10, 2018 #23 Share Posted April 10, 2018 This is the reason we quit cruising out of PC. Long ines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milwaukee Eight Posted April 10, 2018 #24 Share Posted April 10, 2018 Why not just book a Suite and get a walk off, first off. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milwaukee Eight Posted April 10, 2018 #25 Share Posted April 10, 2018 This is the reason we quit cruising out of PC. Long ines Have NEVER had a long line on any PC cruise either boarding Or disembarkation. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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