Disembarkation on carribean princess

[Letacraig]

Back in fll , with priority disembarkation, how long does it take to get off the boat and find some luggage? Just looking for a rough guess on time so I can book a return air flight. Thank youn

[Colo Cruiser]

7 minutes ago, Letacraig said:

Back in fll , with priority disembarkation, how long does it take to get off the boat and find some luggage? Just looking for a rough guess on time so I can book a return air flight. Thank youn

Disembarkation usually starts by 7:30.

We were off at 7:40.

[Letacraig]

Wow so quick. How does the customs search work. Does it even exist? Thank you 

[fishywood]

26 minutes ago, Letacraig said:

Wow so quick. How does the customs search work. Does it even exist? Thank you 

There are no longer any customs procedures to speak of when disembarking in Ft Lauderdale. Unless you have something significant to declare you do not have to fill out the declaration form. Immigration check for US citizens generally is: You hand your passports to the officer, he glances at them for a few milliseconds, and says "welcome back". The end. 

 

And for future reference Princess has recommended flight times for all its turnaround ports on the website:

 

https://www.princess.com/learn/faq_answer/pre_cruise/travel.jsp

 

FT. LAUDERDALE

[...]

Disembarking Passengers
Earliest International Flight Departure for Ft. Lauderdale: 5 hours after ship's arrival.
Earliest Domestic Flight Departure for Ft. Lauderdale: 4 hours and 30 minutes after ship's arrival.

Earliest International Flight Departure for Miami: 7 hours after ship's arrival.
Earliest Domestic Flight Departure for Miami: 6 hours after ship's arrival.

 

...though reality is these estimates are quite conservative near-worst-case scenarios; plenty of people catch domestic flights an hour or more before the suggested 11:30 (based on CB's scheduled 7:00 arrival) with time to spare. Though since you plan on claiming your luggage in the terminal rather than doing express walk off do not expect to be on your way as quick as 30-40 min after the ship is alongside. First tag group (when the baggage hall opens) will probably be closer to 8:00, by which time the gangway can be a bit congested.

 

But further ETA: your cruise April 6-13 on CB is the last sailing before she goes in for a lengthy drydock to make major repairs to the propulsion system. They will probably be hustling everyone off as early as possible. 

Edited January 4, 2019 by fishywood

[satxdiver]

We always have time before having to be at the airport so we put our luggage out the night before and usually leave the ship about 9ish after having breakfast in the MDR.  Last cruise two months ago we were off the ship, quickly found our luggage, passed through customs/immigration and were on the street in 20 minutes or so.  As others have said getting through customs was easy as there are no forms to fill out and immigration glanced at our passports and welcomed us home.  

 

I will say that the line to get through immigration for non-US citizens and USA pax who only had a birth certificate and ID was long and going slowly.  If you are from the USA, get a passport.  

[paul929207]

Departing passengers are grouped by what they are doing and how quickly they need to do it. The first groups are people who are carrying off all their luggage. After that people are grouped  by the time for their flights. Earlier flights go first. Those not flying are grouped and slotted in with the flying groups. 

[skynight]

You select the time you want to disembark. The 1st passengers to disembark are the early walk offs usually starting around 7:00am. With early walk off you wheel all your own luggage off the ship an into the terminal, no assistance. The early walk off process takes less than an hour and you can be at the airport fairly quickly by cab.

If you choose to place your luggage out the evening before, then you will have to retrieve it in the terminal. The earliest will be around 8am disembark. Again you choose your time, and you can go to passenger services to change it if the color/time assigned does not meet your needs.

Everyone will be off the ship by around 9:30am and maybe as late as 10am. 

[Letacraig]

Can you walkoff with your luggage during the disembarkation window in the morning as opposed to leaving it out overnight?

[Colo Cruiser]

43 minutes ago, Letacraig said:

Can you walkoff with your luggage during the disembarkation window in the morning as opposed to leaving it out overnight?

Yes.

[idahospud]

Here's disembarkation paperwork, including times, from the Caribbean Princess sailing in September. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EwpzVQlgBt8DtY9RNve2cFKhJdQLzxoI/view

 

[wheezedr]

56 minutes ago, Letacraig said:

Can you walkoff with your luggage during the disembarkation window in the morning as opposed to leaving it out overnight?

Yes you can as long as you are able to handle all of the luggage on your own.  

[Letacraig]

Thank you to all.  Much help

[Thrak]

We don't take the earliest disembarkation. We have a leisurely breakfast and then go to our assigned disembarkation lounge. I usually have a split of champagne (or two) that I picked up the day before and I use the free juice in the disembarkation lounge to make mimosas. It's a nice and leisurely disembarkation process and, by the time we finally do disembark, the shore-side stuff isn't nearly so hectic and much of the luggage has already been picked up so locating our bags is a snap.

Edited January 6, 2019 by Thrak

[Letacraig]

Oh yeS. Mimosas before the airport! 

[Ep010835]

We generally book an early to mid-afternoon flight so have no need at all to rush off the ship. No need at all to jostle for position or search for the shortest line. 

We select the latest possible disembarkation time the night before. 

We’ve learned to avoid any disembark lounge. Including the suite/elite lounge. WAY too crowded and hectic. 

After a late(ish) and leisurely breakfast, we find a couple of nice cushy chairs in some quiet, comfortable area and watch the throngs move into and out of the elevator lobby. After the announcement comes that the last group has been called and we see them depart, we gather our stuff and say goodbye. 

[Simple_Travels4578]

Also Princess in FLL offers EZCheck, where they will take your luggage the last night and deliver it directly to your airline. So the next time you see your luggage is at the baggage claim back home.

 

There is an extra charge for this, $25 per person. Only certain airlines participate and the flights can’t be any earlier than 11:30. We’ve done this several times. Worked great.

[Letacraig]

Did not know that. I will consider 

[idahospud]

9 minutes ago, Letacraig said:

Did not know that. I will consider 

I've got that form here so you can take a look at the details. It's the last two pages:

 

disembark.pdf

[Letacraig]

Thank you so mich

[63 Super Sport]

We do Z Check. Your luggage is sent directly to the airport - you walk off and go. Cost is $25 person and since we have status with Delta no baggage fee. Boarding passes are delivered to your cabin the night before.

You may have to ask at the Passenger Service Desk for the form.

Have a great cruise.

 

[Letacraig]

Thanks so much.

[63 Super Sport]

6 hours ago, Letacraig said:

Thanks so much.

To use the Z Check your flight needs be after 11 am. I should have noted this in my post.

 

[eagletwo]

We had an assigned time this morning of 8:15 am on the Caribbean Princess. Our group was called around 8:17. We were off the ship and at our car in the Park n Fly lot by 9:05 am. Not bad as we had to find our luggage and go through Customs, then wait 5 minutes for the shuttle. Pulled into our driveway in West Columbia, SC at 7:30 PM this evening.

[pcsunlover]

On 1/12/2019 at 7:17 AM, 63 Super Sport said:

To use the Z Check your flight needs be after 11 am. I should have noted this in my post.

 

 

Your flight has to be after 11:30 am to use EZ Check.  We had an 11:25 flight once and they would not let us use EZ Check because of the 5 minute difference.

 

[AF-1]

Thank you for posting the info about EZ check.  I will be using this service next month.  We booked EZ Air thru Princess and out flight departs FLL at 11:45.  I am a happy camper