Sailing from Miami, Disembarking in Ft. Lauderdale

[Luvsnorkeling]

Has anyone experienced this recent glitch in Silhouette’s itinerary? Got an email from Celebrity a few weeeks ago stating that instead of our cruise leaving and returning from Ft. Lauderdale as originally scheduled, we would now be leaving from Miami and returning to Ft. Lauderdale. It mentioned something about transport after the cruise back to the Miami parking garage being furnished by Celbrity. So I called Celebrity. I was told that transport could only be arranged once we are on the ship. That is a little late to find out anything as we’ll already be at sea.

 

We are not driving to Miami and parking in the garage but rather flying in and out of there. So we need to get back to the airport, not the parking garage. Just wondering if anyone else has been in this same situation and if Celebrity helped them get to the Miami airport following disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale? Thanks!

[sound_guy0918]

25 minutes ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

Has anyone experienced this recent glitch in Silhouette’s itinerary? Got an email from Celebrity a few weeeks ago stating that instead of our cruise leaving and returning from Ft. Lauderdale as originally scheduled, we would now be leaving from Miami and returning to Ft. Lauderdale. It mentioned something about transport after the cruise back to the Miami parking garage being furnished by Celbrity. So I called Celebrity. I was told that transport could only be arranged once we are on the ship. That is a little late to find out anything as we’ll already be at sea.

 

We are not driving to Miami and parking in the garage but rather flying in and out of there. So we need to get back to the airport, not the parking garage. Just wondering if anyone else has been in this same situation and if Celebrity helped them get to the Miami airport following disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale? Thanks!

 

If you are sailing on the same itinerary as we are, here is the letter with your options.  We opted for the free shuttle from FLL to the Port of Miami.  If you are on a different cruise, check the Travel Advisories at the bottom of the X homepage for the correct letter.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/SI-12-13-19-Port-of-Embarkation-Change-to-MIA-Guest-Letter.pdf

 

[TeeRick]

If you don't want to deal with Celebrity's transport options, you can use a private service.  We typically use Larry's Limos in the south FL area.  They are reasonable.

[princeton123211]

1 hour ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

Just wondering if anyone else has been in this same situation and if Celebrity helped them get to the Miami airport following disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale?

I think their responsibility (as do they) is to get you back to the port of Miami where the cruise started which is reasonable. Unless they booked your airfare theres really no leg to stand on to expect them to get you to Miami airport from Ft Lauderdale. 

 

1 hour ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

I was told that transport could only be arranged once we are on the ship. That is a little late to find out anything as we’ll already be at sea.

I mean you are not really finding anything out and there aren't any real surprises-- they are telling you that they will get you back to the port of Miami gratis-- just not giving you specific details yet. I'm sure this transportation will conform to the general rule that flights after 12 noon will be fine to get to. 

 

That being said, if I were in the same situation, I would just jump in an Uber when I got to Ft Lauderdale. Fare to Miami International is like $55 and I don't have to sit on a bus full of grumpy, hungover strangers. 

[Fjcpooh17]

Leaving on the 12/13 cruise, called our travel agent and received a 100 OBC from Celebrity.  We already had hotel/parking booked in Ft. Lauderdale and will just Lyft/Uber to Port of Miami.  Once he explained that to Celebrity they gave us the 100 credit. 

 

Safe travels to all and only 6 days till we set sail! 

[Jeremiah1212]

I would just eat the cost of an Uber or hiring a car service. Much easier and less time consuming. 

[JBare]

On 12/5/2019 at 2:01 PM, Luvsnorkeling said:

We are not driving to Miami and parking in the garage but rather flying in and out of there. So we need to get back to the airport, not the parking garage. Just wondering if anyone else has been in this same situation and if Celebrity helped them get to the Miami airport following disembarkation in Ft. Lauderdale? Thanks!

 

We booked our transport to Miami airport from Ft Lauderdale while on board with guest relations. There are many buses that they organise that make that trip, they'll ask for your flight time and tell you your disembark time accordingly. Very common.

[Luvsnorkeling]

Are you talking about paid transportation through Celebrity to the Miami airport? I know this is possible at any time. But I am asking about complimentary transport to Miami airport due to the unique situation of them changing the embarkation port to Miami (when it originally was to be from Ft. Lauderdale) and then returning passengers to Ft. Lauderdale after the cruise. Thus, it creates a transportation problem for everyone onboard who flies in for the cruise--whether you are flying in and out of Ft. Lauderdale or flying in and out of Miami.

 

If I am correct, I believe this has happened on one or two cruises already where they sailed from Miami and returned to Ft. Lauderdale.. So I am reaching out to anyone on those cruises who happens to know how Celebrity handled passengers who flew in to Miami to board and needed to return to the Miami airport from Ft. Lauderdale at the end of the cruise. Thank you!

[Texed]

1 hour ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

 So I am reaching out to anyone on those cruises who happens to know how Celebrity handled passengers who flew in to Miami to board and needed to return to the Miami airport from Ft. Lauderdale at the end of the cruise. Thank you!

 

We sailed on Silhouette from Ft. Lauderdale and disembarked in Miami.  Celebrity had free transportation to Ft. Lauderdale at the end of our cruise.  😊

[Luvsnorkeling]

To Texed...Were you transported to the Ft. Lauderdale airport or to the parking garage? Right now, they seem to only be offering transport to the Miami parking garage after our Ft. Lauderdale disembarkation which is not much help to those who flew in to Miami. Are taxis readily available at the parking garage?

[Texed]

1 hour ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

To Texed...Were you transported to the Ft. Lauderdale airport or to the parking garage? Right now, they seem to only be offering transport to the Miami parking garage after our Ft. Lauderdale disembarkation which is not much help to those who flew in to Miami. Are taxis readily available at the parking garage?

 

We did not use Celebrity's transportation because we booked late and the itinerary was already set.

 

But, I believe the transportation does go back to the port unless you had the Celebrity's transfers from the airport.

 

There are plenty of taxis available at the port.  You will have no trouble finding one.  🙂

[Luvsnorkeling]

Thanks! I know there will be taxis at the terminal (hopefully another ship will be at that terminal on that day). But I wasn’t sure how far the parking garage is from the terminals at Port of Miami and therefore not sure if we could grab a taxi at the garage area or if we would have to walk a long way to the terminal.

 

The bus is said to be going to the parking garage at Terminal G. We will have a lot of luggage so don’t relish dragging it a long distance.

[RickT]

Hate to ask, but given the ship hasn’t changed it’s end of cruise port (Ft. Lauderdale) what were your original plans to get from the port to the Miami airport?

 

Sounds like the offer of transport back to the Port of Miami is a convenience for those driving.  

[Georgia_Peaches]

We just experienced this very situation on Silhouette.  We embarked in Ft. Lauderdale and disembarked in Miami.  I found out about this glitch before we made travel plans so we were able to snag a 1-way flight from ATL to FLL and then MIA back to ATL for about the same price as a round trip to/from FLL.  Therefore, we didn't need Celebrity's transfer service but we received it anyway.  As we were in a RS, they arranged a private car to take us to MIA.  The "car" was actually a minibus that could hold up to 20 people.  We declined the private transport and had them add enough people to fill up the minibus.  There were lots of Celebrity personnel on sight getting people situated into their transportation and honestly, I didn't notice if they were checking to make sure you had prearranged with them or not.  When they piled more people into our bus, it was done basically by announcement on the curb..."anyone need to get to Miami airport?"  People stepped over and got on the bus.

 

Our original intention was to just get an UBER or cab and head to MIA without all the fuss of trying to figure out where to go.  That would still be my plan had it not worked out the other way.  I just didn't want to deal with the stress of their mass transport to where I needed to go.  And I didn't want to be one of the people in the Guest Relations line with transportation questions.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Georgia_Peaches

[JBare]

17 hours ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

Are you talking about paid transportation through Celebrity to the Miami airport? I know this is possible at any time. But I am asking about complimentary transport to Miami airport due to the unique situation of them changing the embarkation port to Miami.

 

 

Yes, as RickT says what were your original plans to do this, they surely have not changed so unless you had a hotel booked in Ft Lauderdale pre cruise like we do when flying into Miami, Celebrity have done you a favour as its far cheaper from Miami airport to Port Miami. I don't see how a complimentary transfer should apply.

Edited December 8, 2019 by JBare

[Luvsnorkeling]

To JBare...you are totally misunderstanding my question. We made arrangements to fly in and out of Miami (due to Celebrity changing the embarkation port to Miami from the original Ft. Lauderdale embarkation). So the cruise is leaving from Miami but returning to Ft. Lauderdale--leaving from one port and returning to a completely different one. So we need to get from Ft. Lauderdale cruise port back to the Miami airport AFTER the cruise ends.

[ipeeinthepool]

8 minutes ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

To JBare...you are totally misunderstanding my question. We made arrangements to fly in and out of Miami (due to Celebrity changing the embarkation port to Miami from the original Ft. Lauderdale embarkation). So the cruise is leaving from Miami but returning to Ft. Lauderdale--leaving from one port and returning to a completely different one. So we need to get from Ft. Lauderdale cruise port back to the Miami airport AFTER the cruise ends.

 

Was there a reason that you didn't fly into Miami and out of Fort Lauderdale when you made the changes?  You would only have had to change one flight.  Depending on our schedule we often fly into one city return from the other.  At this point I think you either wait for Celebrity's bus transfer or you Uber yourself.  It would be Uber for me.

[Luvsnorkeling]

Uh...cost would be a very big reason. Flying into one city and leaving from another raises the price of a ticket considerably.

 

I appreciate all those trying to respond with advice, but I would really like to hear from folks who either have recently been on a Celebrity cruise where they changed the itinerary to leave from one port city and return to a different port city or are scheduled to do so like we are. I'm trying to learn what allowances Celebrity made for your transport (on previous cruises) or what plans you have made for yourselves on an upcoming cruise. Thank you.

[amyr]

Are you on the 12/13 departure?  We are on that one and Celebrity has given us a $100 cabin credit to cover the cost of transportation.  Check with your TA or your Celebrity rep to make sure you also have this credit, offered if you don't want to avail yourself of their transportation options.  I think somebody upthread mentioned the same thing.  There will be taxis when we disembark that will take you to Miami Airport.

[JBare]

13 hours ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

To JBare...you are totally misunderstanding my question. We made arrangements to fly in and out of Miami (due to Celebrity changing the embarkation port to Miami from the original Ft. Lauderdale embarkation). So the cruise is leaving from Miami but returning to Ft. Lauderdale--leaving from one port and returning to a completely different one. So we need to get from Ft. Lauderdale cruise port back to the Miami airport AFTER the cruise ends.

 

No, I understood what you said, maybe not what you meant. Not once in your original post or subsequently did you suggest that you had originally intended to fly into Ft Lauderdale instead of Miami, you just said you were flying into Miami as many many people have to do even if  their cruise starts in Ft Lauderdale. 

You did not respond to SoundGuys immediate response to your post re the letter received from Celebrity which explains that if you were flying into Ft Lauderdale they would provide free transport TO the ship in Miami at the START of the cruise as they appreciate the problem they have caused, which if applicable to you would have solved your problems.

[Gordoncruickshank]

When you booked you were embarking and disembarking in FL. You were flying in and out via MIA. Surely you are saving about half the cost of your original planned transit from MIA to Port Everglades by leaving from the Port of Miami. If the ship goes back to Port Everglades that was where you booked to go back to and you would be paying for the transit to MIA anyway. It looks to me that Celebrity have saved you money and time just now rather than there being additional cost as a taxi from the airport to Port of Miami was around $35 the last time we did it whereas your taxi to FLL is nearer $90.  

[Oceangoer2]

12 hours ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

Uh...cost would be a very big reason. Flying into one city and leaving from another raises the price of a ticket considerably.

 

I appreciate all those trying to respond with advice, but I would really like to hear from folks who either have recently been on a Celebrity cruise where they changed the itinerary to leave from one port city and return to a different port city or are scheduled to do so like we are. I'm trying to learn what allowances Celebrity made for your transport (on previous cruises) or what plans you have made for yourselves on an upcoming cruise. Thank you.

Originally we made flight plans TO and FROM Ft Lauderdale;  found out from Cruise Critic the port had changed (no email received).  We changed our outbound flight TO Miami, kept the return FROM Ft Lauderdale in line with the ships schedule.  X provided $100 OBC after our X rep denied there was any reimbursement.  We insisted on speaking to her supervisor.  Flight and hotel change cost more than $300 - coming in the day prior to cruise, we didn't want to go from our FLL hotel, back to the airport to pick up an X shuttle.  We prefer the independence of our own travel plan.  We're not pursuing full reimbursement.  "Stuff" happens when you travel so we made a plan that suited us best.

[Georgia_Peaches]

13 hours ago, Luvsnorkeling said:

Uh...cost would be a very big reason. Flying into one city and leaving from another raises the price of a ticket considerably.

I'm assuming you've already researched this however, a significant price increase for flying into FLL and flying out of MIA was not the case for us...I guess it depends on your location. 

Celebrity did the following for those debarking at the new location:

1.  Arranged transport for passengers via shuttle bus from pier in Mia to pier in FLL for those who parked there on embarkation day.

2.  Arranged transport for passengers via shuttle bus from pier in MIA to FLL airport for those who flew in for embarkation.

3.  Arranged transport for passengers via shuttle bus from pier in MIA to airport in MIA.

 

I should also point out that we received an e-mail notice from Celebrity with all of the options laid out as well as instructions for reserving.  If you haven't received this communication yet, I recommend you reach out to them as this will be helpful information.  It sounds like from previous posts that OBC is now being offered to help cover the cost of transportation.

[Luvsnorkeling]

Thank you to those who responded giving helpful information from their experiences similar to mine. I believe I now have the answers I was looking for. Heading out to sea soon...!!!

[hcat]

Enjoy your  cruise..hope the transp works itself out ok.