self disembarking?

[xray0111]

We are considering doing the self disembarking on the Odyssey to catch a fairly early flight out of FLL.  I believe there will be six ships in port that morning.  We have never done this before so any tips, do's/don'ts, would be appreciated.  We do not have any kind of TSA pre-screening.

 

We are in our early 70's but all in all fairly mobile.  We will have 2 checked bags a rolling carryon and a backpack.  Our stateroom is on deck 10.

 

How crowded will the elevators be or will there be a long wait to get to the disembarkation deck?

Is there a outside bag drop-off at the Delta terminal at FLL?

Will there be a lot f people doing the self disembarking?

What is the normal security procedure?

 

Thanks,

XRAY

 

 

 

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

I don't have any answers for you, but you might get better answers if you cross post this to the Royal Caribbean forum at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/51-royal-caribbean-international/ .

 

Self-disembarking procedures vary from cruise line to cruise line, and even by ship.

[CruiserBruce]

Will there be long lines to get off the ship? Will the elevators be crowded? Count on it. If there isn't,  that is newsworthy. 

 

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, xray0111 said:

We are considering doing the self disembarking on the Odyssey to catch a fairly early flight out of FLL.  I believe there will be six ships in port that morning.  We have never done this before so any tips, do's/don'ts, would be appreciated.  We do not have any kind of TSA pre-screening.

 

We are in our early 70's but all in all fairly mobile.  We will have 2 checked bags a rolling carryon and a backpack.  Our stateroom is on deck 10.

 

How crowded will the elevators be or will there be a long wait to get to the disembarkation deck?

Is there a outside bag drop-off at the Delta terminal at FLL?

Will there be a lot f people doing the self disembarking?

What is the normal security procedure?

 

Thanks,

XRAY

 

We always do self-walkoff, though on Princess never yet on RCCL. I strongly suggest you do the very earliest walkoff you possibly can, otherwise, as CruiserBruce says, you will find yourselves stuck in long lines in the terminal, at Customs, in the taxi line etc.When we do self walkoff, we try to be among the very first in line to disembark, even if our flight is a long way off, usually getting into the self walkoff line as early as 6:30AM. That way, we are among the very first in line at customs for the facial recognition cameras, and have no problem finding a taxi. Port Everglades has moved to facial recognition, so clearance through customs is almost instantaneous once you actually arrive at the camera. You will still probably find elevators on the ship a challenge, though not as bad as if you were disembarking later. We also usually have a big suitcase and a rolling carry-on, so we strap the small one to the bigger one, thereby only having one rolling suitcase. That guarantees we have one hand free and so are allowed to use the escalator in the terminal, and not, as sometimes happens, being forced to queue up for an elevator as they demand people using escalators have one hand free. In our experience, there definitely will be a few hundred folks doing self walkoff, so it pays to be at the head of the line...

[capriccio]

OP - what time is your 'fairly early' flight?

[xray0111]

capriccio..our flight is at 11:45.  We have never had such a early flight from FLL before.  Usually we aim for 1:00 or later.  This time Delta had other plans after we booked.  Not much room for problems leaving FLL to catch a connecting flight from ATL.  We may have too find a backpack my Wife can use.  

Thanks

[thinfool]

Another Princess only viewpoint.

There will be announcements for walk offs to marshal or assemble in a particular place by a given time.  This is often in a dining room which is on a 'walk off' deck.

If you observe the instructions you will only have to use elevators etc at an early hour, before the other, traditional folks are doing so.

[capriccio]

59 minutes ago, xray0111 said:

capriccio..our flight is at 11:45.  We have never had such a early flight from FLL before. 

 

I'm happy to tell you that 11:45 isn't a 'fairly early' flight (someone recently asked about a 9:45 flight!) so maybe that will relieve some of your anxiety.  FLL and Port Everglades are within sight of each other and it is a short (at worst maybe 15 minutes) taxi ride between them.  If you can do self-disembarkation you will not need to be in the first group.  If you have too much luggage (which 2 checked bags seems to indicate that may be true) just do the regular disembarkation in an early group.  

 

Enjoy your cruise and don't worry about the disembarkation process!

[JohninDC]

With an 11:45 flight you need to be at FLL by about 9:45 or 10, which translates into off the ship, with bags, and clear of customs/immigration by about 9:30.  A low or even middle number for getting off the ship and claiming your bags should work, and you might even have time for one last breakfast in the MDR!

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, JohninDC said:

With an 11:45 flight you need to be at FLL by about 9:45 or 10, which translates into off the ship, with bags, and clear of customs/immigration by about 9:30.  A low or even middle number for getting off the ship and claiming your bags should work, and you might even have time for one last breakfast in the MDR!

11:45 is very doable.  Last Saturday we arrived at the airport at 10 am and the lines to check bags and security were fairly short.  At the gate by 10:30 - on American.  Having TSA would help.

[xray0111]

What time would you recommend  getting to the elevators for self-walkoff?  We could use the stairs from Deck 10 but with us being 70+ with  back packs, checked bags, and a CPAP stairs may not be the best for us.  Our flight is at 10:45.  From what I can tell right now there will be 5-6 cruise ships in Port Everglades that morning including our ship the Odyssey.  

 

What deck do the self-walkoffs usually wait on for clearance?  What deck do you go to enter the terminal and exit to get a cab.

 

Never have done this before which is why I asking for so many details.

 

Tkanks, 

Xray

[BoozinCroozin]

I am in nearly the same boat so to speak. We have the option of driving with the current flight prices. We are willing to pay $300pp, but not more with 3 people. We will drive in that case. The other "later" flights all get in after 10PM back home. We disembark at 8AM at POM. The flight out of FLL is 11:35AM. We self disembark our past to cruises and were off within 30 minutes. Yes we had to lineup early with all of our luggage. If that holds, we would be off the ship and getting a ride at 8:30AM. Assuming regular traffic, be at FLL at 9:30AM with other waiting. We have TSA precheck which should expedite.