Boarding Arrival Time

[2806]

We are driving and planning on parking in the Heron port terminal garage. What time should we arrive. We would like to board as soon as possible. We will be looking for an economical and clean hotel the night before arriving. We will be traveling south on 95. 

[Essiesmom]

It has been reported that Princess no longer assigns a checkin time, so arrive when you want.  For hotel recommendations, there are a ton over on the Florida Departures board, under North American Homeports.  EM

[555]

They no longer assign boarding times so the line for boarding begins to form at around 9 AM and sometimes extends the length of the terminal until the doors open between 10:30-11 AM. There's also very little seating room for handicapped people until you actually get into the building. 

The whole process goes quickly once you get through the security check-in. 

[Potstech]

Check out valuetrips for a possible one night stay.

[nhraformula00]

Valutrips.com for a stay at Hyatt Place on se10th.St. just off 17th. St. behind Embassy Suites. Fri, and Sat, thru V.T. is a considerable discount. $119 a night. We are staying there in May pre and post cruise, and have been using V.T. over 5-6 times in the past for this hotel. They also have a parking package at the hotel, not sure if it is available if you use V.T. for your stay. I would contact the hotel to find out. Most hotels in the area are $180 a night or more. 

[capriccio]

Remember not to arrive too early at the garage since all the passengers disembarking your ship have to do so and exit the garage.  They will all have left by 10 am you should have your choice of parking spaces.

 

How do you define 'economical' and what day are you looking at?

 

ValueTrips is highly rated on the Florida Departures board - just make sure you check the small print because they do have a number of black out days/periods. 

 

For making any reservations in Fort Lauderdale, realize that pricing varies wildly depending on the season with low season being May to through October and the high season from then through April. Highest prices are International Boat Show weekend (usually end of October or beginning of November), Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Martin Luther King weekend, Presidents Day week, most of March (spring and Easter breaks) and early or mid April Tortuga Music Festival weekend.

 

As others have recommended, there is lots of information on the Florida Departures board: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/386-florida-departures/

[Grego]

22 hours ago, 2806 said:

We are driving and planning on parking in the Heron port terminal garage. What time should we arrive. We would like to board as soon as possible. We will be looking for an economical and clean hotel the night before arriving. We will be traveling south on 95. 

We drive down frequently and since we live 100 miles from the port we usually drive down the morning of embarkation and plan to arrive around 10:30.  If we plan on staying in Fort Lauderdale the night before because it's a weekday departure and the traffic sucks we stay at the Holiday Inn Express on 17th street close to the port.  It's not cheap, but then this time of year nothing is close to the port.

[Moondogy]

I usually get there around 9-9:30 because I have to unload DW's scooter before I can get the luggage out. Never had any problems with being on board no later than 11:30.

[Moondogy]

11 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Is princess like other lines in that the rooms arent ready until around 1ish?

I have never had any problems sneaking to cabin before 1 and sitting carry on out of stewards way and letting him know it's there and to be sure it's ok with them.

[PMGS247]

They typically start letting people on board the ship around 11am.  I did see a youtube video not too long ago where people were boarding at 10:30am so as usual your individual experience may vary 🙂  

 

They start letting people inside the terminal to begin check-in around 10am.  Prior to that you will be standing outside.  After going through check-in you will be in the waiting room until they start to board the ship.

 

The earlier you arrive the earlier your boarding group will be but the longer your wait, inside or outside the terminal, will be.

[555]

We've always driven in the past 15 years and arrive at 9 AM to the parking lot. It avoids the traffic buildup later in the day & allows us to board before lunch.

Our room has always been ready by the time we board the ship at 11 AM or so. 

[skynight]

23 hours ago, 2806 said:

We are driving and planning on parking in the Heron port terminal garage. What time should we arrive. We would like to board as soon as possible. We will be looking for an economical and clean hotel the night before arriving. We will be traveling south on 95. 

Before you decide on where to park check the port everglades web site for pier assignments for both boarding and disembarking. Boarding and disembarking piers can be different.  There are also hotels that provide overnight and parking packages. Look at the port site for this information. All passengers are off the ship somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00am. At this point the ship processes the intransit , b2b, passengers. That is usually completed by 10:30 depending on how many there are. Around this time new passengers are allowed into the terminal, processed through security, and then split into green and blue lanes. Boarding can begin somewhere around 10:30/11am. Once boarding begins it moves quickly.

[Moondogy]

16 minutes ago, skynight said:

Before you decide on where to park check the port everglades web site for pier assignments for both boarding and disembarking. Boarding and disembarking piers can be different.  There are also hotels that provide overnight and parking packages. Look at the port site for this information. All passengers are off the ship somewhere between 9:30 and 10:00am. At this point the ship processes the intransit , b2b, passengers. That is usually completed by 10:30 depending on how many there are. Around this time new passengers are allowed into the terminal, processed through security, and then split into green and blue lanes. Boarding can begin somewhere around 10:30/11am. Once boarding begins it moves quickly.

Very good point. If there are more than one princess ship in, the one left from could be needed by a different one because of it's size. This website will only give like 7 days prior to sailing.

https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webx/

Edited March 26 by Moondogy
added website link

[skynight]

You can search the port everglades site for about two to three months in advance. You have to enter search dates. 

[20165]

1 hour ago, Moondogy said:

I have never had any problems sneaking to cabin before 1 and sitting carry on out of stewards way and letting him know it's there and to be sure it's ok with them.

Thats interesting. If i remember correctly, RCL, NCL, and i think celebrity all have their hallway doors closed until around 1 so you cant even get to the cabins.  That would be wonderful if we can drop our stuff off right when we board.  Not fun having to drag your carry ons around with you if you board too early.

Thanks

 

[capriccio]

1 hour ago, Moondogy said:

I have never had any problems sneaking to cabin before 1 and sitting carry on out of stewards way and letting him know it's there and to be sure it's ok with them.

If the hallway doors are closed an alarm will ring before you even get to the cabin.  Ask my DH how I know that! 

 

Now we just take their word for it and head to the MDR for lunch or, if boarding before lunch begins, head to a bar for a pre-lunch drink.

[555]

1 hour ago, 20165 said:

Thats interesting. If i remember correctly, RCL, NCL, and i think celebrity all have their hallway doors closed until around 1 so you cant even get to the cabins.  That would be wonderful if we can drop our stuff off right when we board.  Not fun having to drag your carry ons around with you if you board too early.

Thanks

 

I always leave the ship & return when we do B2B trips and if the door is closed, I just open it and proceed to my cabin. I haven't seen fire doors closed in a while.

On embarkation day we always drop off the luggage without any problem even if the cabin is being cleaned. They just don't want you to stay until they're finished and don't care about the luggage in the closet. 

[mofurd]

I'm also curious, does the time that first pax are allowed onboard change depending on departure time?

 

My departure from Athens in May is listed as 7pm. Wondering if people will still be going onboard at/before noon or if that's pushed back due to later departure.

[skynight]

3 hours ago, 20165 said:

Thats interesting. If i remember correctly, RCL, NCL, and i think celebrity all have their hallway doors closed until around 1 so you cant even get to the cabins.  That would be wonderful if we can drop our stuff off right when we board.  Not fun having to drag your carry ons around with you if you board too early.

Thanks

 

On the Ruby just a few weeks ago the fire doors were closed. Some have alarms. I was sailing a  b2b along with around 30 others. I was able to enter the cabin hallway through the center stair fire door and get back to my cabin after going through the immigration process. The cabin was all serviced, and unlike other cabins my door remained closed. I could have remained there, but I chose to return to a public area sat by the pool area with a brew in hand and a slice of pizza. If I remember correctly the center doors were cracked some and I was able to walk through. Everyone is asked to remain in the public areas until cabins were ready. It's very busy in the halls.  

[PMGS247]

I tend to make my way to the cabin around noon or just after.  It's a little before the advertised 1pm time but basically every time I've done this the room's been ready and the steward usually already making his rounds of introductions.  I always arrive ready to apologize profusely for coming too early but reality has just been the opposite.  11am is a bit too early for my comfort, even though I'm sure 9 times out of 10 the room stewards will be perfectly nice and let you drop your stuff, I still hold off a little and kill some time eating lunch, but unless there's some sort of announcement I don't wait til 1. 

[desertdwellingsailor]

3 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

I tend to make my way to the cabin around noon or just after.  It's a little before the advertised 1pm time but basically every time I've done this the room's been ready and the steward usually already making his rounds of introductions.  I always arrive ready to apologize profusely for coming too early but reality has just been the opposite.  11am is a bit too early for my comfort, even though I'm sure 9 times out of 10 the room stewards will be perfectly nice and let you drop your stuff, I still hold off a little and kill some time eating lunch, but unless there's some sort of announcement I don't wait til 1. 

We did the drop off on earlier cruises but on my last cruise they made an announcement which sounded like they really didn't want us in the room until 1 so we just took our backpacks with us to lunch. Was kind of funny because we didn't get much sleep the night before and the shower where we were staying was broken so we had to wait until 1 to get our shower. And we tried to nap but the captain kept making announcements and people kept knocking on the door. Funny. But it was a very nice cruise. Just can't expect to settle in right away.

[Moondogy]

9 hours ago, 20165 said:

Thats interesting. If i remember correctly, RCL, NCL, and i think celebrity all have their hallway doors closed until around 1 so you cant even get to the cabins.  That would be wonderful if we can drop our stuff off right when we board.  Not fun having to drag your carry ons around with you if you board too early.

Thanks

 

 

9 hours ago, capriccio said:

If the hallway doors are closed an alarm will ring before you even get to the cabin.  Ask my DH how I know that! 

 

Now we just take their word for it and head to the MDR for lunch or, if boarding before lunch begins, head to a bar for a pre-lunch drink.

Guess I just have been lucky....never set off any alarms maybe because I've been lucky that the cabins I've had never had fire doors closed. I've set off so many alarms in my life, now that I'm retired I kind of miss the excitement so I'll keep trying 😁

[PMGS247]

18 hours ago, desertdwellingsailor said:

We did the drop off on earlier cruises but on my last cruise they made an announcement which sounded like they really didn't want us in the room until 1 so we just took our backpacks with us to lunch. Was kind of funny because we didn't get much sleep the night before and the shower where we were staying was broken so we had to wait until 1 to get our shower. And we tried to nap but the captain kept making announcements and people kept knocking on the door. Funny. But it was a very nice cruise. Just can't expect to settle in right away.

 

That's funny.  Yeah, the reason for my comment about "unless there's an announcement" is due to the fact that on one specific cruise they did exactly as you described, firmly requesting that people wait until 1pm to go to their rooms.  It was the discovery out of Los Angeles almost exactly a year ago.  Other than that showing up 12-12:30 has been perfectly fine.

[desertdwellingsailor]

4 hours ago, PMGS247 said:

 

That's funny.  Yeah, the reason for my comment about "unless there's an announcement" is due to the fact that on one specific cruise they did exactly as you described, firmly requesting that people wait until 1pm to go to their rooms.  It was the discovery out of Los Angeles almost exactly a year ago.  Other than that showing up 12-12:30 has been perfectly fine.

Ours was Discovery out of Los Angeles March 2nd this year. I shouldn't complain. The boarding process was super smooth this time. They were just kind of firm about not going to the room until 1. It really didn't matter. Great trip. 

[PMGS247]

50 minutes ago, desertdwellingsailor said:

Ours was Discovery out of Los Angeles March 2nd this year. I shouldn't complain. The boarding process was super smooth this time. They were just kind of firm about not going to the room until 1. It really didn't matter. Great trip. 

Yeah agreed no big deal but funny both of experiences were on discovery.