What time does T25 open in Fort Lauderdale?

[White Rodent]

We are sailing on the Celebrity Apex November 4, 2024. We are going to have to wait somewhere, either the hotel, coffee shop, or terminal lounge.  We have the first boarding time of noon that was available to us. Check in opened this morning and I checked our group in just after midnight. 
 

How early do the doors open? Are their coffee shops inside of this terminal? 
 

Do they ever start boarding before noon or is that a hard and fast time? 
 

We have 3 people in their 80’s that need mobility assistance.  I am trying to hatch a plan to keep everyone in our party comfortable and to give the port staff plenty of time to process our group and not make things hard on them. 
 

Thoughts?

[Jeremiah1212]

That's the first cruise after the transatlantic. Not uncommon for there to be delays boarding since the ship has to be cleared differently. The terminal itself may open at 10/10:30 but that's not a given since this is a somewhat unique situation. Unless you are in Retreat there is nothing inside the terminal. I would stay at a hotel as late as possible and wait for the crowd to clear at the terminal. 

[White Rodent]

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

That's the first cruise after the transatlantic. Not uncommon for there to be delays boarding since the ship has to be cleared differently. The terminal itself may open at 10/10:30 but that's not a given since this is a somewhat unique situation. Unless you are in Retreat there is nothing inside the terminal. I would stay at a hotel as late as possible and wait for the crowd to clear at the terminal. 

Thank you for taking time to give a helpful reply.  Based on your info, we will delay at the hotel at along as we can. 

[cruisestitch]

Ask your hotel for late check out!

[leaveitallbehind]

The terminal will start accepting the next cruise passengers around 10:00 AM and will typically commence boarding around 11:00 AM. Boarding times have not been strictly enforced in the recent couple of years in our experience.

 

Regarding repositioning cruises entering the first US port, the ship undergoes USCG inspection for operational clearance in the US. In our experience, the ship was delayed in its' departure due to the inspection taking longer due to a couple of things needing addressed, which of course is not predictable.

 

But this did not impact the disembarkation of previous passengers nor our boarding timing as these inspections address the ship, not the passengers. We were on board as normally expected and just had to wait for our delayed departure.  Again, this was just our experience.

Edited 1 hour ago by leaveitallbehind

[justcrusn]

It’s costly for a large group, BUT, premium access pass lets you be first on the ship with a special lunch. Also wifi, free room service, and reserved seating at shows.

Edited 49 minutes ago by justcrusn