? for any recent cruisers re: embarkation at Miami...

[MamaParrotHead]

When we cruised 5/05 (Valor), embarkation was a joke. We had to stand in these long lines, amidst these retractable barricade deals (like at the airport), sot he line snaked on FOREVER in the large holding area between the security gate and the escalators heading up to the large area with seats.

 

I was wondering if that was still the policy? Standing in line for that long (an hour and a HALF!) kind of stunk, but when we went up the escalator and saw the HUGE room full of rows of "airport seating", it made even LESS sense.:rolleyes:

 

So, my question is...do they still hold everyone downstairs (near the security checkpoint) or are they actually using the seating they all ready HAVE?

 

Thanks!

[Island Annie]

Last time I departed from MIA (Feb 2005) it was still the long snake-line on the lower level:-(

 

Maybe someone should suggest they move that seating upstairs down to the lower level (??)

 

Put it on your comment card. Who knows . . . . you might win a free cruise:-)

[bubbles1209]

We left out of Miami back in June on Elation, and after reading about all of the long lines and waiting, I was pleasantly surprised that we walked in, showed our documents, went right through the x-ray on up to get the s&s cards, straight on to the desk for check-in, and boom, on the ship before we knew it. It may have taken 30 minutes for all of it, but it sure did not seem that long.:)

[racegrrl]

We will be boarding the Fascination in about two weeks in Miami. I will give a full review when we return, including embarkation. Will let you know . . . it's a smaller ship and on a Monday, maybe that will make it easier and quicker - fingers crossed. :D

[ladycaveat]

I cruised out of Miami on September 2nd and unlike my first time . . . getting on the ship was a snap . . . it was getting off that took forever. I swear . . . they'll get you either coming or going . . . :(

[caribbean dreams]

We were on the Valor last week in July 06, There was no line at all to get on the ship, just walked right on, still you had to snake through the rooms with empty seats, up the escalators, around the barricades, the only time we had to stop was to get the Carnival welcome aboard pictures which i though was dumb because there was no big banner or archway like they usually have with the name of the ship you were boarding, they just made you stand infront of a fake tree.

Anyway it was very smooth, now disembarking was a huge problem.

[clgcrusier]

We were on Valor in February. Both getting on and off was a breeze! Guess we were lucky! :)

[nycruiser2006]

I cruised out of Miami on September 2nd and unlike my first time . . . getting on the ship was a snap . . . it was getting off that took forever. I swear . . . they'll get you either coming or going . . . :(

 

Did you post a review? I would love to hear about your trip since you cruised her twice in the last 2 yrs.

Thanks

[MamaParrotHead]

I cruised out of Miami on September 2nd and unlike my first time . . . getting on the ship was a snap . . . it was getting off that took forever. I swear . . . they'll get you either coming or going . . . :(

 

Took an hour and a half to get ON, then another 2+ hours to get OFF. It honestly took us that long to get from the elevators near the purser's desk, through the terminal to Customs (we had to call on the cell to change our 2:30 flight because there was NO way we were gonna make it). I'm totally paranoid about this time.:rolleyes:

[shipty2]

We sailed out of Miami on the Elation in August. We did have to wait for about 45 minutes after checking in to board but we got to sit in the chairs and were called by rows. No sweat.

[ladycaveat]

Did you post a review? I would love to hear about your trip since you cruised her twice in the last 2 yrs.

Thanks

 

No . . . didn't write a review this time. Wrote a really long one the last time but had so much to do at work (getting ready for a jury trial) that I just didn't have time. Trust me . . . beautiful ship (though a tad hard to get around on at first . . . with the exception of cabin only decks . . . only two decks go all the way from front to back), crew was great and needless to say, I had a wonderful time. :)

[canelaw99]

We're fresh off the Valor 10/15-10/22 that departed Miami and we didn't have a major issue. We arrived at the port around 11:30am, so maybe that helped, but it seemed that the lines weren't that terrible. Getting off the ship wasn't bad either, except one member of our party had a bag that was missing for about 30 minutes or so....

[arcone]

I'm not sure , it may do with the time you arrive. Sort of like traffic If I leave at 5:45 am I an usually ok, although I fI leave a 6 then I am stuck in rush hour traffic.

We are leving out of the port of Miami two weeks from now, What time should we plan to arriv in order to miss the major long lines? If that is possbile.