Cruise questions

Our family has booked a cruise out of FL for Feb. (worse week of the year, I'm finding out) and I hope someone has some experience or advice.

We are going on Royal Caribbean and were told we need to be on board by 4 PM. Our problem lies with arriving too early. We are scheduled to arrive at FLL airport at 9:30. Barring any delays, we have about 6 hours to kill.

Does anyone know how early they would allow us to board the ship? Is there anything at the pier for us to do or food to buy?

Would food be immediately available on the ship? We will be getting to the airport here in NY around 4 AM and leaving at 6:30. It will be way too early for breakfast then but by the time we land I know some of the guys will be very hungry. I did hear there is no place at the pier to get food.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Re: Cruise questions

When you receive your cruise documents you will get a card that will tell you that you will need to be by the pier by a specific time. Usually it's by 1pm (I worked in the travel industry)

You have to keep in mind that their is security so it's alway best to be their early.

If you get their early that is fine, you'll be directed to the lido deck for lunch as long as the guests that were just on are all off the ship. The travelers before you all have to be off the ship by 11 so this gives the staff time to clean and replinish for the next sailing.

No matter what time you get there your rooms will not be ready until 1pm

At the pier itself I dont remember if their are places to eat or do anything. I'll be at that pier in 2 weeks for my cruise so I can keep an eye out of things in that area. I remember seeing little shops but they werent immediately at the pier.

Message edited 9/1/2007 11:08:49 AM.

Re: Cruise questions

When I took a RC cruise a few years ago, we were definitely allowed to board the ship early. I remember it took a while to get from the airport to the cruise ship and then we had to wait in line to board the ship. You have paperwork to fill out and they give you your baording passes and access cards. It took a while for our luggage to get to the room, but we didn't care. We spent a few hours checking out the ship before it got crowded and we had a few drinks. They have drinks for you as soon as you board. There are shops open too so I'm sure there will be someplace to grab something to eat.

It's better to be early than late. I know a couple who took a cruise for their HM and they had flight delays and almost missed the cruise.

Message edited 9/1/2007 11:25:19 AM.

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Message edited 3/3/2010 7:40:18 PM.

Re: Cruise questions

I've been on 4 cruises and remember being onboard by 1pm. As for the pier well unfortunately Ican't help you because I've always sailed out of NY...

Re: Cruise questions

we always have gotten there early... NCL even had food set up at the pier as we were waiting on line to go through security, then the moment we got on the ship, restaurants were open and waiting for us...

Re: Cruise questions

Re: Cruise questions

Thanks everyone for the information. How early they let us on is our concern. We will also have two young children with us and they won't be happy sitting around a pier with nothing to do.
HarleyGirl, how do you plan on getting from the airport to the pier and then from the pier to the airport at the end of the trip? I would love it if you got back to me and let me know if there are lots and lots of cabs that are easy to locate. I know it's a very short ride but I'm worried since it's peak travel time (President's week) and there are so many of us.
Royal Carib. offers transfers at $59 a person. That's fine when it's two people but 10 in all (2 others are flying in separately) comes to $590. That is crazy just for a short ride.
Have a great trip. I would love to hear where you are going and so on.

Re: Cruise questions

We live in FL so we're driving down and parking at the lot.

What I would suggest is do a search for local taxi companies around the Miami airport. Check their rates. Their are a bunch and if you can schedule your pick up and drop off now then when you do arrive it wont be any worries on finding someone. Especially with 10 people.

The $59 each person is not bad. I know they can be higher at times. And they take care of everything. When you arrive at the airport their is a RCCL rep at the baggage claim area who will check your name off the list, load up your luggage and you board the shuttle. Then at the pier they will unload everything and make sure all your stuff is taken care of. It's a short trip but it is worth it.


I would def look into companies in the area as they may be less and if you can get transfers or anything done now that will definately be one less worry when you are in Miami. When you are in Miami and you dont have transfers or a taxi set up already especially presidents day weekend it can become very fustrating.

I'll def let you know how things go

Re: Cruise questions

Thank you so much for your advice. One more option we considered and would like your opinion about. We are actually flying into Fort Lauderdale, not Miami. We thought if we could rent a car for several hours, go get breakfast or drive around a bit, and then drop the rental car at the fort Lauderdale pier. I am not finding a rental service that has a pier drop-off location. Do you know if this is feasible?

Re: Cruise questions

Their arent any Pier drop off's unfortunately. If you did come across one it could be very costly because the rental will be considered renting it for the day even though it's for a few hours and it will be considered a one way rental. It's considered one way b/c you are not dropping it off at the location you picked it up.

The only option would be to rent it from the airport, drive around a little, get breakfast, return it back to the airport and have a shuttle or taxi take you to the pier.

The rental car should not be that much but you may get charged a daily rate b/c I dont know if they do hourly. (depends on how long you have it)