duhlee

We are going on the RCI lines Granduer of the Seas next Sat. We did not purchase our air or transfers with the cruise line. Can anyone give us some tips on getting to the pier. We also have early flights back the next week. I called the cruise line when the airline gave us an hour earlier schedule change. They said shouldn't be a problem but I am worried. It is 11:15. Help

BudgetQueen

Take a cab- flat rate of $28+. Request early disembarkment as it can be up to a 30 cab ride to the airport.

duhlee

Thanks for the help. I had been reading some reviews of the Granduer on different sites and some say they were off as early as 9 am. If we can get them to put us in the first group of psgrs to disembark we should be fine.
I would assume cabs are waiting when the ships begin to empty.

Hold

duhlee: You have a problem. Yes, the cabs are waiting long before any passengers get off the ship, but I would NOT count on getting off the ship by 9:00. That would be the rare exception, not the rule. Many times its more like 10 or 11.
All it takes is one passenger who doesn't speak english who is not a US citizen and doesn't follow the instructions to hold up the entire ship, and that does happen more than you think.
No one will be allowed to get off the ship until U.S. Customs clears the entire ship, and I've never gotten off a ship in a US port by 9:00. I'm afraid you booked a flight that is too early. Never book one that leaves before noon.

If you cannot change your flight, tell the Purser of your problem and they will give you tags to get you and your luggage in the first group, but again, if there is any delay, the first group might not get off before 10 or later.

I'd try to book a later flight. If you're thinking that Customs will let you off early.... they won't. They will be quick to tell you that they make no exceptions to accomidate early flights. The only time they let people off early is in case of medical emergency.

duhlee

Thanks, hold for your reply. After I had posted that I read some reviews that people were off by 9am I realized that they were on sailings that had Key West as there last port. They did the customs thing there, instead. As I stated I did call RCI when the airline notified us and they said, no problem.
My hubby keeps saying "Don't worry about it." Guess we are stuck now. Oh well, we will just have to wait and see what happens. If we did happen to miss the flight, which was originally scheduled for 12:30, we can plea with AA to put us on another without penalty. Wish us luck... I'm not going to let it ruin my cruise.

Hold

duhlee: I wrote my response from experience. I did the same thing once and did make the flight (also a flight that left just after 11:00, but in Miami).

I tried every trick in the book to get off the ship early, including talking to a Customs officer who was on deck doing paperwork at the Pursers office, and they would not budge.

The Purser gave us luggage tags that got us off the ship in the first batch, we grabbed our luggage and ran to the taxi and made it to the gate just as they were closing the door to the plane. The airline said later that had we missed the flight, the next flight they could get us on was not until TWO days later, due to heavy demand from the cruise ships! And even then, they could not guarantee it.

My best advice.... keep your plane tickets on the ship, with them the Purser will give you the luggage tags you need to be first off. Don't worry about taxi's, they get there early since they don't know exactly when people get off the ship.... don't do anything that will slow you down, like making large duty free purchases that are above the limit, clearly mark your luggage so you're not slowed down looking for it as you leave the ship...... and try not to worry too much.... enjoy your cruise.

triathlete

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Unless something out of the ordinary happens to slow the debark process--like someone getting caught trying to smuggle drugs--it will be rushed, but you'll make your flight.

As to the other, forget the transfers and take a cab. The price will beo comparable or less, and the cab leaves when you want to leave--not when the bus is full.

Cheers!

duhlee

Hi everyone. We are back and we did make it to the airport on time. We were in the second group of psgrs to disembark and were off the ship at 9:05.
Traffic was fairly light and we arrived at the airport and were check at at 9:40.
By the way, we had a great cruise. The worst port was Grand Cayman. We did not have a shore excursion planned and so by the time we had our breakfast and went to get a tender ticket they were up to number 15. (We arrived at 10 and were to be back on ship by 5) We had planned to go to the beach. The ticket was not called until 1 PM. There were 6 ships in port so the tender docking was very slow. At that point we just stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool.
The ship was nice, service was great.

Hold

Glad to hear you made out OK on the return flight.
Grand Caymen is getting WAY too crowded and used by too many ships all at the same time.
They need to either put in a dock or open a second area for tendering. I'm surprised that someone has not been seriously hurt yet at that tiny area where all the tenders come in.
The tenders roar in and out to try to get in as many people as possible and the last time we were there the tender slammed into the dock so hard that peoples belongings fell off their seats....and the crews seemed as though thats just normal anymore.
It's also too many people all in a tiny port village all at the same time.
Anyway.....glad you had a nice cruise, sorry you missed Grand Cayman. It's actually a beautiful island with the best snorkeling you'll ever find. Just too crowded.

BudgetQueen

Grand Cayman is my priority on any Western Caribbean cruise. It is vitally important to be available and READY an hour before the posted disembarkment time. I aways get off on the first tender- the wait gets longer and longer after this.