Port Everglades Tops World Record For Passengers!

We just completed a cruise on Sat 3/20 thru Port Everglades. There
were 8 ships returning and dumping passengers off that morning. It was
bedlam. The terminal was jammed full, and outside on the sidewalk,
walk was what you could not do thru all the people waiting for taxis
and vans. We got lucky, stepped off the sidewalk just to continue to
the end of the line and got picked up immediately by a taxi, I'm sure
to the angst of other waiting passengers.
At the airport bedlam continued. You couldn't move, inside or out, and
when we got to our boarding gate we had to pull up a piece of floor
and have a seat with everyone else to wait for our later aftn flite. A
little rough on a 65 & 69 yr old, but you do what you have to do.
We judged by the ships that were in port that 25+ thousand people were
dumped on this airport in a matter of 2 - 3 hours. Airport may need
expanding too. By 5 pm there were still people sitting on the floors.
We were amazed tho at how well behaved all the kids were, or should I
say kudos to all the parents there that entertained their young ones
in a place and at a time when kids easily get bored.I've said all this
to say I cannot imagine doubling that amount of folks in one day. Even
the pilots were saying they had never seen the airport that crowded.
The cruise on Carnival Miracle was our first and was just fantastic.
We're hooked and will certainly cruise again in about a year or so.
Plenty of time to find one that we are interested in.
Carnival had their debarkation routine down to a science, very
crowded, but orderly, and with TSA/Customs people and their happy dogs
wandering everywhere. and no signs of a 'find' by the pups!!
Nan in DE

"Nanzi" wrote in message
...


We just completed a cruise on Sat 3/20 thru Port Everglades. There
were 8 ships returning and dumping passengers off that morning. It was
bedlam. The terminal was jammed full, and outside on the sidewalk,
walk was what you could not do thru all the people waiting for taxis
and vans. We got lucky, stepped off the sidewalk just to continue to
the end of the line and got picked up immediately by a taxi, I'm sure
to the angst of other waiting passengers.

SNIP

Nan in DE

Hi Nan,

It's great that you have discovered cruising, but don't you wish you had
tried it about forty years ago? Don't wait a year for your next, you need
to make up for lost time. You might look over the port of Baltimore and
find a cruise within easy driving distance of DE, assuming that's home for
you. New Jersey, New York, Boston and S. Carolina are other ports
relatively close to you where you might find a cruise you can drive to.
Better yet, hook up with one of our resident TA's on this board for info and
affordable cruises, perhaps one of the RTC group cruises. There are some
very affordable choices.

Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are, I suspect, the busiest cruise ports in the
world, so it's not surprising that you were confronted with huge crowds as
you ended your vacation. In my experience, you were much better off in Ft.
L. than Miami so that's one small favor. Some of the ports can be almost as
crowded, for instance St. Thomas, USVI, but they seem to handle it pretty
well, again speaking to my own experience.

If you want to re-live your cruise, write a review and post it for us to
share.

Harry Cooper

On Mar 27, 5:58*am, "Seehorse Video" wrote:
"Nanzi" wrote in message

...



We just completed a cruise on Sat 3/20 thru Port Everglades. There
were 8 ships returning and dumping passengers off that morning. It was
bedlam. The terminal was jammed full, and outside on the sidewalk,
walk was what you could not do thru all the people waiting for taxis
and vans. We got lucky, stepped off the sidewalk just to continue to
the end of the line and got picked up immediately by a taxi, I'm sure
to the angst of other waiting passengers.

SNIP

*Nan in DE

Hi Nan,

It's great that you have discovered cruising, but don't you wish you had
tried it about forty years ago? *Don't wait a year for your next, you need
to make up for lost time. *You might look over the port of Baltimore and
find a cruise within easy driving distance of DE, assuming that's home for
you. *New Jersey, New York, Boston and S. Carolina are other ports
relatively close to you where you might find a cruise you can drive to.
Better yet, hook up with one of our resident TA's on this board for info and
affordable cruises, perhaps one of the RTC group cruises. *There are some
very affordable choices.

Ft. Lauderdale and Miami are, I suspect, the busiest cruise ports in the
world, so it's not surprising that you were confronted with huge crowds as
you ended your vacation. *In my experience, you were much better off in Ft.
L. than Miami so that's one small favor. *Some of the ports can be almost as
crowded, for instance St. Thomas, USVI, but they seem to handle it pretty
well, again speaking to my own experience.

If you want to re-live your cruise, write a review and post it for us to
share.

Harry Cooper

Hi All and Harry, we did have a travel agent, THANK GOD! As we were
flying to Ft. L. on 3/12, a friday, we had an hour layover in
Jacksonville....that turned into 3 hours as they closed the Ft L.
airport due to weather, rain & wind. We got back up in the air almost
to Ft L and were diverted to Orlando, they had closed the airport
again. As we finally were coming into Ft.L
we could see the ship in the harbor. By the time we got down and to
the Carnival rep, the ship had left us and many others behind. In a
strange city, ship has gone, what the hell do we do now? Fly home and
try for a refund? We called our Travel Agent, Gene Hammaerle of Travel
Creations. He was a savior of the whole trip. He made arrangements for
that night in Ft L, a flight to St Maartin the next morning, and
accomodations right on the beach(40' to the water) in St Maartin and
let the ship know we would be boarding Monday Am. Thank God our
credit cards could handle this departure from normal. We did have
cruise insurance, so we will get a goodly amount of the $$ back. The
stress and turmoil of it all really weighed us down for a couple of
days.
On Monday am about 7 I peeked out of the curtains and there came the
Carnival Miracle towards the harbor, one bay over from us. I woke
hubby and said lets go cruisin. We were aboard her by 9 am,
notwithstanding the turmoil from St. Maartin customs as to how we had
gotten there and some delays. The stress caused me a scary asthma
attack as we were being taken to our rooms, but it passed quickly. We
stayed aboard the ship that day and the next enjoying the few others
who had opted not to go touring on St Lucia & St Maartin. We did get
off at St Kitts to shop some and returned quickly as the temps were
95+ and the heat 'bout did me in.
We Will Never Cruise Without Insurance or our Travel Agent. He surely
saved the day. He had his computers powered down that Friday aftn, and
had even set the alarm before he answered the phone. We got so blessed
by him being there for us. He even gave us his home cell in case we
had any problems. You can't ask for a better TA.
Right now we do not want to think about getting on a plane for
anywhere for a while!! And 2 years ago when we went to Aruba for our
daughters wedding, US Air screwed up and we had to do a hotel stay and
finish the flight down the next day, losing a full day in Aruba and
dealing with lost luggage for 24 hours. What is it when we leave the
country?????
A little gunshy, but we will try it again.
Nan in De
PeeEss, most of the cruises from Baltimore are short ones to the
Bahamas, or Bermuda, nothing more than a few days, but we appreciate
the suggestions. Will check more when we are readier to cruise.