2022 Ultimate Southern Caribbean: Fort Lauderdale, FL

By Suzanne Klasen
Destinations/Ports Series: 2022 Ultimate Southern Caribbean Cruise
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We have sailed many times out of Fort Lauderdale, in Covid Times and Non-Covid times. Embarkation day has always been pretty easy and efficient. We had an early arrival time of 12:00 Noon and I think we were on the ship in less than 35 minutes from arrival time to stepping foot on the ship. Our traveling companion had his 2 year old son with him. This meant that the son had a PCR Test for Covid before he left home just inside 48 hours of embarkation and the cruise line provided him with a complimentary antigen test at the pier.

There was a queue to have our Covid paperwork and test results reviewed. When the father and son got the the check in, they directed them where to go for the antigen test. They passed the test and caught up to us shortly after we boarded where we enjoyed the Concierge Class dining room lunch.

I little wrinkle in my embarkation process was that I had bought Rum in the Dominican Republic on the previous cruise and I knew that I had to “Check it in” with the cruise ship. I had it in separate bag with the intention of checking it it. However, the security guard was not super efficient at this process and it took longer than it should have to fill out the paperwork and get my receipt. Worst of all the receipt I was given said “iron” on it rather than “rum.” We finished checking in which is done with representatives at hand held kiosks, rather than at a counter. At check-in we were told we were now in a different cabin than the Concierge Class that we had previously been upgraded to. Once we got the cabin, we saw that it was a 1A not Concierge Class. There is nothing wrong with a 1A, but we had been hoping to be in a cabin near our friends. I was able to go down to the desk and because of low occupancy, they were able to put me in a Concierge Class just down the call from our friend.

The only wrinkle in disembarkation came with me trying to track down my rum. With us not occupying the cabin that we put on the Rum receipt, I had to ask around and got conflicting information as to wear to pick it up. On the morning of disembarkation the guest relations desk called me room and let me know that they had it and I could pick it up before debarkation. We went to the Tuscan Grill waiting area for about 30 minutes and they called our number. We were off the ship by 9:00 am and our driver picked us up to take us to our Miami airport hotel.

This entry was posted in My Cruise History
Suzanne Klasen

Suzanne Klasen is the Owner / Travel Advisor of CruiseOne Suzanne Klasen. We have combined our love of cruising with computer skills to bring you a very informative and entertaining site that follows my cruising travels and thoughts. I hope that you will let me help plan your next vacation.

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