Embarkation Day

Okay, the day of your cruise has finally arrived! What should you expect? This section will cover what can be one of the most thrilling days of cruising for first timers, but also may be one of the most stressful days of your cruise. But it doesn't have to be if you're prepared.

First off, make sure you have packed what you need in your cruise in your luggage and cruise carry-on. Most important is that your passport and OceanMedallion are readily accessible, as even when trying to drive into the cruise port area, you may be stopped by security and asked to show these items to verify that you have a purpose to being in this area. Without these items, you won't get far. Your vehicle is also subject to being searched at this time. (This mostly applies if you are approaching the Princess Terminal 2 from the south, approaching from the north allows you to drive right up to the Princess Terminal 2 drop off area)

Changes in embarkation due to COVID-19:

Effective October 21, 2022 Princess Cruise line has lifted its vaccination and testing protocols for a majority of its sailings unless required by a port call. This means you do not need to provide a negative viral COVID-19 test prior to embarkation. You will also be able to sail if you are unvaccinated.

In the past the cruise lines typically recommended a specific time for you to arrive at the Cruise Port and board the ship but this time was not strictly enforced. As a result, many cruisers would try to arrive as early as possible so they would have more time to explore the ship and make reservations for popular areas during the cruise. This also could cause some huge traffic issues with thousands of cruisers heading into the port at the same time. However, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, cruise lines are now expected to strictly enforce these times so they can stagger the arrivals, limit large crowds from gathering together, and provide more time for pre-boarding testing and health evaluations of all cruisers. Although we do not yet know all of the restrictions that may be in place for future cruises, we suspect that they may require you to have been adequately vaccinated and are healthy to cruise. Boarding tests may require temperature and health screenings of all cruisers and those found not be be healthy will not be allowed to board the ship.

Faster, contactless boarding is yours when you get OceanReady® at home. Use the MedallionClass™ App to fill out your pre-cruise health questionnaire. You will then be able to select your preferred time to arrive at the port to help stagger boarding. I am not sure how they will be assigning boarding times, but if they fill boarding time requests in the order they are received I strongly suggest doing this as soon as possible so you can request the earliest boarding time as possible. The ability to select your boarding time is usually available about 60 days prior to sailing. Physical distancing will be maintained throughout check-in and embarkation.

Once you have downloaded the MedallionClass app you will then have the opportunity to order your OceanMedallion™ and any accessories for it if you so desire. The OceanMedallion™ is typically shipped to your home 14 to 21 days prior to your departure date. If you expect not to be home during this period prior to the cruise you can have it shipped to the port. Upon arrival at the Princess Terminal you will have a health screening and perhaps pick up your OceanMedallion™. You then should be allowed to board the ship and begin your adventure.

You may become confused on where the cruise embarks from. While the City of the port is Fort Lauderdale, FL, the port itself is called "Port Everglades". However Fort Lauderdale and Port Everglades are often used interchangeably when discussing the cruise port. Port Everglades is used by several cruise lines as a departure point for Caribbean cruises. The port is the third-busiest cruise port in the world, drawing almost 3 million cruise passengers to its 11 cruise terminals. Currently the port holds the world-record for the number of cruise ships at harbor in a day, with 15 ships. Currently cruises from Fort Lauderdale are operated by several cruise lines, including Carnival, Celebrity, Crystal, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Princess and Royal Caribbean. Lucky for us, the Enchanted Princess is the only cruise ship scheduled to be in port during our embarkation day.

If you're driving yourself to Port Everglades, the Princess Cruise Terminal 2 is located at 1801 SE 20th Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL just east of Eisenhower Blvd and just south of SE 17th Street. Please be aware that the location of the Princess Cruise Terminal shown on the Princess Cruise website is for other Princess Cruise ships and not this one! It is much easier and quicker to access the Princess Cruise Terminal 2 from the north instead of the south. Coming in from the south may have a lot more traffic if multiple ships are in port that day. You will also be required to stop at security checkpoints which is avoided if coming in from the north.

Whether driving yourself, or being dropped off by a Taxi, Uber, Lyft, or other Transportation Shuttle, you will be directed by the many police officers on duty to the luggage drop off area. At this area you will hand over your tagged luggage to the cruise port porters. These porters are not employees of Princess Cruises but rather are employed by the Port Authority. Just be aware that they may be hustling to be the one that handles your luggage as they are expecting a tip for each bag they handle ($2 a bag is typical).

If you instead used one of the numerous off site parking lots in the port area they will provide you with shuttle service to the cruise port as part of your parking fee for the week. If you have arrived by other transportation you will be directed towards the Princess Cruise Terminal entrance. Rates vary for Port Everglades parking depending mainly on the distance from the cruise port. Generally, you pay more for convenience. To give you some idea of comparative costs of Port Everglades cruise parking lots, these rates provide a guideline price per day.

• Port Everglades Parking at the Cruise Terminal (Heron Parking Garage) from $15 per day

• Port Everglades Parking for Disabled is free!

• Park by the Ports self-parking from $5.99 per day

• Park ‘n’ Go from $7.99 per dayPark 24/7 from $9.99 per day

• Gold Coast Cruise and Fly Parking from $7.49 per day

• FLL Quick Park from $7.99 per day

• FLL Park Safe from $8.99 per day

• Rodeway Inn & Suite Port Everglade Parking from $9.99 with self-parking

• Port Everglades hotels with cruise parking/shuttle between $95 to $189 or as quoted by the hotel

Many cruise parking shuttles are free for up to 4 passengers and their luggage. Extra passengers may be charged a fee each way for the transfer to and from Port Everglades.

Click here for another article about parking options for Port Everglades.

Have your OceanMedallion™ ready and accessible (or plan to pick it up at the Princess Cruise Terminal if you had it shipped there) and make sure you have become OceanReady® at home by downloading the MedallionClass™ App on your smartphone and filling out the proper information as outlined on the Princess Cruise Line page of this site.

The OceanMedallion™ truly does enhance the embarkation process by making it more streamlined and efficient. From the moment you enter the Princess Cruise Terminal you will start experiencing the efficiency of the system.

As you're entering the Terminal area and the ship for the first time, be expected to be stopped by Princess Cruise photographers to have your photo taken. Get used to it. This will be common at every port and even while you're walking around the ship. If you don't want your photo taken, just give them a polite "no thank you" and they will back off. They will also often have backdrops in the Piazza to have more formal photos taken. There is no charges for the photos to be taken, and there is no hard sell, but you can buy these photos at the end of the cruise in various photo packages and albums they offer. On deck 6 (Fiesta Deck) you will find the Photo Gallery where photos of you taken throughout the cruise may be viewed and purchased through their various photo packages. So how do they know who is who? Remember that little OceanMedallion™ hanging around your neck? You plop your Medallion down on the Medallion reader and up pops every photo they have linked to you via the OceanMedallion™. If the photo package is pre-purchased you can take home the 10 Portrait Package which includes ten professional 8" x 10" prints and digital files on a thumb drive for a pre-purchased price of $190. These photo packages are now included if you selected the new Princess Premier package which includes ALL digital and three prints of your favorite photos.

Also, within the terminal you will pass through a tunnel portal where various digital sea creatures will be seen swimming on the digital screen walls. You used to be able to create your own custom OceanTagalong™ digital companion before you left home on your MedallionClass™ App and then your creature would appear and welcome you to the cruise! However, the ability to create these Tagalongs now cannot be done pre-cruise so you will have to wait until you board the ship and create one on the any of the the portals located throughout the ship for an interactive experience. Fun for the young, or young at heart!

While still in or near the port you can use your cellphone as you wish but we would advise that shortly after the ship embarks that you turn your phone to "airplane" mode to avoid large roaming charges you may unknowingly accrue as you cruise. Some cellphone plans also do not work in the Caribbean area so it is wise to check with your provider before leaving home.

However, now is a great time to open up you MedallionClass™ App on your smartphone and start using its features! Turn your phone to "airplane" mode and access the MedallionNet. You do not have to purchase the MeddallonNet internet package to use this App. With the App you will now have access to the ship deck maps and can start requesting and accepting invitations from your friends onboard to allow you to chat and find them onboard. At first we had some issues with trying to learn how to access and use the App and the MedallionNet internet but Princess Cruises offers tech help on Promenade Deck (7) near the Princess Live! Cafe. These techies were always very helpful in solving our initial issues with a smile.

Now is time to explore! This first embarkation day may give you the only opportunity to see some areas of the ship, unless you decide to indulge in their services. Staff at the Lotus Spa® and Lotus Spa Enclave® will give you personalized tours of these area and of course try to soft sell you some of the over 50 spa and salon services they offer at discounted prices during this embarkation day tour. Besides various types of massage packages, they may offer everything from full barber and hair salon services, teeth whitening, facials, skin rejuvenation, mud baths, and pretty much everything you could think being offered at a high class spa and more.

It is also a good time to take a tour of the Adult Sanctuary, located on the Sky Deck (18) as you will not be able to enter this private area unless you have booked a reservation for it once the cruise is under way. Half day and full day reservations, especially for sea days, fill up rapidly, and on our second cruise, since we were one of the first to board the ship, we immediately scurried up to the Sanctuary area to reserve a spot. However many back-to-back cruisers who were already on the ship had already made reservations for the two sea days. Standing in line for an hour while the hostess showed people around and allowed them to select the day, time, and area of the Sanctuary they wanted to relax during their stay was frustrating. Hopefully Princess Cruises starts to improve this reservation system. We did however score one of the last remaining lounges chairs for the last sea day.... However it ended up to be less than ideal weather that day... no worry, the hostess decided not to charge us for the stay ($20 per person for a half day, $40 per person for a full day, with Cabanas costing extra). We will probably book the Sanctuary during our second week of the cruise as it will be easier to get reservations before the other guests come onboard.

Take the time to walk around and discover where many things are but don't expect to do it in a few hours. By the end of the cruise, you'll still be stumbling across areas you never knew existed. We still have never found the Wedding Chapel onboard, although we know it exists.

You may discover that not all of the elevators are working on embarkation day. Some of them are re-programmed to be used only by the ships crew as they begin the task of delivering all of the luggage to their appropriate decks for distribution. They also want to discourage cruisers from going to their cabin before it has been totally prepared for them.

E-Muster Drill

In the past ALL guests, whether it was their 1st or 100th cruise, had to attend a "muster drill" to explain how to react during a declared emergency onboard. Each guest had an assigned "muster station" to meet as a group to listen and observe the drill information. You did not have to bring the life jacket from your stateroom to this drill, but instructions on how to put it on and use it were demonstrated in a live session.

In order to reduce the amount of guests congregating together in one space, cruises have now adopted a more "virtual" or "E-Muster drill". This requires all guests to view a muster drill information video on their smartphone or stateroom TV and acknowledge that it has been viewed in its entirety. Guests will also be required to visit their "muster station" and login into the area with the OceanMedallion™ to verify that they were familiar with their muster station location so they know where to go in case of a declared emergency.

Don't feel you have some sort of special entitlement and can forego this requirement. By law, all passengers must comply before the ship departs the port.

At 3:30 pm the cruise ship embarks on the cruise. We encourage everyone to go up to the upper pool decks where most of the action is as the "sail away" party begins with music and the ship playing it's signature "Love Boat" theme song on the ships horns as the passengers wave to other boats and people along the shore below as it exits the port area.

Eating lunch on embarkation day can be a mad house in the World Fresh Marketplace Buffet area located on the Lido Deck (16) as most people will tend to gravitate there for an easy and quick meal so they don't miss anything going on during this embarkation day. You can try your luck there, or try grabbing a pizza from Alredo's Pizzera on Promenade Deck (7) or Slice Pizzeria or a burger from Salty Dog Grill on the Lido Deck (16), or a small sandwich from the International Cafe on the Plaza Deck (5). All of these food options are included in your cruise fare and are typically fast service.

If you want a more leisurely lunch, some of the Main Dining Rooms may also be serving during this time, and all food is included in your cruise fare.

Anytime during the afternoon you can also go and check out your stateroom as it should be ready for occupancy by then. Like magic (think OceanMedallion™) your door will unlock as you near your stateroom and your picture will appear on the nameplate to identify the room as yours. Your room steward will also probably be notified (via the OceanMedallion™) that you are nearby and they will come by to introduce themselves and offer their services to you throughout the cruise. Your luggage may, or may not be delivered there yet, but it will show up shortly (again, via the OceanMedallion™ notification to your room steward).

Disembarkation Day

All good things must eventually come to an end. Hopefully you enjoyed your cruise and this day is something you are not looking forward to. It is time to get back to reality.

Two nights before disembarkation day arrives, your room steward will leave disembarkation instructions on your stateroom bed. You have a couple of options to consider on how you want to debark the ship. You can tag your luggage with newly supplied color coded luggage tags (taking your old luggage tags off of your luggage), and then leave your luggage outside of your stateroom door after 9 pm. The room stewards will then collect this luggage and have it delivered to the Princess Cruise Terminal when the ship docks the following morning. You will then pick it up from there. If you choose this method, you will be given an assigned time and assigned location to meet to debark the ship from. If you use this method be sure to not pack essential items you may need in the morning, such as toiletries, etc. Pack a cruise "carry-off" bag for these items and also remember to leave yourself some clothes to wear that morning, otherwise you may be leaving the ship in some formal attire.

We used that method for our first cruise but now we have started to use the self-assist disembarkation option. This requires us to handle all of our own luggage when disembarking the ship but it really isn't an issue if you have suitcases that are easily transported. You will most likely have to use an elevator and they may be more crowded than usual.

The ship will arrive back in the Port Everglades Cruise Port around 6 am and start the disembarkation process around 7:30 am with passengers leaving in groups. If you have an early flight to catch you may want to contact Guest Services a few days ahead of disembarkation so you are placed in an early disembarkation time slot. Breakfast in the buffet area starts earlier that day, say around 5:30 am, and is much busier than normal. You typically must debark the ship by 9 am so the ships crew has enough time to start cleaning the staterooms for incoming guests.

During our first cruise we had a brief stop to talk to a Customs officer in the Terminal. On our next cruises they started using face recognition software to identify who we were which made the process extremely fast. Make sure you have your passport and OceanMedallion™ with you! They will log you off of the system and assure themselves that everyone who is supposed to be leaving the ship has done so.

If you're flying out of the Fort Lauderdale airport, one mistake many first time cruiser make when booking their return flights home is to book a morning flight, figuring that they will easily make it to the airport by 10 am to catch their flight. While that might work, you never know if there have been some unforeseen circumstances that may have caused the ship to be late coming into port (on our last cruise there was a medical emergency for a crew member which required the ship to dock at an unscheduled port - this caused a 2 hour delay in arriving back in our port 2 days later). It is better to book an afternoon or evening flight. Yes, that means that you may be lounging around at the airport for a few hours but at least you will be assured of being there on time. You may also want to consider sticking around the area for a few days, as we did on our first cruise, and fly a few days or a week later.

Transportation to the airport can be by Taxi or Transportation Shuttles you have booked prior, or arranged for at the Terminal.

In the past Uber and Lyft drivers were not allowed to be summoned to the terminal for pickups but that policy has changed so you can now request an Uber or Lyft vehicle to come pick you up. Just be sure to summon a large enough vehicle for all of your passengers and their luggage. Expect to pay $14 - $25 for an Uber to the airport.

If you parked your own vehicle in the Heron Parking Garage you can walk with your luggage to your vehicle and exit the port after paying for your parking. If you have parked your vehicle at an off-site location look for the shuttle ride back to the parking site. They should provide you with instructions on embarkation day on how to locate or call for their shuttles.

For those of us who are doing a B2B (back to back) cruise we will have to briefly disembark after the first week and meet with the custom officials before being let back on board. Instructions for this procedure will be given to use the prior evening.

Turnaround Day

Since embarkation and disembarkation occur on the same day the Sky Princess finds itself in a race against the clock as it makes its "pit stop" in its homeport. The process of a turnaround day for a cruise ship is an organized chaos. Within about an 8 hour span all of the disembarking passengers and their thousands of pieces of luggage must leave the ship and the new guests and their luggage must be brought onboard and transferred to the correct decks for distribution.

In addition, the ship is refueled (with 384,000 gallons of fuel), waste which could not be incinerated at sea removed, and more than 20 semi trucks offload new stores of food and supplies and they are brought onboard in an organized fashion. Besides the tons of fresh food and beverages brought onboard the ship for the next 7 day cruise, it also maintains a several day reserve of food stores in case severe weather or an emergency keeps the ship at sea longer than scheduled.

Security teams, including sniffer dogs, scan everything that is due to be loaded onto the ship. An inventory manager inspects the food products and carefully tracks the count of food and beverages. They don't want to run short of anything during the cruise, because of health restrictions, they cannot purchase food from ports outside of the United States.

As soon as passengers start to leave the ship (all must be off the ship by 10:30 am), the room stewards begin the laborious process of cleaning and sterilizing all of the staterooms. Each steward is assigned to clean 30-35 staterooms. Thanks to their years of experience they can thoroughly clean and prepare a room in about 15 minutes. While the steward does the bed making, vacuums the carpet, and stocks amenities within the room, the assistant steward cleans the bathroom and removes sheets from the bed. This is to prevent any cross contamination. They try to be very particular about cleanliness and sanitation.

Details matter. After a room is cleaned, a head steward will inspect to make sure everything is shipshape. In addition, before oncoming guests arrive, a two man security team checks each room safe to assure nothing has been left behind. Jewelry and other valuables are often forgotten in the safes and are returned to passengers.

Around 11:00 am the new guests start to embark the ship but you may not have access to your stateroom upon boarding. However, around noon, you should be able to visit your stateroom. Some of the elevators may be reprogrammed during this time to prevent guests from going to their staterooms early and to cut down on congestion on the accommodation decks as the room stewards prepare their staterooms and to allow the ships crew to distribute the luggage to the appropriate decks using some of the elevators.