Written by Chillie Falls, September 20, 2022
On Saturday, September 20, 2022, we arrived back in Miami and began the disembarkation process. While those carrying all of their luggage started the process, I joined my friends for Key breakfast in the Main Dining Room, Deck 4, at 8:00 AM.
Everyone was required to be out of their cabins by 9 AM, and I finished breakfast about 8:45 AM, so I waited through a dozen or more elevator cars before I had room to get my scooter on one. Finally I got up to Deck 5 to the On Air Club, the designated place to transfer to a wheelchair to be taken off the ship. Normally, the first or second person to get a chair, I was 6th or 7th in line and not sure how many mobility challenged guests had gone before me.
Once in the chair, getting off the ship went smoothly and I was taken to the “Hand-Off” spot where ship staff give me to Port staff. Once again I had to wait for several guests in front of me.
The security and customs step was quick as is usual with facial recognition software and in no time, I had arranged for a porter, located my suitcase and walker. My chair attendant said the line waiting for cabs was almost a block long, and he suggested Uber. I was OK with that, and ordered a car.
Once we got to the Uber pick up area, I waited 30 minutes for my car to go 3 miles because of the traffic jam caused by 6600 people disembarking. By the time I got in my Uber and to my hotel to retrieve my car, it was 10:30 AM before I got on the road.
This clearly was not all Symphony’s or PortMiami’s fault. I did have a later than normal breakfast and could have eaten in the buffet at 6:30 and started the process at 7:30AM. However, I feel this is a systemic problem which could be improved at least some with a few changes.
I am a proponent of scooter delivery to the terminal rather than to the stateroom. By returning the scooter to the terminal, two waits would be eliminated, plus free some personnel that could better be used maybe helping to control the orderliness and flow in the cab and Uber areas.
I realize the necessity of clearing the ship, but maybe stealing an extra hour and spreading the scheduled leave for an additional 60 minutes, would lesson some of the bottlenecks.
It is sad to have loved the ship, enjoyed the cruise immensely, and left with a bad taste in my mouth because of the frustration in trying to get back to my car and on my way.