It was an early morning arrival today due to the large numbers of large cruise ships coming in. Because one dock is under reconstruction, they had to park the Royal Princess on dock 21/20 where normally a smaller ship would go.

Layout of the port (Courtesy PTE Port Authority)

To make that possible the ms Zuiderdam, today the smallest ship in port with all her 86000 tons had to come in before one of the big ones to squeeze in at 19. Then the Royal Princess or Allure of the Seas could come in and block our bow and stern. The Celebrity Silhouette and the Koningsdam were on the docks at the Intra Coastal Seaway and two more Princess Ships, the Regal and the Crown Princess were at docks one and four. So the HAL group had five ships in port.  Not a top day, but still a busy day for the port as there were at least 21000 guests on the move out and 21000 guests on the move in.

You might have noted that the some names are different than what I gave yesterday. It turns out that now cruising is dominated by three large companies (Carnival, RCI and NCL, all with attachments and Sub Company’s) that they simply book slots about two years in advance and then plan the name of the ship in later. And as long as the ship sent fits in the dock space, Port Everglades Port Authority does not really care, as long as the port fees keep coming in. As a result they sometimes do not even know where the ships are coming from or going to.  For those who would like to have the occasional look at the Fort Lauderdale cruise mayhem, there is a website which keeps the coming and goings updated: https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webx/

transcript from the website, all of us coming in.

All the ships want to start their operations at 07.00 hrs. when the regular longshoremen day starts and also Customs and Border Protection is available. So the schedule is based on all to be docked before 07.00 hrs. I do not always envy the CBP officers as they sometimes come from a full night shift at the airport and then still have to clear a cruise ship. Plus there are only so many officers available to spread around all the cruise ships so waiting lines are in-evitable.  And the guests are not always that understanding if they have to shuffle for 20 minutes through the terminal to be processed.  Humanity in all it variations and failings is laid bare before the scrutinizing gaze of the officer in his/her cubicle so to speak.  I also have to attend every week as according to the CBP I am not a crew member as I sign on, on an L visa. That visa makes it possible for me I travel over USA soil while working and changing ship. Crew members sail on a C1/D visa which requires them to join the ship straight away from the airport and when finished on board fly directly out of the country again.

The Koningdam departing just before 17.00 hrs. and taking up the full horizon. As you can see there was not much space left between the bow of the Zuiderdam and the Royal Princess once she was in position.

The rules have been tightened through the years and crew joining and leaving has become a long drawn out process. Once the guests are off the ship, we reach the zero count. Everybody has now seen CBP and now new guests are allowed to board. We normally have the zero count by 10 am. and new guests start boarding my 11.30. That gives the ship the chance to deal with the crew. First the crew who boarded last cruise has to go ashore to obtain there I-95. This is a piece of paper that together with their passport gives them the chance to go ashore in an USA port. In the old days you would get that piece of paper the day you joined. Now it is after the first cruise. Once that is out of the way, the disembarking crew can leave and are processed. They hand in their I -95 which is now replaced by an I -94 which gives permission to go to the airport. At the airport it has to be handed in. Not every crew member does so and not every flight desk attendant remembers to ask for it. Still there is somebody somewhere who checks all these little papers being handed in as occasionally captains are asked at the airport “what the heck their crew is doing”. As the captain’s name is on the landing manifest, the missing I-94’s are notched up against that manifest. I do not know if it still happens, otherwise the captains of the large RCI ships with 2500 crew on board are to be pitied.

Transcript from the Website, all of us going out.

We left an hour late as we had to wait for some late guests and then wait for the clearance paperwork. Also that used to be a lot easier in the past but that is another story. Tomorrow we are in Half Moon Cay and it looks like a perfect day. The wind from the right direction and the sun shining.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.