Disembarkation and Return Home
This morning, Celebrity Beyond arrived safely back to Port Everglades where this week-long adventure began.
Guests with large luggage were advised to have their luggage outside of their staterooms by 10pm last night. On this cruise, Rickee and I decided to travel with only carry-on luggage. Checking luggage and dealing with baggage claim at airports is just such a hassle. And, we have found that if you pack creatively, you can get by just fine with only carry-on.
Even though we advised Guest Services during the cruise that our flight was not until 3:45pm, we were still assigned to disembarkation Group 2. That meant we needed to be off the ship by 8am. We had hoped for a later disembarkation, perhaps 9:15, but…oh well.
Disembarkation is on Deck 5 midship, through the Magic Carpet door. Since our stateroom is on Deck 6, this makes getting an elevator pretty much impossible as they are all full by the time they reach our deck (with guests from the upper decks). So, that meant carrying our hand luggage down a flight of stairs. Not a big deal, but if you have mobility issues (we do not), it might be something to consider.
We scanned our stateroom key cards at about 8:05am and as we walked down the gangway to the terminal, Rickee commented “where are all the guests?” As we arrived at the terminal, Captain Kate was there to say goodbye to guests and thank them for cruising with Celebrity. She was gracious enough to take a “selfie” with us.
We said goodbye to Captain Kate and assured her we would sail with her again in the future. And, her future, it would appear, is very bright.
After we breezed past the landscape of yet-to-be-claimed checked luggage in the terminal, we were once again struck by how well organized and uncrowded the entire disembarkation process was. Without question, this was the easiest and fastest disembarkation we have every experienced on a large cruise ship. We could not help but compare the experience to a recent one on Holland America where we stood in a huge line for nearly an hour just get off the ship! And, that was a smaller ship!
We ordered a Lyft to take us to the airport (only $13.50) where we had pre-booked a pass at the new Escape Lounge in Terminal 3.
Use of the Escape Lounge is complimentary for American Express Platinum card members, which we are no longer. However, you can purchase access for $48 per person. By pre-booking online, we saved $8 per person and paid $80 total.
The lounge is more comfortable than being forced to spend seven hours in the terminal. They offer complimentary light bites, drinks (including alcoholic beverages), coffee, cookies, fruit, etc. Guests are also provided three hours of complimentary Internet/WiFi, which was decent as far as speed. We found seats at a work table with AC and USB ports so I was able to get a lot of work done.
The food serving areas looked pretty messy when we arrived and the lounge was packed with people. A few people had rudely laid down to sleep in some of the seating areas, taking up more than their share of space.
There are only three restrooms, all of which are unisex, and when crowded, lines do form. That restroom situation was probably the worst feature of the lounge. On the upside, the food and free drinks were actually decent, probably about at the level of an Admirals Club. The Capital One Lounge at DFW Terminal D is still our favorite domestic lounge, but we may use the Escape Lounge in FLL in the future, should we have a late return flight.
The flight home to DFW was on time and uneventful. Now that we are back, it is time to get to work on my review videos of Celebrity Beyond. Thank you again to Captain Kate McCue and the Celebrity Beyond staff for a great cruise.
