Those that were concerned about the new Carnival Magic and debark/embark problems in Galveston should know that you should not be concerned. Even with the large number of passengers it was a very smooth and easy process for both embark and debark. I did NOT use self assist and was still off the island before 8:00 am. Yes, from eating breakfast on Lido, through checkout, baggage claim, and customs between 7:00 to 7:30 am. So easy!
Congratulations to Carnival and the Port of Galveston.
Absolutely agree ! We had zone 2 tags and waited a half hour after they called the number to debark. Very easy.
Wonder if there was more enforcement against the folks who gather and clog up the lobby area and stairwells?
They do arrive kinda early. I was up at 430am watching us pass the USCG station then begin the tug turnaround at the marina. Along side the pier about 545am.
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Not as much as there should have been. They started mixing in with VIP self assist as usual.
Pax were off the ship at 6:30 and the shore side team for shuttle to airport did not come to work until 7 AM.
ScurvyDog is correct. If I had not told a young man to MOVE ON...we would have been standing there while the entire dining room (not self assist) had emptied.....
NO one was directing anything....it was not bad...but not as good as it should have been. But then that pretty much sums up the entire cruise for me....
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Agree--embarkation was incredibly fast. So fast we were onboard at 11:05am and in the Red Frog at 11:10am........
Disagree--Debarkation was a total nightmare!!! Getting off the ship was not difficult, no that was not the problem. I had a 3pm flight, so I opted to use the Tag #12 tags they gave us. We were off perhaps 30 minutes after Tag #1's. The problem is this, until you have spent ONE HOUR and FIVE minutes in a US customs line with only EIGHT people in front of you. you have no idea of what a nightmare is. Debbie went through the US lines and was in a line that moved so fast she was out before I even got to Customs Line #7. No, I got in line and stood there for 15 minutes before the line even moved a few inches. I have never had US customs go so slow! The only time I had a long wait at customs was in Miami and I was one of the last passengers off of the ship at 1015am. I waited 45 minutes in line, but there was a good 20+ groups in front of me.....I had EIGHT people in front of me and the people at the customs agent were there for a good 10+ minutes. I had a flight that landed in Toronto Pearson and I needed to clear Canadian Customs. The customs hall was full (it is about as large as the baggage/customs area at Galveston is) and there were around 10-12 US and International flights that were waiting in the hall. The line moved so fast that in less than 20 minutes I went from the very back of the hall to the front and out to collect my bags and get to my next connection.
Debbie waited ONE HOUR for me and then she left. By the time I got out, looked for her, and then went to the transfer desk she was already half wat to Hobby airport.......
That wasn't the only problem at all. The ship docked with the bow facing the webcam, well all of the baggage that came off first was the highest tag number. Many people with Tag #1 had to wait to get their bags until the forklifts moved as many cages out of the way as quick as they could........
I loved the ship and would go on her again, but would ONLY go through Galveston in March/April, or Sept/October when the weather is nice and not 11C when Miami was probably around 25-30C.
One positive note about the last morning before getting off the ship is we enjoyed watching the dozen or so dolphins playing and doing thing thing between the Magic and the Mariner....
This ship should have gone to Miami and they should have moved the Freedom, Glory, or Valor to Glaveston...I'll never want the Liberty to leave Miami...that ship is awesome....
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misguidedangel - Port of Galveston and Immigration/Customs are two separate entities and actually the problem that you had was with the officials in your line(s)...nothing to do with Galveston debarkation !
Gotta Gripe....??? Talk to the Gov't officials, not the cruise port !
Luggage debarkation.... I have had that same issue happen with other cruiselines, i.e. HAL and RCI and at other homeports as well, i.e. Miami, Lauderdale, etc.... They screwed up...ship happens....not specific to Galveston or CCL specifically !
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Last edited by fun2cruiz; December 8th, 2011 at 11:22 PM.
Galveston and Carnival Magic
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