We have the early breakfast, and will then be departing the ship. We have a town car service taking us from the port to WDW. I was wondering how long it takes (on average, with no problems) to get through customs? I have to give the town car service an approx time to meet us. I don't think he would mind waiting a few mins. or so, but I don't want him waiting forever. TIA!
Customs is a breeze. When you get off the ship you find your luggage in the terminal. We always get a porter to take our stuff and you hand the porter the customs slip...they hand it to the customs agent, who briefly looks at it and asks to see everyone's ID, and off you go.....sometimes there is a line to get to the exit, but it goes quickly. Of course you can hand the customes agent the form yourself if you are carrying your own bags. MJ
I think it took us about a 1/2 hour. I felt bad because they don't have a line for those with porters assisting them to exit (like some airports do) and our porter ditched about half of the line. I felt about an inch tall. It was hard to get the porter to begin with. I want and ask the guy who was waiting at the porter door for one and he was going to take care of it. Then (I am not a prej/racist person but this frustrated me), some one who was the same race as the guy at the door came up. When the next porter came out, he directed the porter to the other person! I would call the TC company. They are probably experienced with pickups at the port and might be able to advise you of what time they should show up.
We've been on 12 Magic cruises. I think Customs has averaged about 2 minutes...certainly less than 5. You locate your bags and raise a hand for a porter. He'll load your luggage on his cart and take you Customs declaration. He then takes you to a line (which move rapidly) and walks you thru the Customs desk where they take the form, glance at it, and wave you on. You then exit the terminal. There is a separate line for people who do have to declare something and make payments.
I think customs took 5 minutes. Getting off the ship to get to customs took 45 minutes. If you manage to be the first person line, you could be off the ship as early as 8 am in normal cases, if you are at the end of the line it could be 10:15. There is pretty much a steady stream off the ship, but because Disney refuses to put a system in place for getting off the ship, it's chaos. If the ship is late, or there is a delay on the pier, it's anyone' guess.
Another thought....I'm sure the limo company is used to this... You might want to call them from your cell phone when you finish breakfast. The deal is that when the ship enters the port, it is no longer under the control of DCL. US Customs and Immigration officially takes control of the ship, and DCL cannot open the big doors until it is "cleared." This involves all non-US citizens reporting to Immigration, luggage being sniffed by dogs, etc. DCL ideally wants all guests off the ship by 9 am. Most of the time, this is a reality, but we were on one cruise when the big doors didn't open till nearly 10. DCL brought out the entertainment staff, etc. to keep us occupied, but it wasn't fun. Of course, when the doors opened, there was a huge line. We usually do late dinner...thus, the later breakfast. Normally, we finish breakfast and walk right off the ship. No lines, no mess. Yes, there is commonly a line of early breakfast people waiting for the doors to open--we see this as we go into the dining room for our later breakfast. Again, DCL cannot control the opening of the doors. I'm sure they'd like to get us all off as soon as possible. They have a lot of work to get ready for the next group of guests. Anyhow....a phone call to the limo company when you finish breakfast should have them at the terminal within 30 minutes or so....since they will already have an approximate time. And this should allow you to get off, go thru customs, etc. with no problem.
last cruise we backed out of the parking spot at 8:07. and that was after breakfast in the dining room and even a couple snapshots w/ our wait staff. never a problem getting a porter in 4 DCL cruises, agree totally w/ the others--its a breeze. Sorry the other responder felt that there was a race issue--seems like an exception to me, the color that drives the DCL environment is green, so tip well for good service, most of these folks really work hard to be friendly and courteous while getting the job done to earn that green.
Left gangway at 7:40. At car 7:50. Since we arrived at 10:30 the first day, we had a very close parking space. Packed trunk and backseat and drove off at 8:03. GET A PORTER!!! Best $10 I've ever spent. She zipped us and our 4 bags right on outta there. Melanie
I guess we've been fortunate because on our two cruises we've never seen any kind of line to leave the ship. We ate breakfast at 8am and then walked to the atrium and directly through the doors to claim our luggage. So it's not always chaos......
Weve Done This Twice The Best Thing To Do Is Get Up Early Not To Early But 1hr 30 Min 2hrs Befor Brakefast The Cd Will Say That Us Citizens Go Through The Out Of Country Go Through Take Your Whole Family To The Wdwt And If You Go Early For U A Fam Of 3 Wating Out The Door It Took 15-20 Min Tops Just Dont Make Any "jokes"
