Cruise ships are starting to see the impact of the federal budget cuts. Passengers on the Carnival Freedom had to wait hours disembark at a South Florida port.
The Carnival Freedom cruise ship docked at Piet 19 in Port Everglades, Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday for the end of a relaxing trip, but the disembarkation process was anything but relaxing. According to passengers, they were supposed to check out at 8:30 a.m. but they were still stuck on the ship at noon, WPTV reports.
People started to get very frustrated about the long wait.
"Everybody is stressed out," one woman told WSVN. "We've been in line for about four hours."
"This was my honeymoon cruise," Jermaine Lee told WSVN, "so they had me a little upset."
For amny passengers, this extremely long wait was a first.
I've cruised many times before and never experienced anything like this," said Mike Hoag.
Some passengers believe the delay was due to recent federal budget cuts. They claimed that there were only two or three U.S. Customs Border Protection Officers working during the disembarkation which caused long wait times.
"It's crazy to try and clear 4,000 people off a ship with three agents," said Hoag.
"They said there were only three custom agents because of the budget cuts," Damon Slone told WSVN. "They've got less personnel to get people through."
The delays didn't just affect those trying to leave the ship. It also impacted those who were set to leave on the next sailing. Passengers had to wait up to four hours to board.
"It's very frustrating," said Jessica Boggs. "we're hot, we have bags, there are 17 of us in our party and we drove down from North Carolina so we're just ready to get on board and have a good time."
Carnival Cruise Line released a statement about the issue and said they are aware of the incident.
"The customs and immigration process for debarking guests has taken quite a bit longer than normal. It is our understanding that more than one cruise line at Port Everglades is experiencing similar circumstances. We regret the inconvenience experienced during the debark and clearance process," the statement read. '
Port Everglades port employees said this has been happening a lot recently.
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