Going through Royal Caribbean’s new Terminal A at PortMiami for a Symphony of the Seas cruise was such a refreshing experience.
Yes, the state-of-the-art technology made the entire boarding process a breeze, but the open spaces and artistic concepts also made the time going through the terminal an actual event in itself.
Upon entering the lower lobby, it didn’t take long to take in the majesty of this new terminal. The rising escalators slowly allow the huge gilded propellers to come into view. Centerpieces of this space, each propeller weighs 14,300 pounds and is suspended over 50 feet in the air.
The feel is more like that of a high-end hotel lobby, but you won’t have a ton of time to take in the space because this terminal is designed for efficiency. Using the Royal Caribbean app to upload a photo ahead of time and entering my passport information sped up the entire process.
With my boarding pass on the app I walked up to one of the attendants who simply scanned the barcode with a mobile device and let me pass through. From there I walked through the security area, and it all took about 5 minutes. 5 minutes and I was going up another set of escalators that lead to the inviting waiting area.
There were no counters, long lines, or endless rows of cruisers winding back and forth waiting for their turn. By the time I got to the waiting area I remember thinking, “So, that was it?”.
The open and clean concept continues into the waiting area, where comfy chairs and whimsical artwork awaits. But it wasn’t long before we were allowed to start boarding the ship, and I couldn’t be more impressed with how easy and painless the entire embarkation process went.
Prior to the terminal being built, PortMiami had no space for the world’s largest cruise ships.
Now, Terminal A is home to two of the largest cruise ships in the world. Allure of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas needed a terminal large enough to accommodate their vast number of passengers, 5,500 each at double capacity.
You can check out some of the highlights of Symphony of the Seas from my cruise on this Oasis class vessel.
The new terminal is an LEED certified facility. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is one of the most prominent green building certification programs on the planet.
