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So why the rush to get off at the end of the cruise?


paulfoel
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We travel light and do early self-disembarkation. Despite enjoying our trip, we are both ready to get back to our king-sized bed and our bathrooms, the smallest of which is bigger than the coffin-like cabin bathroom.

 

Also, my husband is a wonderful cook who makes healthful, organic meals that I sorely miss when traveling.

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We are in the minority because we generally stay on the ship until at least 9:30 unless there is no other option other then a very early flight. DW and I love being on ships and see no reason to rush off to wait in long queues, fight the crowds, etc. We usually go to breakfast around 7 and take our time. After breakfast we return to our cabin (using steps instead of elevators to avoid the waits and crowds) where we double check to make sure everything is packed and then we vacate our cabin with our carry-ons. If the weather is good we head up to the pool deck where we relax in lounger with our books and some coffee. This is where we stay until around 9:30 when the ship is mostly empty of passengers. At that point we grab an elevator down to the proper deck, walk off the ship, grab our luggage (easy to find since there is not much left) and either grab a taxi or summon Uber. At that time of the morning there are generally no lines so its a pretty relaxing disembarkation.

 

Hank

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We do it to beat the onslaught of people in line to clear customs. We can disembark first and do for that reason. We had stayed until the end one a prior cruise, and then had the fun of standing in line for an hour to get through customs. We figured we traded an extra 90 minutes on the ship to then stand another hour in line. Well, no thanks

 

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You will find that even in the Lido buffet, the closer it gets to 8 AM, they stop replacing the items.

we didn't find that to be true.

We usually show up at the buffet at 8 am (our flight home is at 5 pm, so we are not in a hurry). We eat (no hurry) and then wait until it's our time to disembark.

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We do it to beat the onslaught of people in line to clear customs. We can disembark first and do for that reason. We had stayed until the end one a prior cruise, and then had the fun of standing in line for an hour to get through customs. We figured we traded an extra 90 minutes on the ship to then stand another hour in line. Well, no thanks

 

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You didn't wait long enough :). The trick is to wait until the queues in the terminal are gone. We have Global Entry which does help avoid the Passport line queues, but even that is not an issue when we leave the ship after 9:30. If we can stay aboard until 10 its even better, but on most ships they start to ask folks to leave around 9:30-9:45.

 

Hank

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You didn't wait long enough :). The trick is to wait until the queues in the terminal are gone. We have Global Entry which does help avoid the Passport line queues, but even that is not an issue when we leave the ship after 9:30. If we can stay aboard until 10 its even better, but on most ships they start to ask folks to leave around 9:30-9:45.

 

Hank

 

We had waited as long as we could. So long that we had no problem finding our luggage as they were only a few still left to be claimed. [emoji41]

 

We have GE too, but never saw that as option for cruises, just when coming back on flights. Am I missing out on some secret line for GE holders?

 

Update: just looked and only Ft Lauderdale has the GE option. We've cruised from Tampa mostly, and Miami and Port Canaveral, they don't have it. But was good to find out that Ft Lauderdale has GE as our next cruise will be from Ft Lauderdale. So we know to bring our GE cards with us.

 

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Edited by bobandsherry
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GE is available in Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades), but there's a free Mobile Passport app available that gives you access to the GE queues there.

 

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control

 

All the app does is automate completing the customs declaration, but GE line access is one of the advertised benefits.

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No kidding. :rolleyes: Never implied or expressed any differently.

I think there's confusion between clearing for disembarkaytion and clearing for subsequent embarkation. It's probably less of an issue for closed-loop cruises, but embarkation on QM2 in Brooklyn is often delayed following a transatlantic crossing due to delays in clearing the ship post-disembarkation. In Brooklyn all QM2 passengers, including back-to-back passengers, must exit the ship until it has been cleared for embarkation.

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yeh OK so the boats sitting in the harbour and going nowhere but whats the rush?

 

I assume you get breakfast on that day but everything else is closed? Why not take you're time and chill?

 

I guess at some point they will make you leave but I really don't want to rush around and/or queue to leave.....

 

 

If we drive to the cruise port it is normally a 5 hour drive and we like to get an early start.

If we cruise locally we are being picked up by a relative or a car service and they generally like early pickups.

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GE is not only available at Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) but also at the Port of Miami, In both cases its just a special line (much shorter) and not anything like the kiosk set-up at the airports. At Ft Lauderdale there are a few signs and the GE line is usually on the right side. In Miami the port security folks took us under a rope, walked us to the front of a long line, and that was that!

 

Hank

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yeh OK so the boats sitting in the harbour and going nowhere but whats the rush?

 

I assume you get breakfast on that day but everything else is closed? Why not take you're time and chill?

 

I guess at some point they will make you leave but I really don't want to rush around and/or queue to leave.....

 

 

Unless you are in a home port and your own car near by to get you home, there is a lot of reasons to rush.... once you get off you have to dealing with getting taxi, getting to the airport, getting through security, boarding an airplane... none of that gets easier waiting. We are usually first and first off, after 60 + cruises me know the drill. Even at our home port which is San Francisco, the earlier we get a taxi the better, traffic in and out of the port is a nightmare, that is why we use a taxi. Once we get home, we have marketing to do, pick mail which is on hold and get back in the swing of what we need to do. I make a shopping list before I leave home, I have my banking and financial stuff ready to go... as I say I know drill. Do so make it easier.

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We have 10 hours of driving, not counting breaks, AFTER we get off the ship and back to our car. Worst time, we got off later than usual because Security was searching the ship for a male, maybe customs related. Got home after 11pm, fall-down tired.

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We will respectfully disagree with the prior poster. Unless you make a "choice" to book an early flight (or must leave early for other reasons) there is no advantage to fighting the crowds to get off early. In places like Ft Lauderdale where the airport does not have any decent private lounges we can access....staying on the ship as long as possible is much nicer then sitting around FLL. The reality is that if you leave late (after 9:30) the early morning traffic in the port has waned, taxi queues are short, if you want Uber its easy to hook up since there are fewer vehicles or people, etc. On some of our many cruises we have disembarked early because we had no choice and never liked the experience.

 

Last December when we disembarked the Eclipse we had a 1:10pm flight out of FLL. We managed to stay on the pool deck to about 9:45 when there was an announcement requesting all remaining passengers to disembark. We walked over to a nearby elevator and immediately was rewarded with an empty car. Once we got down to the disembarkation deck we walked past security, had our cruise cards scanned and strolled through the terminal to the Passport Control folks. There was no line and we were through in less then 15 seconds, We immediately spotted our luggage among the few remaining pieces, walked past Customs (who did not even give us a glance) and were outside in less then a minute. We decided to skip the taxis and summoned an Uber X car which was to our site in about 2 minutes and were on our way. Reached FLL about 10:15, checked-in for our SW flight, quickly cleared security (we have pre-check) and were in a coffee shop by 10:40 (for our 1:10 flight). Never even worked up a sweat and we got to enjoy a couple of relaxing hours on the pool deck rather than fight the crowds.

 

As to everything being closed on the ship, this is not always the case but it depends on the cruise line. But we usually have no problem getting some coffee. On Princess ships the International Cafe will be open throughout the morning. On other ships its hit or miss but most venues do close down until later in the morning.

 

Hank

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Unless you are in a home port and your own car near by to get you home, there is a lot of reasons to rush.... once you get off you have to dealing with getting taxi, getting to the airport, getting through security, boarding an airplane... none of that gets easier waiting. We are usually first and first off, after 60 + cruises me know the drill. Even at our home port which is San Francisco, the earlier we get a taxi the better, traffic in and out of the port is a nightmare, that is why we use a taxi. Once we get home, we have marketing to do, pick mail which is on hold and get back in the swing of what we need to do. I make a shopping list before I leave home, I have my banking and financial stuff ready to go... as I say I know drill. Do so make it easier.

 

Similar we Hank, we respectfully disagree. Been involve with cruising for 40+ years and we have no interest getting involved in the initial gangway stampede.

 

Yes, most cruise line request you depart the cabin fairly early, so prior to that time we head to the restaurant for a leisurely breakfast. We will then head to whichever lounge is most comfortable and has space available, where we sit quietly reading or catching up on the on-line news. You'll find us wandering off the ship as one of the last passengers, unless we have booked transfers with the cruise line. Unless in Vancouver, where one of our kids/friends pick us up, we never fly the day a cruise ends, unless airfares are included in the cruise. Even then we will consider delaying flights for a day. Not interested in having potential flight issues from weather delays, or other factors.

 

We rarely use taxis, preferring to reserve an on-line limo for a specific time, close to end of disembarkation. If the ship is late, we have lots of time to call and change the pick-up time. BTW - we find limos are only slightly more expensive than taxis and in some ports are actually cheaper.

 

After a relaxing cruise, we have no desire to get involved in the disembarkation rush, then deal with rush hour traffic, even if we're not driving. The later disembarkation times allow a less stressful and rushed disembarkation.

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We also prefer a more relaxed, later departure from the ship, but always within the requested times.

 

We have found this is best accomplished if we book an early morning flight home the day following our cruise. The FLL airport is less congested then, and the difference in cost between those and afternoon flights often pays for a very nice hotel room-and dinner!

 

An enjoyable way to end our holiday without lines and crowds-both of which I am highly allergic to.[emoji34]

 

 

 

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Similar we Hank, we respectfully disagree. Been involve with cruising for 40+ years and we have no interest getting involved in the initial gangway stampede.

 

Yes, most cruise line request you depart the cabin fairly early, so prior to that time we head to the restaurant for a leisurely breakfast. We will then head to whichever lounge is most comfortable and has space available, where we sit quietly reading or catching up on the on-line news. You'll find us wandering off the ship as one of the last passengers, unless we have booked transfers with the cruise line. Unless in Vancouver, where one of our kids/friends pick us up, we never fly the day a cruise ends, unless airfares are included in the cruise. Even then we will consider delaying flights for a day. Not interested in having potential flight issues from weather delays, or other factors.

 

We rarely use taxis, preferring to reserve an on-line limo for a specific time, close to end of disembarkation. If the ship is late, we have lots of time to call and change the pick-up time. BTW - we find limos are only slightly more expensive than taxis and in some ports are actually cheaper.

 

After a relaxing cruise, we have no desire to get involved in the disembarkation rush, then deal with rush hour traffic, even if we're not driving. The later disembarkation times allow a less stressful and rushed disembarkation.

 

Good for you, everyone marches to their own drummer. Like you if we are flying we generally do not fly the same day either in or out of a cruise and we also us car services where practical to do so regardless of costs. Experienced travelers usually do so more often than not. We have learned how to avoid the early morning stampede, by being one of the first off, we often have priority to request what ever time we want and do so. We usually are up early do breakfast watch the cruising in to port know where we will be getting off and find seat near the exit to wait til the ship is cleared and then we are on our way, well ahead of the masses. So it seems either being very early or very late works out well for those with such preferences.

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We have found that even if you rush to be the first off and have self disembarcation, there a tons of passengers who have rushed to do the same thing and the they are sitting in every hall way and stairway with tons of luggage. Major pain to get through the madness. Have done it when there was a good reason, like a long drive ahead.

 

 

However, if you have a later flight, or are staying in the port, waiting in a lounge or other quiet area until 8:30 or 9, you can just walk off with little queuing. Also if you are on a small ship, just waiting 30 minutes after first disembarcation makes it just a stroll off the ship.

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First cruise - we got swept up in the advice on here and assumed we needed to self-disembark so as to not get stuck in endless lines. Skipped breakfast and still ended up in a 1 hour line despite getting there early. All we were doing was driving 90 miles home so we really didn’t have anything to rush for!

 

Second cruise - decided to avoid the lines and took the assigned baggage number which was a later one. Had a nice relaxing breakfast, headed down to the waiting area where we sat for maybe 10 minutes before our number was called. Walked right off and through customs with no line at all. No place to be afterwards and it worked out great.

 

Now I can see if you are maybe coming in to Port Canaveral and heading to Disney, you want to be off early. Same for an early flight. I think it has its uses. I’m sure we would do it again if we found ourselves in such a situation.

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