The worst VIP (Platinum) Debark EVER!

[Luluwa]

I just returned from the Ecstasy and debarked on 10-31-09. You can see from my history below that I've been on some cruises and several have been VIP (Platinum) priority debarks.

Here's how it happened on this morning... We were told to gather at 8:15am in the Starlight Lounge deck 10 (I'm already thinking that's the aft of the ship and way too high to be debarking) however we arrive early and wait.

The authorites arrive with walkie talkies and say they will take us down in small groups on the elevators - I already see a problem.... elevators are always full and unavailable on debark morning. So as expected, we all get separated and like sheep with no leader all go in separate directions.

We arrive on the Empress Deck 7 to be escorted off the ship and there are NO doors opened to the gangway. Another person with a walkie talkie tells us if we're VIP to make our way up to Deck 10 to the Starlight Lounge. We explain that we were sent here to debark. He asks someone where we're to go and says "Oh, we're debarking the ship from deck 3 today." I'm thinking... you've GOT to be kidding! Unfortunately, he wasn't kidding.

Ok there are NO elevators available so we ALL drag our luggage down the steps 4 flights of stairs clunking and struggling all the way. There are less "fit" people than myself and much older VIP members trying to make their way down the stairs. And of course, when others see us going to Deck 3, everyone joins in the parade. Someone could get hurt!

It makes me wonder....where is Security during debarkation? I never see them except around the pool and late in the evenings.

If Carnival can embark people as smoothly as they do, and if they can get guests on and off in ports of call smoothly, WHY oh WHY haven't they ever figured out how to disembark passengers in an orderly manner?!? :confused:

[Carnival Platinum Cruiser]

I just returned from the Ecstasy and debarked on 10-31-09. You can see from my history below that I've been on some cruises and several have been VIP (Platinum) priority debarks.

 

Here's how it happened on this morning... We were told to gather at 8:15am in the Starlight Lounge deck 10 (I'm already thinking that's the aft of the ship and way too high to be debarking) however we arrive early and wait.

 

The authorites arrive with walkie talkies and say they will take us down in small groups on the elevators - I already see a problem.... elevators are always full and unavailable on debark morning. So as expected, we all get separated and like sheep with no leader all go in separate directions.

 

We arrive on the Empress Deck 7 to be escorted off the ship and there are NO doors opened to the gangway. Another person with a walkie talkie tells us if we're VIP to make our way up to Deck 10 to the Starlight Lounge. We explain that we were sent here to debark. He asks someone where we're to go and says "Oh, we're debarking the ship from deck 3 today." I'm thinking... you've GOT to be kidding! Unfortunately, he wasn't kidding.

 

Ok there are NO elevators available so we ALL drag our luggage down the steps 4 flights of stairs clunking and struggling all the way. There are less "fit" people than myself and much older VIP members trying to make their way down the stairs. And of course, when others see us going to Deck 3, everyone joins in the parade. Someone could get hurt!

 

It makes me wonder....where is Security during debarkation? I never see them except around the pool and late in the evenings.

 

If Carnival can embark people as smoothly as they do, and if they can get guests on and off in ports of call smoothly, WHY oh WHY haven't they ever figured out how to disembark passengers in an orderly manner?!? :confused:

 

I have to agree. Our last cruise on the Miracle a week ago we (platinum) waited in the assigned area and NO ONE ever came to get us. All of a sudden they called luggage tag #s 1 and 2 over the PA and the stampede began from all over the ship. We we inquired why we were not escorted like they said they would (while we were standing in a 100 yd long line) the asst. CD (he was standing there doing nothing) said the call over the PA was for early flight people primarily. When I asked why we were not escorted he had no response.

 

If they are going to have a platinum priority debarkation and a platinum line at the pursers desk for that matter then they need to exercise the system as promised and advertised. The effectiveness of both programs varies greatly from ship to ship and I would think by now they would have these things running smoothly and consistently fleetwide.

[KenMo]

I used VIP debark on Destiny.

 

We were told to wait in the main theater. We were there with early debark people, those on Carnival tours and Lord knows who else. What a zoo.

 

I decided from then on I'd wait elsewhere and when the crowds thin out.....then I'll leave.

[jayesouthworth]

We've sailed on the Elation 3 times, the Pride 1 time, and the Carnival Spirit 2 times, and we have never had any problem disembarking. Maybe it does vary from ship-to-ship. Only one time did we have a problem embarking, and that was because the ship couldn't dock due to fog. But they picked everyone up on buses and took us to the wharf market in San Pedro where they paid for our lunch as well and gave everyone a $50.00 on board credit. Carnival took care of us.

[DqALEX]

This is why Carnival needs a Platinum lounge

[jhale]

This is why Carnival needs a Platinum lounge

 

That's a GREAT idea!

 

The last few cruises I've been on on the Ecstasy they have held us in the library and half the time no one came to get us until the first group of self-assists were debarking. Of course this defeats the entire purpose of VIP debarkation.

 

On the last cruise we were on, we were a little aggressive in finding someone to make sure they were aware of the VIP group and it worked a little better, however there were still people just "joining the parade" as someone mentioned above.

 

I think a VIP lounge is a wonderful idea, however they need to assign a knowledgable person to handle it. Getting down and through all the people standing around like angry cattle to debark first is sometimes not so pretty, lol.

[okgirl]

I too have experienced hit or miss with Platinum self assist. To me there is an easy fix

VIP Self Assist - Meet in the lobby and are 1st off, but MUST have a priority tag on all their luggage.

Zone 1 (VIP / Early Flights) - Meet in the lower level of the show lounge

Everyone else should be seated in the public area's waiting for their zone number to be called. There should be (and sometimes there are) ship personnel blocking access to the lobby, and lounge to those without the appropriate identification.

The other thing that irks me is frequently having only one person checking people in that are Platinum and/or VIP. And what's up with them not already having ALL of the cards in the VIP lounge????

I also think they should have a VIP line to get into the cruise terminal. Miami & Port Canaveral do, why not Galveston? The last time I sailed out of Galveston I was in a line of at least 200 people just to get into the terminal. That's not much of a perk to me.

[ibecruzen2]

I always want to hide out, i just hate it when we all have to get off. sooo sad

[jhale]

I always want to hide out, i just hate it when we all have to get off. sooo sad

 

This is soooo true! See, it's such a miserable thing to get off the ship anyways, they could make it a little more tolerable, lol. Starting by enforcing the whole "no standing in the halls, stairwells and elevator landings, lol.

[BC Todd]

Getting off the Conquest last month was a joke as well. All Platinum and VIP's were asked to assemble in a small room off the dining room (Cassett Room?) at 7:00 am. My DW and I, as usual, got there early around 6:40 am. There were about six other people all ready in this small room, but so far no problem. As the appointed hour grew closer more and more people began to arrive. It soon became apparent that this room was going to be way too small. As a result, people arriving at 7:15 - 7:30 were lining up in the hallway.

 

You guessed it, those of us on time (or early) where the last off in this group. Those who arrived late, were first off. :mad: This reminded me of people who arrive late at airports then get rushed to the head of the security lines. All this does is teach these late comers that it is ok. "You don't have to follow the rules like everyone else, you are special"

 

As you can see, poor debarkation can sour a cruise. Often people remember thier last experience.

 

There has to be a better way...

[dan40]

All our debarks are the same, even on lines where we are not Platinum. We find a comfortable spot to people watch and wait till the ship is empty. Then saunter off with no crowding. We schedule real life to begin again on the day after cruising, not debarkation day!

[LHP]

Our only Ecstasy experience was not quite that bad...but similar in the fact that we had to drag luggage down the curved stairs from deck 4 to deck 3.

 

We were staying with lots of Platinum folks from that area that had been through this particular ship's routine before and they said it was "hit and miss" at best and usually a BIG MISS.

 

The past two years, we have mainly done VIP self assist.

 

Having done one or two of these on the various ships....there are definately some ships that do it better than others....

 

but only a couple that come to mind that were just SPOT ON.

 

One was on the Legend. They had us gather at the Sports Bar and they literally escorted us PAST the 400 people lined up from the rope to the main theater and we were indeed the first people off. It was handled PERFECTLY.

 

Now some of it has to do with the layout of the ship.

 

I am certain that some ships are easier to control than others.

 

But IF Carnival is going to offer this as a perk...then they should deliver.

And I have to say this is the perk that Carnival is most inconsistant with.

[LHP]

All our debarks are the same, even on lines where we are not Platinum. We find a comfortable spot to people watch and wait till the ship is empty. Then saunter off with no crowding. We schedule real life to begin again on the day after cruising, not debarkation day!

 

I would too (you silly rabbit) if I did not have 900 miles to drive home!! :eek:

 

I am officially jealous of your "commute"!!! :D

[G'ma]

Personally, I've never, ever had a crowded and messed up debarkation. Here's why:

 

After a leisurely breakfast, I find a comfortable chair somewhere out of the way, get out a good book - and relax. I wait until "last call", grab an elevator (no wait), out the door (no lines) get my luggage (the place is empty, mine is easy to see) and off I go.

 

No way would I ever end my wonderful cruise shoving my way through crowds, waiting in line and getting antsy.

 

No thanks.....I'm not in that big a hurry.

 

BTW: I'm Platinum also.

[aggieastrosfan]

VIP debark was a joke for us on the Ecstasy as well, on 10/26. We got to the lounge at 8:15 as indicated. After hanging out for a while I left to take some pictures of our December cabin. We came back and I went to the restroom, went back into the aft lounge and there was my roommate, we'd just missed the escort. No problem, the "rep" said, meet at the midship elevators, and I'll escort you down as soon as we get a group together. Yet we were the last ones in the lounge??

 

You can guess what happened, we waited in the midship elevator area on deck 9 for over 30 minutes, and about 6 other people joined us. The "rep" was there with her walkie talkie - oh, they're not taking the other group off yet. Oh, the other group is just now getting off. Then they make the call for general self-assist. I asked if we should just go ahead and go down, and she said yes. :mad:

 

I was P!SSED. We lugged our stuff up 2 flights of stairs and to the OTHER END of the ship (we were in E4), only to go back down and have to wait in line with the masses. I didn't get on the road until around 10:30. It would've been much faster for us to just stay in our cabin and wait.

 

Like everyone else has said, if you're going to offer the perk, DELIVER ON IT!

[SCUBA Mark]

We had an equally bad experience doing Platinum self-debark on the Ecstasy.

 

We went to the lounge we were told to.

 

Finally someone from Carnival came and asked for the airport transfer people to follow him. I asked about the Platinum people, and he said "Oh Yeah, you can come to".

 

We got down to Deck 3 behind closed doors as described by earlier posts. By then, other people who weren't supposed to be there started getting in line. We were not even close to be the first ones off the ship.

 

We had recently sailed on the Fantasy and they had their act together. I told one of the Carnival people running the exercise how Fantasy did it and his response was that Fantasy never had very many VIPs.

 

Our experiences on VIP self debarkation on other Carnival ships has been good.

 

We are on the Conquest next week and I just read that they are bad also.

[Duanerice1]

Hi All,

I am not VIP. But, debarking the Imagination 2 weeks ago was awesome. Actually the only time I've had a bad debark experience is when I did the self assist one time as I had to get home.

 

We do what G'ma does. We just take our time and let the early people get off and out of the way. We went to breakfast in the dining room around 8:30. Had a nice quiet leisurely breakfast. No better way to end the cruise then with eggs benedict and fresh juice. Had the option of the Lido too but heck, this was quiet, they served you, it doesn't get any better for the last morning. We finished up around 9:15 or so as they were calling our numbers.

 

Walked off the ship, got our bags right away and through customs within 5 minutes There was no wait for anything.

 

Self assist is the best thing they ever did. It gets all the people off the ship and out of our way :) Of course we only have a 2 1/2 hour drive home so I understand that makes a difference.

 

enjoy,

Duane

[dan40]

I would too (you silly rabbit) if I did not have 900 miles to drive home!! :eek:

 

I am officially jealous of your "commute"!!! :D

 

RE: our commute,

 

Even going out of Pt.Canaveral, we drive up [ONE hour] the day before and stay in a hotel that night. Same for all Fl. ports. We do transatlantics and repo cruises. On ta's we schedule the return flight 3 to 5 to 7 days after the cruise ends [10 days once] and on repo cruises the flight is 2 or 3 days after the cruise ends.

We found years ago that the debark battle can erase 90% of the cruise joy [all lines] so we instituted our own fix.

[mudpievelour]

 

I also think they should have a VIP line to get into the cruise terminal. Miami & Port Canaveral do, why not Galveston? The last time I sailed out of Galveston I was in a line of at least 200 people just to get into the terminal. That's not much of a perk to me.

 

There is one. All you have to do is go to the front of the line and show the employee there your paperwork and (s)he will show you which line to get in.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Personally' date=' I've never, ever had a crowded and messed up debarkation. Here's why:

 

After a leisurely breakfast, I find a comfortable chair somewhere out of the way, get out a good book - and relax. I wait until "last call", grab an elevator (no wait), out the door (no lines) get my luggage (the place is empty, mine is easy to see) and off I go.

 

No way would I ever end my wonderful cruise shoving my way through crowds, waiting in line and getting antsy.

 

No thanks.....I'm not in that big a hurry.

 

BTW: I'm Platinum also.[/quote']

 

:p I love your answer,that what we do,I dont really understand whats the rush to go out,its even more surprise me when people who dont need to flight rush forom ship:cool:

[okgirl]

There is one. All you have to do is go to the front of the line and show the employee there your paperwork and (s)he will show you which line to get in.

 

Well at least in Galveston in September & NOLA in February they didn't have a special a special line. I did go to the front and they said that VIP wouldn't split off until you got to the top of the escalator.

I have had a special line in the past, but just not on my last 2 cruises.

[quickrate]

All our debarks are the same, even on lines where we are not Platinum. We find a comfortable spot to people watch and wait till the ship is empty. Then saunter off with no crowding. We schedule real life to begin again on the day after cruising, not debarkation day!

 

We're with you! I don't care if we are platinum, we are never in a hurry to get off the ship. We get up, go have a leisurely breakfast, go back to the cabin to get the things we are carrying off, and then find a place to sit and watch everyone stress about getting off the ship. This is still a vacation day to us and we schedule our departure accordingly!

Pat

[judyinga2003]

:DOn our last cruise out of Jacksonville, my husband and I were relaxing near the coffee bar reading when the CD came on the loud speaker and said "There are 5 people left on the ship---you know who you are. It's time to go." We had a good laugh and made our way off the ship and on our way. My motto is get on early and get off late---get my money's worth from my cruise!

[glrounds]

If Carnival can embark people as smoothly as they do, and if they can get guests on and off in ports of call smoothly, WHY oh WHY haven't they ever figured out how to disembark passengers in an orderly manner?!? :confused:

 

Because people are people and they'll completely disregard any instructions they receive about when to disembark and jam everything up making an orderly process more difficult and sometimes IMPOSSIBLE (ala NYC). :mad:

If I have the time (some times I have to get back to the grind IMMEDIATELY and can't extend my vacation another day:() I always relax, kick back, watch the cattle call, and leave at my leisure. This is usually when I've flown to the east coast to cruise and have a late night return flight . . . plenty of time. :)

[G'ma]

:p I love your answer,that what we do,I dont really understand whats the rush to go out,its even more surprise me when people who dont need to flight rush forom ship:cool:

 

That whole scene is so unpleasant most times. In spite of announcements, folks seem to ignore them and it turns into a mob scene with lines and suitcases in the stairwells, debarkation area crowded, jammed at the elevators. Cranky, sometimes crying children, grumpy adults, many become rude......it's a mess.

 

It's nonsense....but, interesting to watch sometimes - from afar....:D

 

I'm in no hurry at all...... As for flights, I actually pay attention to the recommendations found on the cruise website about flight times. I'd never book a flight prior to noon...and usually get one mid afternoon.