Disembarking--what can I expect?

[Finally Going!]

I was looking for some advice/tips as far as what to expect when we disembark from the Golden in Seattle. What time should I really expect to be getting off of the ship, should I "sign up" to carry off my own baggage? What are the advantages/disadvantages of that? How do they assign times to get off?

Any info will be appreciated. :)

[paul929207]

The question is when do you need or want to be off. If you have a tight flight, youmay want to sign up for self debarkation. With this, you will be in the first group off and have the best chance to make an early flight. You would have to carry all your luggage.

 

Most people will have flights on the day you arrive. They are grouped based on flight time.

[Pia1913]

I was looking for some advice/tips as far as what to expect when we disembark from the Golden in Seattle. What time should I really expect to be getting off of the ship, should I "sign up" to carry off my own baggage? What are the advantages/disadvantages of that? How do they assign times to get off?

Any info will be appreciated. :)

 

Since you live in Washington and may not need flights, you can get off first and carry your own, or opt to be in the last group. The times for independent travellers are usually assigned by deck.

[catergirl]

1st of all you need to vacate your room in the morning, 8:30/9 am. during the week you will receive colored tags to put on your luggage to be set out the last night. if you dont have walk off, i would suggest it, that way they lug it and its waiting for you when you get off the ship. in the morning all you have to take with you is your carry on to breakfast, a lot less to slug!! then really no hurry for breakfast, but hey then there is not much to do and you do have to get off:(

[janina]

If you don't have much luggage, I would always opt to carry it off. It is just less hassle, unless you overpack.

[chasetf]

I was looking for some advice/tips as far as what to expect when we disembark from the Golden in Seattle. What time should I really expect to be getting off of the ship, should I "sign up" to carry off my own baggage? What are the advantages/disadvantages of that? How do they assign times to get off?

Any info will be appreciated. :)

You should not "sign up" (or retain your luggage) unless you are going to be one of the first off the ship. Things will be crowded as people await their color and number to be called and someone with their luggage will just jam things up.

 

Times are assigned based on your departure plans. Early flights disembark first naturally. If you have your own arrangements, such as you drove to the dock or are planning to stay over in Seattle, you are pretty much free to leave early or late.

[ActiveTraveler]

Times are assigned based on your departure plans. Early flights disembark first naturally. If you have your own arrangements, such as you drove to the dock or are planning to stay over in Seattle, you are pretty much free to leave early or late.

 

If I want to leave late, can I leave my luggage in my cabin until after breakfast? Having a stuffed backpack at the table when all I need are my camera, pills, and key would be a hassle - I know because sometimes I eat lunch at airports. So it would be great if I can keep my backpack in my cabin while I eat my last meal on the ship. I will stay where I debark instead of fly the same day no matter where my final port of call is.

[bubbamaggie]

I can send you a copy of the Disembarkation Information Sheet from the 26 Jun Golden disembarkation process if you want. Drop me a note at "bubba206@nc.rr.com" and I'll scan in a PDF and send it to you.

 

We did not have to make a flight, so we were one of the last ones off based on deck and room number. We put the three largest bags out the night before so we didn't have to drag them around the next morning waiting for our turn to leave. We were out of our room by 8:30 (International Cafe opened at 6am for that WONDERFUL brewed coffee) and we hung out in the Piazza until our turn to go to Princess Theatre to wait to be called to disembark. Our scheduled time was 9:30 and we were called at 9:35 to exit the ship into the terminal, head downstairs to retrieve our luggage and go through customs. We were outside waiting for our pre-arranged shuttle by 10:15.

 

The slowest part was retrieving the tagged luggage which had been put out the night before. Downstairs in the terminal, bags are arranged in long rows by tag color and number, e.g. Yellow 1, Yellow 2, etc. Most people stopped in groups and one would go searching the rows for the tagged bags. I'm sure there were porters to help transport the luggage outside, but they were hard to find because the crowds hid them.

 

Over all, though, it went very smoothly and quickly given the number of people who are leaving, and we were pleased with the process.

[Layla]

If I want to leave late, can I leave my luggage in my cabin until after breakfast? Having a stuffed backpack at the table when all I need are my camera, pills, and key would be a hassle - I know because sometimes I eat lunch at airports. So it would be great if I can keep my backpack in my cabin while I eat my last meal on the ship. I will stay where I debark instead of fly the same day no matter where my final port of call is.

 

It depends on what time you have breakfast. On disembarkation day, we always eat very early and we leave our carry-ons in the cabin. If you want to eat later and leave your stuff in the cabin, it impacts the steward's job to clean the cabin and prepare it for the embarking passengers.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Personally, we wouldn't do the self-disembarkation unless we have an early flight (which we try to avoid anyway) in consideration of those who for some reason, couldn't avoid getting an early flight.

 

Most of the time we have sailed from our home port so we're just driving home. We wait until our original color is called, or after that. Hopefully there's less luggage in the baggage area so we can find ours (sometimes a bag or two get separated and end up in a different area). For other cruises, we either stay in that city for a post-cruise stay or book a flight not requiring a mad dash for the airport.

 

I don't think we'll ever get to the point of just having one or two bags that we can just self-disembark, but I don't see the reason to do so in our case. Why deal with that hassle.