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How Can You be One of the LAST ONES Off the Ship?


mncmom

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I want to milk my cruise for everything she's got! We're going to board our ship the second they allow it and we want to be one of the last ones off the ship too. Want to enjoy a late breakfast (lunch, too?).

 

So, I know they assign you debarkation or group numbers, but what happens if you don't go when your number is called? We'll take our own luggage off ourselves if that helps. I understand that they are trying to get cabins ready for the next sailing, but we get into port at 8:00am and someone had mentioned that some passengers don't get off until noon! Oh, we're heading to Mexico on the Carnival Paradise - ON MONDAY !!!

 

Thanks -

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On our Celebrity cruise I think that around 10:30AM was as late as you could still be aboard,(assuming that there were no problems with immigration or customs) all of the eating venues were scheduled to stop serving at 8:30AM. Other lines could be different. Bill

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To answer your questions:

 

When they call your color/number, that is the EARLIEST you can depart - not the LATEST.

Calling your color/number signals that your suitcases have been arranged on the pier.

You can actually depart the ship anytime after the color/number is called.

 

But there are limits.

In most US Ports, no new passengers, new crew, no service technicians can board the ship until ALL passengers from the cruise just ended have left the ship.

 

The later you stay onboard, the longer the new passengers must wait to get onboard.

Meanwhile the US Customs Officers are getting nervous in the terminal.

So long as there are unclaimed bags out there, the Customs Officers cannot leave.

These are unionized American Government Employees who carry guns - and they have no sense of humor.

 

When you hear shipwide announcements threatening jail terms and fines for passengers who have not left the ship, you should take them seriously - because they are.

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Consider your cruise to be over when you go to bed on the last night...any and all service you've come to enjoy will be conspicuously absent on the last morning....they want you OFF the ship..ASAP! They have a whole, new batch of vacationers to get ready for, and you'll be in the way.

You need to be out of your cabin early...usually by 8am....so you can sit in a public area...with your luggage. Food service is over EARLY...your account is closed. The last morning is NOT fun.

Don't "milk" it...get off the ship! Go home! Book another cruise soon!

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You can stay on until the last zone is called.. you will basically be sittng somewhere watching everyone else get off. Everything will be shut down except for a few areas around the ship that are kept open to act somewhat like "waiting rooms"...there is no entertainment, music, activities..etc...If you want breakfast I would head up to the lido deck somewhat early because it does shut down earlier then every other day of the cruise.

 

Lunch will not be served for you. The only time I have heard of it taking until noon to get everyone off the ship was due to customs delays or something. If everything runs smoothly you should be off way before that.

 

Have a good cruise!

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We generally try to be among the last off any cruise ship and it does make the disembarkation process much easier and less stressful. On that last morning we usually go to breakfast towards the end of the breakfast time and then go back to our cabin and get our carry-off bags. At that point, if the weather is good, we head up to one of the pool decks and find a nice deck chair where we relax with our books (and some more coffee it its avalable). We will often stay in those seats to after 9:30 after which we simply take an elevator down to the gangway deck. Since just about everyone is gone by that time we usually walk right off the ship, grab our luggage (easy to find since most of the luggage is gone) quickly stop at customs, walk outside, and usually just grab a taxi to the airport, hotel, or whatever. The process only takes a few minutes, there is no waiting in long lines, no crowds, and usually no hassle.

 

Hank

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We have done a couple of back-to-back cruises and you will find that the ship basically shuts down at around 9 AM, except for the leftover sticky buns and coffee in the disembarkation lounges...if your cruise line even goes that far. When most of the passengers are left you will start to hear announcements that it's time for everyone except continuing passengers to be off the ship. Anyone they find loitering around will be escorted off.

 

Honestly, it's much easier to get off when you can and get away. Hanging around is actually a bit depressing.

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You can hang out wherever you want to, but be aware that most service to disembarking pax is cut off. The dining room shuts down at 9 am, I don't know about the buffet as we avoid it, especially the last morning...it's a zoo up there.

 

There may be one bar open somewhere, I noticed one in the disembarkation lounge on our last cruise. But not much else is going on, you'll want to get off, some areas are even cordoned off to keep clean for the next cruise.

 

The worst disembarkation we've ever had was the one when we were the last off the ship at 10:30 am, it was completely boring waiting that long...take a book.

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As CB at Sea stated. The cruise is over when you go to bed the last night. The next day you are awakend early by loud announcements, banging doors, ect. You can stay on for a while but there is absolutly nothing to do. You have to leave your room, everything is closed, some areas are roped off, and the staff has checked out and moved on to the next voyage...

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What about room service? Can we get that if asked to be served early?

 

Thank you for all the responses. It's just nice to know we don't have to be 'herded' off first thing - we are planning for this cruise to be as least 'scheduled' as possible.

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The only people allowed room service the last morning are Suites. On our November cruise our steward came in early to fill our tub and strip the bed while we were out on the balcony having breakfast. He told us we could stay as long as we wanted. We had a noon flight and weren't in a rel hurry to get to the airport so we enjoyed our breakfast, then left our stuff on the couch (out of his way) while we went to say good bye to some new friends. WE were going to take one last walk around the ship BUT we felt like we were in the way of the staff. That must be the worst day for them. It really wasn't any fun so we went back and got our stuff and left.

 

So if you want to stay a little longer and have breakfast - book a suite.

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Please think back to the day you boarded and how eager you were to get aboard. The people waiting ashore are just as eager. As mentioned above, they cannot board until you leave. Your cruise is over..... let their's begin.

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The only people allowed room service the last morning are Suites. On our November cruise our steward came in early to fill our tub and strip the bed while we were out on the balcony having breakfast. He told us we could stay as long as we wanted. We had a noon flight and weren't in a rel hurry to get to the airport so we enjoyed our breakfast, then left our stuff on the couch (out of his way) while we went to say good bye to some new friends. WE were going to take one last walk around the ship BUT we felt like we were in the way of the staff. That must be the worst day for them. It really wasn't any fun so we went back and got our stuff and left.

 

So if you want to stay a little longer and have breakfast - book a suite.

We had room service breakfast on the final morning on the Oosterdam and Veendam last year and we were in an ordinary balcony room.

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Availability of room service on the last day of a cruise varies by cruise line. You won't be able to linger around on the ship. We had serious delays on an RCL ship when the buses didn't arrive and finally got off at 10:30, but that ws considered very late.

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Assume your cruise is over the night before you disembark. You can linger over a coffee to avoid the crowds pushing to get off the ship as quickly as possible the following morning but basically the crew don't want departing passengers there any longer than necessary so they can prepare the ship for the next group of eager new passengers.

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We had room service breakfast on the final morning on the Oosterdam and Veendam last year and we were in an ordinary balcony room.

 

 

 

My experience is on Princess. I thought I was still over on that board when I posted and didn't mention a cruise line.

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To my knowledge...no.

 

No Room Service for anyone on Disembarkation morning has to make for a miserable Lido experience. We haven't sailed them in years and this is another good reason to keep it that way. IMO

 

To be up early, putting last minute things into our carryons, preparing to leave the ship and coping with insanity at breakfast doesn't sound appealing.

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