How late can one disembark?

[oliverweagle]

Headed to Alaska this summer. We will be staying in a suite (don't know if that makes a difference) and wonder whether it would be possible to have a leisurly last morning on our first Princess cruise?

 

Thank you!

 

Ollie:)

[Toto2Kansas]

Normally, you must vacate your stateroom by 8:00 AM, no matter if you are in a suite or an inside cabin. ;) You can though go to the public areas until you leave the ship, although most ships have totally disembarked all of the passengers between 9:30-10:00 AM.

 

Since Princess rarely boards the next group of passengers until all staterooms are ready to occupy, this gives the room stewards the time to totally clean all of the staterooms, and also the crew to clean all public areas before the next group of passengers embarks the ship.

[Treven]

There's really nothing leisurly about the last morning onboard ship.:eek: As was mentioned, you have to vacate your cabin by about 8 so the cabin steward can clean all the cabins in his/her section of the ship, and everyone off the ship so they can begin boarding the pax for the next cruise around 11-11:30 or so.

The buffet that morning is horrendous with (it seems like) everyone on the ship trying to eat breakfast in the buffet at the same time.:rolleyes:

[geoherb]

I don't find anything leisurely about the last morning of a cruise. Although one time we overslept and did not wake up until almost 9 a.m. I managed to run to the buffet to grab us breakfast. I was the last one through the line that morning. They were shutting it down section by section after me. A few people who showed up after me were turned away from the hot food and directed to the pastries and fruit.

[Jassy]

Headed to Alaska this summer. We will be staying in a suite (don't know if that makes a difference) and wonder whether it would be possible to have a leisurly last morning on our first Princess cruise?

 

Thank you!

 

Ollie:)

 

I do not have an answer for you re how late one must be off the ship, but being in a suite does make a difference as to the quality of the time while you wait to disembark. One of the perks that comes with a suite is an "exclusive Elite Lounge", which is a "reserved lounge area on disembarkation day for passengers to relax comfortably with complimentary coffee or juice and pastries" while waiting to disembark. No full breakfast but also no crazy, packed lounges full of harassed people.

[sultan_sfo]

Your description (may be from Princess Blurbs) sounds a whole lot better than the "reality".

 

I do not have an answer for you re how late one must be off the ship, but being in a suite does make a difference as to the quality of the time while you wait to disembark. One of the perks that comes with a suite is an "exclusive Elite Lounge", which is a "reserved lounge area on disembarkation day for passengers to relax comfortably with complimentary coffee or juice and pastries" while waiting to disembark. No full breakfast but also no crazy, packed lounges full of harassed people.

[FLACRUISER99]

You have spent all your money so Princess want's to get rid you as soon as they can to get the new folks with lots of cash.

[Toto2Kansas]

I do not have an answer for you re how late one must be off the ship, but being in a suite does make a difference as to the quality of the time while you wait to disembark. One of the perks that comes with a suite is an "exclusive Elite Lounge", which is a "reserved lounge area on disembarkation day for passengers to relax comfortably with complimentary coffee or juice and pastries" while waiting to disembark. No full breakfast but also no crazy, packed lounges full of harassed people.

What is being described is the Platinum, Elite, Suite lounge. There have been many cruises where that is the last place I would go. On several sailings, the lounge was more crowded than the normal waiting area. :(

[paul929207]

What is being described is the Platinum, Elite, Suite lounge. There have been many cruises where that is the last place I would go. On several sailings, the lounge was more crowded than the normal waiting area. :(

We have also found the Platinum/Elite/Suite debarkation lounge to be very crowded. Frequently, half the ship or more is eligible. Then, people start bringing friends and family and the room overflows.

[Jassy]

What is being described is the Platinum, Elite, Suite lounge. There have been many cruises where that is the last place I would go. On several sailings, the lounge was more crowded than the normal waiting area. :(

We have also found the Platinum/Elite/Suite debarkation lounge to be very crowded. Frequently, half the ship or more is eligible. Then, people start bringing friends and family and the room overflows.

 

Hmmm, that is very good to know. This will be our first time as Platinums/Suite passengers, so we appreciate any inside "scoops". Thanks for the tip.

[KVR]

On the other hand, how early can we get off the ship? We want to book an 11:30 tour in Seattle and need to get to our hotel a few blocks away, check in, drop off the luggage and get back to the water front for our tour. Would like to be one of the first off. Can we request it?

[Rockymountainsparky]

Does anybody know if on disembarcation day, you can order a room service breakfast if you are in a full suite?

[Toto2Kansas]

Does anybody know if on disembarcation day, you can order a room service breakfast if you are in a full suite?

Yes you can, although sometimes you have to argue the point. 2 out of 3 times when we went to order it the night before (you have to call the evening before to make the arrangements) as you can not just call and order it on the day of disembarkation as the room service kitchen is usually closed, and it comes from the dining room, we have had to argue the point until they check with a supervisor and find out it is one of the perks. Again, right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. ;) But we always suceed.

[Rockymountainsparky]

Thanks, Toto. I knew I could count on the CC readers.

[capriccio]

Does anybody know if on disembarcation day, you can order a room service breakfast if you are in a full suite?

 

 

Last October on the Emerald Princess we had no problem ordering a hot breakfast on our last morning in a suite. Since we were spending an extra night in Fort Lauderdale we were in no rush to leave the ship so we went to the Platinum/Elite/Suite disembarkation lounge around 8:30 (we had checked with our wonderful steward if that would give him enough time) where there were plenty of seats, and coffee/tea. We were some of the last off and just waltzed through customs and immigration.

[gingera]

The latest disembarkation for our last trip on Emerald was 10am...but, that was the very last group. We were to be out of our cabins by 8am.

[Putterdude]

I would be inclined to think the latest time is between 9:30 and 10 am. That said when we have arrived in Vancouver, our home port, we have been off by 9:30, similarly in Fort Lauderdale when we we staying over a night of taking the Ruby the next day and again about the same time when in San Pedro we were driving to our winter home here in AZ.

[caribill]

On the other hand, how early can we get off the ship? We want to book an 11:30 tour in Seattle and need to get to our hotel a few blocks away, check in, drop off the luggage and get back to the water front for our tour. Would like to be one of the first off. Can we request it?

 

If the ship is docking by 6 AM, you should be able to get off by 7:30 AM.

 

When they send the disembarkation luggage tags (and associated times) to your cabin, if you want an earlier time, you can usually exchange your tags at the purser's desk.

[kath00]

We were in VS the last 2 cruises (Sapphire and Golden) and were allowed to stay in the room till around 9am. The stewart was busy cleaning the non-suite rooms so he gave us plenty of time to pack up and stay. There is only 1 stewart usually per section of hallway so it's not like he/she will be cleaning all the rooms at 8am all at once.

 

We too ordered breakfast in our room (didn't have to call, just put out the breakfast card the night before) and it arrived at 8am no problem. One of the options was to deliver at 8:30 even so I am assuming they know you will be in the room still till around 9.

 

We then took our sweet time and walked to the suite lounge, where there were some folks but not the overcrowding that others suggested. We got off the ship around 10am and were in our car at 10:30 driving away from the LA harbor.

 

We are planning on staying on board the Sapphire as late as possible on our repo cruise to Alaska this May because we then walk from the Sapphire to the Golden in Vancouver for the Alaska portion of the cruise. We will be in no hurry to get off since the Golden probably won't be ready for us till 11-ish.

 

Katherine

[BruceMuzz]

IN US Ports, the authorities will not allow any new passengers to board the ship until the cruise line can prove that all previous passengers have disembarked.

This might seem an easy thing to do. It's not.

 

It is amazing how many geniuses onboard are not aware that today is the final day of the cruise and they must leave.

After countless announcements have been made - some threatening fines and jail time - housekeeping and ship security must drop everything else and search the ship for a few - or sometimes a few dozen - passengers who just don't care, or don't seem to know any better.

 

Next time you are stuck waiting to board in a crowded terminal, and somebody wants to know why there is a delay, you can give him the reason.

[oliverweagle]

Hey Kath00 - I LOVE your style! What a great holiday you are in for - I hope you have a magnificent time. Thank you, and everyone else who responded to this thread.

 

Ollie.

[clmom]

If the ship is docking by 6 AM, you should be able to get off by 7:30 AM.

 

When they send the disembarkation luggage tags (and associated times) to your cabin, if you want an earlier time, you can usually exchange your tags at the purser's desk.

I would take it one step further. When you get the papers in your stateroom for disembarkation, personally go down to the Reception Desk ASAP and hand them in with your desired disembarkation time. I don't know what happened on our Star cruise last month but there were lots of unhappy passengers lining up for several days trying to plead their case to change their assigned departure time. Understandably (?!), the ship's excursions (this was Valparaiso, Chile and there were lots of disembarkation tours) were given the earliest times. But....there were people who were on privately arranged tours requesting 8:30 to meet their tour and were given 11:00 (very last group off) and Princess staff would not budge. I heard this kind of story over and over. The disembarkation process itself, while crowded, was very well organized and efficient. Passengers dealing with Princess staff at the Reception Desk those last few days were very frustrated and angry. We were the only 2 in our group of 20 that got our desired ship departure time.