Dis-embarking with own luggage

[Into the Sun]

my own luggage taught me to pack "lighter". LOL..Before that I bought everything including the kitchen sink. To many shoes, to many clothes, to many of everything. So now if I can't lift it I won't bring it. We have self disembarked our last 10 cruises and it is so much easier. We get up, have our showers, breakfast, check the cabin for any last minute left behinds and leave..Everyone is still eating or pacing and off we go.

Chasing down your luggage anywhere is a stressful situation and if you can lift your suitcase by yourself do it. I even purchased a small hand scale to keep in my bag at all times to meet the new airline weight limit. Although my carryon probably weighs more than my checked suitcase. I figured that I will never see any of the people I have met onboard again and the need to "dress to impress" just doesn't fit my vacation. Plus I found it so much nicer to just have my stuff in the morning at my fingertips.

 

BTW NO ONE has ever said a word to us and we have left around 8 AM. When it is time to go we go...

[brianabrad]

So. looks like there are a large number of the "The hell with the rules...I do what I want" type of folks answering this question. Nice!

 

Since I feel like DH and I will be one of these people . .what is the latest you can be on the ship? On the same hand, what is the latest you can be in your room?

 

I read through the compass that was posted and it looked like the latest you could even think about getting food was 8:30am. I assume that will be about the same with our cruise. We don't have a flight till 2:00pm and would like to stay on the ship and relax as late as possible.

[tfrcal]

Since I feel like DH and I will be one of these people . .what is the latest you can be on the ship? On the same hand, what is the latest you can be in your room?

 

I read through the compass that was posted and it looked like the latest you could even think about getting food was 8:30am. I assume that will be about the same with our cruise. We don't have a flight till 2:00pm and would like to stay on the ship and relax as late as possible.

 

They try to have everyone off by 10am or so. They have to get the ship ready for the next group that is coming on.

[brianabrad]

They try to have everyone off by 10am or so. They have to get the ship ready for the next group that is coming on.

 

Makes sense. Thanks for the info.

[fdthird]

I would have to say that the best $20 we spent on our recent Allure cruise was taking advantage of the Luggage Valet program. Put your bag outside your door Saturday night and never see it again till you arrive at your airport destination. It worked great and I would do it any time it's available! Get off the boat in comfort (whenever you wish), no need to seek out your bag on the dock, comfortably proceed to the airport and go right to security (RC also prints out your boarding passes as part of the service). Could not be easier!

[MrsPete]

People who use self-disembark -- regardless of whether they leave at the crack of dawn or later in the day -- are taking up LESS time and space in the terminal than their gotta-reunite-with-the-luggage folks. Consider:

 

A person who carries his own luggage leaves the ship and goes straight to the Customs line. He can't control whether the Customs line is short or long -- if it's long, they'll open another line; if it's short, they'll let people wait.

 

The person who takes up the most time and space is the person who leaves the ship and stands around the luggage area waiting for his bags. Depending upon whether his bags appear quickly or not, he may spend 5 minutes or the better part of an hour looking for all his stuff. ONLY THEN can he get into the Customs line.

 

So, the smartest and most considerate thing you can do when disembarking is -- assuming you're physically able to carry your own bags -- to carry them yourself. It means you can't lose your luggage, and it gets you through the terminal and into your own car faster. The exact time at which you do this is really secondary.

[Lost13th]

when you want to carry your own luggage you have to leave the ship first...that means when you dock at 5.30 you have to leave 5.45

 

If you want to leave at 8:30 just do the normal debarkation we always got of the ship between 8 and 9 not carrying the luggage...

 

Just got off Freedom last week, and we chose to carry our own luggage. They recommend that if you carry your own luggage off the ship that it be done between 6 and 7 AM.

[LuvRVacay]

We used the self-disembarkation recently on Explorer of the Seas and they actually blocked off an elevator for all of us to use exclusively from the designated meeting place; called us by group and we were off the ship and in our car before 8:00 a.m. They were very organized and we had no problems at all and would recommend it if you are able to take care of your own bags. Hope this helps...:)

[Paulxyz2004]

People who use self-disembark -- regardless of whether they leave at the crack of dawn or later in the day -- are taking up LESS time and space in the terminal than their gotta-reunite-with-the-luggage folks. Consider:

 

A person who carries his own luggage leaves the ship and goes straight to the Customs line. He can't control whether the Customs line is short or long -- if it's long, they'll open another line; if it's short, they'll let people wait.

 

The person who takes up the most time and space is the person who leaves the ship and stands around the luggage area waiting for his bags. Depending upon whether his bags appear quickly or not, he may spend 5 minutes or the better part of an hour looking for all his stuff. ONLY THEN can he get into the Customs line.

 

So, the smartest and most considerate thing you can do when disembarking is -- assuming you're physically able to carry your own bags -- to carry them yourself. It means you can't lose your luggage, and it gets you through the terminal and into your own car faster. The exact time at which you do this is really secondary.

 

 

I have no idea what you are talking about here as it seems to hae nothing to do with the reality of debarkation.

 

If self debarkation would be the best and fastest way as you say I´m surprised the cruiselines have not picked up on the idea and encourage people to do this, but instead they kinda limit it and try to keep the groups small.:rolleyes: They could save a ton of money in not having to pay people to collect the bags during the night, have the unloaded at the port and pay the port people to set them up in the terminal.

However I don´t even want to think about 3000 people trying to get off the ship carrying their own luggage. In no way would that be faster than walking down the gangway and grab your suitcase on the way out in the terminal.

 

I´d be more than willing to try who makes it faster through, you carrying your bags off, or me collecting them in the terminal.

Spending the better part of an hour looking for your luggage?

The only way that would happen is if you get off the ship before they tell you to go and your luggage is not ready yet.

[Debde]

So, the smartest and most considerate thing you can do when disembarking is -- assuming you're physically able to carry your own bags -- to carry them yourself. It means you can't lose your luggage, and it gets you through the terminal and into your own car faster. The exact time at which you do this is really secondary.

 

This is exactly what I want to do for my Voyager sailing.

Our flight home leaves at 11:00AM. I'd like to have my own bags in hand and catch a cab by 8:30 to get to the airport on time. Don't want to be searching for bags and we all will have one managable bag so self disembarking is our plan!!!

I believe the NOLA airport is about 15 mintes from the port.:confused:

[joandian]

 

Also, for whatever it's worth, they don't ask those security questions at the airport anymore. They stopped doing that a long time ago.

 

They definitely still ask the question if you are flying into the US from another country.

[MrsPete]

I have no idea what you are talking about here as it seems to hae nothing to do with the reality of debarkation.

 

If self debarkation would be the best and fastest way as you say I´m surprised the cruiselines have not picked up on the idea and encourage people to do this, but instead they kinda limit it and try to keep the groups small.:rolleyes: They could save a ton of money in not having to pay people to collect the bags during the night, have the unloaded at the port and pay the port people to set them up in the terminal.

However I don´t even want to think about 3000 people trying to get off the ship carrying their own luggage. In no way would that be faster than walking down the gangway and grab your suitcase on the way out in the terminal.

 

I´d be more than willing to try who makes it faster through, you carrying your bags off, or me collecting them in the terminal.

Spending the better part of an hour looking for your luggage?

The only way that would happen is if you get off the ship before they tell you to go and your luggage is not ready yet.

I'm 100% certain that the person who is able to roll up to the Customs line with one suitcase is MUCH FASTER than the person who has to go collect his luggage (I'm making no argument for the few misguided people who try to self-disembark with excessive luggage or those who really can't manage their own stuff). Even if YOU have arrived at the right time, you'll be blocked by other people who've come too early (or who've come too late and don't realize their things have been shuffled to the side). Before we realized self-disembark was an option, we suffered long lines trying to find our luggage -- even though we arrived within the right time frame. Saying that you just "walk down the gangway and grab your suitcase" is grossly misleading to the new folks. We always required at least 15 minutes to find our luggage, and frequently wasted much more time waiting for that last one bag.

 

On our last cruise, our group of six was among the first off the ship, and we literally pulled out of the parking lot minutes after 7:00 am. Self-disembark is VERY FAST, and I really don't know why all able-bodied people don't use it.

 

Why doesn't Royal Caribbean encourage it? Well, they aren't paying those cabin stewards anything extra to move the luggage, so where's their motivation?

[Pushka]

Reading the Compass that someone kindly posted on the first page; I think that RCI have encouraged self-debarkation, without pushing it too much in case they get people doing it who really shouldnt!

 

We will be doing this - we will have travelled for three weeks through Europe before the cruise, thoroughly used to carting our own luggage. I take it by carry, using the roller wheels is OK with just the occasional pick up?

[IBookHePays]

Reading the Compass that someone kindly posted on the first page; I think that RCI have encouraged self-debarkation, without pushing it too much in case they get people doing it who really shouldnt!

 

We will be doing this - we will have travelled for three weeks through Europe before the cruise, thoroughly used to carting our own luggage. I take it by carry, using the roller wheels is OK with just the occasional pick up?

 

That's always been our experience....very painless and easy!

[Pushka]

.....

 

I love your nic! So appropriate. :p

[ivycubs]

Hi, I am a first time solo cruiser and I have read this whole thread and I do have a question. Please be patient :)

 

I am staying in Barcelona for 2 days after the trip and I dont care when I leave the ship. What can I do / use on the ship until I leave? I wouldnt mind being in the last group if I can leasurely leave the ship with my bags. Is that possible?

[Tucker in Texas]

Hi, I am a first time solo cruiser and I have read this whole thread and I do have a question. Please be patient :)

 

I am staying in Barcelona for 2 days after the trip and I dont care when I leave the ship. What can I do / use on the ship until I leave? I wouldnt mind being in the last group if I can leasurely leave the ship with my bags. Is that possible?

 

Unfortunately, they throw you off around 9:30 to prepare for the next cruise. We vacate our cabin after breakfast and sit up on the pool deck until they make us leave. The downside to that is that the line to get a cab can be long. I think it was 40 minutes or so but it was shaded and orderly and we had nothing else to do with our time. As fast as they load the cabs, another one is waiting but it takes time to load luggage/people.

 

We disembark our own luggage. We've had bad luck with letting the ship do it the last two times we let them with it not being where it should be. Once we found it way off in a corner, the other time we had to leave it to catch our tour in spite of assurances it would be priority because we had their tour. Fortunately we were spending the night in Amsterdam and with a lot of phone calls and persistence it was located in the general lost and found area of the port and sent to us at our hotel. I have no doubt if we hadn't been able to chase it personally, we would have never seen it again.

 

It still had our disembarkation tags on it (we thought maybe they had been torn off which was why it wasn't in our "color" zone) plus inside the unlocked bag, right on top, was our itinerary with the hotel name, address, phone number on it. We had, also, filled out a lost bag report with the cruise line prior to leaving on the tour. That tells us that when everyone has gone, they just hand over any luggage remaining to the port lost and found to deal with (or not) rather than the cruise line making the effort to return it to its owners.

 

There is, also, the additonal possibility that someone who disembarks earlier takes your luggage thinking it is theirs. From now on, I take it off myself even if it is a steamer trunk (lol).

 

Most hotels will store your luggage until you can check in. I know the Hotel Continental does.

 

Tucker in Texas (and I don't cruise with steamer trunks)

[ivycubs]

Unfortunately, they throw you off around 9:30 to prepare for the next cruise. We vacate our cabin after breakfast and sit up on the pool deck until they make us leave. The downside to that is that the line to get a cab can be long. I think it was 40 minutes or so but it was shaded and orderly and we had nothing else to do with our time. As fast as they load the cabs, another one is waiting but it takes time to load luggage/people.

 

We disembark our own luggage. We've had bad luck with letting the ship do it the last two times we let them with it not being where it should be. Once we found it way off in a corner, the other time we had to leave it to catch our tour in spite of assurances it would be priority because we had their tour. Fortunately we were spending the night in Amsterdam and with a lot of phone calls and persistence it was located in the general lost and found area of the port and sent to us at our hotel. I have no doubt if we hadn't been able to chase it personally, we would have never seen it again.

 

It still had our disembarkation tags on it (we thought maybe they had been torn off which was why it wasn't in our "color" zone) plus inside the unlocked bag, right on top, was our itinerary with the hotel name, address, phone number on it. We had, also, filled out a lost bag report with the cruise line prior to leaving on the tour. That tells us that when everyone has gone, they just hand over any luggage remaining to the port lost and found to deal with (or not) rather than the cruise line making the effort to return it to its owners.

 

There is, also, the additonal possibility that someone who disembarks earlier takes your luggage thinking it is theirs. From now on, I take it off myself even if it is a steamer trunk (lol).

 

Most hotels will store your luggage until you can check in. I know the Hotel Continental does.

 

Tucker in Texas (and I don't cruise with steamer trunks)

 

Tucker, you just helped me decide what to do! Thanks. I travel globally for work so I am good with lines and customs etc. If I can have my bag(s) that I DO carry all over the world by myself and can wait out the crowds, I am a happy camper. If there is shade and a wait, Im okay with that and very familiar with hotel bag storage so I think Im good to go. Just hate to rush and push and be first, last doesnt matter as I dont have a flight to catch or anywhere to be. Guess Im used to hurrying and waiting :) This will allow me to get up, have a bite to eat and watch the frenzy of rushing to flights etc. May be just like going on an RCC charter trip but from the outside :)

 

thanks again!

 

Kelley

[Tucker in Texas]

An afterthought. I'm not sure the entire waiting area for the cabs was covered as it was a Disneyland like line and maybe the end of it only had ropes. It was April or May so heat was not a concern.

 

Also, the cab driver will probably not be happy when he finds out he is not getting a lucrative fare to the airport after waiting in that line so long and may attempt to take a roundabout way to your hotel. We had one that attempted that but "corrected" him before he could get too far off the route. So you might want to have a general idea of the route to your hotel.

 

Tucker in Texas

[ivycubs]

An afterthought. I'm not sure the entire waiting area for the cabs was covered as it was a Disneyland like line and maybe the end of it only had ropes. It was April or May so heat was not a concern.

 

Also, the cab driver will probably not be happy when he finds out he is not getting a lucrative fare to the airport after waiting in that line so long and may attempt to take a roundabout way to your hotel. We had one that attempted that but "corrected" him before he could get too far off the route. So you might want to have a general idea of the route to your hotel.

 

Tucker in Texas

 

Trust me, I have made many of cab drivers angry in my "short" trips but pay them well in the end during my work travel. I am much more considerate in my personal travel.

 

Once in Estonia I didnt realize it was 3 blocks however, he did get paid well :) I am more worried about being able to grab my bag and take my time and not rush other travelers to the gang plank during departure. They have places to be, I dont so I want to be respectful.''

 

thanks again

 

kelley

[Tucker in Texas]

I am more worried about being able to grab my bag and take my time and not rush other travelers to the gang plank during departure. They have places to be, I dont so I want to be respectful.''

 

No problem doing that if you are last off. The crew that has shore leave will be right along with you. There is no customs in Barcelona so disembarkation is as fast as you can walk.

 

Tucker in Texas

[atlrefs]

DH and i carried our luggage of the LOS and we left in that first group. We fly stand by and we were in the airport and on an early flight before the rest of the cruise passengers were even at the airport!