Disembarkation

[JillLynn]

If we arrive at a port at 9am, when can I get off the ship?

[smeyer418]

Generally disembarkation starts 1-1/2 after docking(customs clearance time). Sometimes longer rarely shorter. They then call colors, you can leave when your color is called- you can stay until all colors are called too and leave late. Generally by 11:30 the Dawn has emptied out.....

[johnql]

If we arrive at a port at 9am, when can I get off the ship?

Are you asking about "a port" during the cruise or at the end of the cruise when you're disembarking for good? If you're asking about "a port", then the answer is immediately (more or less). The more or less depends on whether the ship is docked at the pier or not. If the ship is docked at the pier, you are free to leave and reboard the ship at your leisure. If the ship is anchored offshore, you will have to take a tender (small boat, kind of like a ferry) from the ship to shore. They typically issue tender tickets in order to establish a little order for boarding the tenders. If you're booked on a ship-sponsored excursion, you will have priority on the tenders. If you're going ashore on your own, you can either get a tender ticket or wait until general tendering begins at which point tender tickets are not required.

[mikenpat]

Hi Jill, Just want to clarify the previous post about color tags. The night before disembarkation the new luggage tags are delivered to your cabin with your daily newsletter. The tags are color coordinated by what deck you are on. The disembarkation proceeds by them calling the top decks first and working their way down to the bottom decks but also the reason for the color tags is so that when you do exit the ship and go into the terminal to find your stuff you will be able to go directly to that section. For instance, last year we were on the third deck of the Majesty. Our color was blue. We had to wait until all the other decks were cleared...(does not actually take as long as you would think and besides we were definitely not in a hurry to get off the boat). When we got out to the dock terminal we just had to look for our blue tag section to find our bags. Really is very organized process. Hope that helps....

[luvwater]

I just returned from the Dawn and we docked around 10:00 am. I was not in the terminal until around 12:30. My friends luggage was put in the wrong location so it took us about another 1/2 hour to find it. I walked outside about 1:00.