What's open on disembarkation morning?

[billyvegas]

I normally self disembark once I have had to get out of the Stateroom, so don't know much about what type of facilities are available on board after 8.30am ie

Buffet times, bars to sit around and wait etc. My friend who is picking me up has asked if I can stay on until 10.00am. Just wondered what I can do until 10.00am. I will be on the QE at Southampton by the way, six of us, four being cruise virgins we are in Club Balconys. Any advice would be nice before I say nay or yay Thanks!

[Cruachan]

I normally self disembark once I have had to get out of the Stateroom, so don't know much about what type of facilities are available on board after 8.30am ie

Buffet times, bars to sit around and wait etc. My friend who is picking me up has asked if I can stay on until 10.00am. Just wondered what I can do until 10.00am. I will be on the QE at Southampton by the way, six of us, four being cruise virgins we are in Club Balconys. Any advice would be nice before I say nay or yay Thanks!

 

Well, I'm the exact opposite - I can't recall ever being able to disembark much before 10.00am. But, generally speaking, I've never really given much thought to what facilities were open. Many of the public spaces are used as assembly points to which specific groups of passengers are assigned while they wait for their disembarkation numbers to be called. I seem to remember that you can buy UK newspapers on board, and I think at least part of the Lido is open serving coffee and soft drinks. But, if I have any spare time on my hands at Soton, I will generally be up on deck photographing the passing shipping scene.

 

I hope that others will be able to advise you better.

 

J

[billyvegas]

Thanks for that, I hope someone can, just don't want to be hanging around with nowhere to sit comfortably

[pepperrn]

Hi

 

You will be given coloured/numbered luggage tags usually the day before you are due to leave the ship.

 

Until fairly recently they then called "your" tag all over the ship, which mean that people waited in the Lido/Kings Court (guilty) or out on deck (guilty), or anywhere (despite being given designated places to sit and wait) secure in the knowledge that they could hear when it was their turn.

 

Now they do "silent" disembarkation ie. they ONLY announce "your" tag in the place where you have been told to wait. So if you're elsewhere you'll never know...

 

(The Grills and Cunard World Club [Platimum/Diamond] have their own lounges and are "off" early in my experience, so much so that the first time I had ages to wait at Southampton Station for a booked seat on a train, it was so fast departing the terminal).

 

After breakfast there is little to do other than return to your cabin, pick up your hand luggage and make one last check you've got everything before heading to "your" lounge (take a good book, it can be a long wait).

 

Be aware that the breakfast menu in Britannia can more limited than on other days and that your short-term memory will fail you on the last morning.

You thought you'd ordered yyy five minutes ago but zzz is put in front of you... and someone on the next table has just what you fancied...

 

Hope this helps, Bon Voyage!

[billyvegas]

Thanks Pepperm, My Wife and I are Platinum, but My Sons and their ladies are first timers so Commodore Club is out

[Underwatr]

If you're self-disemarking and just waiting for the "right " moment to depart I'd think you could sit anywhere. I haven't had any grills or Platinum/Diamond experiences yet but otherwise no one asks to see your credentials in any of the waiting areas.

[Aussieflyer]

It may be different in Southampton, but on our recent Australia cruise, there was little choice about disembarkation time. Those who were self disembarking had a short window only - from about 7.15am to 7.45am. Passengers were disembarked by deck after the Grills, starting at Deck 12 at 8.20am. The last deck (4?) was scheduled at 9.50am. Platinum and Diamond could wait elsewhere but the information given said that they must disembark with their correct colour. I am not sure if anyone who should have disembarked earlier stayed on till a later time.

[capnpugwash]

My understanding and experience is that if you register for self disembarkation you may disembark at any time to suit you from about 7.15 to 7.30am up to the final disembarkation announcement. If you are doing a timed disembarkation you can disembark at any time after the scheduled time so long as it is prior to the final disembarkation announcement.

[Aussieflyer]

Funny - they do not tell you that (and I wonder why - doesn't take Einstein)

[Pushka]

Self disembark was very early on the recent Australian cruise but I know of people who self disembarked much later. I guess at that stage there isn't much they can do at that point. If your deck is posted to disembark early and you wanted to stay on, then you could stay in the Queens room until later I guess and left when it suited you. Luggage was lined up according to colour but you will always find it. We were on deck 4 and were finally called just after 10. Didn't matter, we didn't want to leave anyway and we enjoyed a full breakfast in Britannia and chilled on the deck 7 until 10 minutes before our designated time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Aussieflyer]

You were lucky - we were off before 8.30am and at the airport by about 9! We would've liked to have been a bit later, but you must admit on reading the instructions provided by Cunard it made it sound like you had to disembark at the designated time only.

[pepperrn]

I'm sure I've heard "Last call for those Self-Disembarking" quite early in the morning on several occasions on QM2, and I know I heard it announced on QE2 whilst I was sat in the Caronia Restaurant having breakfast. And I have breakfast early :) .

 

I would guess that passengers who have chosen "self-disembark" wouldn't hang around the ship until the "final disembark" call, dragging their suitcases from lounge to buffet to bar, as this defeats the object?

[Pushka]

For me the object of self disembark is not to get off early, but to get off at a time that suits me, which is probably not the same reason as Cunard would think.

 

Yes Aussie flyer, it did seem like that but seeing what happened later on, there was no reason why you could not have stayed on until later. No one checked the colour of our tags, this really just made it easier to know where our luggage was. But there were plenty of people on shore who knew where all the luggage was.

 

One person, who had disembarked very early, I think they were in Princess Grills, could not find their luggage in Sydney. They were still looking for it two hours later when we were called. I think the conclusion was that someone had grabbed the wrong case. :(

[Jimsgirl]

I am a wheelchair asist passenger, Rec. incorrect information re where to meet, then found that tour office had me leaving ship by 8a.m. for a plane that left JFK at 30.35p.m!

 

Nothing I did or said penetrated their mind set. So there I was last Friday in the terminal BEFORE the luggage came off, with staff demanding to know why?

 

Got to airport by 9.30 and then had to sit around until flight, and since I travel solo I could not even go to the restroom.

 

Had to go for breakfast at 6.30a.m, service was appalling, as mentioned you order yyy and get xx, and very small portion at that. One table companion remarked "if the portion was any smaller they would be serving an empty plate". It was a disgrace

 

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