Liberty Debarkation was the nightmare I had read about

[cwnhokie]

Just back from the Liberty on Monday. We had a wonderful time, loved the ship, and the crew was wonderful. I'll do a longer review, but fresh in my mind is debarkation. I had read that it was bad and would agree. I guess part of it was our fault because we didn't heed the advice and book a later flight. Our flight was 11:10 out of FLL. My husband was on a cruise last year and said he was off the ship and to the airport shortly after 8 and said if we missed the plane no big deal, it was worth a shot to get the kids home earlier and get ready for getting back to school.

 

But because of the earlier flight we felt we need to do self assist to get off the boat as early as possible. We had been to Disney first and brought tuxedos for the kids so we had a ton of luggage to self assist, but we thought we had it figured out. So we lined up on Deck 3 at 7:40 with me rolling a large suitcase with one on top with a backpack, husband rolling a big one, carrying a duffle bag, laptop, and backpack, one kid rolling a small one and carrying a backpack and one kid pushing the little one in the stroller each with a backpack. We sent my inlaws on to the theater to wait for their number 7 to be called, they had put their luggage out the night before and were slated to get off around 8:20. And we waited, and waited, and waited. Until about 8:45 when they said everybody go down to deck 1 and get off.

 

Everyone waiting with all their luggage were released to pull all their luggage down 3 flights of steps to get off the boat. I looked at my husband and said seriously? Why did they have us wait on Deck 3, if we get off on Deck 1, how are we going to get down there? I made the little guy get up and walk and tried to help the other one carry the stroller down the steps while dragging my big bag through the chaos of everyone else pulling their big bags down the steps. My top bag fell off and turned the whole thing side ways. Other people were having the same trouble. We made it down one flight when my middle son started yelling "Matthew's down! Matthew's down!" As my 4 year old comes head first down the stairs with everyone and all their luggage. About that time one of the crew members comes over to help, he took my bag while I carried my screaming 4 year old.

 

When we got down to Deck 1 we ran into to everyone else that was getting off the boat at the same time. We waited and took turns as the lines of people got off. Then we proceeded to the next building to wait in the lines for customs. Of course the little guy had to go to the bathroom, because after waiting upstairs for over an hour he decided to announce just as they let us go that he had to pee. While taking him to the bathroom, I passed Grandma and Granddaddy heading on their merry way through customs. They got to the airport long before us.

 

Some how we made it through and still made the flight with 30 mins to spare. There was no one at check in or security at the airport. It didn't ruin the trip, but there has to be a better way to get everyone off the ship then just releasing them all at once. And a better way to get everyone in self assist off then sending them barreling down the stairs.

 

Just wanted to share our experience so if anyone else decides to try to take 3 kids and an obscene about of luggage on their cruise, you can plan accordingly.

[JGORD7]

Thanks for the insight, we are going on our 1st cruise on the Navigator on 04-08 & our return flight is at 11:00 & since I've been reading alot of these posts I'm really nervous about making that flight... wish us luck! Glad you a nice time on your cruise though & look forward to your review!

[Chasey]

I was on this ship last month and debarkation was a BREEZE! In fact, it was the easiest debarkation I've ever had on a ship. No wait and we had 5 people in our group, all with luggage. We were literally off the boat and through customs w/in 10 minutes.

[Ocean Boy]

Thanks for the insight, we are going on our 1st cruise on the Navigator on 04-08 & our return flight is at 11:00 & since I've been reading alot of these posts I'm really nervous about making that flight... wish us luck! Glad you a nice time on your cruise though & look forward to your review!

 

We just got back from Navigator last Sunday. We did self assist because we had a 10:10 AM flight. We had breakfast and then went to the area where we were to meet at 7:00 AM. The process of getting off began at 7:15 AM. We were at the gate in FLL waiting for our flight by 8:30 AM. The process could not have been any smoother and that was using old terminal 29. Don't wooy about an 11:00 AM flight. You will be fine.

[kc320]

Sorry to hear you had such a hard time getting off...that is why I would never attempt to carry off my own luggage if I had more than just a small carryon...it's an accident waiting to happen!

[SpeedGeek]

Sorry to hear you had such a hard time getting off...that is why I would never attempt to carry off my own luggage if I had more than just a small carryon...it's an accident waiting to happen!

 

Agreed. Self-assist really isn't for people with that much luggage. Lessons learned!

[rrshinn]

We sailed on the Liberty 2/27 - 3/03 and would have to agree in all our cruising disembarking was the worst. However, we chose luggage valet and it was about the best $20 pp spent the whole cruise. Our flight was at 2PM and we stayed in our room until 0930 and left on our own (whenever we wanted) with regular disembarkation running over an hour behind schedule. Walked through the terminal with our carry on's and were at the airport by 1045 or so. Our checked luggage was waiting on us when we arrived in Boston. It was fun though watching everybody else luggage wrangle through the crowd.

[DonnaK]

Agreed. Self-assist really isn't for people with that much luggage. Lessons learned!

 

Or with 3 little kids.

 

Self-assist is very clearly promoted as something only for those who can manage their own luggage, up and down stairs/escalators, etc.

 

I've read that you need to be able to lift your suitcase by the handle with one hand, and have the other hand free to grasp the handrail. Kids need to be self-sufficient because you can't use your free hand to hold theirs.

 

We've never had a problem with self-assist, but my kids are 18 and 20, and we each lift one suitcase, have carry-on totes with shoulder straps, and always have one hand free for the handrail. (When disembarking at Port Everglades, port security was standing by the escalator redirecting anyone without a free hand to the very long elevator line).

[Host Faith]

Wow! I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. We were on the same sailing, but our flights weren't until 9:40 PM, so we got off around 10 AM to pick up our rental car for the day. Went right down to Deck 1 by elevator pretty quickly, and there were very few people in line. A very easy, leisurely day. I think we'll take a late flight out of FLL from now on.

[LBumb]

we book late flight, put bags out day before, and then are in no hurry to exit ship. Makes for a relaxing day.

[graphicguy]

Liberty of the Seas is/was my only sailing with RCCL. As such, I have a soft spot for that ship since I was on it with my son, celebrating his HS graduation.

 

That said, we did self debarkation off that ship. Pretty much a breeze for us. But, we had two medium sized rollaboards.

 

While I empathize with the OP, I saw some who were debarking with a bunch of large pieces of luggage, with children, trying to make an early flight. No way I'd attempt that. They clogged things up for everyone else......story sounds familiar....luggage tipping over....child and parent crawling back through the line for a bathroom break....etc.

 

Truly, if you have and early flight hauling stroller bound children OR a lot of luggage (double whammy if you have both), I would not recommend using self debarkation if any ONE of these situations describes you.

 

You'll frustrate yourself, and you'll certainly frustrate those who are trying to debark with you.

[flpenguin]

so you can stay in your cabins as late as 9:30? Good to know since we are driving and in no hurry-they used to kick you out of your room by 8:00-8:30-good we can let the kids sleep while we finish up packing

[Host Faith]

so you can stay in your cabins as late as 9:30? Good to know since we are driving and in no hurry-they used to kick you out of your room by 8:00-8:30-good we can let the kids sleep while we finish up packing

 

That's what we did. We noticed on the cruise disembarkation documents that the latest meeting in the lounges was 10:30. Now it may not be so for other sailings, but we decided to leave around 9:30. The cabin steward did knock a couple times and we finally let him know that we were planning to leave a little later than scheduled. We tried to leave the room in good shape so he didn't have to do too much to clean the room for the next passengers.

 

While heading to the departure lounge (Platinum Theatre), we passed a staff member who asked us if we wanted to leave the ship. We said yes, and she told us to just head to the elevators to take them down to Deck 1, instead of waiting for the next wave to be released from the lounge. We did that and were off the ship in about 5 minutes.

 

Again, this might not be the case for every ship, so I would look at the cruise departure instructions to figure out what to do.

[marci22]

Self-assist is very clearly promoted as something only for those who can manage their own luggage, up and down stairs/escalators, etc.

 

Yes. I wouldn't attempt it with a lot of luggage.

[PattyG12]

We just got off Liberty last week. All the announcements say clearly that you need to be able to handle your own luggage. We were off in 10 minutes without a problem. I was only carrying one suitcase though.

[yj2cute]

we book late flight, put bags out day before, and then are in no hurry to exit ship. Makes for a relaxing day.

 

Agreed. Our flights are usually after noon and we don't rush off the ship. We eat a leisurely breakfast and take our time getting off the ship. I would NEVER attempt what the OP did with that much luggage and small children.

[Ren1216]

cwnhokie -- Sorry you had such a rough time of it, I hope your little one was ok. I have often wondered why they do weird things like that (making you wait that long and THEN have you haul your stuff down 3 flights of stairs). That's ridiculous. And in this case, totally defeats the purpose. Even more ridiculous.

 

Hope your cruise was great though :)

[reallyitsmema]

cwnhokie -- Sorry you had such a rough time of it, I hope your little one was ok. I have often wondered why they do weird things like that (making you wait that long and THEN have you haul your stuff down 3 flights of stairs). That's ridiculous. And in this case, totally defeats the purpose. Even more ridiculous.

 

Hope your cruise was great though :)

The cruiseline specifically states that you need to be able to manage your own luggage if you are going to do self disembark. The OP had lots of luggage and young kids. They made a poor choice by trying to self disembark.

[bigboffs]

It is important to understand that on disimbarkation day the cruise line wants passengers off the ship as early as possible to prepare for the next cruise. It is also important to understand that until the authorities clear a ship, no one can get off. Quite often, especially when ships visit known high drug areas(ie Jamaica), the delay can be very long while investigators including dogs, complete the search. Do not blame the cruise ship, when finally cleared, passengers and crew want off ASAP. Considering possible disimbarkation delays, possible delays getting to the airport and the realistic suggestion to arrive at the airport 90 minutes before flight time; scheduling flights home before noon is very risky.

 

Also, as others have said, no one should try self disimbarkation unless they can safely handle a limited amount of luggage. Passengers are warned.

[woody73]

 

Just wanted to share our experience so if anyone else decides to try to take 3 kids and an obscene about of luggage on their cruise, you can plan accordingly.

Thanks for sharing.

 

Woody

[Aquahound]

It is important to understand that on disimbarkation day the cruise line wants passengers off the ship as early as possible to prepare for the next cruise. It is also important to understand that until the authorities clear a ship, no one can get off. Quite often, especially when ships visit known high drug areas(ie Jamaica), the delay can be very long while investigators including dogs, complete the search. Do not blame the cruise ship, when finally cleared, passengers and crew want off ASAP. Considering possible disimbarkation delays, possible delays getting to the airport and the realistic suggestion to arrive at the airport 90 minutes before flight time; scheduling flights home before noon is very risky.

 

Also, as others have said, no one should try self disimbarkation unless they can safely handle a limited amount of luggage. Passengers are warned.

 

Liberty has a bit of a unique problem though. On short cruises, there are a lot more people carrying off their own luggage, and a ship like Liberty has a whole lot more people than a ship like Majesty.

 

I was on Liberty a couple weeks ago for a 4 night cruise. Self disembarkation was a disaster. Getting off the ship was a bit of a hassle because the elevators were all packed. Once off, there was a very long line, nearly the length of the ship, down on the pier. From the time we exited our waiting lounge for D+ (dining room) to the time we got through Customs was close to an hour....and this was even with disembarking among the first people off. There had to be over 1000 people carrying off their own luggage.

[bigboffs]

We were on the Liberty on the 2/18 and 2/27 sailings and on both we self disembarked. Between dealing with people who walked off then tried to claim luggage ( causing disruptions) and short staffing at Customs/Immigration, the lines out were indeed long and rather slow moving. We recently have had similar problem almost every time we took a short ( less than 7 days) cruise on almost every ship.By the way, Customs claims budget cuts forced them to reduce staffing.

[Aquahound]

By the way, Customs claims budget cuts forced them to reduce staffing.

 

And that actually is true. I work for DHS. The last 3 years have been a disaster for our agencies.

 

By the way, I was on the cruise right in between yours (2/23) ;)

[citrusflorida]

The cruiseline specifically states that you need to be able to manage your own luggage if you are going to do self disembark. The OP had lots of luggage and young kids. They made a poor choice by trying to self disembark.

We self disembarked the NOS in early February and it couldn't have been easier EXCEPT for a family with young ones who tried to do the same thing. They were expecting probably a 5 year old to handle a full sized piece of luggage and his backpack. The parents had their hands full and we got tired of having to stop every 10 feet to wait on the family to wait on the 5 year old to catch up. There were at least a hundred people behind us as well. My husband finally told the dad he would roll the luggage for the child so we could all move along!

[Ren1216]

The cruiseline specifically states that you need to be able to manage your own luggage if you are going to do self disembark. The OP had lots of luggage and young kids. They made a poor choice by trying to self disembark.

 

I understand that you need to be able to handle your own luggage, I also understand that customs may cause a delay which is not the cruise lines fault. I get it. What I was talking about (in regards to being ridiculous) was the instructions to proceed with their luggage to a particular location only to have them haul it down 3 flights of stairs. It's not like they don't know which deck you'll be exiting the ship from, right? Why not just direct them to that deck in the first place so they could have at least used elevators to get there? And what good was it if they wound up finding themselves with others who disembarked the standard way? (Maybe that was only the case because of whatever delay occurred, I don't know).

 

The original post was valuable to me as I've considered this option every time I cruise (to avoid "losing" a bag), but haven't tried it yet. Wouldn't work for us, we have some in our group with minor mobility issues. Good to know.