Policy on vacating rooms on disembarkation day

[moonhunter]

On our one and only trip on HAL we were waiting in our cabin until our scheduled disembarkation time, and well before that our room steward came around and told us that if we didn't leave right away we would be fined. A couple of trips we have left the ship the day before the final stop. You have to tell them before the trip starts, but it saves a lot of hassles. You may be a customer until the last day, but then you become cargo to be unloaded as expiditiously as possible.

[lovetocruise2020]

On our one and only trip on HAL we were waiting in our cabin until our scheduled disembarkation time, and well before that our room steward came around and told us that if we didn't leave right away we would be fined. A couple of trips we have left the ship the day before the final stop. You have to tell them before the trip starts, but it saves a lot of hassles. You may be a customer until the last day, but then you become cargo to be unloaded as expiditiously as possible.

 

That must have been before the signature of excellence was implemented, as now guests do not have to disembark quickly. They can depart at their leisure.

It is also silent.

[sewingmolly]

You may be a customer until the last day, but then you become cargo to be unloaded as expiditiously as possible.

 

This is our biggest complaint with Princess. The last morning of the cruise is sooo unpleasant that it almost makes us not want to cruise again. Not only is 8:00 too early for comfort, it is almost impossible to to find any crew. Those you do see either scowl or avoid looking at you. We leave feeling like 7 day old fish that stink and they can't get rid of fast enough.

[lovetocruise2020]

This is our biggest complaint with Princess. The last morning of the cruise is sooo unpleasant that it almost makes us not want to cruise again. Not only is 8:00 too early for comfort, it is almost impossible to to find any crew. Those you do see either scowl or avoid looking at you. We leave feeling like 7 day old fish that stink and they can't get rid of fast enough.

 

Wow really, then how do they get the additional tips they might deserve?

[caribill]

HAL has been having cabins open upon embarkation for about 4 to possibly 5 years now.

 

You keep all of your luggage with you? Even your large pieces?

 

To them self disembark or walk off disembark, means you do not need any assistance that morning.

 

On Princess it means you take 100% of your luggage with you when you are leaving the ship. No assistance from Princess personnel. You may have to do this going up and down steps depending on the type of gangway used.

 

On Princess this is meant for people who want to leave earlier (for whatever reason) before checked luggage has been brought ashore by Princess.

 

Also, in some ports you will not be allowed to use escalators in the terminal unless you have one hand free, so if you cannot have all your luggage either on your shoulder or in your other hand, you may need to wait in a long line for an elevator.

[jrzebird]

A few of us were talking about this yesterday. We decided we really dislike disembarkation day. I wake up way too early and hate waiting to leave. I'm too anxious to read and I don't want to just sit and wait. On my HAL cruise last year they said we could wait in the cabin. We had breakfast on the balcony but about half way through the 'balcony cleaner' came through with his high power pressure hose. Then the cabin stewards stripped and remade the beds and cleaned the room. We practically ran out of the cabin. Princess was a bit better, but they still have to get their work done. I've never met anyone who is rude.

 

Next to disembarkation day, I dislike the day before the most. But, the rest is great!

[bdjam]

This is our biggest complaint with Princess. The last morning of the cruise is sooo unpleasant that it almost makes us not want to cruise again. Not only is 8:00 too early for comfort, it is almost impossible to to find any crew. Those you do see either scowl or avoid looking at you. We leave feeling like 7 day old fish that stink and they can't get rid of fast enough.

 

I don't think this true at all. I've had pleasant last mornings on board. Yes you have to get up a little early but it is a travel day...I usually shower and have some breakfast in horizon court - back to the room to get the last items and I'm usually out by 7:45. I've not encountered scowling crew members...that might have more to do with the passenger. In any case, given that turnaround day is a logistical nightmare, I think they do very well with making passengers comfortable - even without a cabin - throughout the whole ordeal.

[Bentley5700]

This is our biggest complaint with Princess. The last morning of the cruise is sooo unpleasant that it almost makes us not want to cruise again. Not only is 8:00 too early for comfort, it is almost impossible to to find any crew. Those you do see either scowl or avoid looking at you. We leave feeling like 7 day old fish that stink and they can't get rid of fast enough.

 

No problem here. Besides, that morning I am focused on getting home to our four-legged children and could care less about breakfast. The sooner the better! (Until it's time for the next cruise.:rolleyes:)

[cruiseryyc]

Wow really, then how do they get the additional tips they might deserve?

 

They have collected their extra tips the night before, they are too busy on the turn around morning to be hanging around in the hall awaiting their tips.

[cruisergal1978]

I too dislike disembarkation day and used to notice the stinkeye from cabin stewards/staff. The last time I was on a Princess cruise, I felt like we wasted half a day in sunny Puerto Rico waiting for our time to be called. It was awful. I've since taken four cruises on Disney and disembarkation day is great. You walk off when you want, pick up your luggage and go. And it never felt as hassled or rushed as Princess. Will be cruising on the Royal in November, and while I'm really looking forward to the cruise, I'm already dreading the last day. Oh well.

 

 

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[DMRick]

I think the best wait to not hate disembarkation, is to have another cruise from the same port planned right after the first cruise. By the end of the second, the thought of sleeping in my own bed makes the thought of getting up and going a good one!

[Bogof1]

But let us all remember on Princess our rooms are ready as soon as we board. If we have to vacate rooms by 8 that is fine by me. I'm lucky I live near the port we travel from so can do the last disembarkation as have no planes etc to catch, so can still do breakfast after leaving cabin. I suppose we can't have it bothe ends of the cruise

[Happy2cruise]

But let us all remember on Princess our rooms are ready as soon as we board. If we have to vacate rooms by 8 that is fine by me. I'm lucky I live near the port we travel from so can do the last disembarkation as have no planes etc to catch, so can still do breakfast after leaving cabin. I suppose we can't have it bothe ends of the cruise

One nice feature we like that none of the other cruiselines (to my knowledge) offer. I bet the people complaining about vacating the rooms by 8 might very well be the same people who would complain if their room was not ready when they embarked;)

[jeanico]

You may be a customer until the last day, but then you become cargo to be unloaded as expeditiously as possible.

 

Really well said! I actually find this is the case with most cruise lines, not just Princess. And while I do understand that a turnaround day must be very stressful on the staff, it certainly takes away from the 'magic' one feels throughout the week (or longer!) on a cruise ship. We had a rather fun exception to the rule on NCL in June this year, when we sailed on the Breakaway out of NY to Bermuda... when we got off the ship on the last day, there were two lines of staff members flanking the exit, cheering for us and thanking us for sailing with them... made us feel like celebrities! :cool:

That was very, very cool!... Of course, the warm fuzzy feeling dissipated very quickly when we got 'barked' at in the customs area by the sleepy and mostly disgruntled port crew directing the flow of traffic... can't win'em all, I guess! :)

[skynight]

HAL has been having cabins open upon embarkation for about 4 to possibly 5 years now.

 

You keep all of your luggage with you? Even your large pieces?

 

To them self disembark or walk off disembark, means you do not need any assistance that morning.

 

Yes, for self walk off you must take all of your luggage with you, including carry ons and larger pieces. No assistance from Princess staff, except handicap. Once on the pier there are porters there. We always use 1 large suitcase and 1 daypack each. They fit together and can be rolled. We pack light, using the doesn't fit , doesn't go method.

 

I guess HAL has changed since we sailed in April 2010.

[AKman2495]

One think not mentioned is that Princess gives you detailed instructions for disembarking the night before. It lists the hours for the HC and MDR. It also has a long list of assembly times, based on purchased transfers, or self organized travel plans. You color coded tags match this schedule, so all you have to do is find your particular slot on the page and you ail know where to go and when.

 

Yes, disembarkation is a bit of a pain-especially because you have to get off the ship :mad:.

 

But, I found that the crew was no less pleasant on that last day-true they are focused and work efficiently-but they still do it with a smile.

[lovetocruise2020]

I too dislike disembarkation day and used to notice the stinkeye from cabin stewards/staff. The last time I was on a Princess cruise, I felt like we wasted half a day in sunny Puerto Rico waiting for our time to be called. It was awful. I've since taken four cruises on Disney and disembarkation day is great. You walk off when you want, pick up your luggage and go. And it never felt as hassled or rushed as Princess. Will be cruising on the Royal in November, and while I'm really looking forward to the cruise, I'm already dreading the last day. Oh well.

 

 

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I agree. Disney and HAL seem to have the best disembarkation. Not into rushing out of the cabin to sit in the lounge and join a group. We will definitely vacate by 8, go have breakfast, and see where that takes us. We will pick the time that works best for this. Definitely not what we are used to, but will give it a try. 10 days for us from FLL is very diff from 3 days from LA. Lol.

 

I did 2 Carnival sailings in June, (it had been a while) and they were both painless. Walked off whenever u wanted w/ ur carry ons. Never once were we hassled or rushed out our room, we had breakfast, it was great,

 

We have an upcoming b2b on the Nieuw Amsterdam, and expecting it to be equally painless, and not rushed.

[Loonbeam]

Disembarkation port can also make a huge difference, based on customs staffing and facilities. Disembarkation from the Coral in Alaska was painful. Disembarkation from the Island (same rough number of people and same ship) was almost painless because they were able to set up extra gangways and had plenty of customs people present.

 

From what I have seen the biggest delay factor on ship is people who sign up for self disembarkation without knowing what that really means...

[jrzebird]

I agree. Disney and HAL seem to have the best disembarkation. Not into rushing out of the cabin to sit in the lounge and join a group. We will definitely vacate by 8, go have breakfast, and see where that takes us. We will pick the time that works best for this. Definitely not what we are used to, but will give it a try. 10 days for us from FLL is very diff from 3 days from LA. Lol.

 

I did 2 Carnival sailings in June, (it had been a while) and they were both painless. Walked off whenever u wanted w/ ur carry ons. Never once were we hassled or rushed out our room, we had breakfast, it was great,

 

We have an upcoming b2b on the Nieuw Amsterdam, and expecting it to be equally painless, and not rushed.

 

I have found it a lot less painful to take my carry on and sit in the Piazza and play with my iPhone (which I have turned back on at that point), than to sit in my cabin on tenderhooks, waiting. Sitting in the cabin makes me very uncomfortable and antsy on the last day. I think that Princess does a bang up job of disembarkation. Which is, of course, like saying, "that wasn't bad for a root canal".

[dleighb]

What causes me the most issues on disembarkation day is that I have been an a cruise line that wanted your luggage outside your stateroom by 7:30pm. We hadn't even gone to dinner yet. I think we managed to get the larger luggage out and then we had a small roller that we shared to put our toiletries and clothe changes in.

 

I much preferred the cruise where we had until 11pm. I was able to get back after the evening show. Throw everything except the morning essentials in the suitcase and put it outside.

 

This next cruise, I plan to be more organized and pack stuff up all along the way, so it doesn't take me so much time to fold my clothes and put them back in their packing cubes. Of course, I said that on the last cruise too . . .

[98Charlie]

IMHO the lines that ask for your luggage to be out early do so in order to have a head start on the process :)

 

If they say 7:30 there's a good chance that a majority of the luggage will be out by 10:30. I've been on some cruises that say 11:00 and you see luggage being put out after midnight.

 

Charlie

 

 

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[wowsmom]

Ok that makes sense, so it would not be crazy to assume if you vacated your room at 8, you could then head to MDR to have breakfast and would be seated?

 

That's what we did on our recent cruise. They actually have part of the MDR where you can put your carryon luggage while you eat.

 

Our first couple of cruises, we asked our steward if we could leave the 4 carryons in one of our cabins (we always get 2 cabins). Had we known there was a place to put the luggage in the MDR, we never would have done that!

[beshears]

I would say that every response that I have read so far, is "right on." We have found the best way to take care of the last day is (as they say) put our luggage out (unless you are carring it off your self) the night before to be picked up, but save clothes/medicines, etc. that we will be needing the next day, and put them with your carrying on, purse, etc. As they say, generally the food closes down early or by 8:00 or 8:30. If you feel that you are going to be hungry and cannot make it to get breakfast earlier, I would pick up something the night before and bring it to my room, to hold me over until I can get something more to eat, once off the ship.

[skf]

self disembark or walk off disembark, means you do not need any assistance that morning

Just a reminder to self-disembarkers...as the Cruise Director announced on the last evening, the crew are not permitted to assist with your luggage. You are on your own.

[paul929207]

If you self-disembark you will need a free hand to hold on when on the escalator. If not, you will be directed to the elevators which quickly back up and defeat the purpose of carrying off your luggage.