Leaving luggage outside the room the night before disembarking...

[OCruisers]

We have an early flight the day we arrive in port. Do you think it would be best to carry off our luggage ourselves?

 

Going on our first 'proper' cruise in 2 weeks with RCCL! We did a 2 night sample cruise in May and booked this 7 night west med before getting off! Very excited!! :D

 

Noticed this is your first post! Welcome to Cruise Critic! :)

They will leave a form in your cabin to fill out about your flight time. You'll be assigned an earlier disembarkation time when you have an earlier flight.

Just make sure you don't book a flight that is unrealistically early.

 

LuLu

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Edited September 30, 2013 by OCruisers

[livelovelaugh84]

Thank you for the welcome!

We booked our flights through RCI so unfortunately the timing is not down to me - it's a little early for my liking!

I think we are going to learn a lot this cruise and will be experts for the next one ;)

[Laurin612]

Thank you for the welcome!

We booked our flights through RCI so unfortunately the timing is not down to me - it's a little early for my liking!

I think we are going to learn a lot this cruise and will be experts for the next one ;)

 

If your flight was booked through RCI they will make sure you are one of the early groups debarking.

[RosemaryNJ]

Thank you for the welcome!

We booked our flights through RCI so unfortunately the timing is not down to me - it's a little early for my liking!

I think we are going to learn a lot this cruise and will be experts for the next one ;)

 

What time is your early flight out? We are arriving on Liberty of Seas in Barcelona on Oct. 20th and have a flight at 10:25. We are going to walk our luggage off the ship so we make sure we get to the airport early. We are flying TAP and only have one hour layover in Lisbon so don't want to miss our flight in Barcelona. Also we don't have seats assigned yet so want to get to airport early for seat assignment.

[cheerldrmom]

What if we are not flying out that day staying in fort lauderdale a few extra days should we carry our luggage off we wil be renting a car at port.?Have you done this?

[whataboutport]

does that mean that you have to carry home your dirty pjs in your carry on?

Your pjs are going to be clean enough for you to wear but not clean enough to keep in your carry on?

How dirty are you planning on getting your pjs between going to bed the night before and disembarking? :p

[whataboutport]

What if we are not flying out that day staying in fort lauderdale a few extra days should we carry our luggage off we wil be renting a car at port.?Have you done this?

 

You you can do self disembark still. Anyone can, as long as you don't need help w your luggage. Although for me, I like to sleep in, so I don't actually like. Doing self disembarkation. You're outta there like at 6!

[98Charlie]

What if we are not flying out that day staying in fort lauderdale a few extra days should we carry our luggage off we wil be renting a car at port.?Have you done this?

You can do either. Self-disembark or put your luggage out for pick up at the port baggage claim. I've done both and it really depends on the circumstances of the cruise and transportation.

 

Early on when there was no charge for baggage on the airlines we would have 3 or 4 bags for the 2 of us plus carry-ons. Always left them out for that. Just too much to hassle with.

 

Went on a cruise with DD and her family and drove to Port Canaveral. All I took was one suit case and a backpack. Self disembarked to get an early start on the drive and drove home. Port Canaveral to Columbus OH and arrived home before midnight.

 

If it's just the two of you it may be easiest to self disembark. If you have kids with you I'd be going with the regular zone method.

 

YMMV

 

Charlie

[livelovelaugh84]

What time is your early flight out? We are arriving on Liberty of Seas in Barcelona on Oct. 20th and have a flight at 10:25. We are going to walk our luggage off the ship so we make sure we get to the airport early. We are flying TAP and only have one hour layover in Lisbon so don't want to miss our flight in Barcelona. Also we don't have seats assigned yet so want to get to airport early for seat assignment.

 

 

I think our flight leaves Barcelona at 10:15. No online check in so need to be there in good time! I'm sure we will be off super early (I'm mentally preparing myself already - seems a cruel way to end the vacation!!)

[gubby]

Our flight is out of Barcelona at 9:40 on Nov 29. This will be the first self disembark for us. We have never been able to do it before as we are not American citizens. If you are in a USA port, it is stipulated you must be a US citizen. And when we disembarked in Rome or Valparaiso we were staying over for 3 or 4 days.

[Ergates The Ant]

We have just done a 4 day cruise with Princess, and only had one suitcase and a wheeled carry on bag, so we decided to use the Express walk off for the first time.

Our cabin was only five steps from the elevators on deck 11 and we had to meet in a dining room on deck 5. It took us 20 minutes to make the trip! All the lifts were full, with more people and luggage joining us each minute. Ordinarily, we would have walked down, but couldn't have carried the cases down 6 floors.

After waiting for another 15 minutes in the dining room, as we had missed our disembarkation slot, we were then instructed to proceed down one floor to leave the ship!

Needless to say, there were lots of unhappy passengers, as 100 of us with cases, made our way downstairs. Rather than face another long wait for the lifts, we slowly lugged the case down a narrow and crowded staircase, and exited straight onto the dock level.

I overhead one of the crew explaining to an irate passenger that we should have left on deck 5 via a gangway, but that only that morning, they had been informed that this would not be available and we would have to leave via deck4.

Don't know why this happened, but it was no fun, and we will use the leave your suitcase out option next time!

[marriedinva]

Your pjs are going to be clean enough for you to wear but not clean enough to keep in your carry on?

How dirty are you planning on getting your pjs between going to bed the night before and disembarking? :p

 

 

Well i guess you just never know.... :D

[Scrapnana]

Never had any trouble leaving my luggage out in the hall. No way would I try to schlep my bags off myself. Why ruin the end of a wonderful cruise!

[AZbeachboy]

yes, i do give my luggage to the airline at the airport...but the difference is that i actually hand it to someone and not just leave it inside the terminal door and walk away.

 

please forgive me for being new and having questions! :)

 

No forgiveness needed, that is what this forum is for. I hope you have a good cruise.

[whataboutport]

We have just done a 4 day cruise with Princess, and only had one suitcase and a wheeled carry on bag, so we decided to use the Express walk off for the first time.

Our cabin was only five steps from the elevators on deck 11 and we had to meet in a dining room on deck 5. It took us 20 minutes to make the trip! All the lifts were full, with more people and luggage joining us each minute. Ordinarily, we would have walked down, but couldn't have carried the cases down 6 floors.

After waiting for another 15 minutes in the dining room, as we had missed our disembarkation slot, we were then instructed to proceed down one floor to leave the ship!

Needless to say, there were lots of unhappy passengers, as 100 of us with cases, made our way downstairs. Rather than face another long wait for the lifts, we slowly lugged the case down a narrow and crowded staircase, and exited straight onto the dock level.

I overhead one of the crew explaining to an irate passenger that we should have left on deck 5 via a gangway, but that only that morning, they had been informed that this would not be available and we would have to leave via deck4.

Don't know why this happened, but it was no fun, and we will use the leave your suitcase out option next time!

 

I've only done self-disembarkation once before. I haven't cruised much; I'm due for my 5th this Nov. However the time I did S-D was on the Monarch, a ship with only about 2000 pax. Not only did we have to be up and out at an ungodly hour, there was a huge line and mad dash for the gangway. Lucky for us we were on a lower deck, but as soon as the lift doors opened, we saw a line for the gangway that snaked up past our deck. So now we had to get in line with a bunch of cranky pre-coffee(?) pax telling us "the end of the line is back there!" back UP a deck and a half with our bags. My cruising buddy had thrown out her shoulder too so she couldn't carry the bags up the stairs. So she waited where we came out the lifts with the bags and I went to the back of the line. Then we had to continue to lug the bags down another flight of stairs to get out.

 

That made me hate S-D. If I have more than one roller bag and one backpack, then I will leave my bags outside my door. If I am traveling light, then I won't leave the bags outside my door, but carry them myself and leave at my stated disembarkation time.

 

Please note that when you leave your bags outside your door, after you get off the ship, you have to then go and find your bags in the cruise ship terminal. That can take some time.

[RosemaryNJ]

I think our flight leaves Barcelona at 10:15. No online check in so need to be there in good time! I'm sure we will be off super early (I'm mentally preparing myself already - seems a cruel way to end the vacation!!)

I agree, it is a cruel way to end a vacation, but looks like we will also be getting up early to get to Barcelona Airport early as no online check in. We are going to take a cab there as we didn't book the transfers with RCI.

[Swayde]

I keep valuables with us in carry on. So if someone wants to steal my dirty clothes, well that's less laundry for me when we get home! Carry some plastic grocery bags with you to put dirty or wet things into your carry on bags, or just carry them in the plastic bag separately. Sleep nude if you don't want dirty pjs. Works for us, but do be sure to leave cloths available to walk off the ship :)

[Bankshot]

We've never lost a thing to theft and that includes 44 cruises. Our stuff was even safe on the Windjammer cruises where the cabins don't have locks.

[carolslc]

First-time cruiser here, so I don't know from experience. But there is a scary thread on the Celebrity board right now. A couple put their bags out the night before, got off the ship the next morning, went to get their bags, and they were nowhere to be found. They never did turn up. Celebrity's opinion is that other passengers walked off with them.

 

To me, leaving them outside your cabin at night is a lot different than at the airport. At the airport, you hand them to an employee who puts them immediately on the conveyor belt behind them. When you pick up bags after the flight, I am watching for my bag as soon as it comes out on the belt. I would never let my bags sit around unattended at the airport for hours. But essentially that's what you're doing with the current system on cruise ships, right? It seems like they could have an employee take your bags and give you a ticket - acknowledging the cruise line has taken possession. Then you cannot claim the bags without the tickets. Or at least have someone checking ID and comparing to the tags on the outside of the bags. But they don't.

 

With that said, we will probably risk it as I don't want to rush off the ship early. I just won't put anything valuable in the outside bags. And I will tie ribbons or something on to make them more easily identified so at least maybe someone won't take them accidentally. This couple lost all of their souvenirs too.

[notentirelynormal]

First-time cruiser here, so I don't know from experience. But there is a scary thread on the Celebrity board right now. A couple put their bags out the night before, got off the ship the next morning, went to get their bags, and they were nowhere to be found. They never did turn up. Celebrity's opinion is that other passengers walked off with them.

 

To me, leaving them outside your cabin at night is a lot different than at the airport. At the airport, you hand them to an employee who puts them immediately on the conveyor belt behind them. When you pick up bags after the flight, I am watching for my bag as soon as it comes out on the belt. I would never let my bags sit around unattended at the airport for hours. But essentially that's what you're doing with the current system on cruise ships, right? It seems like they could have an employee take your bags and give you a ticket - acknowledging the cruise line has taken possession. Then you cannot claim the bags without the tickets. Or at least have someone checking ID and comparing to the tags on the outside of the bags. But they don't.

 

With that said, we will probably risk it as I don't want to rush off the ship early. I just won't put anything valuable in the outside bags. And I will tie ribbons or something on to make them more easily identified so at least maybe someone won't take them accidentally. This couple lost all of their souvenirs too.

 

I've had my suitcase taken from the pier. I had green ties around it with my name written in black capital letters. The people just carelessly picked it up and didn't realize until they got home. If they had taken a nanosecond to LOOK at the suitcase they couldn't have missed my identification. Fortunately for us we were spending the night at the port so once it was noticed they brought it back to the pier. Unfortunately it ruined the day we had planned as we now had to drop everything and hurry back to the port. Possibly the people that accidentally took their suitcase didn't realize until they got home after a plane trip and then had to try and find their own suitcase. Also, it's possible that the above couple didn't have any identification in/on the suitcase so the people that took it couldn't identify the true owners, nor could the cruise line.

 

The ONLY time I've had anything stolen was at the airport. We packed our bags, left the hotel and drove directly to the Miami airport. My son's purchases were on top (a sword and a couple of video games). We gave our suitcases to airport personnel and when we picked them up at LAX all his stuff was gone.

 

In over 26 cruises with many family and friends no one in our group has had anything stolen from our cases. We also use our carry ons for anything of value. Keep in mind your suitcases don't sit outside your room all night. Often you put them out, then 5 minutes later go to add something else in and they have already taken to storage. The crew picks them up over a several hours period.

Edited October 3, 2013 by notentirelynormal
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[cheerldrmom]

I too basically only have my clothes in my suitcase so if they want my dirty clothes have had it.... Anything of value is in my carryon

[Gillybeanie]

I am about to go on my first cruise on 21st October and I'm slightly concerned about the disembarking/luggage procedures. There is only one flight a day I can get back to Scotland so it's crucial I am off the ship by 7.15am at the latest and the the ship docks apparently at 5am. Should I insist on keeping my luggage with me the night before so it comes off with us? That won't be easy physically, as I'm travelling alone and will have a 3 year old, his stroller, 2 suitcases, and one piece of hand luggage to manoeuvre off the ship. But, if it's the difference between making our flight and missing it, I'll strap the suitcases to my back if necessary!! :eek:

 

Any seasoned cruisers out there able to give me some advice please? I have no idea what happens when they take your cases away the night before and how long it takes to get them back when you disembark?

 

Thanks, Gillian x

[whataboutport]

I agree that for the most part it's safe to leave your luggage outside that last night with your clothes. But there are some of us who have expensive clothes or hard to find/vintage/one of a kind stuff that would be pretty upset if it went missing. I can't fit my gown, my heels, my fancy (ie expensive) handbag with everything else that I need to in just my carry on. So pack as light as you can, and carry off the luggage yourself. I really hated having to search for my luggage in the terminal afterwards.

[notentirelynormal]

I am about to go on my first cruise on 21st October and I'm slightly concerned about the disembarking/luggage procedures. There is only one flight a day I can get back to Scotland so it's crucial I am off the ship by 7.15am at the latest and the the ship docks apparently at 5am. Should I insist on keeping my luggage with me the night before so it comes off with us? That won't be easy physically, as I'm travelling alone and will have a 3 year old, his stroller, 2 suitcases, and one piece of hand luggage to manoeuvre off the ship. But, if it's the difference between making our flight and missing it, I'll strap the suitcases to my back if necessary!! :eek:

 

Any seasoned cruisers out there able to give me some advice please? I have no idea what happens when they take your cases away the night before and how long it takes to get them back when you disembark?

 

Thanks, Gillian x

 

I'm not going to offer you a lot of advice but chances are slim to none that you will be off the ship by 7:15. Then YOU and only you must carry everything off yourself. The staff will not help you.so 3 pieces of luggage, a stroller and a kid. Maybe you could have the kid walk and stack everything on the stroller, I don't know. But it is very doubtful that the ship will be cleared and you get through customs/immigration by 7:15. Book the flight for the next day.... it's the one you will be taking anyway.

[$hip$hape]

I'm not going to offer you a lot of advice but chances are slim to none that you will be off the ship by 7:15. Then YOU and only you must carry everything off yourself. The staff will not help you.so 3 pieces of luggage, a stroller and a kid. Maybe you could have the kid walk and stack everything on the stroller, I don't know. But it is very doubtful that the ship will be cleared and you get through customs/immigration by 7:15.

Book the flight for the next day.... it's the one you will be taking anyway.

It's a shame you NOW have to worry !

How did you get in to this situation ?

Edited October 4, 2013 by $hip$hape