Walk off vs standard disembarkment

[mrsgthatsme]

We are new to Princess and wondering about the pros and cons of doing walk off disembarkment. We will be on the Emerald from Port Everglades and our flight leaves at 11:45. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing it each way? Thanks!

[azbirdmom]

We are new to Princess and wondering about the pros and cons of doing walk off disembarkment. We will be on the Emerald from Port Everglades and our flight leaves at 11:45. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing it each way? Thanks!

 

If you can manage to carry all of your own luggage yourself and have a need to be one of the first off the ship, then by all means do walk off. If you are leaving from FLL though, with a flight time of 11:45, you will make it in plenty of time doing the standard disembarkation.

[fishywood]

You have plenty of time to have a leisurely breakfast and avoid the scrum of people needing to be the first ones off and dragging heavy suitcases down the gangway. As long as you enter your flight information into the Cruise Personalizer you will be assigned a disembarkation group that will give you plenty time to claim your bags, go through immigration and catch a ride to the airport.

 

How were you planning to get to the airport? Taxi? Booked private shuttle? Princess transfer? (the expense of the latter really not necessary in Ft Lauderdale)

 

I almost forgot...as your flight is after 11:30 you also have the option of EZ Check which will transport your bags directly from the ship to your flight (assuming a domestic flight on a participating airline) though you must leave them out for collection the night before.

[tml1230]

i guess we are part of "the scrum of people needing to be the first ones off and dragging heavy suitcases down the gangway."

 

Some folks need to catch a earlier flight, some need to go to work, there are a host of other reasons people like the early off option.

 

For us, the only "depressing" (not sure what the right word is) time of a cruise is the morning of disembarkation. the sooner we can get off the ship the less "depressed" we are. I suspect others feel the same as we, do given the large numbers of folks that use this method.

We absolutely LOVE the self D. process….you don't put your luggage out the night before ,which we find convenient. we always have time for breakfast (although it is earlier). Finally For us i would rather sit at the airport earlier waiting for a flight than stuck on Interstate 595 after a traffic crash that just occurred ... waiting to get to the airport for my flight.

 

All this assumes you can handle the luggage with absolutely no help.

 

Have a great cruise!

[csk]

we usually do the walk off with our luggage, we only have one bag per person, and it is easy to handle, what always amazes me is people with two or three bags each and a couple of small children trying to get off and holds up the lines, not to mention how unsafe this is.

 

Please only do walk offs with luggage you can handle, make it safe for yourself and others!

[moki'smommy]

The basic issue is that if you can handle all of your luggage yourself, all the way from your cabin on the ship to your transportation, you can do the self disembarkation. The advantage is that you can get off the ship when you choose to rather than at an assigned time. You also have all your stuff with you the night before so you won't have to do final packing until early in the morning.

 

If you choose to do the standard, you'll place the bags out the night before and they will "meet" you in the terminal. They will be placed in a relatively small area that is color coded, but it might take you a few minutes to find your bag. You WILL need to disembark at your assigned time--there is not enough space to place all the bags in the terminal so they are lined up based on the disembarkation order. Cut the line or attempt to get off before your group is called...fine, you'll get off. But your luggage won't be off yet! Your assigned time is based on the transportation info you supply and will be in plenty of time. You'll get the info in your cabin a day or two ahead. If you don't like it, you can have it changed at Guest Services.

[CineGraphic]

We've opted to self disembark for our last two cruises, and love it, although we walk off when we are ready, not at the assigned time. We simply ask our steward if it's OK for us to leave our luggage in our room while we have a leisurely breakfast, with the promise to be out of our room by 9 or 9:30, instead of the 6:45 assigned time. As I ask our steward, I'm slipping him an extra gratuity. My wife and I then enjoy our last breakfast on board, skip the holding area, and walk off on our own.

[moki'smommy]

We've opted to self disembark for our last two cruises, and love it, although we walk off when we are ready, not at the assigned time. We simply ask our steward if it's OK for us to leave our luggage in our room while we have a leisurely breakfast, with the promise to be out of our room by 9 or 9:30, instead of the 6:45 assigned time. As I ask our steward, I'm slipping him an extra gratuity. My wife and I then enjoy our last breakfast on board, skip the holding area, and walk off on our own.

 

What is this 6:45 assigned time? On our recent cruise, the instructions were that all cabins needed to be vacated by 8:00. I've never heard of the earlier time on ANY cruise line. The earliest I've seen was "when you go to breakfast," and there were indeed 6:45 breakfast times.

 

Yes, your steward may allow you to leave your packed bags in the room, but you do need to be aware that the door may be propped open in order for the changeover to proceed smoothly. On changeover day is isn't done one room at a time. It is more like they go in and get all the bed linens out, then all the trash, then proceed to their next step

[fishywood]

What is this 6:45 assigned time? On our recent cruise' date=' the instructions were that all cabins needed to be vacated by 8:00. I've never heard of the earlier time on ANY cruise line. The earliest I've seen was "when you go to breakfast," and there were indeed 6:45 breakfast times.

 

[/quote']

 

I gather that 6:45 was the designated time for those who signed up for express walk off to report to the assigned waiting area. Some ships stagger the walk-off times, some require all to report early. Either way for anyone who does not need to be one of the first ones off to sign up for self-disembarkation is very selfish IMHO. It has never taken me more that a minute and a half to find my bags in the terminal--how flippin' difficult is it to simply request the color tags for the time you wish to disembark and then put your bags in the hall after dinner the night before? All the ships know that most people who sign up for express walk-off do so just to buck the system; it should be mandatory to document a legitimate need to be one of the first ones off the ship, or else prohibited to bring full-size cases in the dining areas or lounges disembarkation morning, with penalty of confiscation until last persons are off the ship. [/rant]

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes, we have had walk off times starting at 6:50 and every 10 minutes after that. Its worked very well.

[Steelers36]

I gather that 6:45 was the designated time for those who signed up for express walk off to report to the assigned waiting area. Some ships stagger the walk-off times, some require all to report early. Either way for anyone who does not need to be one of the first ones off to sign up for self-disembarkation is very selfish IMHO. It has never taken me more that a minute and a half to find my bags in the terminal--how flippin' difficult is it to simply request the color tags for the time you wish to disembark and then put your bags in the hall after dinner the night before? All the ships know that most people who sign up for express walk-off do so just to buck the system; it should be mandatory to document a legitimate need to be one of the first ones off the ship, or else prohibited to bring full-size cases in the dining areas or lounges disembarkation morning, with penalty of confiscation until last persons are off the ship. [/rant]

 

Yes, Princess seems to only have early ("Express") walk-offs. We just put in for a time we think we are going to disembark. It doesn't matter about the tags or color for us as we only have carry-on (so we are not plugging up elevators, seating areas, etc).

 

So, we are technically Walk-Off's, but we choose our own time to do so and don't take up spaces in the early slots.

 

Folks, just because you pick a certain disembark group doesn't mean you have to use the luggage tags. But I do agree folks should be reasonable and not lug around a bunch of large bags all morning.

[Steelers36]

Yes, we have had walk off times starting at 6:50 and every 10 minutes after that. Its worked very well.

 

With the new 6:00am official arrival time back at Port Everglades, there are walk-offs scheduled shortly after 6:00am now. Ouch!!

 

I like the idea that previously impossible early flights out of FLL now become possible.

[2pbears]

One thing to bear in mind when considering self-disembarking, when they say you must be able to manage all of your luggage by yourself that means you should also be able to manage taking all of your luggage down flights of stairs if no elevators are available. Our experience during disembarkation has been that the elevators are usually so jammed up that in order to avoid standing and waiting for an elevator that has space available we often just walk down.

[moki'smommy]

or else prohibited to bring full-size cases in the dining areas or lounges disembarkation morning, [/rant]

 

This I totally agree with. If you need to do early self disembarkation, you should be gone from the ship before the rest of us are at breakfast. If you don't need the early disembarkation time, just put your bags out the night before. If there is some need to keep your large bag with you, there is NO need for you to inconvenience other passengers with it. It should have to be kept out of the dining room.

 

I have, however been mentally dealing with a possible issue. A member of my family has a medical situation and may well be requiring a piece of equipment that will not fit in a carry on. IF it becomes needed, I haven't come up with a solution other than keeping one suitcase with us on the last night (groan). I don't like that idea, but so far haven't come up with anything else. I do realize that this sort of problem would involve very few cabins on a ship, but it may become an issue for us. The other point is that we don't like placing any medical equipment in a bag that needs to be checked, but that's an airline problem not a ship problem.

[Loonbeam]

Here's the problem with saying you are self-disembarking but not going at those times.

 

The times are staggered to keep a steady flow of people off the ship, through security and customs. Lets say 200 per 15 mins (3000 pax ship, 3.5 hour departure window on average). That's already a tough number to hit.

 

If you sign up for self-debark and are assigned 7:00 AM, you are counted in that particular 200 block. Lets say 30 people decide they don't like that time.. So now, only 170 leave the ship. The problem is, now the later blocks, which have no space, have to accommodate those extra 30 people. Now repeat this for each 15 min block.

 

So what you have is people streaming easily off the ship early, but as the non-express people start piling up in their block, now you have 210, or 220, or 230... Which starts a domino effect so by the late times, lines are around the entire deck.

 

It's like TD diners who decide to eat in AD one night without clearance from the MD/HW. May not realize it, but it does have repercussions for other cruisers, because you are not the only one doing so.

 

What Princess should do is what Disney does with fastpass. Have 2 lines, one you can only enter during a set time, then standby which feeds in between them. Miss your scheduled time/call, go wait in standby. That would be fair, just hard to do with space.

[Cruise Raider]

Here's the problem with saying you are self-disembarking but not going at those times.

 

The times are staggered to keep a steady flow of people off the ship, through security and customs. Lets say 200 per 15 mins (3000 pax ship, 3.5 hour departure window on average). That's already a tough number to hit.

 

If you sign up for self-debark and are assigned 7:00 AM, you are counted in that particular 200 block. Lets say 30 people decide they don't like that time.. So now, only 170 leave the ship. The problem is, now the later blocks, which have no space, have to accommodate those extra 30 people. Now repeat this for each 15 min block.

 

So what you have is people streaming easily off the ship early, but as the non-express people start piling up in their block, now you have 210, or 220, or 230... Which starts a domino effect so by the late times, lines are around the entire deck.

 

It's like TD diners who decide to eat in AD one night without clearance from the MD/HW. May not realize it, but it does have repercussions for other cruisers, because you are not the only one doing so.

 

What Princess should do is what Disney does with fastpass. Have 2 lines, one you can only enter during a set time, then standby which feeds in between them. Miss your scheduled time/call, go wait in standby. That would be fair, just hard to do with space.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. You took the words right out of my mouth! Why not just sign up for the time when you want to disembark instead of throwing a wrench into an already complicated situation?

[moki'smommy]

We found it very easy to change our assigned time. All it took was a trip to GS. She asked what our flight time was--I told her and she agreed that a later departure made more sense. After the change, we only waited 2 hours at the airport instead of 4.

 

Obviously, when we made the change we were handed a new luggage tag. She seemed quite surprised that we only had one bag for the cabin, but my logic is to not travel with more than I can handle alone if necessary.

Edited January 13, 2016 by moki'smommy

[CineGraphic]

Wow, I never expected to be judged and called selfish by clueless individuals because I prefer to walk off with my own bags. We choose express walk-off, not due to the time, but because it's easier for us. I can assure those who weren't there and feel that they have the right to judge, that we didn't inconvenience anyone.

[Seafoam Green]

The EZ Check program is really great. Putting your bags out the night before and meeting them at your final destination is wonderful. The $20 per bag charge is worth it.

 

:D

[Loonbeam]

Given I've worked on the software that handles disembarkation staging and assuming you mean me, not clueless at all. I know exactly how the system was designed and intended to work and things that disrupt it.

 

Also, individual cruisers who choose to ignore times won't necessarily see the impact they cause, because they are not going to notice group X being called 30 mins later than scheduled. Not their group. But trust me, when disembarking the Royal, the staff was basically telling everyone in line the reason we were 45 mins behind was because people were showing up later than scheduled. Didn't matter to us, we were driving, but people with flights were getting antsy. We were second to last departure group and in addition to being called 30 mins late stood in line for about 40-45 mins to get to customs (which was also backed up).

 

The system can absorb a few people switching times, but its never just a few. There were at least a few people with luggage in hand in front of us just where I could see.

 

That said, I am not saying people are intending to be selfish or disruptive. I'm trying to point out that actions have potential consequences for others that they may not be aware of, and knowing what the impact is might make different choices.

 

 

 

Wow, I never expected to be judged and called selfish by clueless individuals because I prefer to walk off with my own bags. We choose express walk-off, not due to the time, but because it's easier for us. I can assure those who weren't there and feel that they have the right to judge, that we didn't inconvenience anyone.

[Happy2cruise]

The EZ Check program is really great. Putting your bags out the night before and meeting them at your final destination is wonderful. The $20 per bag charge is worth it.

 

:D

Totally agree! It makes disembarkation so much easier with no bags to lug and no lines at airport to check them in or get your boarding pass:D

[Potstech]

I gather that 6:45 was the designated time for those who signed up for express walk off to report to the assigned waiting area. Some ships stagger the walk-off times, some require all to report early. Either way for anyone who does not need to be one of the first ones off to sign up for self-disembarkation is very selfish IMHO. It has never taken me more that a minute and a half to find my bags in the terminal--how flippin' difficult is it to simply request the color tags for the time you wish to disembark and then put your bags in the hall after dinner the night before? All the ships know that most people who sign up for express walk-off do so just to buck the system; it should be mandatory to document a legitimate need to be one of the first ones off the ship, or else prohibited to bring full-size cases in the dining areas or lounges disembarkation morning, with penalty of confiscation until last persons are off the ship. [/rant]

 

 

Wow can not see any of that happening anytime soon. First of all who gets to determine what a "legitimate" reason is to do a self disembark? So most f the people just do it to "buck" the system, in your opinion? Sounds like someone has had a bad rxperience a time or two?

[RocketMan275]

Wow can not see any of that happening anytime soon. First of all who gets to determine what a "legitimate" reason is to do a self disembark? So most f the people just do it to "buck" the system, in your opinion? Sounds like someone has had a bad rxperience a time or two?

 

Good point. We drive to the port so some may say we do not have a good reason to walk off. We believe we do have since we're facing a 14 hour drive. Our last cruise on Regal, we were in our car on the interstate by 0715. Didn't get home till almost 2200.

[Europeantraveler1]

My husband and I accumulated points (over the past couple of years) on our MileagePlus Explorer card and naturally, I wanted to apply those points to our airline ticket purchases to and from Ft. Lauderdale for our upcoming cruise. I didn't realize until recently that I might have been "safer" choosing a later, afternoon flight time out of Ft. Lauderdale airport on the day of disembarkation. As it is, our flight departs at 10:10am. Changing our flight now to a later flight would cost us around $684. So, I called Princess and the rep said we should use the "Express Walkoff" option (once onboard we'd need to make these arrangements). She didn't think we'd encounter any problems-although there are exceptions-and mentioned that the airport is "just around the corner" from the port. Our ship docks at 6am and we wouldn't hesitate to leave the ship at 6:05 if we could-even if it meant we'd be sitting at the airport for several hours until our flight time. We need to make that flight! But I checked the U.S. Customs website and it states their hours are 8am-12. Has anyone out there gone through customs any earlier at Port Everglades? Thank you!!

[Gwendy]

Good point. We drive to the port so some may say we do not have a good reason to walk off. We believe we do have since we're facing a 14 hour drive. Our last cruise on Regal, we were in our car on the interstate by 0715. Didn't get home till almost 2200.

I have done walk offs a couple of times and on a couple of different companies. I never even thought of doing it to buck the system, I just wanted to be off early and spend more time in a new place. When I am in my home port, or have a pm flight booked really don't care when I get off. I feel like a rebel now, I know I am just bucking the system! They offer it, you can take it or leave it. Each to their own