Why early disembarkation?

[Hlitner]

If folks could wait in their cabin, I think there would be a lot less anxiety for getting off the ship as soon as possible. We got to experience a relaxed wait once when we booked a suite. But once passengers are forced out of their cabin into crowed waiting areas, the experience is more like being part of a herd of cattle rather than a final great cruise experience. It's normal for humans to want to get away from that environment as fast as possible.

 

Burt

 

Some cruise lines, such as HAL, do encourage folks to remain in their cabin. HAL even has room service breakfast on embarkation mornings, which is a nice option. As to those who say, "there is nowhere to sit".... that is a ridiculous comment. The entire pool deck is nearly empty on embarkation day. We generally relax on that deck, sip our coffee, read our Kindles, etc. until after 9:30. Eventually we just stroll off the near empty ship and through the near empty terminal. Those that claim they run into long lines in the terminal have simply walked off the ship too early.

 

Folks have paid to be on the ship....and yet cannot wait to get off! Even after having spent well over 1000 days on cruise ships, we prefer to take our time and relax on that last morning. I guess we just love being on ships....and prefer to enjoy every minute. We do encourage everyone else to get off early, as this makes things better for us :).

Edited December 28, 2016 by Hlitner

[Blondilu]

I live on the west coast and have to fly or drive up to 12 hours to a port, so I don't personally think it matters. Wait on the ship or not it's still either a flight or a very long drive home. I always get home when I thought I was going to.

 

So, I might as well wait on the ship. At least it's comfortable. Then on to the airport for more waiting. Speaking of which, I've always wondered why a place that requires so much waiting is designed to be the least comfortable place in the world to wait?

[TracieABD]

If I can catch the early flight out of FLL- I can be at work by noon- then I only have to take a half day. Easy Peasy!

[MrsPete]

Reasons to hurry and disembark:

 

- If you get up and OUT fast, you can literally walk straight off the ship without encountering lines -- straight to Customs, to the car, out of the lot and on the interstate by 7:30; whereas, if you poke along and leave 9:00ish, you're with the crowd, and you'll waste time in line.

 

- Aside from breakfast, the ship is essentially "closed for business" on disembarkation day. You cannot really hang out by the pool or in a bar. You're out of your room. So hanging around is really not all that much fun.

 

- We drive to the port, and it's about eight hours. If we hurry and get this long drive started, we can be home by dinner and have a few hours to relax ... before returning to work the next day. If we arrive home late at night, going to work the next day is miserable.

[Cruisin' Chick]

We will be driving from New Orleans to Nashville when we get off the Dream on the 15th, so we plan to do self assist so we can be on our way as soon as possible. I kind of think it's rude for stragglers to hang around on the ship when the crew is trying to clean and get ready for the next passengers. I wouldn't want to be that kind of passenger.

 

On Princess, passengers are assigned to a lounge (with plenty of room, BTW) to wait until "silent disembarkation," in which the color groups are announced only in the lounge where that group was assigned. So one isn't in the way of the cabin staff.

 

we have never done self-assist and I would rather we don't. I think it's more relaxing to wait until many passengers have already gotten off the ship.

 

Most of our cruises have been out of our home port and that's just an hour's drive. By waiting, we often miss some of rush hour traffic (even on weekends there could be plenty of traffic going north on the 405 in LA). We get home in plenty of time to pick up our vacation mail, start laundry, start unpacking.

 

And for the few times we've disembarked a distance from home, we try to stay at least a day or two post-cruise so we're not rushing to the airport. the one time we flew out the same day, it was a good decision as we just missed a hurricane hitting Miami just hours after we left. We don't always go on vacation every year (and while we were working -- by the time I started cruising -- we were able to arrange our time off so we had that extra day before and day after; else, we don't go). Now, we're retired, so easier, but since then, our trips were road trips to visit our girl while she was away at college.

 

Personally, I don't want to have to carry our luggage off the ship just to do self-embark. So waiting until our color is called (and not switching to an earlier group), means much of the luggage has been picked up and makes it easier to get a porter and cart. And not get in the way of someone who had booked an early flight.

[SPacificbound]

We prefer later, we have no reason to hurry.

[Hlitner]

Reasons to hurry and disembark:

 

- If you get up and OUT fast, you can literally walk straight off the ship without encountering lines -- straight to Customs, to the car, out of the lot and on the interstate by 7:30; whereas, if you poke along and leave 9:00ish, you're with the crowd, and you'll waste time in line.

 

- Aside from breakfast, the ship is essentially "closed for business" on disembarkation day. You cannot really hang out by the pool or in a bar. You're out of your room. So hanging around is really not all that much fun.

 

- We drive to the port, and it's about eight hours. If we hurry and get this long drive started, we can be home by dinner and have a few hours to relax ... before returning to work the next day. If we arrive home late at night, going to work the next day is miserable.

 

Hate to quibble but you are not totally correct. Yes, you can hang out by the pool (we have done it on dozens of cruises) or in a public area not used for disembarkation (like an upper level bar). While a lot of the ship is essentially shut down for cleaning, there are things open such as the Lido to get coffee/tea. Keep in mind that on most cruises there are back-to-back cruises for which this is simply another day....so nobody really gets concerned if you "hang out" on the pool deck. At some point (usually between 9:30 and 10:00) they do want to get everyone off the ship (this is necessary in US Ports) and they will make a shipwide announcement to this effect.

 

There are actually some cruise lines that have even started to profit from folks who want to stay aboard even later by charging a fee for late departure and even lunch. We have seen this done in foreign ports (where they do not have the "zero out" procedure required in US Ports). Personally, we love to see everyone rushing to get off the ship since the pool area stays very quiet and peaceful. Sometimes we will look over the side to get some indication of how things seem to be progressing. DW and I have probably been among the last to leave ships in many ports and on those days we never work up a sweat or have the hassles that one encounters trying to get off a ship with thousands of others.

 

Is this kind of debarkation for everyone? Of course not. But it is an option for those of us who prefer not to rush rush rush...and prefer to extend our time on the ship and enjoy the last few hours aboard. We spend over 6 months a year in travel mode...and have long looked for ways to reduce the anxiety and hassles involved with travel, Too many come home from vacations needing a vacation :). We try not to be in that category..although we now consider every day a vacation.

 

Hank

Edited December 29, 2016 by Hlitner

[calliopecruiser]

I find there are actually fewer lines with getting off the ship early......pick up my bag and move easily through customs, then on to my next thing (which might be a local hotel, renting a car, or the airport).

 

Once my bags are packed and outside my cabin the night before, I consider my vacation on the ship is packed up and finished. No point in lingering......time to move on.

 

 

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[BruceMuzz]

An increasing percentage of cruisers can just barely afford to take a cruise.

In order to make cruising possible, some are forced to cut corners:

 

--Drive instead of fly to the port.

--Arrive the same day to avoid paying hotel costs.

--Take the earlier, cheaper flights to the port and home again.

 

Getting off the ship early on the final day makes these things a bit easier.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Having so few choices of flights, we prefer to arrive at the embarkation port 2 or 3 days early. Thus we like to be among the first on the ship.

At the end of the cruise, we have no choice but to stay at a hotel before flying home as our first flight is usually around 7 - 7:30 AM. Thus we are in no rush to get to the hotel.

[Beachdude]

An increasing percentage of cruisers can just barely afford to take a cruise.

In order to make cruising possible, some are forced to cut corners:

 

--

 

I think you are right. I remember once as we were walking to our taxi that was taking us to the ship, a group of elderly couples heading to the same ship were complaining about the slow hotel shuttles. Seems they had been waiting in line for at least an hour. One man pointed at me and suggested they take a taxi, but the others bulked at the expensive $10 cost. That is when it occurred to me that many passengers today are watching every nickel.

 

Burt