Is it reasonable to have to vacate cabins at 7am on disembarkation?

[Section ThirtyOne]

Just got off a Celebrity cruise last week and didn't find this to be terribly bothersome. And i'm not an early riser by any stretch of the imagination.

[AlibearNS]

Besides we have heard someone who has recently been on the ship told by an officer that 7am is a suggestion.

 

We got off the Silhouette on Sunday. It wasn't a suggestion. It was clearly stated that passengers were requested to vacate cabins no later than 7am. It was repeated on 3 sets of literature we received. I went to reception because I thought the first was a typo. Sadly not.

I understand some who live nearby may not be bothered by this, but those of us with long flights ahead it made the last morning very stressful. We usually eat in the MDR but where were we supposed to put the bags and coats? The buffet, at 6.30, was filling up with people carrying, wheeling flight luggage. It was a horrible experience, and I've sent my feedback to Celebrity.

[neverbeenhere]

Vacate the night before and sleep in the Celebrity Theater or Oceanview Cafe' to save time.

[villauk]

Is 7 AM reasonable? My boss wants me to come in at 6 AM.. it doesn't sound reasonable to ME, but I still do it...... as much as I want to sleep in ;)

 

You're telling me that X is going to pay me if I leave at 7am :rolleyes:?

[richstowe]

Is 7AM reasonable ? Vacating your cabin is not the same as leaving the ship . I'd prefer leaving the cabin later but am more concerned with being "pushed" off the ship earlier .

Here is the more important issue for me , boarding time . I have boarded before noon and delaying departure may end early embarkation .

[catsdinner]

So what do they do to you if you're not out by 7 a.m.?

 

Make you stay on and do it over until you get it right?

[goofysmom99]

I, too, vote against the 07:00 cabin vacating but I do think Celebrity is the one encouraging early boarding with their MDR Concierge lunch from 11:30 - 1:00.

 

I was on the short Silhouette cruise that ended yesterday. I was definitely surprised by the instructions to vacate the cabin by 07:00 but it wasn't the worst disembarkation I've had by any stretch. At least I got off early enough to be on the highway by 07:50, which included having to take a shuttle to the Midport Garage (we departed Pier 25, docked at Pier 18). Just now looked at the Port Everglades ship departures and the Silhouette didn't depart Port Everglades until today @ 11:00. Odd schedule. BTW, the elevators at the Midport weren't in operation either on departure day or yesterday. Because I travel solo, third level parking meant a lot of stairs with a suitcase (didn't know it wasn't operational until I'd parked and then no one to wait with the luggage while the other went up for the car). THAT stunk and was the worst part of the cruise, both coming and going.

 

My last Celebrity cruise was a Fall 2014 TA. This week, I noticed a lot of minor and not so minor changes, none really for the better. Some of my dislikes I can attribute to the general vibe of a Caribbean cruise, but others, such as room condition, some very lax food allergy issues, and the bum's rush to get us off the ship, sit squarely with management and Celebrity's home office. I can safely say, if I didn't already have air arrangements for this year's Reflection TA, I would change. And I'll be jumping-ship, so to speak, and have booked another cruiseline for 2018 TA. DH and I sailed HAL for a decade before coming back to X in 2003; think I'll give them another go, too. It'll be interesting to see how they compare to what I remember (my memory is a big risk). :eek:

[C 2 C]

I was on the short Silhouette cruise that ended yesterday. I was definitely surprised by the instructions to vacate the cabin by 07:00 but it wasn't the worst disembarkation I've had by any stretch. At least I got off early enough to be on the highway by 07:50, which included having to take a shuttle to the Midport Garage (we departed Pier 25, docked at Pier 18). BTW, the elevators at the Midport weren't in operation either on departure day or yesterday. Because I travel solo, third level parking meant a lot of stairs with a suitcase (didn't know it wasn't operational until I'd parked and then no one to wait with the luggage while the other went up for the car). THAT stunk and was the worst part of the cruise, both coming and going.

 

 

We took the shuttle at 8:30 but the elevators were working for us. When we parked our car only 1 elevator was working however, at least 2 when we returned.

 

The line for departing Silhouette on deck 5 wrapped around the ship (seemingly). We could not get from the elevators to our designated lounge but were able to interrupt traffic enough to get from the elevators to Cafe al Bacio while we watched SL disgorge the cargo. ;)

[NemoCrownie]

My first Celebrity cruise is coming up, we've only sailed RCI. On RCI we have never been given a time to vacate our cabin but are given a time and location to meet up for leaving the ship. This all seems really different and not like a step up, to me. RCI only has one cabin attendant, similar boarding and room availability times. Why the difference?

 

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[chamima]

I have a related question to this.

On Princess, if you're on a B2B you can get room service on turnaround morning.

It's a little known fact but I can verify from many experiences that it is definitely policy.

 

Any chance we'll be able to get room service on turnaround morning of our upcoming Eclipse B2B?

It's nice to hide in the cabin with coffee when all of the tumult of people leaving is happening.

[Baron Barracuda]

Maybe they just don't want to spare the cabin space all those extra crew members would occupy?

 

 

Extra staff in housekeeping as well as in the dining venues would go a long way in solving the major sources of complaints that one can read about every day of the week on the boards.

 

bosco

 

Have heard stories they want to free up crew berths for more sales and spa staff. Everyone else is expendable.

[goofysmom99]

We took the shuttle at 8:30 but the elevators were working for us. When we parked our car only 1 elevator was working however, at least 2 when we returned.

 

Hmmmm, I do believe there may be an impish elevator fairy dogging me. ;)

[galensgrl]

Vacate the night before and sleep in the Celebrity Theater or Oceanview Cafe' to save time.

 

Way to be pro-active! Maybe it will make X reconsider that 7am rule when they see what people have to do to make it happen lol Also it's a good way to beat the line at the breakfast buffet on that last day ;) Seriously though, as someone new to X, I'm not thrilled to hear about this as HAL's policy is more people friendly. But - I have always wanted to try X, and this won't make us cancel. And if we like X, it wouldn't stop us from booking again. Small potatoes in the grand scheme of things really. Unlike myself, DH wants to be up and out at the crack of dawn, I tell him he would sleep in his travelling clothes if he thought it would save us a minute or two getting ready. :D So now I am looking forward to everything but getting up at the same time as a work day, on that unfortunate and dreaded last day. :( We will do as we are asked, and we will survive.

[Flafun888]

The BEST thing about this entire thread? I had no idea HAL had such a great policy. :) I never considered them before, but thanks to everyone here, I'll definitely be checking out their website and cc forum to find out more. I was going to book another Celebrity trip when I'm on board this spring. But like the idea of relaxing a bit more on that final day. Hmmm :D

[Hlitner]

But they could easily have on board personnel with other responsibilities help that morning.

On Princess we sometimes use that morning to "check out" cabins we're thinking of cruising in and see personnel in other uniforms in the hall.

 

 

Even without that, why did they used to be able to get the rooms clean and can no longer do it?

(And why can Holland America do it?)

It's obviously a cut back in personnel and, considering we're told that the bulk of their salary comes from tips, this much be major penny-pinching!

 

You think? The crew has their busiest days on turnaround....with nearly everyone having specific tasks. And the crew also have contracts that specify their jobs. Do you really expect an electrician to be changing linens, or perhaps the Staff Captain scrubbing toilets?

 

Turnaround day is like a complex ballet on a ship with everyone pitching in to complete the entire complex process and enable the ship to depart the port on schedule. All the cleaning staff are very busy sanitizing the entire vessel. So wondering where you are going to find "extra" staff?

 

As to HAL, they do it by having their cabin stewards work their rear ends off on turnaround day. On our most recent HAL cruise (28 days Zuiderdam) our stewards were working until nearly midnight (the final night) and were back at work by 6am. It is the day dreaded by stewards...but part of their job. But what amazes us on HAL is the ability to get cabin service/breakfast on that final morning. We have not had this service on some of the higher priced luxury lines.

 

Hank

[Pushka]

Many on this thread have mentioned HAL policy re disembarkation.. As a result I am looking at cancelling a 2018 cruise to Japan on millennium and rebooking on HAL. A 7am exit from the cabins is not on.

[AnOnymously]

Many on this thread have mentioned HAL policy re disembarkation.. As a result I am looking at cancelling a 2018 cruise to Japan on millennium and rebooking on HAL. A 7am exit from the cabins is not on.

For more than this reason I was not going to book Celebrity again and still will not.

 

But I am cheered by the number of people recommending HAL.

 

Will investigate for 2018.:)

[SM2]

It is ridiculous and definitely not reasonable.

[hcat]

I wish LLP would go undercover not to assess staff but as a regular passenger..ocean view or basic balcony.

 

She could then experience the poor website, chaotic boarding, dining issues, not always helpful guest rel, and disembarkation, etc..esp with trying to coordinate flights, hotel etc

 

Ships are the best but that special something is slipping away.

[Pushka]

I wish LLP would go undercover not to assess staff but as a regular passenger..ocean view or basic balcony.

 

 

 

She could then experience the poor website, chaotic boarding, dining issues, not always helpful guest rel, and disembarkation, etc..esp with trying to coordinate flights, hotel etc

 

 

 

Ships are the best but that special something is slipping away.

 

 

On a Princess Diamond cruise last week we were saying that all cruise lines need the equivalent of the 'mystery shopper' so they get to experience the impact of their crazy thought bubbles have on customers and crew.

[cdn_tbird]

Make you stay on and do it over until you get it right?

 

In this case, I'm a slow learner so it's going to take me quite a few tries.:D

[boscobeans]

Well tomorrow we switch our 2018 cruise to HAL. We have sailed them before and as posted enjoyed departure day. Hope their policy doesn't change by then. Discussed it with my wife and getting up at 6 am, even earlier if we want to have something to eat, so our cruise can end on a sour note is not for us.

 

I know our one cruise means nothing to Celebrity but if we could change our upcoming we would as well. I will not get up at 5 or 5:30 on the last day of my vacation in order to eat a relaxed breakfast so we can be out of our room at 7.

 

It has been a good 17 years and am sorry to be leaving. I hope the grass is greener on the other side when I get there.

 

bosco

[Elusive_Cruiser]

This brings up another interesting element, as a staff member - on longer itineraries, you have less turn around days. So, on 7-day cruises, you have the stress day every 7 days, on 14-day... well, you get the point. So, do the more senior staff get the longer itineraries?

[Orator]

It has been a good 17 years and am sorry to be leaving. I hope the grass is greener on the other side when I get there.

 

bosco

 

No greener grass on HAL unless they've added a lawn. Have great cruise experiences on whatever cruiseline you choose.

[WpgCruise]

Well tomorrow we switch our 2018 cruise to HAL.

It has been a good 17 years and am sorry to be leaving. I hope the grass is greener on the other side when I get there. bosco

 

There comes a point where enough is enough and it's time to move on. It seems more and more seasoned Celebrity customers are moving on.

 

We too have reached that point and have an upcoming Oceania cruise next week, replacing our normal winter Celebrity cruise.

 

I hope H.A.L. meets your expectations and you have a great cruise with them.