Which is best for you (Bags outside cabin last night OR self assist)?

[Sun 4-ever]

Let's be nice folks. We usually carry our own luggage off unless it's a long cruise and we have more then one suitcase each.

 

 

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[marco]

We always do the self assist walk off when we sail from Fla port as we're snowbirtds and always drive to the port.. We pack late the last night, and everything is in the one roll-about piece of luggage. We don't have to have an additional overnight carry-on for what we need for that last night. There's never that off chance whereby we forgot to leave something out and it' was packed in the bag that's long gone. We don't have to search around under the color coded signs looking for luggage. We've never had to wait to get off. When we get to meeting point where we're supposed to assemble at, as soon as we arrive, we're told to proceed off (and that assembling point seems to always be on the deck of and closest to the gang way) We don't have to go sit in a lounge waiting for our turn to get off and then go up or down decks with a crowd of people all maneuvering with hand luggage. And the most important reason (for us, anyway) is that there are way fewer people in the terminal and our "exit' from the terminal is much, much more effortless and expedient.. From walking off the gangway to being in our car driving away, it's about 10 minutes. And if you're one of the last to get off, you sometimes start to run into those who must be the first ones on who are already starting to arrive way too early for the next sailing and adding more congestion at the terminal.

[navybankerteacher]

Because we do not generally sail on brief itineraries, 10 days being essentially the minimum, we generally spend a few days visiting or traveling in or near the port(s), we do not want to spend time washing our underwear and socks every couple of days, and have no interest in trying to live several weeks out of carry-ons - we have more luggage than can be comfortably handled. That means we have one or two bags out in the hall and a small carry-on each to tote off -as late as possible on debarkation day.

[Hlitner]

I will take another shot at this topic and try to be completely fair and balanced. Traditionally, we generally prefer to be the last off the ship (we are paying to be on a cruise ship....not to leave early) and that has worked well for us over more then 40 years of cruising on lots of lines. By being among the last, we can relax that last morning, take our time with breakfast, relax in a deck chair until around 9:30...and then simply walk off the ship, grab our luggage, and away we go. No fighting for elevators, no big lines, crowds, etc.

 

But this past December, when docking in the Port of Miami on the Eclipse we decided to try express debarkation...since so many here on CC praise the system. On Celebrity they specify a meeting place...which happened to be the MDR (lower level). We were to be there by 6:15am which meant getting up about an hour earlier then our norm....grabbing a quick breakfast....and then the fun. We had to get from a higher deck ( 11 ) to deck 3 (our meeting point). But being on deck 11 with a few passenger decks above...it was impossible to get an elevator at around 6:15 am. There were hundreds trying to get off with their luggage and fighting for an elevator place. So DW managed to squeeze onto an elevator and I walked from deck 11 to deck 3 carrying 2 pieces of luggage (one of which was about 50 pounds).

 

When we finally arrived at the MDR about 6:20 it was wall to wall people. Folks were tripping over each other's luggage as they crammed into a small section of the MDR. We managed to find some seats and just sat to relax. At about 6:50 they announced that we could all leave...which mean several hundred people (all carrying and rolling luggage) leaving at the same time to go through two lines. It was bedlam as folks crowded, bumped others with their luggage, etc. We managed to fight our way off in about 10 minutes and then used our Global Entry cards to be guided to the front of the line...which moved us ahead of well over 200 people. We were out of the terminal about 7:20 having spent a pretty lousy hour fighting crowds, dragging luggage from deck 11 to deck 3 (and working up a sweat) and then fighting more crowds!

 

Now, I can understand doing this express debarkation if one has an early flight....but simply do not understand the attraction if one does not have to be somewhere early in the day. When we leave the ship at at 9:30 - 9:45 we do not have to wait for an elevator, fight crowds (they are all gone) or drag our luggage (it is waiting for us in the terminal). Personally I do prefer to be among the first to board a ship...and the last to leave. We love to cruise, love being on ships, and prefer to maximize our time on a ship...not rush off! DW summed it up well by wondering why folks look forward to going on a cruise ship...but then want to get off as soon as possible.

 

Hank

[iancal]

We do self debarkation.

 

We don't need to first off. We take our time, have breakfast and sometimes go topside to enjoy the view (depending on the port). MDR is typically not very busy at 8:30 which is a plus.

 

We both only have 20' carry on rollers so we pick our times based on our plans for the day. Quite often it is later than earlier because we invariably have post cruise independent travel.

[Hlitner]

We do self debarkation.

 

We don't need to first off. We take our time, have breakfast and sometimes go topside to enjoy the view (depending on the port). MDR is typically not very busy at 8:30 which is a plus.

 

We both only have 20' carry on rollers so we pick our times based on our plans for the day. Quite often it is later than earlier because we invariably have post cruise independent travel.

 

We would likely follow your lead except that DW and I are "heavy" packers. On most cruises we have 2 or 3 large bags (often about 50 pounds each) plus our 2 carry-ons. We do understand its shameful... but tis our tradition.

 

Hank

[iancal]

Each to their own.

 

Sometimes, when we are packing for a long trip, often 8-12 weeks, DW will regret that she has limited herself. But after the first week, sometimes the second she invariably says that she is so glad that she does carry on only. Especially if we miss an air connection (first question on rebooking that gets asked is do you have any checked bags) or have to carry our bags up two or even three floors in a hotel or B&B, climb on to rail coaches and reach the overheads, climb over the decks of one or two ferries to reach the ferry that we need to be on.

 

It is certainly not for everyone but it suits us. If we were only doing a cruise I suspect that we would pack more. But this is never the case for us. We may do cruise but it will usually account for a small percentage of our actual travel duration. And quite often we book cruises after we have actually started our land travels.

 

We don't drag our luggage anywhere. They have two great wheels and each weigh less than 10KG. We often see cruisers with more carry on luggage on a cruise than the total amount of luggage that we would take for an extended trip. Courtesy to others during debarkation is not a function of luggage but rather how one travels with that luggage. We don't rush off, but when our cruise is over we want to get on with our day just in the same manner that people line up to get off the ship on a port day.

Edited May 16, 2017 by iancal

[SmoothFlying]

If we are on a short cruise and only need a couple of small cases we take it off ourselves. Much quicker than the free for all that often goes on in the reclaim hall. Don't know if it's true or not but I've heard stories of peoples baggage going missing and their insurance company wouldn't pay out because the bags were left outside the cabin unattended where anyone can walk off with them.

 

 

While not 'gone missing' completely, we did have one of our bags, well, let's say it decided ' Oh, I don't like THIS ZONE ( It was SUPPOSED to be in Zone 7) I think I'll just 'stroll' over here to Zone 11 and hide and giggle, then let 'em hunt for awhile..' Of course we finally found that rascally bag, admonished it with a shaking finger and dragged it to customs. BAGS !!? What'cha gonna do with 'em?? :) Of course, we SHOULD have spotted it right off, after all, it WAS a black carry-on ! (w/ a pink bow, I might add) LOL !

 

Mac

[donnatello]

We've been cruising for many years, long before they ever thought of "self walk-off". We've done it that past few cruises and find it the quickest, easiest, least hassle, most efficient, and least congested. It's rarely more than 5 minutes from walking down the gangway to being out of the terminal. There's virtually no one at customs or in the terminal when we exit and we're outa' there in no time. We won't ever sit around and wait, then queue up to get off, search for bags wait in line for customs and then get caught up in a myriad of people in the terminal. But...l "to each their own" and "who am I to judge". Do what's best FOR YOU!!!!!

[Warm Breezes]

I surely don't want to start a 'feud'.:) Because up till out last cruise (March/2017) we've always done the 'self' thingee,. But this March we though, 'What the heck, we've got an extra day to get home, let's be wild and crazy and just leave the 2 bags outside the last night, keeping our important items-i.e. meds,paper work, passport, documents for ICE and toiletries with us in the carryon. And if debarking hadn't been pushed back an hour because of mechanical problems with the Port Auth Blg at Port Canaveral, I didn't see where it held us any longer than self assist. Of course we STILL had the long lines, both to get off the ship and passport but it seems like that's a fact of life regardless of which choice you take. Just wondering what the 'peanut gallery' choice and thoughts would be. :)

 

Mac

 

We have done both. It depends on whether or not we are in a hurry to get off the ship. Early flight or long drive in front of us we do self-debark. Late flight or staying a few extra days at the home port then we check the bags the night before.

[helenliz]

Only done 1 cruise, we did self assist as we couldn't see the advantage of not doing so.

 

For embarcation, we met the transfer at the airport and the bags arrived at our cabin later. That made sense to me.

For disembarcation, leaving the bags outside the door would have meant we would still have had to find our bags again at the cruise terminal, then take them (and us) to the bus for the airport transfer. Instead we just walked off the ship with our bags and were on the transfer coach quickly and with barely anyone else around. Meant we settled down to read a book while waiting for the coach to fill.

 

If the transfer had been bags from ship to airport, I could have seen the advantage. As it was, it seemed a lot of being herded about (meet at the theatre at a set time, then go here in groups) instead of pick up bags and walk off with barely a person around to run into.

[benanjerry]

I cruise on Princess ships and often they give you the option of paying $20 and they take your suitcases the night before and get them to the airport and through security for you. You put the cases in the hall at bedtime and never have to deal with them again until you are at your home airport. Worth every penny!