Luggage at Disembarkation

[DatawCruiser]

Another rookie question.  Does the luggage have to ready for pick up the night before leaving the ship?  My significant other is freaking out if this is the case.  What is the process?  Thanks.

[Eno-Bob]

37 minutes ago, DatawCruiser said:

Another rookie question.  Does the luggage have to ready for pick up the night before leaving the ship?  My significant other is freaking out if this is the case.  What is the process?  Thanks.

Yes, they will ask you to place your luggage in the hall the night before departure – I believe they want it out by 10 PM.  However, you can keep a hand carry bag with you and carry it off the ship yourself.  They will publish departure instructions which will give you all the information you need, including reminders to make sure you keep and pack all medications and valuables in your hand carry. 

[Got2Cruise]

What we do is pack before dinner on the last night. Figure out what you will be wearing the next day, including shoes, jackets etc., keep all of these items out of your suitcase. Don’t forget your night clothes. 

 

Then after dinner when we get undressed we add our dinner outfits to the packed suitcase and place them outside the door. 

 

Keep a carryon bag in the suite to pack everything still in your cabin the next morning. Don’t forget to check the safe! 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

It works out generally, but takes some planning. I always double-check before locking the cases--do we both have clothing to wear in the morning!

 

But if it's a big issue, you can keep your luggage and wheel it off yourself in the morning.

[DatawCruiser]

Thanks everyone for your fast responses.  I have my answers.

[vegasdriven]

This has got me wondering if maybe we should wheel ours off ourselves as we are disembarking in Miami, and the flight we had originally scheduled for 2:30 pm has been changed to 1:30.

Do you think it will get us going sooner if we have all our luggage with us as we leave the ship. We don't have any issues dragging it along ourselves- we dragged the full load from our hotel in Venice a couple of years back to the port where Windstar leaves from.

It was a bit of an adventure, but fun at the same time🏋️‍😄

Edited November 11, 2018 by vegasdriven

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Miami is somewhat problematic, since there are times when it's slow getting off.  But eliminating the step of finding your bags might save you a few minutes.  I think you'll be okay with 1:30, but every bit helps--Miami airport is often a real zoo.

[vegasdriven]

Thank you, Wendy🙂

[HotRoot]

We will always carry our own luggage off in Miami from now on for any cruise line.  We were on a Regent cruise that disembarked in Miami.  Our bag was not there.  A man asked what it looked like.  I said like that one but that one is not ours.  In error our bag was taken.  I said I would take that one and contact the person and trade bags.  I was told I could not take the bag since it was not mine.  Yet, they let somebody take mine.  The man realized his error, returned to the port, took his bag and left ours.  By then we were at the airport.  We had to pay $200 to have our bag shipped to us.  We contacted Regent and were told once the bags leave the ship, they have no liability.  The port said they had no liability.  To be safe, when in Miami we carry our own bags.  We also got rid of the basic black bag and now have neon colored suitcases.  

[Travelcat2]

If you walk your luggage off of the ship, it does not save you one second of time.  No one can disembark the ship in Miami until every piece of luggage is taken off of the ship and put in the holding area.  I’m not certain if taking your own luggage off in Miami is even permitted as we asked and were told about the union port rules.

 

In our opinion, Miami is the worst port in the U.S.  (in addition to the port issues, according to our driver in Barcelona today, Miami and Barcelona are the busiest ports in the world.). Must say that. Barcelona handles it better than Miami.

 

Just mellow out and have your luggage outside your suite by 11:00 p.m.  We pack a very small toothpaste tube that can be put in the plastic bag in our carry-on luggage.  I also purchase mouthwash in daily packets.  Everything else is easy.  If you forget to put something into your large luggage, when you pick it up, unzip a portion of the case an slip in whatever you need to put in.   

[MalbecWine]

The Miami port can be so chaotic depending on how many ships are in port and the time of day your flight departs.  Ft. Lauderdale is a piece of cake to the airport and the port is easy to get through.

 

As TravelCat mentioned you cannot disembark the ship until it is cleared and all luggage taken off from the hold.

Edited November 12, 2018 by MalbecWine

[rcandkc]

We got off in Miami today and had no problems.  Picked up our 2 bags, got a cab, and went to airport where we waited for hours for our 1:40 flight.  If doing it again we would do it the same.  We wouldn’t schedule earlier flight to be safe for unforeseen issues. 

We were on Navigator so smaller ship. 

Edited November 12, 2018 by rcandkc
Added sentence

[Keith1010]

23 hours ago, vegasdriven said:

This has got me wondering if maybe we should wheel ours off ourselves as we are disembarking in Miami, and the flight we had originally scheduled for 2:30 pm has been changed to 1:30.

Do you think it will get us going sooner if we have all our luggage with us as we leave the ship. We don't have any issues dragging it along ourselves- we dragged the full load from our hotel in Venice a couple of years back to the port where Windstar leaves from.

It was a bit of an adventure, but fun at the same time🏋️‍😄

You have no worries for a 1:30 PM flight.

 

I always recommend booking a flight leaving Miami International Airport for no earlier than Noon just to be on the safe side.  With a 1:30 PM flight you will have lots of time at the airport.  The airport is around 20 minutes from the port.  

 

I know some people don't like Miami (airport or the portl) but personally I prefer the airport over others such as JFK/Laguardia, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles International and I appreciate the port being relatively close to the airport.  However like just about each and every topic we all have different views on it.

 

Again you have no worries with a 1:30 PM flight.  If it was 11:00 AM that would be a different story.

Wishing you a wonderful cruise.

 

Keith