9:30 am from Southampton too early?

[john watson]

1 hour ago, 9265359 said:

 

Those who want to jump the queue will simply leave whenever they want anyway.

 

 

 

This would not be possible under David63's plan.  The so called queue jumpers are doing this by participating in the traditional leave your luggage outside cabin for crew collection system but then saying they are self-disembarking to exit the ship early and get to the baggage hall first. Under David's system, self-disembarking passengers are ejected straight into the street.

 

Regards John

[9265359]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

This would not be possible under David63's plan.  The so called queue jumpers are doing this by participating in the traditional leave your luggage outside cabin for crew collection system but then saying they are self-disembarking to exit the ship early and get to the baggage hall first. Under David's system, self-disembarking passengers are ejected straight into the street.

 

It would just create more hassle for the staff as such people would simply claim that they had used the wrong exit and would need to be let back into the baggage hall, with arguments ensuing if they were not or were delayed doing so.

 

Controlling people getting onto a ship isn't too difficult. Controlling people getting off is more challenging and relies on people doing 'the right thing'.

 

 

[Neecy1]

5 hours ago, david63 said:

To be honest I have never understood the need to rush to get off the ship at the earliest opportunity rather than in a calm orderly manner.

We self disembarked Iona in 2022. We just wanted to get an early start on our long drive back 'up North'. As it was the journey for some strange reason that day took us almost 8 hours. We disembarked at 7am. Glad we didn't leave it any later.

[david63]

5 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

Controlling people getting off is more challenging and relies on people doing 'the right thing'.

If it is that much of a challenge they why can other cruise lines (including other Carnival brands) do it without the drama that P&O create?

[david63]

1 minute ago, Neecy1 said:

We self disembarked Iona in 2022. We just wanted to get an early start on our long drive back 'up North'. As it was the journey for some strange reason that day took us almost 8 hours. We disembarked at 7am. Glad we didn't leave it any later.

I have a similar distance to travel and an hour either way makes little to no difference. In fact there is an argument that if driving then missing the rush hour/school runs can be quicker.

[Neecy1]

True. Not that particular day though as it was a Saturday. We thought we'd try and get ahead of the shoppers. Not sure what went wrong. Traffic/roadworks everywhere.

[FangedRose]

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

Those who want to jump the queue will simply leave whenever they want anyway.

 

 

No chance. At the moment the slot before normal disembarkation gives those who want to self-disembark (for whatever reason) an opportunity to do so, just they need to do it at that time which virtually all accept - and I would actually bet that a significant number of those few people disembarking with bags during the normal disembarkation are not 'self-disembarking' but new cruisers who simply didn't realise the process of leaving bags outside.

 

And if they did change and said there was no disembarkation with the 'punishment' that if you didn't you had to wait until the end, then it would just be more hassle for the staff as people argued with them.

 

As before, the crew want you gone. If that is done at your allocated time that is great, but if it isn't they still want you gone.

There is no excuse for not knowing the procedure. Letters arrive in your cabin beforehand, there are notices in Horizon. If that wasn't enough not being able to walk down the corridor for luggage would ge a huge clue.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, FangedRose said:

There is no excuse for not knowing the procedure. Letters arrive in your cabin beforehand, there are notices in Horizon. If that wasn't enough not being able to walk down the corridor for luggage would ge a huge clue.

I think it is the way that P&O want you to attend a meeting point and wait there until they say you can disembark. Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean make regular announcements advising when a disembarkation group can leave the ship. This enables passengers to know how disembarkation is progressing and and allows passengers to speed up or slow down their breakfasts, and seems to avoid the mass scrums for the lifts, which are always full, and certainly makes the whole process much less stressful.

[john watson]

4 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

It would just create more hassle for the staff as such people would simply claim that they had used the wrong exit and would need to be let back into the baggage hall, with arguments ensuing if they were not or were delayed doing so.

 

Controlling people getting onto a ship isn't too difficult. Controlling people getting off is more challenging and relies on people doing 'the right thing'.

 

 

 

Once in the street people who want to return to the baggage hall can only do so by going through the security process in the same way that b2b people do. You just need one way doors and have security staff available at the exit  You let people back in after they go to the entrance and go through security checks.

 

Regards John

[john watson]

39 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I think it is the way that P&O want you to attend a meeting point and wait there until they say you can disembark. Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean make regular announcements advising when a disembarkation group can leave the ship. This enables passengers to know how disembarkation is progressing and and allows passengers to speed up or slow down their breakfasts, and seems to avoid the mass scrums for the lifts, which are always full, and certainly makes the whole process much less stressful.

 

Princess have a much larger number of smaller colour groups waiting at specific places. They also have a coloured baggage tag counterfoil to show at the gangway. Announcements are made at the various meeting points and those of that colour group disembark together. The idea is that it prevents everyone waiting at the disembarkation doorway, blocking it but then waiting for your group announcement as it is not audible there.  I think the difference between P&O and Princess is that P&O do not  have a Gatwick early, late Heathrow early, late and people going to Stonehenge, Salisbury on the way to the airport. 

 

Regards John

[9265359]

13 hours ago, david63 said:

If it is that much of a challenge they why can other cruise lines (including other Carnival brands) do it without the drama that P&O create?

 

I have never seen any "drama" on P&O during disembarkation.

 

12 hours ago, FangedRose said:

There is no excuse for not knowing the procedure. Letters arrive in your cabin beforehand, there are notices in Horizon. If that wasn't enough not being able to walk down the corridor for luggage would ge a huge clue.

 

Pretty optimistic thinking that everyone reads the paperwork.

 

9 hours ago, john watson said:

 

Once in the street people who want to return to the baggage hall can only do so by going through the security process in the same way that b2b people do. You just need one way doors and have security staff available at the exit  You let people back in after they go to the entrance and go through security checks.

 

So still hassle for P&O dealing with people who will be arguing with them to be let back through.

 

[FangedRose]

8 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

Pretty optimistic thinking that everyone reads the paperwork.

And not see the luggage in hallways?

[terrierjohn]

9 hours ago, john watson said:

 

Princess have a much larger number of smaller colour groups waiting at specific places. They also have a coloured baggage tag counterfoil to show at the gangway. Announcements are made at the various meeting points and those of that colour group disembark together. The idea is that it prevents everyone waiting at the disembarkation doorway, blocking it but then waiting for your group announcement as it is not audible there.  I think the difference between P&O and Princess is that P&O do not  have a Gatwick early, late Heathrow early, late and people going to Stonehenge, Salisbury on the way to the airport. 

 

Regards John

That's not how we disembarked Sky Princess last June, I agree they do have colour coded disembarkation luggage tags, but there was no meeting points. The instruction was to listen to the announcements and as yours was called, make your way to the gangway. It was a very slick and fast process.

[david63]

35 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

The instruction was to listen to the announcements and as yours was called, make your way to the gangway.

Unfortunately some appear to be hard of hearing so just congregate at the gangway just in case they can get off sooner!

[FangedRose]

Just now, david63 said:

Unfortunately some appear to be hard of hearing so just congregate at the gangway just in case they can get off sooner!

Probably the same people who can't read written instructions! 

[Cruising Nomads]

At one stage P&O did use the colour coded method. Funny that everybody seemed to have the same first colour called. When asked to show proof it was a case of must have packed it or other half has it in their purse/wallet and are further back in the queue.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

Unfortunately some appear to be hard of hearing so just congregate at the gangway just in case they can get off sooner!

Once disembarkation starts, there is, IMHO, no problem in letting people off the ship, and I certainly did not see anyone queueing at the gangway, nor indeed anyone turned away because their coloured tag had not been called. In fact the downside to arriving too early in the baggage hall on ships that do provide fresh baggage tags, is that your row is still full and takes you far longer to find your luggage than disembarking a little later, when it's much easier to spot your suitcases.

[john watson]

3 hours ago, 9265359 said:

 

 

 

 

So still hassle for P&O dealing with people who will be arguing with them to be let back through.

 

The staff in this case are not P&O they are working for the port and implement produres consistent with UK Border Force

 

.Regards John

[john watson]

2 hours ago, david63 said:

Unfortunately some appear to be hard of hearing so just congregate at the gangway just in case they can get off sooner!

 

Some cruise lines announce the group next to disembark quietly in the relevant lounge and have very small coloured gangway passes.  One could wait all day by the gangway not realising you group went twenty minutes ago.

 

Regards John

[AndyMichelle]

On 4/23/2024 at 4:26 PM, MyriamS said:

Now I'm confused because I was told by most people in this thread that I cannot just join a queue to leave the ship. Either I need to self-disembark early, or wait for my normal disembarkation slot (that is assigned to me a couple of days before arrival and that I might not be able to change). 

 

Anyway my earlier post were just suggestions of things that could ease the queues for everyone. It makes sense that self-disembarkation starts before normal disembarkation, but I don't see why it has to end before it. You could have both happening at the same time with no congestion if you would split the queues.

 

It seems you have your wish... 

Express disembarkation is from 7am 'at a time that suits you'... 

Absolutely no mention of a time slot, just as long as you can carry your cases. 

I will try to report back how it works in theory later. 

Andy 

 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

It seems you have your wish... 

Express disembarkation is from 7am 'at a time that suits you'... 

Absolutely no mention of a time slot, just as long as you can carry your cases. 

I will try to report back how it works in theory later. 

Andy 

 

This is interesting. The wording seems to imply that they are now trying to push people towards self (‘express’) disembarkation. Standard disembarkation, which is used by the vast majority, is now prefaced with “if you are unable to carry your own luggage……”. I can see the advantage for P&O of this but, as someone who usually dreads disembarkation morning due to the challenges of getting my wife into a lift with her wheelchair - even when only competing with those with hand luggage - it will be interesting to see if this more relaxed approach to self disembarkation makes this problem worse. 
 

Glad to hear that you had a great cruise Andy. I’d wish you a safe journey home but I know that you are a local lad so will probably be home by the time you read this!

[Angel57]

4 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

This is interesting. The wording seems to imply that they are now trying to push people towards self (‘express’) disembarkation. Standard disembarkation, which is used by the vast majority, is now prefaced with “if you are unable to carry your own luggage……”. I can see the advantage for P&O of this but, as someone who usually dreads disembarkation morning due to the challenges of getting my wife into a lift with her wheelchair - even when only competing with those with hand luggage - it will be interesting to see if this more relaxed approach to self disembarkation makes this problem worse. 
 

Glad to hear that you had a great cruise Andy. I’d wish you a safe journey home but I know that you are a local lad so will probably be home by the time you read this!

I think on 1 week cruises (like Iona ones to Norway) there will be a lot more self-disembarking and therefore possibly clogging up the lifts when wheelchair users need to get in. However on longer cruises when many pax will have more than one case each, I think people will still be putting their luggage out at night.
My guess is that on the many 1 week cruises available now, there have been too many people leaving the ship during a limited time slot and they are therefore stretching that flow of people out.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

[purplesea]

Three weeks ago disembarkation from Arvia was completed quicker than expected.

At about 10 o'clock it was announced that all remaining passengers didn't need to make their way to their allocated venue and could proceed to the gangway.

[majortom10]

31 minutes ago, purplesea said:

Three weeks ago disembarkation from Arvia was completed quicker than expected.

At about 10 o'clock it was announced that all remaining passengers didn't need to make their way to their allocated venue and could proceed to the gangway.

Surprisingly the disembarkation on Arvia on 28th April was shambolic. Late arrival didn't help due to medical emergency and strong head winds across BoB. One thing clearly stated on letter sent to your cabin is that you are expected to vacate cabin by 8am. Your dedicated departure lounge time is given but you cannot go there until 10 minutes prior to stated time. So where do you go for what could be 90+ minutes. People were wandering around aimlessly, sitting on floors in corridors and on stairs so blocking stairway. Spoke to officer at my departure lounge and was not interested at all. When asked where we were supposed to go she said it was not her problem and just shrugged her shoulders with a don't care attitude. I have written to P&O a out this issue which is an H&S issue but had auto reply saying received but not yet had a response.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

It seems you have your wish... 

Express disembarkation is from 7am 'at a time that suits you'... 

Absolutely no mention of a time slot, just as long as you can carry your cases. 

I will try to report back how it works in theory later. 

Andy 

 

I have lots of issues with P&Os standard disembarkation procedure, but in addition to my preference for having luggage arranged in time slots, I think P&Os lack of announcements over the ships intercom is another very weak point. This allows no flexibility at all if things are going well, or indeed if there are delays, as a result many times  I have seen no queues at all at the gangway, whilst the meeting venues are still full. Which is why as a wheelchair pusher I always opt to self disembark rather than wait in the Limelight club for a porter.