Freedom Self-Disembarkation now 6:15am!!!

[Oren]

Just back from the Freedom of the Seas today and could not believe the new published self-debarkation which now starts at 6:15am. First colors were called at 6:30am. It was still DARK outside when we got off the ship. We even saw other cruise ships just coming into Miami. Got to MIA at record time via plenty of taxis at 7:15am and even took an EARLIER Flight back to LAX at 8:15am instead of 11:15am because we were all with carry-ons. The only bad thing is there is NO time for breakfast if you choose early disembarkation and want to be one of the first off. By the way, mandatory hand sanitizers everywhere there is food and even individual wipes at the table even after you have been sanitized. Everyone was using them.

[CoronaCpl]

Oren, that sounds awesome - except for missing breakfast. Were your bags actually ready that early? Or is this one of those deals you truly "self" disembark (i.e., carry your own bags off)?

 

Wife and I are contemplating Freedom class ship sometime in the next year. Out of curiousity, how did the embarkation go? She believes it would be extremely painful with so many people. Guess it depends on what time you get there and any possible boarding perk you may receive for being a C&A member, if any.

[Oren]

We were not ready to get off that early but were afraid of 4000 people clearing immigration. Since they now start early disembarkation at 6:15am and have a last tag at 10:45am, I believe that the problem of crowds coming off the ship will be eased by spreading people out over a longer time spread. Yes, you have to carry off your own bags and some people with oversized suitcase were having problems through the gangways. We missed breakfast due to the fact that they were already calling tag colors at 6:30am and did not want to get caught in the crowd. Like I said before, it was the FASTEST disembarkation ever.

[Inshape]

We have done self-assist 2 times off Mariner and just left when we wanted to. The nice thing was we picked the time and no waiting for the luggage or no worries about it being left there and us not there to get it! We usually get off at around 9.

[ccxnola]

6:15AM??? That's a good time to be getting to bed after a pleasant and fun filled evening!! I'm one of the LAST off of the ship - I like to make my cruse dollars earn as much as they can!! Yes, a relaxed breakfast about 10:00AM is fine and then just stroll off well after the rush!! Works for me!! :)

[zotzer]

On 12/10, they started calling self-disembark at 6:10. I was at MIA at 6:45!!!

 

Save money, book an early flight, and GET HOME! LOL

 

Frankly, if you opt for self-disembark, get off the ship when they call for you! You don't need to be wandering around clogging the hallways with your bags having breakfast and making a muck of things.

 

That's my personal opinion, but I'm sticking with it. :)

 

T

[nlcentralchmps03]

Glad to hear this.

 

I wonder if it is the same way on other RCI ships?

 

When my cruise is over, then my cruise is over.

 

No reason to stick around. I like to get home as quick as possible.

[maxxboy]

Does it take any longer to go through customs when you self-disembark?

[glentally]

Just back from the Freedom of the Seas today By the way, mandatory hand sanitizers everywhere there is food and even individual wipes at the table even after you have been sanitized. Everyone was using them.

 

Mandatory hand sanitzers? Do they have bathroom police?, not that that would be a bad idea!

 

After you have been sanitzed? Please explain more, this sounds like what you see in the movies when they delice you as you enter a prison.

 

Glen

[Oren]

1)Regarding the hand sanitizers, there were three restaurant workers (including the head waiters) standing at the entrance to the dining room and they quickly squirt a small amount of alcohol onto your hands (yes, everyones hands) which you rub and it evaporates within ten seconds. I think this is GREAT. Our hands did not dry out. Hopefully all cruise ships adopt this.

2)It should be quicker to self disembark since most do not want to hassle with bags. As mentioned before, by streamlining disembarkation by starting earlier, it should thin the lines somewhat, I counted SIX passport officers clearing passengers when we were going through passport control.

[ChristieNJ]

I did the same as InShape...we did self-debarkation and just walked off of Freedom whenever we wanted to. There was a whopping 4 people in front of us to get off the ship, so we hit it perfectly. Just because self-debark STARTS at 6:15 doesn't mean you have to leave at that time. You just have to be out of your room by 8 a.m., but then you can get off whenever you want as long as it's before 10:30 or 10:45.

[zotzer]

Just because self-debark STARTS at 6:15 doesn't mean you have to leave at that time. You just have to be out of your room by 8 a.m., but then you can get off whenever you want as long as it's before 10:30 or 10:45.

 

Actually, the form indicates that the self-disembark window is from when they first announce it to 7:30am. I guess they can't force anyone to go, but the intent is that people walk off early.

 

T

[travellady]

The self disembark on Explorer yesterday started at about 6:30 or so. We were still sleeping but once the announcements started, we couldn't snooze any longer so got up and got ready. My 28 yo sons got white tags for 6:45 and believe me, they were not ready to get up at all. In fact, they mentioned they didn't go to bed until 4. I think they believed they could sleep until 7:55 and clear the cabin by 8 :eek: .

 

Our flight didn't leave Miami until 1:35 so we weren't rushed to get off. But, a number of colors were called up until about 8, and then there was a long lull. When we went at 8, the customs line was extremely long and slow. We finally exited at 9:45.

 

I think many people didnt choose to leave early, even when their colors were called, so it created a traffic jam between 8 and 10.

 

Oh well, disembarkation day is never fun anyway as we are never ready to leave.

[MGoBlue2]

Just back from the Freedom of the Seas today and could not believe the new published self-debarkation which now starts at 6:15am. First colors were called at 6:30am. It was still DARK outside when we got off the ship. We even saw other cruise ships just coming into Miami. Got to MIA at record time via plenty of taxis at 7:15am and even took an EARLIER Flight back to LAX at 8:15am instead of 11:15am because we were all with carry-ons. The only bad thing is there is NO time for breakfast if you choose early disembarkation and want to be one of the first off. By the way, mandatory hand sanitizers everywhere there is food and even individual wipes at the table even after you have been sanitized. Everyone was using them.

Mandatory hand sanitzers? Do they have bathroom police?, not that that would be a bad idea!

 

After you have been sanitzed? Please explain more, this sounds like what you see in the movies when they delice you as you enter a prison.

 

Glen

Last I knew they didn't have food in the bathrooms.

[above sea level cruiser]

Last I knew they didn't have food in the bathrooms.

 

Thank you. That was hilarious!:D

[glentally]

Last I knew they didn't have food in the bathrooms.

 

Excuseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ME! I missed the food part.

 

Oh wise one, where do you think all these problems originate from?

 

Glen

[plarimer]

Just got off the Freedom, too. We had the early 6:15 disembarkation, but took our time finishing up our breakfast and making a correction on our bill. We got off the ship at 7:00 and the longest wait was for the immigration. We went through with a lot of non-americans and so they held up the line. They had two huge moving lines getting off the ships and about 20 immigration officers. There were plenty of taxis and we were at the airport by 8:00 and sitting at our gate. Unfortunately there wasn't a seat available for an earlier flight, so we sat with a plane load of people all getting off of the various cruise ships.

 

From everyone we talked to, we had an easy time of it. Carnival had a new policy where they recommended everyone take their luggage off the shiip and so people were trying to manage big, bulky luggage down the stairwells and just clogging things up. The porters at Carnival didn't have as much work with this method.

 

As for the sanitizing - RCCL was great! Everywhere was the liquid sanitizer or the little packets. Everyone seemed to using them -kids, too! It was not a bother and the RCCL people handled it with a smile on their face.

[swimsimcoe]

1)Regarding the hand sanitizers, there were three restaurant workers (including the head waiters) standing at the entrance to the dining room and they quickly squirt a small amount of alcohol onto your hands (yes, everyones hands) which you rub and it evaporates within ten seconds. I think this is GREAT. Our hands did not dry out. Hopefully all cruise ships adopt this.

2)It should be quicker to self disembark since most do not want to hassle with bags. As mentioned before, by streamlining disembarkation by starting earlier, it should thin the lines somewhat, I counted SIX passport officers clearing passengers when we were going through passport control.

 

I love the idea of mandatory.On Star Princess-2 weeks ago-they do not enfoce any hand sanitizing-although available throughout ship-BUT NOT AT MAIN DINING ROOM-all this right after an RCI ship was docked and a Princess ship was almost dock due to Norvirus.I was not impressed.