Carrying Luggage off the Ship

[espmass]

I don't remember if I heard this on Princess or Celebrity- I did hear you can get off the ship as early as you want (once customs etc is cleared) if you are able to manage carrying your own luggage rather than putting it out the night before. Is this true and are there any advantages or disadvantages to this? Before you jump all over me, I ALWAYS follow the ship's regulations and am not rude or obnoxious. I am just asking.

[shelly h]

Hi

 

On my last cruise coming into Southampton they were letting people do the Express Walk Off. I cannot comment on it though, as we did not use it.

 

We were a little late coming in and with 2 other ships in port though, it was a bit later than stated!

[spongerob]

It's called Self Disembarkation on Princess and it is available. You don't walk off whenever you want. You have to sign up for it and you will be given a numbered tag, and they do groups of 100 people to control the crowds at the exit.

 

We've done it once, and I thought it worked quite well. The only difficulty is with the elevators. The aft and center elevators will be packed and it's tough to get room enough for yourself let alone your bags. We found that going to the forward elevator bank worked best.

[kobecat]

We did it off the Sapphire this May in LA. We were just given self disembarkation tickets and it was absolutely fantastic. The best thing is you don't have to put your luggage out the last night of the cruise. We went to dinner, show etc. and finished packing at about 2.00 am! Next morning, breakfast at 7.00 am, back to the cabin for the final clean up and out of there with our bags about 8.00 am to wait the call. We waited at the Wheelhouse Bar - and as soon as we were cleared with Customers we were out of there - would do it again next time.

[Clarkk W Griswald]

This is supposed to be for passengers that can manage their own luggage without any help. It actually quite a joke as we witnessed many people clogging hallways and stairways trying to drag too much luggage, and that they obviously had trouble handling on their own. Self disembarkation took over an hour, so those who have an early flight might want to pack light so you can use this.

[DeRon]

How do you sign up for this? And about how much time do you save? About an hour?

[mauiedin87]

We did this for the first time this past April from the Island Princess after a 15-day cruise. It turned out to be super-easy and we'll do it from now on. You choose self-disembarkation a day or two before arrival back in port, and are given a ticket stating that, but you really do HAVE to be able to schlepp all your stuff yourself, so careful (read light!) packing is a must. We had an early breakfast, in the dining room, not the buffet, which was a zoo. Went back to the cabin, took our luggage, found an elevator that was not totally jam-packed and headed down to the disembarkation deck (Deck 5 if I remember well). Once it was announced - at about 7:55 a.m. - we headed off the ship, down the gangway, through customs and immigration and were outside the building in 15 minutes, the absolutely shortest disembarkation ever in 12 cruises! This worked beautifully for us and the friends we were traveling with. In another 15 minutes we were on the road :) ...

[English Tim]

This is an excellent scheme for those in a hurry, who can easily manage their luggage. There is no assistance if you struggle. We have too much luggage and are happy to wait the extra 30 minutes or so, then use a trolley or porter.

[bjkTX]

We've done it twice and we were off the ship early and with no hassle - well except for being in the Horizon Court and not hearing our number until 4 more groups had been called on the last one :-)

[MichCook]

It's called Self Disembarkation on Princess and it is available. You don't walk off whenever you want. You have to sign up for it and you will be given a numbered tag, and they do groups of 100 people to control the crowds at the exit.

 

We've done it once, and I thought it worked quite well. The only difficulty is with the elevators. The aft and center elevators will be packed and it's tough to get room enough for yourself let alone your bags. We found that going to the forward elevator bank worked best.

 

You are just a wealth of information! Would you use self-disembarkation again? Do you travel light? I'm not sure we'd want to try to maneuver our bags to the elevator.:)

[jonikal]

We've now done express disembarkation four times and I highly recommend it! It's great if you need to get off for a fast transfer. As long as you are physically able to handle your bags. As I recall, we were provided with an questionaire a few days before the end of the cruise and simply filled it in saying we wanted to do express disembarkation. You might want to check in at the purser's office once you are settled and ask when you need to let them know. You definitely don't want to burden yourself with too much extra baggage such as shopping bags and wine boxes. You'll wish you'd kept it simple;)

[Red Rox]

How do you sign up for this? And about how much time do you save? About an hour?

You will receive a notice and application a few days before the end of your cruise. We applied for it and received the early self disembarkation tags. We were able to manage our own bags, (and this is essential) they stress that absolutely no bag assistance will be available, since all ofthe ship staff are busy with other duties in preparation for the ship's turnaround.

We got off in Vancouver as some of the first people to leave the ship. Fortunately there were no other ships in port that morning (we were aware of this ahead of time as well), so we didn't have any crowds to battle inside the port bldg. We got a taxi immediately and the result was that we had a full day to enjoy on the front end of our extended visit in Vancouver.

[espmass]

Thanks for all the info. It sounds like something we will try depending on how many pieces of luggage we end up taking along. Obviously we won't try it if we have too much to handle. The reason I asked is we are staying on for 4 days (business) in San Diego after our Mexican Riviera cruise and if we get off early enough and get to our hotel, we can have the entire day free for sightseeing. I have never had much of a delay getting off the ship anyway but I was curious.

[bjkTX]

You might want to check with the hotel and make sure they can hold your bags for you before you check in (most hotels won't check-in before 2 or 3 unless they aren't booked up). We've done what you are planning on doing and had no place to stash our bags.

[DeRon]

Hotels won't keep your luggage? I thought all sky cabs would do that, just as they are willing to do if you have to check out and go to a meeting or whatever.

[fti]

Hotels won't keep your luggage? I thought all sky cabs would do that, just as they are willing to do if you have to check out and go to a meeting or whatever.

 

Many hotels will hold your luggage before check in or after check out but I have been in at least one hotel that said they had no place to put luggage and could not do that. So it is wise to check directly with the hotel.

 

I used the express self-disembarkation two days ago with Celebrity in Vancouver and it worked great. Was one of the first off the ship, no crowds in the port terminal, got an early shuttle to the airport, no lines at the airport for check in, immigration/customs or security. I would definitely do it again.

 

John

[chasetf]

Why would anyone want to do it. The only reason I would even consider it is because we have to hustle to get to the airport.

[espmass]

We're all set with the hotel. Thanks.

[spongerob]

Would you use self-disembarkation again? Do you travel light? I'm not sure we'd want to try to maneuver our bags to the elevator.:)

We'd do it again if, as we did the last time we used it, we were driving. It was nice to get on the road early. We didn't pack any differently than normal. Since we drove, we used our large pullman suitcases that the airlines no longer accept to reduce the number of bags.

[fti]

Why would anyone want to do it. The only reason I would even consider it is because we have to hustle to get to the airport.

 

I enjoyed walking off with my luggage - beat the crowds at the airport, had time to relax before the flight rather than being cooped up in an overcrowded lounge the last morning on the ship until your color is called. To each his own.

[griswalds]

It worked well and we were at the airport early which was our goal. However as others have mentioned, you need to pack light and be ready for the usual crowd of people blocking the exits and elevators as you try to get out. It was the earliest departure in 12 cruises. However when you have a early flight which we did on this occasion it worked very well.

 

Griswalds

[Retired 07]

Everybody that answered here uses self disembarkation to get off the ship early. Would it be good for those of us who would like to stay on the ship LATER? We live in the port city, and have nothing to do but go home. We would like to have a leisurely breakfast, and enjoy the ship as long as possible. Can you actually request a later time to disembark? I assume that everybody should be off the ship by around 10am. Is this correct?

[bjkTX]

You can wait till the last minute to get off no matter what option you select - if they call your color (and number) and you aren't in a hurry - have another cup of coffee (well....maybe not coffee....)

 

Brian (retired E9)

[Retired 07]

Thanks for the info, but let me get this straight. We don't have to request self-disembarkation, and we can still get off the ship whenever we want AFTER our color is called??

[LonghornKJK]

We had a football game to get to by noon. The rest of our party were just heading home at noon -- had we not done self-disembarkation, we would have been late for the game.