Zone Jumpers - self disembark

[Houstoncruiser2007]

Although I'm sure it happens on regular disembarking, we tried self-disembarking this past Monday and I couldn't believe how many people "jump the zones." The cruise director made much noise about going only when your zone was called, but as we waited the deck on the deck above for our numbers to be called we had a bird's eye view and saw MANY people leaving before their zone was called. Zones 1-3 were called first, but we saw 8, 12, 23, you get the picture. I was Zone 17 and another cruiser was Zone 19 (I think) and began the call out the jumpers. It was pretty funny. We weren't obnoxious or anything just "gently reminding" them that they were jumping the lines. :p

 

The CD was standing there the whole time and we asked him why if he was calling certain zones he was letting everyone else go. He just shrugged his shoulders and then ignored us the rest of the time. We then asked the asst. CD who was also there on the floor why they make rules and then let everyone ignore them. He made some excuse about trying to clear out the floor. I really think they're just playing the odds that most people won't line jump and they really don't care who goes when. Who knows but it was such a mess of passengers and bags.

 

It was very frustrating to say the least. What this an anomaly or is self-disembarking like this all the time? You see the same folks who were happy the day before on the Lido deck jostling their bags and being mean to people. I think we'll go back to regular disembarking because this last fiasco just put such a nasty ending on what had been a lovely vacation.

 

Oh yeah, and we saw the honeymooners from the Newly Married Game (whatever its called) line jumping. So disappointing! (I guess I felt like we knew them or something. ;) )

[gtalum]

I don't see how they could enforce the rule. It's simply a courtesy for the passengers to obey it. Once the ship has been cleared by ICE, to keep someone aboard against his will would be considered false imprisonment and grounds for a major lawsuit.

[Houstoncruiser2007]

Gtalum

 

I can understand what you are saying about them not holding people against their will but it seems silly to make a rule, talk about incessantly and then totally ignore it when people don't pay attention to it.

[LHP]

I don't see how they could enforce the rule. It's simply a courtesy for the passengers to obey it. Once the ship has been cleared by ICE, to keep someone aboard against his will would be considered false imprisonment and grounds for a major lawsuit.

 

Sorry, but you a passenger selects "I agree" with the Carnival contract, it is no longer just a courtesy.....it is an agreement between you and Carnival to abide by their rules. It has nothing to do with ICE. Until you step off that ship, you belong to Carnival!

 

I have just mailed a Focus Meeting Recommendation about this very subject to the Executive VP of Marketing and Guest Experiences. We did have some excellent solutions to this problem.

 

It is the worse on Fantasy class ships because debarkation is held on a deck that contains cabins.

 

I do believe that self debarkation was wildly more popular than Carnival ever dreamed of and to this point has just allowed it to be a "free for all". That needs to change. Hopefully our solutions will be considered and implemented.

[gtalum]

Sorry, but you a passenger selects "I agree" with the Carnival contract, it is no longer just a courtesy.....it is an agreement between you and Carnival to abide by their rules. It has nothing to do with ICE. Until you step off that ship, you belong to Carnival!

 

While at sea, you "belong" to Carnival to a certain extent (they are still responsible and liable for negligence while at sea). In port, once cleared by customs and immigration Carnival has absolutely no legal recourse to keep you on board. In the USA you cannot sign away your basic civil rights in a contract.

[gtalum]

Gtalum

 

I can understand what you are saying about them not holding people against their will but it seems silly to make a rule, talk about incessantly and then totally ignore it when people don't pay attention to it.

 

I agree, it's frustrating and personally we don't jump zones. I'm just noting that Carnival is extremely limited in its ability to enforce that rule. Repeating the announcements is about the only thing they can do.

[fargodakota]

This is just another example of a sad trend, people not wanting to follow rules. So, you have to wait to get off the ship, you had to wait to get on the ship. Get over it and follow the darn rules!!!!

I see people doing this all the time all over the place wanting something fro nothing or rushing to do this or the other ting. Do they let you line jump at Disney World because you don’t want to stand in line? NO! (Well they do offer the quick pass, but you still have to wait)

Anyway, I know this will be a pain when it comes time for me to do this, but I plan to follow some advice I read on the boards, sit back relax and just wait.

Alright, I am calm now…lol

:)

[BigDfromTN]

I don't see how they could enforce the rule. It's simply a courtesy for the passengers to obey it. Once the ship has been cleared by ICE, to keep someone aboard against his will would be considered false imprisonment and grounds for a major lawsuit.

 

On the other hand..... Lack of a plan to safely and orderly disembark passengers would have the same result as to a lawsuit!

[Houstoncruiser2007]

 

It is the worse on Fantasy class ships because debarkation is held on a deck that contains cabins.

 

I do believe that self debarkation was wildly more popular than Carnival ever dreamed of and to this point has just allowed it to be a "free for all". That needs to change. Hopefully our solutions will be considered and implemented.

 

This was a Fantasy class ship. It was a zoo and I hope they do take into consideration some of the suggestions made. I would have gotten a good laugh if the CD had said instead of his usual announcement "This is basically a free for all... survival of the fittest and may he/she with the biggest bags win!" ;)

[cruzeluver]

While I understand it is probably difficult for the cruise line to control the situation, my opinion is the line-jumpers should be given the most express disembarkation there is: throw their self-riteous behinds overboard! (Gee it felt good to get that out! :p ) Things would go so much smoother at embarkation, debarkation and the muster drill if folks would just follow the rules and quit acting like they are more important than everyone else.

[gtalum]

On the other hand..... Lack of a plan to safely and orderly disembark passengers would have the same result as to a lawsuit!

 

I agree. Carnival and other cruise lines are really between a rock and a hard place with this. Fortunately, most people do have the courtesy to follow the rules.

[Houstoncruiser2007]

Anyway, I know this will be a pain when it comes time for me to do this, but I plan to follow some advice I read on the boards, sit back relax and just wait.

 

 

I think we'll go back to this plan. This was only our second cruise and the first one we did regular disembarking. It was much calmer albeit the lines in customs were a bit longer.

[mariemorgan]

Oops you are not who I thought you were.. Your user name is almost the same. lol.

 

I would hate line jumpers too.. wait your turn people..

[LHP]

While at sea, you "belong" to Carnival to a certain extent (they are still responsible and liable for negligence while at sea). In port, once cleared by customs and immigration Carnival has absolutely no legal recourse to keep you on board. In the USA you cannot sign away your basic civil rights in a contract.

 

Then how does Carnival hold people for the FBI and local police after clearing Customs? We have seen debarking interrupted twice over the years to have a passenger "taken off" by officials... and other time, the individual was escorted off first.

[pboedeker]

On our last Carnival cruise, line-hopping was so bad that two women got in a fist fight and Carnival security used tasers to break up the fight.

 

Same situation, line-hoppers with numbers higher than 1-3 decide to disembark and won't listen to announcements by CD. Cruise staff doesn't really do anything to stop it either.

[gtalum]

Then how does Carnival hold people for the FBI and local police after clearing Customs? We have seen debarking interrupted twice over the years to have a passenger "taken off" by officials... and other time, the individual was escorted off first.

 

If the local police or the FBI request the hold, then it's not false imprisonment.

[DONDON55]

I was amazed at how many people were rushing to get off the ship.......we had a totally different point of view:

 

Slept a little bit late, 9 am, went for breakfast with our carry ons. Had a nice leisurely breakfast, walked around the top deck and got some sun and the sights of NYC, watched the ferries go back and forth from NYC to NJ, went and got some ice cream, sat out in the sun, waited for our number 23 to be called, got off the ship with no lines, breezed through customs, found our luggage easilly as there was not much left to sort through, moved our own luggage out to wait for our bus, headed home.

 

did not want our vaca to end..............

 

dondon55

Foxboro MA

[fargodakota]

I promised my wife I would be a nice person. Sometimes I can get a little hot under the collar. Wasting time is something I really dislike, so I will just go with the flow. Even if we have to sit and wait all darn day to get on and off the ship I will do it.

After all this is a vacation and I should be relaxing. Sitting there pointing out line jumpers might be fun too.

[gtalum]

I understand why people are in a hurry. The cruise is over, it's time to move on to whatever's next. But it pays to stay cool and calm and just wait it out.

[Eliot Ness]

..........but I plan to follow some advice I read on the boards, sit back relax and just wait..................

We're never in a hurry to get off the ship anyway so we eat breakfast, wander around the outside decks for a bit, and then meander down to a comfortable spot, often the Casino bar, and people watch until our color/group is called.

 

Everything just goes so much easier when people wait their turn. Yeah, often there is a wait but that doesn't justify going out of turn, line jumping, or zone jumping. All that does is make it worse for those courteous enough to obey the rules while encouraging others to go out-of-turn also.

 

A lot of people today are rude and don't extend others the simplest courtesy's. You see it driving, in the stores, at work, and on vacation. I've never had a bad cruise, just some that weren't as good as others, so I prefer to try and end my cruises as calmly as possible w/o having to be shoved around and watching others behave like JA's.

 

Awww, now I'm all worked up. I've gotta close my eyes and go to my special place: the Lido pool bar with my first DOD :cool:

[LHP]

If the local police or the FBI request the hold, then it's not false imprisonment.

 

Got it...thanks!

[LHP]

We just had this issue last week on the Fantasy....and it is a recurring problem.

 

For us the issue is Carnival providing a benefit that they have promised.

 

We are Platinum and one of the benefits is Platinum self assist that is promised to debark before regular self assist.

 

Plus when people start to crowd the lobby, if Customs sees this and does not like what they see, they can completely STOP the debarkation. We have seen this happen many times. So in essense, Carnival's control of passenger flow is allowed because Customs demands it.

[barbmac]

I was on the Ecstasy this April. We did self disembark, they actually were checking luggage numbers and turn some people away. It was great.:p

[UpstateCruizer]

When I'm cruising I'm totally removed from the worries of everyday life. Things like this don't phase me in the least. As far as line jumpers I don't know the reason they may be line jumping. Perhaps the ship cleared later than they expected and they feared missing a flight or had a ride waiting. Maybe they were traveling with a group of others who had been assigned earlier zones and wanted to get off as a group etc. I do know that part of the issue could be the pursers desk as well. When we had early 12:30 flights out of FLL we were concerned about the number we had been given. We went to the purser's desk and the purser told us "just go when they call the first number" Ummm no I wanted an earlier luggage tag so I wouldn't have to worry about going out of turn and not having my luggage show up. She grumbled but gave me an earlier zone. Upon debarking it really wouldn't have mattered an that sailing as they called several zones at the same time. I just wanted to be prepared. On our last sailing my sons were given higher numbered tags than we had. I wasn't sure what to do about it so I asked their room steward if we'd be able to get off together and he gave us tags that matched our debarking zones.

Anyhow my point is there may be circumstances that make it necessary for those who do go out of turn. You never know what they've been told from other staff as well. Of course there's always those that don't think they have to follow rules but instead of getting upset with them I pity them :)

[Houstoncruiser2007]

I was on the Ecstasy this April. We did self disembark, they actually were checking luggage numbers and turn some people away. It was great.:p

 

Apparently, they aren't doing that anymore because that's the ship I was on. It was kind of fun to mess with people though from the floor above. It was all in good fun and we didn't shout... it was more like "Hey... that doesn't look a 3 to me, how about you?" "Does that say 17?" "Are you subtracting 10 from your number?" and my personal favorites "Cheater" and "Shame on you no. ______" Everyone pretty much ignored us but we had fun. :D :D

 

Like I said earlier we pointed it out to the CD and ACD and they didn't even care. I guess times are a'changin.