Zone Jumpers - self disembark

[cruisinoct]

That seems pretty stupid. Isn't the luggage put out by number? Say your number 22 and you decide to leave with group 4. Won't you just be sitting around waiting for your luggage?:rolleyes:

 

We were group 22. We took our time, ate breakfast, enjoyed our coffee and waited for our turn.

[LHP]

That seems pretty stupid. Isn't the luggage put out by number? Say your number 22 and you decide to leave with group 4. Won't you just be sitting around waiting for your luggage?:rolleyes:

 

We were group 22. We took our time, ate breakfast, enjoyed our coffee and waited for our turn.

 

The group leaving by numbers are the folks who have put their luggage out the night before. I am sure there are plenty of line jumpers there as well.

 

The only aspect my report commented on was the "self assist" .....which is where you do not put your luggage out the night before...you haul every piece off yourself. So you have no numbers.

 

This is the biggest part of the problem, because you don't just have people jamming the lobby...you have people and all their luggage jamming the lobby.

 

Again, *since the Holiday will soon be gone, the Fantasy class are the only ships that will have to deal with this problem. Other larger ships have plenty of space for folks to "line up" in a single line.

 

You are right that even folks doing the regular debarkation (leaving the luggage out at night with a number) should follow the rules.

[BoilerTech1047]

We have never done the self disembark, but family members have taken advantage of this option. I think there will be people trying to beat the system no matter what. Cruise lines can eliminate this option at their pleasure. Let them go back to one system and disembark when your number or color is called. Only have the bags available for the color that is called. If you get off the ship and are hanging out, they escort you to a holding area and you wait there. You will only do this one time before you learn to wait your turn. Cruising is the best vacation, but some will push the limit, and they just didn't develop these bad habits now. Enjoy and take care.

[finoky]

I don't know why we should expect people that smuggle booze, save deck chairs with a banana or book for hours, save seats in the main show theater, wear shorts to dinner on formal night, show up late for dinner, let their precious little darlings swim in the hot tubs, and take pictures of their pictures in the photo gallery to actually follow the rules and disembark in an orderly fashion.

[calicruise74]

We are rarely in a hurry to get off of the ship as we are usually driving to the port or I book flights past 1:00pm if we are flying out. I enjoy having a leisurely breakfast, coffee and just taking it easy that morning.

[trock]

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.

 

 

Frustrating right ? We experienced this on the Miracle last May as everyone wanted to self disembark..Unforturnately.. first, there was an arrest to be made as Custom Agents handcuffed a young girl and led her off (I guess Customs can act as a police officer would).. Rumor was she had some pot...

 

Since there was a snafu with the girl, the arrest and some conversation with the Captain, we were all held back from disembarking.. People lining up where they were asked not to etc etc. You would not believe the lunacy some people were exhibiting.... screaming and yelling at the CD and ACD.. completely ridiculous...

 

Unless one has a flight to catch.. why would anyone be in a hurry to leave!:)

[LHP]

I don't know why we should expect people that smuggle booze, save deck chairs with a banana or book for hours, save seats in the main show theater, wear shorts to dinner on formal night, show up late for dinner, let their precious little darlings swim in the hot tubs, and take pictures of their pictures in the photo gallery to actually follow the rules and disembark in an orderly fashion.

 

True....true.... :D

[LHP]

Frustrating right ? We experienced this on the Miracle last May as everyone wanted to self disembark..Unforturnately.. first, there was an arrest to be made as Custom Agents handcuffed a young girl and led her off (I guess Customs can act as a police officer would).. Rumor was she had some pot...

 

Since there was a snafu with the girl, the arrest and some conversation with the Captain, we were all held back from disembarking.. People lining up where they were asked not to etc etc. You would not believe the lunacy some people were exhibiting.... screaming and yelling at the CD and ACD.. completely ridiculous...

 

Unless one has a flight to catch.. why would anyone be in a hurry to leave!:)

 

What is even scarier (is that a word...I think so) is when there is an emergency. John just posted on his blog that the medical team was trying to save someone's life and when they got to a port, some "group" blocked the entire entrance and refused to move ...even when told to do so...so that the person in the stretcher can get off the ship to the medical help they needed.

 

That is the maddest I have seen John in awhile and rightfully so....

[trock]

What is even scarier (is that a word...I think so) is when there is an emergency. John just posted on his blog that the medical team was trying to save someone's life and when they got to a port, some "group" blocked the entire entrance and refused to move ...even when told to do so...so that the person in the stretcher can get off the ship to the medical help they needed.

 

That is the maddest I have seen John in awhile and rightfully so....

 

 

They should have been arrested.. How disgusting.. I have to tell you if it had been, god forbid, a family member of mine they were blocking.. it would not have been pretty.. I am a very rational person but when it comes to a life and death situation or protecting a family member.. I would be a lunatic..:(

 

I am editing to say that even a stranger.. it would infuriate me so I would not be able to keep my mouth shut!! ;)

[The_Answer_Is_42]

Maybe they should have a DONG.........instead of a DING......at debarkation and if you get DONGED.........

I'm sorry, but that is just too funny for words :D

[UpstateCruizer]

Thank you. One very dreaded phone call put us off the ship first, and the last thing on my mind (oh, wait, it wasn't on my mind at all) was what others thought about it. If anyone made any remarks, trust me when I tell you the comments were wasted, as I had only one thing on my mind.

 

Thank you for sharing that with us. I only wish it would make people think twice before being so quick to judge others who may have a real need to get off the ship sooner.

[dragonflymy2000]

its really all about crowd control...when we were waiting to disembark in LA one of carnivals staff said to go ahead ( i think they were at 5 and we were 22 or something crazy) he told us it was to keep ev1 from jumping ship at the same time

[LHP]

Thank you. One very dreaded phone call put us off the ship first, and the last thing on my mind (oh, wait, it wasn't on my mind at all) was what others thought about it. If anyone made any remarks, trust me when I tell you the comments were wasted, as I had only one thing on my mind.

 

That's exactly the point....if people follow the rules...regardless of their current situation...everyone gets off faster and with no stress.

 

If "everyone" decides on their own that an important "reason" for flooding the lobby is and Customs keep STOPPING debarkation because of it...then no ones gets off on time.

 

There are measures that can be put in place to assist those who receive that "dreaded phone call"....but nothing earns them the right to screw up debarkation for everyone else.

[SueW]

Valor Oct 5-12

 

My situation was somewhat confusing. I am Platinum so I received a letter with Zone 1 tags. I decided to use the new Express Luggage option and received Zone 4 tags. Room steward gave us Zone 12 tags as I assume that would have been my "normal" debark zone.

What to do? Do I get off with the Zone 1 or the Zone 4? I went down to the pursor and asked. She stated that I most certainly need to get off with Zone 4. I questioned why since I was Platinum and had received Zone 1 tags. She said I needed to throw those away and go with Zone 4 because of my luggage. What? I used Luggage Express and had no luggage to take off the ship.

What did I end up doing? We went off with Zone 1 with very little trouble.

[farler05]

I'm more annoyed by the folks who are obviously doing self-assist, but don't go when they call self-assist. They slow down the line with their six suitcases & never seem to be in control of their stuff. They're so fun when they try the escalator or have to dig for their passport at the customs line.

[LHP]

I'm more annoyed by the folks who are obviously doing self-assist, but don't go when they call self-assist. They slow down the line with their six suitcases & never seem to be in control of their stuff. They're so fun when they try the escalator or have to dig for their passport at the customs line.

 

That is a very good point.

 

When we self assist....we have one suitcase per person (with my pilot bag easily piggybacked).

[trock]

That is a very good point.

 

When we self assist....we have one suitcase per person (with my pilot bag easily piggybacked).

 

 

I thought that was the rule?? I thought you could only self disembark if you had one suitcase per person?

[LHP]

I thought that was the rule?? I thought you could only self disembark if you had one suitcase per person?

 

All I have ever heard is that you "must be able to carry every piece of your luggage off yourself". I can not ever remember hearing or seeing in print a luggage limit.

 

But I could have missed it along the way.

[dan40]

All I have ever heard is that you "must be able to carry every piece of your luggage off yourself". I can not ever remember hearing or seeing in print a luggage limit.

 

But I could have missed it along the way.

 

You are correct in my understanding. One must carry off ALL their luggage because none [or very little] of the luggage placed in the hall will be ready in the warehouse or cleared by customs yet.

But, "You Betcha!" Some will put all but one bag out in the hall and then do 'self assist' the next day.

 

When I arrive at the pier, I call a porter, I point at the bags. He takes them out of the car and hauls them off. Debarkation time, they are ALL put out in the hall. In the warehouse I call, grab, a porter, point out the bags, he loads them, carries them to the car, and loads them in the car. I packed em, I'll unpack them, thats touching them more than enough for me. I get straight A's in Vacation [advanced course].:rolleyes:

 

Dan

[cheeseheads1]

We chose self-debarkation on the Legend as we had one of the earliest flights allowed. They did not use zones for the self debarkation. I am assuming it is different in various ports. We carried our own luggage etc. We chose this as we needed to get off early and had confirmed our flight time with Carnival twice prior to the cruise and also with the purser's desk on the cruise. If we had waited for debarkation via the usual zone method we would not have made our flight as we were in one of the later zones. Yes we were polite and orderly and no fighting except between our kids! PS We waited in line for 40 minutes prior to the call for self debarkation. We were only midway through the Casino!

[PINEVIEW01]

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.

This I don't agree with. I have found Carnival is really bad in this area. No other cruiseline I have been on is as bad as Carnival when it comes to the self debark and debarking as a whole.

[crazyforcruizin]

If you choose to do regular disembarkation, can you still take all your luggage with you? I am in no hurry to get off the ship but I do not like putting my luggage out the night before-too much trouble trying to figure out what you need to keep out etc. Would this be OK?:)

[Tapi]

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.

 

The absolute 2 BEST debarkations I've ever had are:

 

Carnival Liberty 2005: We waited until they made the final announcement for debarkation and then we still waited another 20 minutes before we went ashore. It was around 10:30am when we finally made it off the ship. That morning, we didn't set the alarm clock, took leisurely showers, grabbed our bags, enjoyed a sit down breakfast at the main dining room, and then grabbed some loungers at the Versaille's pool and just enjoyed the last few minutes of our cruise. By the time we walked off the ship, there was literally NOBODY in line or at the cruise terminal. We grabbed our bags, gave our immigration card to the customs officer and kept walking. Absolutely beautiful and relaxing!

 

Holiday 2007: Our cabin was on the main deck (where they conduct debarkation from) only a handful of cabins away from where the gangway was located. We had planned on doing the same thing we had done on the Liberty but as it turned out, we were leaving our cabin when they made the first announcement to go ashore (and there was nobody else around us. We could see the exit from our cabin) so we literally walked out of our cabin and kept walking without stopping until we were sitting in our car 5 minutes later! It was awesome, but mostly out of pure luck!

[SheriNtexas]

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!" ;)

 

 

ROFL!! Now THAT would be SOME announcement!!:D I say BOOOOO to the zone jumpers!! A BIG thumbs down!

[fargodakota]

When we got off Holiday on 11/13 things went really smooth. We did get a little ahead of ourselves and went down the deck 5 to wait and sat with a few other folks.

 

Self disembarking took longer than planned and they had a fork truck break down, so the zones were called about a half an hour later than stated. There were less than 12 of us down on deck 5 and the crew told us to go ahead a leave. We were off the ship, pick up our luggage, though customs, and on the road in less than 30 minutes.

 

 

I talked to some folks we met and they said it took them 45 minutes to do the same thing.

 

There were a good deal of self disembarkers onboard that day. I heard a crew member say that was the most he had ever seem do it that way.