How easy to get on and back off Elation after checkin?

[dyslexic pirate]

We will be sailing on the Elation.

 

Planned arrival at ship around noon.

 

VIP check in as we have a suite.

 

We want to go through the boarding process. Stow our carryons in the closet in our suite and then get back off the ship.

 

Our son lives in San Diego and he will be meeting us at the pier. We have a large group that we will be assisting with initial boarding. But once they are all set we want to get off the ship for a couple of hours to have lunch with our son.

 

Anyone ever do this? Get on the Elation and then disembark for a few hours? Any problems?

[woodey]

We will be sailing on the Elation.

 

Planned arrival at ship around noon.

 

VIP check in as we have a suite.

 

We want to go through the boarding process. Stow our carryons in the closet in our suite and then get back off the ship.

 

Our son lives in San Diego and he will be meeting us at the pier. We have a large group that we will be assisting with initial boarding. But once they are all set we want to get off the ship for a couple of hours to have lunch with our son.

 

Anyone ever do this? Get on the Elation and then disembark for a few hours? Any problems?

You should get on/off pretty fast San Diego is a great Port ....Just got off the Spirit yesterday and did the Elation last year...I love Crusing out of San Diego You should be able to drop off your bags in your room by 1:30 but i am sure you can sneak into your room and store your stuff....we just did it :)

I can not help you about getting back off the ship...once on the ship i dont want to leave it!:D

[cobraman99]

although this isnt law I was told once you are on you're on and they wont let you off without an emergency. once again that isnt law and maybe someone with experience can better help you

[cathyz]

We will be sailing on the Elation.

 

Planned arrival at ship around noon.

 

VIP check in as we have a suite.

 

We want to go through the boarding process. Stow our carryons in the closet in our suite and then get back off the ship.

 

Our son lives in San Diego and he will be meeting us at the pier. We have a large group that we will be assisting with initial boarding. But once they are all set we want to get off the ship for a couple of hours to have lunch with our son.

 

Anyone ever do this? Get on the Elation and then disembark for a few hours? Any problems?

I don't know about getting back off the ship, never heard of anyone doing that, but I can't imagine it's against the law. In normal embarkation procedures, you need to be on board 90 minutes before sailing, but I guess that wouldn't apply here to your 'second embarkation' of the day. And sometimes you cannot get to your cabin before 1:30, they usually close the hallway firedoors because the stewards don't want you in there yet, you'd probably have to sneak in some how.

[dyslexic pirate]

We haven't had any problems getting back off/on the ship on sailaway day with NCL. We have been able to use our sail and sign card just as we would on any other port day.

 

Seattle is a great port to treat as another excursion day after completing the boarding process and ridding yourself of all your excess carryon baggage. Lots to do there within walking distance of the pier.

 

I hope Carnival is okay with getting back off and then on again on sailaway day. Not many people do this so hopefully they won't see it as a problem.

[dyslexic pirate]

anyone ever do this on Carnival?

[firefly333]

Be aware your cabin may not be ready, so you can't stow your baggage as you want. We couldnt get into our cabins this last cruise I just got back from until 1:30 pm.

 

Also, I did have to get off, the cruise before this one, and they fussed some, but warned me several times to make sure I was back on 2 hours before they cruised. (I had to get back to the car to get insulin out of the cooler in the back seat someone forgot). So, yes, you can get off, but you might still have to carry your luggage around.

[dyslexic pirate]

Just got off the phone with Carnival. In case anyone else had the same question about getting back off/on the ship same day as sail away.

 

You are not held prisoner on the ship after you go through the embarkation process. The Carnival Rep got quite a chuckle when she found out that some people think they aren't allowed off the ship the first day.

 

She said your sail and sign card works the same way on the first day as it does on any other port day. Just make sure you are back on board in plenty of time for sailaway.

[firefly333]

Just got off the phone with Carnival. In case anyone else had the same question about getting back off/on the ship same day as sail away..

 

Did you happen to see my reply?? Dont assume you can leave your luggage in your cabin.

 

We left the dock at 4 pm, so you only had a window of 30 minutes between when you could put your luggage into your cabin and when you had to be back on board. Actually once you check in you really only have to be on 90 minutes before the ship leaves per new regulations. Im sure they said 2 hours just to make sure I was back.

[dyslexic pirate]

If our suite isn't ready we'll play it by ear. If we have to take our carryon's back off with us it'll be okay. On all of our cruises we've never had a problem accessing our cabin to stow items in the closet. Hopefully since we have VIP embarkation we'll be able to have early access to our cabin - or at least the closet.

 

Thank you for your response. It's been months since we've seen our son (this is his first time away from home) so we are really excited to see him even if just for a little bit hanging out near the embarkation area.

 

We have a group that we need to make sure boards okay otherwise we would just board later in the afternoon.

[theseyb]

In June '07 we boarded the Elation in SD about 11:30am. Had lunch at the buffet. Got back off and walked along the waterfront until about 2pm and got back on board with no problem.

[dyslexic pirate]

Thanks for the info!

 

Happy to hear it was painless to get back off the ship for a bit that first day.:)

[HeidiHo]

Even if the fire doors are closed you may be able to stow your luggage. The fire doors were closed when we sailed on the Liberty but they were unlocked and our cabin was one of the first ones down the hall so we took our carry ons down there quickly and put them in the cabin and left immediately. I don't think we even saw anyone working in the hall and our cabin was ready.

[Kurbanfan]

OP you didn't mention if you will be driving or flying into San Diego? Because if you are driving and parking directly across the street from the pier, you can leave your luggage in the car and have lunch next to the pier before embarking.....then just walk over grab your luggage and off to the ship.......just a thought......

[tbjl24]

I wonder how this works with the muster drill? Do you have to be back on before the muster drill comences? This may be a good way to miss it. HAHA.

 

btw... completely joking. But I really do wonder if you have to be back on before it? I would assume yes.

[gumballz]

Even if the fire doors are closed you may be able to stow your luggage. The fire doors were closed when we sailed on the *any ship* but they were unlocked and our cabin was one of the first ones down the hall so we took our carry ons down there quickly and put them in the cabin and left immediately. I don't think we even saw anyone working in the hall and our cabin was ready.

 

I'm just throwing this out there....

 

We were at our muster drill on the Freedom last year when a couple came late, arguing quite loudly. They argued throughout the entire drill, actually. Apparently the husband had 'snuck' into their cabin and dropped their items off without letting anyone know. When the cabins were opened up, they went in and saw that all their items were missing. They inquired with their cabin steward, who admitted to throwing it all away. He thought it had been left by the previous cruise passengers that occupied that cabin.

 

The couple was furious and had already gone to the pursor's desk to complain. Sadly, according to what they said while arguing, the steward was going to be responsible for reimbursing them for everything that he threw away. The couple also threw out during their course of arguing that 'he just blew his tip'. :(

 

So, it might be a good idea to let your steward know that you're leaving your items in the cabin. Or, better yet, ask if it's alright. :)

[ShedQueen77]

I'm just throwing this out there....

 

We were at our muster drill on the Freedom last year when a couple came late, arguing quite loudly. They argued throughout the entire drill, actually. Apparently the husband had 'snuck' into their cabin and dropped their items off without letting anyone know. When the cabins were opened up, they went in and saw that all their items were missing. They inquired with their cabin steward, who admitted to throwing it all away. He thought it had been left by the previous cruise passengers that occupied that cabin.

 

The couple was furious and had already gone to the pursor's desk to complain. Sadly, according to what they said while arguing, the steward was going to be responsible for reimbursing them for everything that he threw away. The couple also threw out during their course of arguing that 'he just blew his tip'. :(

 

So, it might be a good idea to let your steward know that you're leaving your items in the cabin. Or, better yet, ask if it's alright. :)

 

Yes, do this. If we're able to get on early, we always let our steward know we put our stuff there!

 

Also, I don't know how it could be 'illegal' to get off the ship. People do it on the Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan all the time! :D

[woodey]

I wonder how this works with the muster drill? Do you have to be back on before the muster drill comences? This may be a good way to miss it. HAHA.

 

btw... completely joking. But I really do wonder if you have to be back on before it? I would assume yes.

they do the muster about 3:45 just before sail away everybody is on-board......but it is a good idea ;)

[Thirsty Cruiser]

We will be sailing on the Elation.

 

Planned arrival at ship around noon.

 

VIP check in as we have a suite.

 

We want to go through the boarding process. Stow our carryons in the closet in our suite and then get back off the ship.

 

Our son lives in San Diego and he will be meeting us at the pier. We have a large group that we will be assisting with initial boarding. But once they are all set we want to get off the ship for a couple of hours to have lunch with our son.

 

Anyone ever do this? Get on the Elation and then disembark for a few hours? Any problems?

Just curious why you are not arriving a day early. You could spend the evening with your son and not worry about stowing you luggage, getting back on time, etc.

[dyslexic pirate]

Thank you for all of your responses. :)

 

To answer your questions:

 

We are in charge of a large group of cruisers. All of our arrangments were made by the travel agency that we are partnered with. To keep costs down we are flying in with our group on the day of departure.

 

We'll have many first time cruisers with us so we will stay with them throughout the check in procedure and assist them when/where needed. We have a few with mobility problems and we want to make sure they get on okay. Our cruisers know of our plan to see our son for a couple of hours on the dock. They will have our cell phone number if a problem should arise. We take care of our cruisers from the moment they arrive at the departure airport clear up until we're helping them load their luggage in their vehicles after the cruise.

 

So that's why we can't just wait and board on our own after seeing our son.

 

Whenever we board and then hop off the ship we always find our room steward, explain our plans, check to make sure he/she is okay with us stowing our carryon's in the closet, give them a nice tip and then go about our business and get out of their way.