Debarkation tips?

[tourdirector]

My family and I are booked on our 5th Carnival cruise this Christmas. The one (and only) part of the experience that leaves us grinding our teeth is debarkation. We have tried jumping up early to try to be first, we have tried hanging back to be the last, but it doesn't seem to matter - we always end up standing for what seems like hours in a line that never moves.

 

What do you all do? Do you have a favorite place to wait? Or tips on how to get a group of 10 out more quickly?

 

Thanks!

[gtalum]

We generally try to get off as early as possible to minimize the suffering of debarkation. After 5 cruises, we've yet to experience a pleasant debarkation morning. I think you just have to grit your teeth and get through it.

[Vitamin_Sea]

We had a pleasent debark off the Triumph on 8/1. We woke up, took showers then ate breckfast. Then just waited for our deck to be called. First we went to deck 3 and saw a long line. We then went to deck 2 and the line was short. We were out in under 15 mins. It was a breeze.

 

The emark was a pleasure as well. They are Very efficent at the NYC pier.

[Lady_Jag]

We just make sure we don't put our sense of humor, our patience, or our deck of cards in the luggage we set out the night before. On our last cruise in May, we arrived back in port late, so we got to sleep in, take our time getting ready, then had a leisurely breakfast on the lido deck in the casual restaurant. We chatted about our week, tooks some "one last..." pictures, and played some cards.

 

I even took my 3-year-old for a little walk around the deck to see all the people piling up to get out, and I kept a small bag of tricks (coloring book, crayons, etc.) on hand to keep her happy while we waited. There was a bit of a pile-up when Customs decided to change shifts right then, but otherwise, we moved through quickly.

[TexasBelle]

We didn't have any problems debarking today. We ate breakfast in the dining room, then went back to our rooms to gather our carry on things. Deck 3 was not the place to hang out, so we went up to deck 5 and waited in the teen club. The kids played a few games of air hockey while the others sat and laid on the couches. It was empty and quiet.

 

When our number was called, the kids finished their game and we were in the Galveston terminal in 10 minutes. After an easy search for our luggage, we were in line for customs and immigration and out on the pavement waiting for our shuttle in another 15 minutes.

 

Couldn't have been easier. Just be sure everyone has their passports, S&S, and the customs form already filled out before leaving the ship.

[bluehenfan]

Depending on where you're debarking in Dec., you can go sit out on lounge chairs on the lido deck and extend your vacation. We did this in June while on the Pride in Baltimore. We read magazines and relaxed. Beverage station was open and the girls had lemonade and ice cream cones. Of course I don't think I'll be doing this on my January Pride cruise.

[stargate fan]

We were a group of 16 on our last cruise. Most of us chose self-assist debarkation while one family chose the traditional method of luggage retrieval.

We woke up at 7:30 and got ready to leave. We went for breakfast in the dining room. We grabbed our luggage when we were ready to leave. The only wait we had was for the elevators, so we decided to drag our luggage down the stairs, from deck 9 to deck 3. Hey, it was good exercise. :D

There was a line to get through customs, even though there were many, many lanes open. That didn't surprise us due to 3,000+ people leaving the ship. It only took a few minutes for that and we were on our way in short time.

Self-assist debarkation was the best thing. We had total control of our luggage at all times, (the family that chose the other method actually had a piece of luggage go missing.) so we didn't have to go through the "suitcase warehouse", thus avoiding one line and masses of people.

And as mentioned above, make sure you have all important documents in hand.