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Disembarkation Process???


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How long does it typically take to get off the boat and thru custums with Carnival in Galveston?? It seems some people have been complaining about how slow this process is, and on our upcoming Ecstacy cruise in Dec we are gonna be hoping to get off as fast as posible ( as I'm sure everyone else is too )...our last cruise there was with RCCL and we did the self assist and was actually in the taxi heading back to our car by 7 am, but from what I understand this seems too much to expect with carnival...any suggestions will be much appreciated :)

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Actually Carnival in Galveston has a much better record in getting you off fast than RCL. For one thing they have more lines. If you get behind someone in the customs line for RCL who is from Mexico and have to wait for the while family to be finger printed, you will appreciate Carnival.

 

I think you got some confused information maybe, as RCL has the worst rep getting folks off in Galveston. I heard a lot of complaints on my cruise this spring for other cruises. I was on voyager. I was lucky and was off in no time, we got in line early.

 

Probably luck of the draw, we had good luck on RCL this year but last year it was awful getting off Rhapsody, we couldnt even get on a elevator, so couldnt get near the door etc. I made sure that didnt happen this year and started extra early. Worse disembark ever was on Rhapsoday in 2007.

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I guess we could have been lucky getting off so fast last time...we were really surprised how fast it went..the way they had us do it was wait with our luggage on the specified deck at 6:30 am, and other than it being extremly crowded while we waited, it was fairly smooth...the time before that we didnt do self assist and I think we may have been the last ones off...since this will be our first time with carnival I was just wanting to do the quickest way :)

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Iv done Ecstasy once before and we were way way back in the line that snaked around forever to disembark. Next time we are getting in line earlier.

 

Doing Conquest this Sept and Ecstasy next Jan.

 

I have always heard Carnival had the disembark down to a science in Galveston compared to RCL, so we just heard different things.

 

I will say it looked like 3/4 of Ecstasy all did self disembark, so it was crowded.

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How early do they let you line up to get off?? I'm not sure if it takes a long time if it wouldnt be wiser to go eat breakfast and then just take our time, unless we can actually get in a line that gets us out quicker..then I would skip breakfast...which I'm sure wouldnt kill me after all the eating during the cruise..we are driving and dont have to worry about airlines, but its a 11 - 12 hour drive and just want to get away :)

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Self debarkation usually begins before 8:00 am. How early will depend on the ship arrival time, CBP clearance etc. One Canadian sleeping in can delay the entire ship.

 

We have sailed from Galveston four times. All four times had no delays returning. If you wake up at 6:00 am and see the ship inside the ship channel you can be highly confident that self-debarkation will begin between 7:30 and 8:00 am.

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We are a family of 7 going on the Miracle out of NY in July. My mother and father-in-law said you can carry off your luggage yourself and get off the ship faster. That's what they want to do.

 

However, my sister-in-law does not know how to travel with less than half her house packed in her several suitcases so there is no way she will be able to do that. There is also her husband and 8 year old and their luggage.

 

My husband and I are more conservative packers so we could carry off if we had to but I don't care one way or the other how long it takes to get off the ship. Besides, this is my vacation and I like to be waited on from start to finish. Let someone else carry the bags! :)

 

Since we're getting picked up at the dock by a "limo" van to take us back to Philly I can sleep the whole way home. Does the whole party have to get off the same way? We are booked under 3 seperate booking numbers.

 

I really have no idea how disembarkation works in these cases. My only other cruise was out of FL and I never saw my bags from the last time on the ship until we pulled them off the carosel at the airport on arrival in Philly.

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It is perfectly fine for each of you to choose a different method of debarkation. Those choosing regular debarkation will need to put the luggage tags the ship will provide, on their baggage and place the baggage outside their cabin the evening before debarkation. Those wanting to do self debarkation will need to meet at the place and time the ship will designate for self-debarkation.

 

Now the limo ride home for all of you debarking at different times could create a whole new set of issues. :confused:

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To me the key at Galveston is to get in the porter line the minute you come down the stairs. We did not to self assist. We did not have a flight so were given #19 zone for unloading. We did get in line for the porter and I just know we got through customs before some of the self assist people did. That line was horrible. I don't think it took us 45 minutes from the time we walked off until we were through customs. I really want to say we were out of the building by 9 or 10.

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