Self Disembarkation(in FLL) and in no hurry to get off ship

[Mlascheid]

We have always put bags out the night before, but are considering self disembarkation for our upcoming cruise on Silhouette. We are capable of handling the luggage ourselves, and we are in no hurry to get off the ship, as we do not have an early flight to catch. We like the idea of not having to pack bags the day before and put them out in the hallway by midnight. Anyone have any experience with self disembarking at the latter end of the morning...say 9:30-10AM?

[AGGSBAGGS]

We have done this and had no hassles:):)

[Orator]

You are wise to take your time as there tends to be crowds early in the process. Get a cup of coffee, relax and leave when you are ready. Very easy to do.

[Leesie6351]

Hi-- your idea for late disembarkation is great-- we do the same thing but imho I would save yourselves the "shlepping" of your luggage and put it out the night before. You will be given a form to fill out during the cruise telling the ship what time you would like to leave--just fill out the latest time you want and you will be given luggage tags for that time frame. Your bags will be safe in the luggage collection area and you can walk off without having to "shlep". Believe me-- it is a LONG walk from the ship to the pier.

 

Enjoy the cruise.

[SusieV]

We do that every time we cruise, except when we had our toddler with us and couldn't manage all our stuff.

 

We just have breakfast and then grab our suitcases and hang out in Cafe al Bacio until they kick us off the ship :) The Premium package still works the last morning until the computer system shuts down for the next cruise.

[garycarla]

Hi-- your idea for late disembarkation is great-- we do the same thing but imho I would save yourselves the "shlepping" of your luggage and put it out the night before. Y...

 

There is another active thread about luggage and the last night. Worth reading.

 

We are one of those that wait until the very last minute to pack as we like to stay in cruise mode vs. getting ready to go home mode. We do this no matter if early flight or late. Upcoming flight is not until 1pm, so we will hang out for a little bit.

[Phxazzcruisers]

We also do this often. It is a breeze ndwe do not mind taking our own luggage off the ship. We would rather do this than put out our luggage the night before

[MEcruzr]

As one of the previous posters said... just know that there is a LONG walk in FLL from the end of the gangway to the building with customs in it. If you're healthy enough to carry your bags off, you should be healthy enough for this walk. But it's worth pointing out. I disembarked here a couple days ago... the first people off were those carrying their own luggage. It was a ZOO. They started the process around 9:15 or so. Everyone had to be out of their cabins at 8AM and many people went to wait on Deck 3. Our assigned area was the SS United States on Deck 3 and it was nearly impossible to get to it. We were the second group to get off... we did the luggage valet. Now THAT I highly recommend!!! It costs $20 each and was worth every penny. We put our bags out in the hall right before we went to bed. I saw my suitcase the next day at 4:30 on the luggage carousel at my final destination. For the $20 I also got luggage tags the night before (from the airline) and my boarding passes. When we got to the airport we walked straight to security. THAT was a zoo that day, too. It was at a standstill for a very long time. An agent finally came through the line reminding everyone about the liquids/gels rule... said that they were having to hand search luggage for hand cream, etc and that's why it was so slow. Just glad we didn't have an early flight that day... everything was running late. And there were only three ships in port!

 

I thought the cruise was very good. The crew is fantastic... I would go back on the Infinity for that reason alone. The food... well, I think I've stopped expecting much there so I wasn't disappointed. The best food, by far, IMHO, is at Qsine. I absolutely loved everything about that restaurant. We went twice. If we'd gone there first, we would have switched our SS United States reservation to Qsine and gone there three times. So creative, such fun and the food... amazing. Don't miss the filet mignon and the Kobe sliders. Skip the meatball trio unless you have a lot of people at your table... they are softball sized. Good, but WAY too much. The Chitini (Chinese food served martini style) was really good... so was the Crunchy Munchies. The chicken kabob was delish, too. Don't miss this place if you have the opportunity to go!

 

Our waiter and asst waiter were great... Alamusa and Jeffrey. We also had a favorite bar server... Mark Orejuello. He works at Rendevous and in the main dining room in the evening.

 

I'll check back here a couple more times if anyone has any questions...

[Mlascheid]

Thanks, everyone, for your speedy and informative replies! I think we'll give it a try this time. We dislike having to pack and put luggage out the day/night before getting off, and would like to just pack at our leisure and enjoy the last day/night on board to the fullest! We all have wheeled luggage, and the kids are now old enough to pull their own, so should not be a problem to manage the walk from ship to pier. We'll be staying in FLL 1 night post-cruise, so we'll avoid the mad rush at the airport. I think we'll have 6-7 ships in Port Everglades when we dock, so should prove to be a busy day in FLL. A leisurely morning on board, then walk off with our own luggage at the latest possible time sounds like a nice end to a lovely cruise! Thanks, again, for the replies!