BREEZE 9/22 Disembarking Together..Plat. Diamond. FTTF Carry Off Passengers

[AmberTeka]

First of all I am a Carnival Cheerleader. I have written over a Dozen Carnival Reviews, all highly positive. The food is good, the service is always great, the productions fun to watch, the casino tight...but then..

 

But today..what a mess. We were to report to the Sapphire MDR. There we were to be met by a Carnival Rep. and when cleared...We would be led off. HA. The Room was full. Plat. and Diamonds, lots of FTTF ( and nothing snide to them. Before I was Plat. I would have bought it too) and lines and lines of Carry off Passengers. Some pushing what looked like clothes trunks. Little old ladies pulling suitcases bigger than them. SLOW......then a Carnival Rep. shows up. Tells the long long lines of Carry off folks..that the Priority People have to get off first. But one escalator is not working. So we are in a long line..hurry, hurry, with longer lines glaring at you..hurry hurry....I tripped on the Escalator and almost. fell. I could fell the stair behind me coming up. I was scared to death. I have RA and some mobility problems. but not major. I use escalators. But never in that kind of a rush.

 

So we got off. I lived. I vented to a Carnival Rep. standing by the luggage. I am home now. And I will write a review of the cruise, which was pleasant.

 

BUT...early off is not a perk of VIP..or Diamond passengers..or those who shelled out for a suite. It is getting to be with the No Carry Offs..hundreds of them and the FTTF.....100 of them? It is a noisy..pushing...crowd.

So don't call it a perk. Getting a bag of free clothes is a perk. The little chocolates are a little perk. The the REAL perk..that you keep sailing with Carnival so you can have quick safe boarding and a quick safe exit......does not exist. Anything You get for being VIP can be bought...or if you just carry your luggage off..no matter how many you have..they get the same perk.

Now. Tell me how I am wrong. It has bothered me all day. The crowd. The escalator. The hurry hurry..pushing...long lines.....................The is not priority disembarkation.

Also...no coffee. No O.J. No ice water. All of which we had on the Freedom. Fascination. Dream. small things..but nice..None of that.

[poolman11]

Broken escalator. Oh well

[AmberTeka]

Broken escalator. Oh well

 

Apparently they had more than one. The one everyone was using.....people in lines on it..to get on it..more lines waiting to get in those lines.

 

Honestly...I was stunned. I am curious to see how other people who were there saw the situation. There was a sign that due to the large number of Plats. Diamonds on board...some delay.....but nothing about the large number of FTTF and the large,large, large numbers of Carry Off luggage.

 

If that is to continue to be a perk with Carnival for people who are loyal to Carnival and keep dropping their money there..

 

Why do Carry Off passengers go first?

 

The FTTF..The VIPP Plat. Diamond. They have all either paid...or have sailed many times with Carnival to earn the status.

Now. How am I wrong? And I like seeing other views. I think it should be discussed.

[prattmom]

Apparently they had more than one. The one everyone was using.....people in lines on it..to get on it..more lines waiting to get in those lines.

 

Honestly...I was stunned. I am curious to see how other people who were there saw the situation. There was a sign that due to the large number of Plats. Diamonds on board...some delay.....but nothing about the large number of FTTF and the large,large, large numbers of Carry Off luggage.

 

If that is to continue to be a perk with Carnival for people who are loyal to Carnival and keep dropping their money there..

 

Why do Carry Off passengers go first?

 

The FTTF..The VIPP Plat. Diamond. They have all either paid...or have sailed many times with Carnival to earn the status.

Now. How am I wrong? And I like seeing other views. I think it should be discussed.

 

On the Magic last Thanksgiving the priority passengers met in the dining room but we were not led out until after they started letting the self debark people off. It was a mess...

 

 

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[lindfaz]

I am with you on this. We are platinum but on our last cruise it didn't seem to matter regarding disembarking. The people with their luggage got off first. That was about half of the ship....we waited over 90 minutes to get off. People pushing and shoving trying to get somewhere, who knows where, first. They announced stay away from the stairs. People were lined up sitting on the stairs. This seems to be the worst part of your cruise. You have 7 days of fun, laughter and enjoyment....then when it is time to get off people turn into somebody else and don't have any sense of manners or kindness at all. I never saw this when we first started cruising and they didn't have the carry your own luggage off plan. They simply went deck to deck and that's how you got off. Very orderly and no complaining, pushing, shoving or disorder.

[NikkiFer]

Just disembarked from the Liberty on Saturday and I had a great experience. The Platinum and Diamond passengers were told to wait in a conference room at 07:00 if they wanted to self assist, and 07:30 if they wanted to set their luggage out. We were off the ship by 06:50... This room was only for Platinum and Diamond and possibly FTTF. No problems. Best disembarkation from 18 cruises, hope they are all like this in the future.

[irishnyc]

I think they (and by they I mean all cruise lines) should do away with self-debark. Everyone's got an excuse why they need to be off quickly, and it becomes ridiculous. My in-laws do it and it drives me crazy. They only sail out of their home port, and live a quick cab ride away, yet my father-in-law always finds a way to carry-off his luggage. It even drives my mother-in-law crazy because she can't move quickly. She'd rather wait and be the last one off the ship. I also prefer to be last off. No rush, no crowd of people glaring at me.

[MrsBruz]

We had FTTF and got off the Splendor this morning right at 7:30 as promised. They called the first floor of self assist just as we were walking off. It went perfectly, I thought.

[FreeWilly88]

I got off from the Breeze today by zone... it was definitely the more relaxed way to disembark the ship. We were scheduled to be called out at 8:30 (zone 16), but got called at 8:45, picked up our luggage and on our merry way by 9:15 and in our car at 9:30.

[cschultz]

I am platinum but did self assist because we were traveling with non-platinum people, and we had an early flight out of Fort Lauderdale, which became even earlier when they changed the flight schedule. Our deck was called earlier than posted on the schedule, and we were caught a little off guard. We rushed from breakfast, got our bags, and started for the front of the ship. Part of the problem today, in addition to the broken escalator, was that the groups were called too close together. There were platinum people, self assist, and the early groups all being called down at the same time. I think that caused more confusion than normal. We still got out quickly, and were in the FLL airport by 9am.

[AmberTeka]

I got off from the Breeze today by zone... it was definitely the more relaxed way to disembark the ship. We were scheduled to be called out at 8:30 (zone 16), but got called at 8:45, picked up our luggage and on our merry way by 9:15 and in our car at 9:30.

 

If I had known what it was going to be like....well, it sound like you were the smart one.

 

We drive home and it takes us about six or seven hours, depending of if we stop a lot or not.

 

On Princess we are four cruises, which is something but not enough to get the priority boarding. They don't have FTTF.

 

Last New Years, we were color boarded. We had a balcony, but not one of the pricey ones. We waited to be called too...and we were on the road by eight o'clock. That was the Caribbean Princess. They did move us up some because our dog was in the vet, and we had to be home by 2 to get him out..or he had to stay until Monday. We waited a bit and when they had a break for a while in the line, they called us. We did not get in front of anyone or any group.

We appreciated it a lot. We also did not infringe on a reward for people who have been very loyal to Princess. No one was mad. Lines were small.

 

The Carry Off luggage....on Carnival is maybe a bit out of control.....and the number needs to be limited. I wish I had a photo of one couple. They were dragging..pushing...pulling..two suitcases that looked like twin bed mattresses....as big as that. How in the world they got them down that escalator.....boggles my mind. That is an accident waiting to be filed...and Carnival will be judged at fault. Wait and see.

 

On a happy note....We did enjoy the cruise. Not everything was perfect..but what is? I will write a review this week

I have to say that it was our first Cove Balcony and we enjoyed it. It is more private. Being on the Main Deck put us one deck below our MDR. and the Main Desk plus ground floor for the theater, Deck Four had the Library. Art Gallery. Five...the Casino. Shops. ..mid ship..it was a straight shot for the Lido deck. It was so close to everything that the ship did not seem that much bigger. I read a lot of reviews before we sailed and it seemed to me that Coves were not the favorites of most balcony guests. But those who liked them..loved them. So........we loved it. My husband would sit out when he came in for the night. One evening the Moon was red. Really red. Just a stunning sight.

[FreeWilly88]

If I had known what it was going to be like....well, it sound like you were the smart one.

 

We drive home and it takes us about six or seven hours, depending of if we stop a lot or not.

 

On Princess we are four cruises, which is something but not enough to get the priority boarding. They don't have FTTF.

 

Last New Years, we were color boarded. We had a balcony, but not one of the pricey ones. We waited to be called too...and we were on the road by eight o'clock. That was the Caribbean Princess. They did move us up some because our dog was in the vet, and we had to be home by 2 to get him out..or he had to stay until Monday. We waited a bit and when they had a break for a while in the line, they called us. We did not get in front of anyone or any group.

We appreciated it a lot. We also did not infringe on a reward for people who have been very loyal to Princess. No one was mad. Lines were small.

 

The Carry Off luggage....on Carnival is maybe a bit out of control.....and the number needs to be limited. I wish I had a photo of one couple. They were dragging..pushing...pulling..two suitcases that looked like twin bed mattresses....as big as that. How in the world they got them down that escalator.....boggles my mind. That is an accident waiting to be filed...and Carnival will be judged at fault. Wait and see.

 

On a happy note....We did enjoy the cruise. Not everything was perfect..but what is? I will write a review this week

I have to say that it was our first Cove Balcony and we enjoyed it. It is more private. Being on the Main Deck put us one deck below our MDR. and the Main Desk plus ground floor for the theater, Deck Four had the Library. Art Gallery. Five...the Casino. Shops. ..mid ship..it was a straight shot for the Lido deck. It was so close to everything that the ship did not seem that much bigger. I read a lot of reviews before we sailed and it seemed to me that Coves were not the favorites of most balcony guests. But those who liked them..loved them. So........we loved it. My husband would sit out when he came in for the night. One evening the Moon was red. Really red. Just a stunning sight.

 

Glad you made it out safely this morning.. I agree they should limit self assist or not call so many groups at the same time. I kind of wondered how people got down with all their self assist luggage... escalator vs. elevator. probably be lines at the elevator and a risky trip down the escalator.

 

I just submitted a lengthy review and it should be up after it gets approved later this week. My biggest comfort complaint was the lack of consistent cool AC around the shp. 80+ deg in some areas is very uncomfortable!

[Elaine5715]

Each ship is different. On the Imagination, all the platinums, diamonds, FTTF met in the lounge, with luggage and not. We were led off before they started any regular self assist. The crew also stopped others who "were with" someone in the lounge from tagging along and told them their number would be called soon.

[AmberTeka]

Each ship is different. On the Imagination, all the platinums, diamonds, FTTF met in the lounge, with luggage and not. We were led off before they started any regular self assist. The crew also stopped others who "were with" someone in the lounge from tagging along and told them their number would be called soon.

 

It would be a lot cheaper for Carnival to have someone...take the situation in hand before they face a lawsuit because someone dragging a trunk down the escalator lets go of the trunk and it takes a few people down.

 

Embarkation, while not as bad, was different on the Breeze.

 

We checked in quickly. No lines. Then we were led to a lounge for our sign and sail card. There was perhaps 75 (?) people in that lounge. All seats were taken. About another 30-40 people waited outside. we waited outside. After about 20 minutes a Carnival Rep. led us on board. It was a fast walk too, escalator...all of the same, but the group was polite. No pushing or shoving. I was surprised at the number of people...but it was not uncomfortable. Or unsafe. Sometimes you have a big crowd.

 

But the getting off..............That needs for someone to take a serious look at re doing carrying your own luggage off.

[okgirl]

The way it's suppose to be called at debarkation is:

 

VIP/FTTF self assist (who have assembled in usually the forward dining room)

 

VIP/FTTF zone 1

 

General self assist called by decks

 

Zones called by number.

 

I don't really understand what is so difficult to understand about that order, but more often than not it doesn't happen that way.

 

I agree that part of the problem is the cruise director is calling the different groups too close together. Another problem is the staging, the letter often says to gather at a certain time that is almost always 30 minutes AFTER debarkation has actually begun.

 

They know that week after week the ship is ready to disembark closer to 7am or before, yet the paper work continues to reflect a much later time.

[jimbo5544]

We had FTTF and got off the Splendor this morning right at 7:30 as promised. They called the first floor of self assist just as we were walking off. It went perfectly, I thought.

 

Have to say our experience on the Splendor in August mirrors yours. We were put in small dining room, no crowds and we were in the first 20 off the ship. Best evere.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app on my iPad

[Georgiagolfer]

DW and I are Platinum and usually do self assist debark. On Fascination in June, they had the Platinums and Diamonds meet on 1 level of the Theatre, and FTTF's on another level. They then operated the elevators to the main deck to disembark. No one was able to cut in line and went very smooth. Actually was a lot better than the embark when Platinum/Diamond and FTTF were all called at the same time.

[LHP]

The way it's suppose to be called at debarkation is:

 

VIP/FTTF self assist (who have assembled in usually the forward dining room)

 

VIP/FTTF zone 1

 

General self assist called by decks

 

Zones called by number.

 

I don't really understand what is so difficult to understand about that order, but more often than not it doesn't happen that way.

 

I agree that part of the problem is the cruise director is calling the different groups too close together. Another problem is the staging, the letter often says to gather at a certain time that is almost always 30 minutes AFTER debarkation has actually begun.

 

They know that week after week the ship is ready to disembark closer to 7am or before, yet the paper work continues to reflect a much later time.

 

 

 

Our experience has been that Carnival operates in this order....

 

VIP (FTTF) Self Assist

 

GENERAL Self Assist

 

VIP (FTTF) who left luggage out (because they have to have time to place the luggage in Zone 1

 

GENERAL who left luggage out by zones

 

 

 

 

A couple of times they have allowed VIP who left their luggage out go before the General Self Assist...but only a couple of times.

 

When the VIP that left their luggage out gets behind half the ship that is doing self assist...it is no longer a perk.

 

 

But I agree your list is definitely how Carnival SHOULD do it!!

[LHP]

I agree that Debarkation is Carnival's Achilles Heel.....

 

 

We do the VIP Self Assist because our son does not do "lines" well...and Customs can get backed up...when you are stuck behind half the ship that has done the General Self Assist.

 

 

But even the VIP (FTTF) Self Assist is a joke sometimes and most of it is not Carnival's fault.

 

If they have you meet in the Main Dining Room off the Atrium, then walk in, pick a side and go to the end of the line. It is not rocket science!

 

And I can tell you that it has not been the FTTF people refusing to walk past the front door. (because this has happened LONG before FTTF started)

 

It is supposedly well traveled individuals who think for some reason they should not have to go to the end of the line when they walk in.

 

The other issue depends on the ship...because with the Fantasy class, you are battling the fact that there are cabins on the Debarkation Floor and that adds to the chaos.....

 

and the 3rd issue is that Carnival does cater to the less traveled and add an additional level of "acting stupid" to the process.

[LHP]

Oh..and let's not forget the TWO times that VIP Self Assist was FORGOTTEN.

 

They had released General Self Assist as we sat there in the lobby .....

 

:rolleyes:

[jimbo5544]

Oh..and let's not forget the TWO times that VIP Self Assist was FORGOTTEN.

 

They had released General Self Assist as we sat there in the lobby .....

 

:rolleyes:

 

Granted they can do a better job, especially being more consistent.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app on my iPad

[Georgiagolfer]

Oh..and let's not forget the TWO times that VIP Self Assist was FORGOTTEN.

 

They had released General Self Assist as we sat there in the lobby .....

 

:rolleyes:

 

After repeating the process each cruise, one wonders how this could occur.:confused:

[christmas]

I have to say I only cruise out of Galveston and New Orleans and out of the two New Orleans is the worst. For example we were on the Conquest a month ago and we were told self debark meets in the Renoir Dining Room at 7:30AM and we got there there was people in there NOT PLATINUM or FTTF and Carnival did nothing about it. People were pushing and shoving trying to get off the ship. It was a NIGHTMARE.

[ScottsSweetie]

Our experience has been that Carnival operates in this order....

 

VIP (FTTF) Self Assist

 

GENERAL Self Assist

 

VIP (FTTF) who left luggage out (because they have to have time to place the luggage in Zone 1

 

GENERAL who left luggage out by zones

 

 

THIS is how I have always seen it done. Zone 1's have always disembarked after ALL self-assist. Disembarking the Ecstasy a few weeks ago was the best Zone 1 experience I've ever had. We were right above the atrium bar - there were two lines for self-assist coming through. When the self-assists were almost finished, they closed down one of their lines and we were led down the steps into that line - then they re-opened behind us for the masses. It has never been so easy!

 

We usually use the Zone 1 tags, but take our time getting off the ship unless we really need to be in the car quickly.

[quickrate]

We are platinum and have been for years. We never rush to get off the ship. Have a leisurely breakfast, wait for the masses to push and shove their way off the ship, and then walk right off, grab our luggage from the platinum area, and at that point going thru customs is a breeze. Because we live in Florida, we usually don't have a plane to catch so see no reason to join the pushing and shoving!!

Pat