Questions on disembarking from recent LOS cruises

[educator]

Have there been any delays in disembarking from recent 4 or 5 day LOS cruises?

How do I make arrangements to self disembark?

What is the procedure I would have to follow if we self disembark? Do we assemble somewhere?

Would we have to disembark early or could we wait until 8:30 to leave the ship?

[Clarea]

Have there been any delays in disembarking from recent 4 or 5 day LOS cruises?

How do I make arrangements to self disembark?

What is the procedure I would have to follow if we self disembark? Do we assemble somewhere?

Would we have to disembark early or could we wait until 8:30 to leave the ship?

You will get a letter in your stateroom entitled "As You Depart" towards the end of the cruise that will answer your questions about procedure and timing.

[KAA951]

Have there been any delays in disembarking from recent 4 or 5 day LOS cruises?

 

We were on LOS a few weeks ago and had no issues disembarking from the ship. We were flying out the same day, so we opted for the concierge option where our luggage was delivered directly to our airline. It was nice to walk off the ship and not worry about our luggage until we got off the airplane in Kansas City! We actually ended up off the ship much earlier than expected and had to hang out at the airport for about 5 hours before our flight boarded (it was the only direct flight, so there was no point trying to catch an earlier one).

 

Have a great trip! We really enjoyed LOS!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Have there been any delays in disembarking from recent 4 or 5 day LOS cruises?

How do I make arrangements to self disembark?

What is the procedure I would have to follow if we self disembark? Do we assemble somewhere?

Would we have to disembark early or could we wait until 8:30 to leave the ship?

 

I was on the same cruise as Bob. We have done self-disembark on all but 2 of our cruise in the last few years--and this was one of them.

 

As Bob mentioned you get the "As you depart" letter. We had planned to do self-disembark for our Legend cruise, too. However, the letter said that the customs would be open for this type of departure ONLY between 6:15 and 7:00 am. That was too early for us since we had a 1 pm flight.

 

In other ports we were able to leave later. I think where you are sailing into makes as much [or more] difference on this.

[Skatetigger]

We just got off LOS last Saturday (oh I wish I could get back on the boat) and our departure was very long BUT we didn't do self-disembarking we did the assigned time but there was customs delays (they only started with 2 people apparently) and in addition because we went to Belize they were being a bit stricter. We were suppose to get off the boat between 9:45-10:00 but didn't end up getting off till sometime after 11:00am

[berylde]

You wrote that customs on the LOS were delayed because the ship had been to Belize and customs were stricter

Such a small port, why would they take longer?

[BNL62]

We're doing our very first cruise in December so I'm not familiar with the normal disembark process yet but this thread has me curious, what all is involved and what is the advantage of self embarking? We will be disembarking from Adventure in San Juan and our flight home is not until 4:00pm. At this point in time, we do not have any planned activities that day. Is there anything special we should be aware of or concerned about?

[Clarea]

We're doing our very first cruise in December so I'm not familiar with the normal disembark process yet but this thread has me curious, what all is involved and what is the advantage of self embarking? We will be disembarking from Adventure in San Juan and our flight home is not until 4:00pm. At this point in time, we do not have any planned activities that day. Is there anything special we should be aware of or concerned about?

The normal disembark process involves putting your suitcases outside your stateroom late on the last evening. The crew will collect the suitcases and assemble them in the terminal building for you to collect after you walk off the ship. It takes some time after the ship arrives for the crew to offload the bags. If you would rather get off the ship as early as possible, you can keep your bags in your stateroom and carry them off yourself (self-disembark) as soon as the ship is cleared. This gets you off the ship faster than the people who have the crew take their bags, however you must be able to carry the bags yourself, no carts or help are given.

Edited November 23, 2013 by clarea

[KAA951]

We're doing our very first cruise in December so I'm not familiar with the normal disembark process yet but this thread has me curious, what all is involved and what is the advantage of self embarking? We will be disembarking from Adventure in San Juan and our flight home is not until 4:00pm. At this point in time, we do not have any planned activities that day. Is there anything special we should be aware of or concerned about?

 

When you fill out your pre-cruise Sea Pass paperwork online, they will ask you about your post-cruise travel arrangements. They will make sure you get off in plenty of time for your flight. The day before you disembark, they will put directions in your stateroom, along with luggage tags for whatever disembarking group you have been assigned to (eg Green 9). Then, you leave your packed bags (other than what you need the next morning) outside your room with the luggage tags affixed. Overnight, all the luggage is collected and taken off the ship when you arrive so you don't have to carry it all with you. They will also give you a simple customs form to fill out- one per party/family.

 

In the morning, get breakfast and then take your carry ons (double checking that you haven't left anything in your cabin) and go to the departure lounge that your group has been assigned. They usually have water, juice and rolls available in the departure lounge if you skip breakfast. Then, they will call each group individually over the PA system and you queue up to get off the ship.

 

When you get off the ship and into the departure terminal, you will match up with your luggage and then go through customs (don't try to bring an apple, orange or any other snack with you off of the ship). We have had formal customs where we all were individually screened and other times where we simply walked through a line and handed in our customs forms- you never know how in depth it will be. Just make sure that when you get to the customs officer that you have your form filled out and ready to give them- pretty easy actually.

 

After that, you will need to find your transportation back to the airport. We have always made arrangements for this ahead of time (you can usually get a better deal if you use the same company to and from the dock).

 

Our last cruise, they gave us paperwork offering a concierge service where, for $20 a person they will check you into your flight and transfer your luggage directly to your airline. It was nice as we didn't have to find luggage, get and tip a porter or worry about carrying luggage to our transport and into the airport. We also didn't have to pay .75 cents a minute to check in for our flight online and get our boarding passes. I highly recommend it.

 

Have a great trip! Don't sweat disembarking- sounds like you have plenty of time and if you get off the ship quickly you will just end up sitting in the airport!

Edited November 23, 2013 by KAA951

[Skatetigger]

You wrote that customs on the LOS were delayed because the ship had been to Belize and customs were stricter

Such a small port, why would they take longer?

 

We were told that apparently due to drug traffic from Belize they were getting a bit more strict through customs.

[BNL62]

Thank you Clarea and KAA951! That is very helpful information.