Debark!

[FloridaGators]

There is nothing like a messy "debark" to put a bit of a dark cloud on a wonderful cruise.

 

We just returned from Splendor and suggest that it wasn't the worst debark, but it was far from the best. Of our 33 cruises, each debark has been different.

 

For this one, all diamond, platinum, and faster to the fun who were doing "self-debark" were positioned in the same dining room. The cruise director announced that each group would be taken off in turn in 20 minutes. Not five minutes later, a crew member came to the room and called "platinum" and everyone rushed the door. So much for organization.

 

My real purpose is to tell you about our absolutely best and most fair debark. This was on a RCCL ship. They used a dining room. A crew member was checking the sign & sale cards at the door. The dining room had two entrances, like most. We were directed toward one entrance and walked around the matre'd's station and toward the other door. We were then told to place our luggage in line, in the order we came in. The end result was a big horseshoe shape line of luggage, single file around the main desk.

 

When it came time to leave the ship, a crew member came and stood next to the line of luggage and each person, in order of luggage got up, got their bag, and got off.

Edited November 23, 2014 by FloridaGators

[2Shoes2Go]

Yes, we also enjoyed the calm, organized debark on Monarch, many times. Certainly room for improvement on most Carnival ships. So many times it's a "y'all can all go now" mess. The best we can do is share our experiences with the crew and on our surveys. Honestly, some ships are a little better than others and Diamonds sometimes get a little extra help.

Strange how we remember boarding and debark experiences so vividly and, for us, they do help set a memory.

[Orison]

There is nothing like a messy "debark" to put a bit of a dark cloud on a wonderful cruise.

 

We just returned from Splendor and suggest that it wasn't the worst debark, but it was far from the best. Of our 33 cruises, each debark has been different.

 

For this one, all diamond, platinum, and faster to the fun who were doing "self-debark" were positioned in the same dining room. The cruise director announced that each group would be taken off in turn in 20 minutes. Not five minutes later, a crew member came to the room and called "platinum" and everyone rushed the door. So much for organization.

 

My real purpose is to tell you about our absolutely best and most fair debark. This was on a RCCL ship. They used a dining room. A crew member was checking the sign & sale cards at the door. The dining room had two entrances, like most. We were directed toward one entrance and walked around the matre'd's station and toward the other door. We were then told to place our luggage in line, in the order we came in. The end result was a big horseshoe shape line of luggage, single file around the main desk.

 

When it came time to leave the ship, a crew member came and stood next to the line of luggage and each person, in order of luggage got up, got their bag, and got off.

 

We tried a self debark on RCCL once. We were on deck 10. We couldn't get an elevator that wasn't full going up or down.

[Joeychgo]

This is one of the reasons we always book FTTF. We are able to get off the ship with the platinum and diamond cruisers, and it usually is a group of about 30 people. We get off about 7am, walk straight through everything, including customs, with no lines, no waiting. By 7:30 or so we have our luggage and are in a cab. Its usually very orderly and efficient.

[Podna's]

We tried a self debark on RCCL once. We were on deck 10. We couldn't get an elevator that wasn't full going up or down.

 

 

Same here. My last 2 Dream debarks were much smoother than RCCL's.

[travler27]

Funny how different folks see things differently. We too got off the Splendor this morning and thought it was the best and smoothest debark we have ever experienced. Now we aren't Platinum and didn't do FTTF but we were in a suite and had a zone 2 tag. Carnival did a very good job of enforcing the order of debark to the zones called. Some folks got pi$$ed cause they were trying to jump ahead of their turn and got caught and had to wait in the lounge but over all it was a very smooth debark.

 

The only snag was a delay caused by a lack of Customs officers but I can't see blaming Carnival for that.

 

I guess I really don't see the problem with being told you would debark in 20 minutes and in fact it actually only took 5 minutes. Doesn't sound all that terrible to me.

Edited November 23, 2014 by travler27

[Joeychgo]

the value in FTTF or platinum is in being first off the ship. If your FTTF and don't get off in that first group, then you may face lines and what not. You might not, but its more of a gamble IMO.

 

My last RCCL debark included about an hour wait in line behind hundreds of other people

[Ladderlieu29]

Just got off the Breeze yesterday, and although we were FTTF, we chose to wait a while as our flight wasn't until 3pm-ish. We were tagged in group 8 and it appeared pretty un-chaotic at that time. We got called @9:30 and had a quite easy walk off the ship and a very easy walk through customs. I've only been on 3 cruises with Carnival and this was probably the easiest debarkation I've experienced.

[sandij]

I've always wondered why people who couldn't wait for their cruise to start also can't wait to get off the same ship and go home.

[Tapi]

Funny how different folks see things differently.

 

 

When we came home from the Dream, we had one of the smoothest debarkation we've ever experienced on a Carnival ship. So I was a bit surprised to read reviews from other passenger's horrendous debarkation experience from the same sailing just 20-30 minutes after we debarked. It's amazing what a difference a few minutes can make.

 

And it's not only on Carnival. When we sailed on Royal this summer, my wife went down for coffee while the rest of the family finished getting ready. She commented on how chaotic it was with people trying to self debark and standing in long lines. We waited another 30 minutes, and by then, the Centrum had cleared and we walked right off the ship without stopping. We were literally all by ourselves!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited November 23, 2014 by Tapi

[cb at sea]

Yeah...why do you need to be in the 1st herd off? Wait a second...let those rushers off, and it's no big deal from that point on!