Self debarkation pros and cons

[robtbob]

Hi all. On a recent post I saw someone did self debarkation. I didn't know about this, even though we've had several cruises. Is it allowed on all cruises? I suppose you can pack late at night or in the morning, rather than the night before. I did one cruise where they had a formal night on the last night, but you had to leave your bags out early. On another cruise we all had to go to the theater in the morning, and wait till they called you so you could leave the ship and collect your bags. It was chaos. Thinking it's not a big deal to roll your bags off in the morning, when it suits your time to leave. Is their any protocol with customs that may be a hassle? Thanks for any input. Rob

[Clarea]

As far as I know, self-assist disembarkation is available on all ships. Downsides are you have to get up earlier and be able to carry off all your bags yourself, with no carts and no help from crew.

[Ashland]

Hi all. On a recent post I saw someone did self debarkation. I didn't know about this, even though we've had several cruises. Is it allowed on all cruises? I suppose you can pack late at night or in the morning, rather than the night before. I did one cruise where they had a formal night on the last night, but you had to leave your bags out early. On another cruise we all had to go to the theater in the morning, and wait till they called you so you could leave the ship and collect your bags. It was chaos. Thinking it's not a big deal to roll your bags off in the morning, when it suits your time to leave. Is their any protocol with customs that may be a hassle? Thanks for any input. Rob

 

Self-disembarkation is the first group off the ship at a specific time...not just when ever you feel like getting off...the reason is your luggage being wheeled by you..this could cause a traffic jam so best to adhere to the time frame...Also make sure you can handle your own without the need for help.

 

Very poor planning on the part of a cruiseline to have a formal night the last night onboard :eek:

 

We tend to time our departure so we don't have to go to any public venue to disembark...Just what has worked for us.

 

20+ cruises and I am still always learning something new thanks to the many on these boards.

 

Enjoy your next cruise :)

[RADICALBURN]

Been there done that. Depending on the ship and number leaving early can be bad. On the Vision our Thanksgiving cruise there was a wait for customs and the line was all the way around the ship like everyone was walking off. There is no help for the handicapped to leave early and i had to walk off using the walker. But they did let me skip past the line. On other cruises the line was so long you couldn't use the elevators and had to walk down the stairs two floors waiting in line. Point is get there early and wait in line. Sometimes there is only a couple of custom agents which adds to the wait...................................RADICAL

[Keith1010]

Downside is that you are rushing off the ship and handling the luggage yourself. You have to decide is this the way you want to end your vacation/cruise.

 

Keith

[Biker19]

Self-disembarkation is the first group off the ship at a specific time...not just when ever you feel like getting off..

 

You can wait until after the last number is called (or the rush seems to be over) and leisurely walk off.:cool:

[robtbob]

Thanks everyone for your valuable info. I am now better informed . Appreciate your feed back. Might leave as normal I think.

[Biker19]

I'm wondering, why do most folks have no issue showing up whenever they want at embarkation even if RCI asked them to show up at a certain time but are very hesitant to disembark at any but the allotted time?:confused:

[Clarea]

I'm wondering, why do most folks have no issue showing up whenever they want at embarkation even if RCI asked them to show up at a certain time but are very hesitant to disembark at any but the allotted time?:confused:

We used to walk off anytime after our number was called, sometimes an hour after. One time someone took one of our bags by mistake, so now we get off ASAP.

[waterbug123]

Is their any protocol with customs that may be a hassle?

 

No. You take your bags through customs with you. Doesn't matter if you carry them off yourself or wait and pick them up from a luggage carousel.

[bigque]

We have done the self thing a couple of times now and we like it. Once you get the luggage area there are porters who will help you with your bags if you want them to and they will whiz you right through customs and out the door to your taxi or whatever. I didn't care for the waiting area on Adventure however because you had to go down flights of stairs to deck two or three I believe it was to get there then had to go back up one flight to depart. So if you had a few bags or heavy bags it was a struggle as I saw some people really struggling! :cool:

[CapeCodCruiser]

We carry on & carry off - always. We leave the ship when we are ready - it has never been a problem.

[Ocean Boy]

I love doing self-assist. I have never been all that comfortable leaving the luggage out in the passageway the night before and I don't like rummaging for it once we get into the terminal. We almost had one of our bags taken by mistake once but I won't get into the boring details.

 

My experience has not been to be given an exact time that we are supposed to leave the ship but we have had a time frame for leaving. Out last cruise on Oasis I think had a 1.5 hour window where they asked self-assist to leave the ship in.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Ocean Boy

[niksmom630]

I'm wondering, why do most folks have no issue showing up whenever they want at embarkation even if RCI asked them to show up at a certain time but are very hesitant to disembark at any but the allotted time?:confused:

 

 

 

We used to walk off anytime after our number was called, sometimes an hour after. One time someone took one of our bags by mistake, so now we get off ASAP.

 

 

We used to do the same, but then had the same thing happen to us on Adventure out of San Juan. Someone took one of our bags by mistake and didn't realize it until they got to the airport. Luckily, we were staying an extra night in San Juan, and RCI was able to retrieve our bag from the airport, and delivered it to our hotel room later that evening.

 

I decided to roll the dice again when we disembarked Brilliance out of Tampa because we had a later flight. We waited about an hour after our numbers were called. Sure enough, one bag was missing again! 😳 but, I found it in the "no tagged" luggage area.

 

So, yes....we will always be getting off when our numbers are called in the future. 😊

 

 

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[Groucho]

We like it when we need it for an early flight. You do have to wake up much earlier (5:00 AM) and get breakfast very early in the WJ if you want. Because of flight schedules and requirements at home we have caught flights as early as 7:50 AM arriving at FLL by 6:45 AM by walking off. No lines at immigration and at airport security at that time.

 

Typically we don't have to get home that early and wake up later and have a easy paced breakfast in the WJ. Those times we just walk off at around 10:00 with the "number groups".

[BecciBoo]

We have pretty much always done it, but the problem lately has been that now so many are doing it, there is now a bottle neck with that!

 

 

No problem getting through customs if using the porters, the problem is getting off the deck of your ship when there are 500+ people trying to self assist off the ship.... On certain cruises we've waited on the outside promenade in line for 45 minutes...at 7:30!:eek:

 

I think this cruise we'll be following Bob's advice....no rush to get home. My bags have so much junk on them, no one with eyes could fail to see they are not theirs:cool: I have even used slick paint to stencil initials all over one , course I am not a luggage fashionista.

Edited April 8, 2016 by BecciBoo

[marci22]

If it goes smoothly it works well. If there is any delay at the port, they have you line up and wait. One time we were lined up on an outside deck on Ex for about 45 minutes but it was very cold, and many people had not dressed for it. That was very uncomfortable.

[Sitzmark]

Hi all. On a recent post I saw someone did self debarkation. I didn't know about this, even though we've had several cruises. Is it allowed on all cruises? I suppose you can pack late at night or in the morning, rather than the night before. I did one cruise where they had a formal night on the last night, but you had to leave your bags out early. On another cruise we all had to go to the theater in the morning, and wait till they called you so you could leave the ship and collect your bags. It was chaos. Thinking it's not a big deal to roll your bags off in the morning, when it suits your time to leave. Is their any protocol with customs that may be a hassle? Thanks for any input. Rob

 

For our Oasis cruise we carried our own stuff off. We went down shortly after 8 and the line started right outside the elevator lobby. There were no crew members telling us what to do so we just got in line. We were driving out of the parking lot at 8:45.

[Ashland]

May not be a popular decision...however...perhaps something else can be done to assure someone doesn't take your bag...We walked up once just as some lady was starting to wheel off one of our bags...crazy thing is...with what my luggage looked like and the identifying things I had on it ... you just have to wonder :rolleyes:

[voyager70]

We have pretty much always done it, but the problem lately has been that now so many are doing it, there is now a bottle neck with that!

 

No problem getting through customs if using the porters, the problem is getting off the deck of your ship when there are 500+ people trying to self assist off the ship.... On certain cruises we've waited on the outside promenade in line for 45 minutes...at 7:30!:eek:

 

I think this cruise we'll be following Bob's advice....no rush to get home. My bags have so much junk on them, no one with eyes could fail to see they are not theirs:cool: I have even used slick paint to stencil initials all over one , course I am not a luggage fashionista.

 

 

This, exactly. On the Liberty repo last November the self assist was a joke. I think half the ship was doing it & took an hour just to get off the ship.

[Artemis908]

We always do self debarkation. The only issue is the elevators. It's impossible finding an elevator that isn't full and can fit you and your luggage. We usually end up having to carry them down the stairs. We also never leave in the early morning, we leave as late as possible. I've noticed if we try to delay our departure the ship gets a little less busy and we have a better chance at grabbing an empty elevator.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Been there done that. Depending on the ship and number leaving early can be bad. On the Vision our Thanksgiving cruise there was a wait for customs and the line was all the way around the ship like everyone was walking off. There is no help for the handicapped to leave early and i had to walk off using the walker. But they did let me skip past the line. On other cruises the line was so long you couldn't use the elevators and had to walk down the stairs two floors waiting in line. Point is get there early and wait in line. Sometimes there is only a couple of custom agents which adds to the wait...................................RADICAL

 

They DO make than fact clear - there is NO assistance when doing self-disembark, and you are responsible for your own luggage. Not sure why that came as a surprise.

[Virtopia]

Is self assist disembarkation a good idea in the Venice port? I'd like to get off early to catch a train to Milan. I figure I'll be up early anywaze to see when the ship pulls in.

[Biker19]

Is self assist disembarkation a good idea in the Venice port? I'd like to get off early to catch a train to Milan. I figure I'll be up early anywaze to see when the ship pulls in.

 

I'll let you know next month. ;)

[robtbob]

I figure I'll be up early anywaze to see when the ship pulls in.

 

Yes get up early and see something grand.:) Sailing into Venice and going past the great city to the dock is something you won't forget. Hopefully you will have some commentary as you do. We did on HAL.