Anyone try to be last off the boat?

[AlPSUCruiser]

I understand why most try to disembark quickly, but I was wondering if anyone can share their experience taking their time leaving the boat at the end of their cruise? What is the latest you left and how do they eventually persuade you to leave?

 

(if there are past threads on this please help me search, I'm probably not entering the right words - thanks)

[evandbob]

I understand why most try to disembark quickly, but I was wondering if anyone can share their experience taking their time leaving the boat at the end of their cruise? What is the latest you left and how do they eventually persuade you to leave?

 

(if there are past threads on this please help me search, I'm probably not entering the right words - thanks)

 

IMO: Anyone deliberately delaying their disembarkment is doing a disservice to the people waiting to board for the next cruise.

 

Twice Carnival reported trouble getting the previous cruisers off the Conquest, so the first to board started after 12:30 for a 4 pm sail away. We finally left port just around 6PM each time.

 

Carnival usually states the everyone has to be out of their cabin by 8AM and hopefully off the ship by 10AM. Food and drink venues will begin closing after 9:30 or so, announcements will be made.

Edited July 13, 2016 by evandbob

[fuzzmane]

I'am never in a big rush to get off, but would not deliberately be last off and hold up the oncoming passengers. We all want to get our cruise started asap.

Edited July 13, 2016 by fuzzmane

[SadieN]

We've been last, or almost last, on several of our short cruises out of LA. We try to miss LA's notorious rush hour. The choice of waiting onboard or in the car has no need to answer.

 

All off is around 10:00. We wait on the Lido or somewhere else. Many times its at the upper atrium levels on the Fantasy class ships, people watching.

 

When there're only a few left, the CD will start announcing that everyone is clear to leave the ship. Then s/he'll start doing a countdown as in 'Will the last 50 of you, PLEASE leave the ship!", or our favorite 'Time to get off the ship, there's no more food'.

 

Being one of the last off makes finding your luggage easier if the crew took it off for you.

 

Only once were we the last off. DH had CBP issues and we didn't want to hold up the line (At that time Long Beach had dedicated lines for every station, now they have two lines- US and Non-US)

 

ETA - There's a difference in them having to find you and walking off with the last group of pax.

Edited July 13, 2016 by SadieN

[originalgeek]

We will be in no hurry to get off the ship but we will exit in a timely and orderly fashion as directed by the crew. I don't usually wake up early but I will want some breakfast on the last day so I'll be getting up earlier than I'm accustomed to. No planes to catch so just a drive back home.

[cruzeluver]

Go ahead and request to be in the last group off, but when the group is called, the right thing to do is disembark so the next group of passengers and embark and start their vacations. Usually all are called to be off by 10:00 barring any delays.

[AlPSUCruiser]

Yep - makes sense, I would not want to impact the next cruise, just wondering if you're not in a rush to get on a plane or other, whether there are benefits to waiting until the end of the departure deadline. Is it more relaxed and less crowded at luggage pickup, customs, etc...

[Elaine5715]

Unfortunately, the "niceness' tone of the last call for passengers to debark is not very motivating for some passengers. I did once suggest instead of having the very polite Aussie crew asking "all remaining passengers to please proceed to the lobby" to find a New Yorker to tell them to "get the duck off my ship"..:D

[cruiselover**]

I certainly know what it's like to be one of the passengers waiting to board when others won't get off the ship. My husband and I were waiting to start our cruise on the Carnival Breeze in April 2015. The passengers that were on the prior week to our cruise were a charter group - for the whole ship - and they were delaying our boarding time so much that we were moved from lounge to lounge in the Miami terminal for hours! We did not get to board the ship until almost 2:30 and we were platinum! I was really hungry by then, not to mention thirsty. We didn't receive any compensation, but I sure would have liked a couple free drinks for our trouble.

[jdemps]

The OP didn't say anything about getting off the ship after last call to get off, just asked what it's like to get off last.

 

We get off at about 9:59am on every cruise we can. We don't wake up early, have breakfast on lido around 9:15am then head out. we don't have an early flight, ever so we don't stand in the long lines to get off the ship. we just watch everyone else do it, then stroll off at the end.

[drosphot]

whether there are benefits to waiting until the end of the departure deadline.

 

I got to eat 5 ice creams while waiting for them to clear the Triumph after a Journeys sailing in Nov 2015. We couldn't get off until after 12:30!

[Sparky2]

I understand why most try to disembark quickly, but I was wondering if anyone can share their experience taking their time leaving the boat at the end of their cruise? What is the latest you left and how do they eventually persuade you to leave?

 

(if there are past threads on this please help me search, I'm probably not entering the right words - thanks)

 

 

I think the very last passengers are off the ship by 10:30. We were staying at a hotel before flying home the next day due to cheaper flights on Monday than on Sunday. We couldn't check into the hotel till after 3.

 

I think we finally made our way off the ship around 10 or so. We had zone 1 but went to GS and requested a later zone #. We were able to check into the hotel before 3 but wanted to be sure all the previous guests (mostly cruisers) were out before we arrived.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

We prepare to depart leisurely, head with our carry-on luggage to the covered outside area just beyond the buffet, eat a good breakfast, and converse as a family. Being on decks 7 or 8 means we will usually get the last debark #s. When our number is called we head on out. Our luggage sits in solo splendor and is easily identifiable, we stuff some last minute items into our luggage, head to customs, walk through quickly and emerge onto the pier. It's usually 10 or 10:30.

 

The only downside is that the pier is crawling with new arrivals who think they need to start unloading everyone for their cruise at 9 or 9:30 so our transportation has a bit of a time finding us.

 

We always check-in for boarding after 1 pm and leave the ship at 10. Works for us. And no, we don't hold up the next cruise. They rarely, if ever, start boarding before 11.

[Freckle53]

Yep - makes sense, I would not want to impact the next cruise, just wondering if you're not in a rush to get on a plane or other, whether there are benefits to waiting until the end of the departure deadline. Is it more relaxed and less crowded at luggage pickup, customs, etc...

 

We took one of the latest tag colors (not Carnival) on our last cruise so that we were not rushed. For our first cruise (with Carnival) we had FTTF and were supposed to have priority debark. Not sure if it was just that ship or just that sailing, but we were crammed in a small section of the dining room with the other priority debark guests and there we waited for a couple of hours. We had a just turned 2 year old who got very antsy and it was not a fun time at all. Our next cruise where we deliberately got a later debark time was awesome. We hung out on the Lido deck, which was almost empty. When they announced our color could leave, it was an easy walk off the ship, our luggage was easy to find, and it was fast through customs. It was by far a more relaxed end to our vacation vs the stressful one before. I will never rush off a ship again.

[cruzelover55]

I, personally, can't imagine wanting to linger. It's over! We self assist and live less than a mile from the port. I have been home, putting my 1st load of clothes in by 8:15 am, many times. But the month we cruise, we have back to back plans and need to get home to proceed to the next one. Every time I swear, I will leisurely eat breakfast, but, it never happens. I grab a bacon, egg, whatever ingredients to make a sandwich and munch on that as we are dragging our luggage off. It is always obvious that the staff wants you to LEAVE! I feel that staying longer would inconvenience too many others. But, to each, his own.:)

[Luluwa]

no with a 6 hour drive we gotta get in the road

[True Texan]

We were once delayed boarding because 2 young men were hiding on the ship. We were actually on the gangway waiting to board and saw them "escort" the men off the ship.

[Sweet Dutch Girl]

I, personally, can't imagine wanting to linger. It's over! We self assist and live less than a mile from the port. I have been home, putting my 1st load of clothes in by 8:15 am, many times. But the month we cruise, we have back to back plans and need to get home to proceed to the next one. Every time I swear, I will leisurely eat breakfast, but, it never happens. I grab a bacon, egg, whatever ingredients to make a sandwich and munch on that as we are dragging our luggage off. It is always obvious that the staff wants you to LEAVE! I feel that staying longer would inconvenience too many others. But, to each, his own.:)

 

As long as you are out of your room by the suggested time NO staff member has ever given us the evil eye for waiting until our number is called. Last cruise we had something like 24. Why should anyone care if we sit out of the way of their work. And, believe it or not, they don't start boarding procedures until everyone is through customs that is leaving the ship....so why should people be forced to stand in long lines, or spend time searching through seas of luggage if they can't get out of the building.

 

If leaving early is important to some...good on them. But don't lambast people who want to end their vacation without having their shins bumped over and over by people carting all their own luggage off.

[Quilcruisers]

We were last off last year. We usually get a high number to leave so we go up to lido for breakfast and settle in upstairs until it's time to go. There are times that we wait until 1030 until our number is called. We have been there so long that we would sit outside in the chairs and play games, check email or look at our photos. This last time we were held up by customs for reasons unknown to us but when we finally got cleared to go the terminal was empty and they had moved our bags to unclaimed. This last cruise we went to the 3rd floor and waited and was on the road by 1030.

[cruzelover55]

As long as you are out of your room by the suggested time NO staff member has ever given us the evil eye for waiting until our number is called. Last cruise we had something like 24. Why should anyone care if we sit out of the way of their work. And, believe it or not, they don't start boarding procedures until everyone is through customs that is leaving the ship....so why should people be forced to stand in long lines, or spend time searching through seas of luggage if they can't get out of the building.

 

If leaving early is important to some...good on them. But don't lambast people who want to end their vacation without having their shins bumped over and over by people carting all their own luggage off.

 

Did you really READ my post? I did not lambast, anyone. Only stated my view of how we do it, ourselves. And I have never "bumped" over anyone's shins. We have stood in the long lines that are involved when you let carnival take your luggage. And have had several pieces lost forever. That's why we self assist. And we are well over 60. Jeez, lighten up!!!

[simplelife]

Last cruise we did self assist and waited until our deck was called. By that time lines were huge and I felt very claustrophobic waiting in crowded hallways heading to the embarkation area. It was a short cruise (4 days) so i think more people than usual were using self-assist.

[LMaxwell]

We don't clog the lines for those who need to rush off for a flight or to get on the road. usually we are disembarking locally. After breakfast in the MDR we find a place to sit for 20-40 minutes while the crowd / lines die down. Have never been last or tried to be last, or hid out. Just no need to be in mad rush off. We are usually off the ship by 9:30 - 9:45.

[cmukid87]

Brilliant idea!

 

For those who drag their feet debarking, therefore delaying embarkation, charge their accounts for ever X amount of minutes they delay.

[okgirl]

I have left later (around 9:30ish) when I have a late flight but I would never be one of those 5 people who they are having to call by name that delays letting the ship get cleared for turn around. That's just rude for the next guests who are anxiously awaiting the start of their excitement.

 

I generally want to be among the first people off the ship. I hate standing in line at customs behind people who aren't prepared with their paperwork in order.

[evandbob]

Unfortunately, the "niceness' tone of the last call for passengers to debark is not very motivating for some passengers. I did once suggest instead of having the very polite Aussie crew asking "all remaining passengers to please proceed to the lobby" to find a New Yorker to tell them to "get the duck off my ship"..:D

 

 

I have a loud, deep axcent from da Bronkx - I'll gladly make a tape -

 

"Hey you, yahr youze bedder be moving dat butt - don't even thingbout sittin yer behind down now -fuhgedaboddit - keep movin...hey yo I'm tawking to youzna"