Carrying off your own baggage?

[DerekDun8]

How much time will this save me??.. I'm just looking at options incase i can only get an early flight and since i have limited vacation time from work i can't stay a day later.

[sas80]

Just call RCI and explain the situation to them. They will make note of it in your file and then tell you to contact the pursers desk while you are on the cruise and you, then, get to explain the whole situation again BUT you will get priority disembarkation.

 

Our friends got it on our last cruise - they were allowed to leave as soon as the ship was cleared of customs.

[ladylawyer]

DH and I have carried out our own luggage; waited for what seemed like hours for our color to be called; and taken priority disembarkation.

 

If you have 1 suitcase and 1 carry-on, dealing with your own luggage is fine. Ours was a 4-night cruise and even I cannot shop enough to merit a second large bag. So we rolled out first thing, when the ship cleared customs. However, on our Alaskan cruise, I would have hated to be in that crush of folks, who are also doing a carry-out, with all the bags I took off the ship.

 

In that case, we did priority disembarkation and, for $20 - which included transportation to the airport - it was a BARGAIN.

 

If you have a later flight, or are staying over, I'd stay on the ship until they take me off, kicking and screaming. I want to eek every second out of my vacation. Have a drink and relax. Chances are, you're not going to have this much fun for a while.

 

Most of all, enjoy your cruise!

[BorderCollies2]

This is our first cruise and I like the idea of staying on until the last minute and relaxing, especially since we are only taking one rolling suitcase each. Our flight is not until 6pm later in the day, so this seems like the way we will go. Thanks for the suggestion!! For first time cruisers, the CC boards have been a godsend...thanks to all:D !

[Nitra]

On the Rhapsody earlier this month, and possibly on other ships, they offered a first disembarkation option to those that want to carry off your luggage, they got off at like 7am. If you have an early flight, when you get on board, go to the pursers desk, with your itinerary, and they will put you down for priority disembarkation and you wont have to carry off your luggage, you will just be in the first group to go with luggage that was checked. Usually they are off around 8 - 9 am if customs is cleared quickly enough.

[denmanja]

Another question about this - do they limit the size/number of the bags you carry off yourself?

 

We have an 11:45 flight out of MIA. If we can't get white tags, I was thinking this is our best option. Probably only 1 roller bag and 1 carryon each, and we're young, so it's manageable for us. Just wondering if they restrict it in any way. I think I have read that you can only carry ON luggage that fits through the scanning machine (like at the airports).

 

Thanks!

Jennifer

[willing292]

When we disembarked earlier this month in Honolulu, we were among the first off, becasue we were doing a back-to-back and had no luggage. The first colour to be called was 'tan'. RCI also referred to this group as something like 'light weights'. Each person had all of his/her luggage and were out of the terminal as quickly as we were with no luggage. Although the disembarkation in Honoluu was over within 2 hours, it sure was nice to be first off. I did not see this 'light weight' option advertized anywhere, but I would much rather wheel off my own luggage, as I have had luggage damaged on almost every cruise I have taken.

[Nitra]

You can carry off what you check when coming on. I saw folks leaving with their luggage last time and some of them were struggling to tote it all, they had it piled on top of the large rolling bags, thrown over their shoulders etc.

 

I think I saw it in the cruise compass and again on the disembarkation paperwork they give you toward the end. They did not talk about it or make a big deal of it, but I did see a few take advantage of the process.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

On our most recent cruise a few weeks ago they let the people with early flights off first followed by everyone who wanted to carry off their own luggage. Then the process began for those with the various colors. Obviously if you're going to carry off your own luggage to get the early-departure then you don't put your luggage in the hallway on the final night of the cruise.

 

BobK/Orlando

[suezyq50]

Nita or whomever knows: "..purser's desk with your itinerary" and don't have a flight schedule. What if you are driving some distance? How do you get clearance for early disembarkation? Thanks

[mumsy64]

We were on Rhapsody last week (10/23-10/30). We had lavender tags and that put us at getting off at 9:40 a.m. The night before we went to pursers desk to check balance and asked about the time for lavender tags - at that time we didn't know it was 9:40. The guy asked us if we wanted to get off earlier and pointed across room at a desk that had all different color tags and told us to pick out whatever color we wanted. We picked gray which gave us a time of 7:40. They ended up calling gray at about 7:15. We were off the ship, had luggage, through customs and in our car at 7:40 a.m. Hated to leave but didn't want to be stuck in the crowds. So, if you want to be off earlier than your scheduled to, look around the centrum and you'll find the different colored tags.

 

Colleen

[Coolcruise02]

On the Grandeur we were called at 7:30 for the self debarkation. We were in our car at 7:45. :)

[WannaCruiseSoon]

When I was on Explorer it was said "if you can handle the luggage" you could carry it off.

 

As long as you can handle it yourself you were free to disembark early with all your luggage.

 

We were rushed back to Miami (got to port at 5:30) so people who wanted or needed to make alternative arrangements to get out of Miami left the ship earlier.

 

We wanted to stay as long as possible, and while our color would normally be called around 10:30 we were off the ship at like 8:30 or so.

[EBFURR]

For the poster who asked about driving:

 

In June on the Mariner, we were driving to and from the cruise from NC. Our son had to report to his Seargent for basic training the same day we got off the ship. We asked about it when boarding and they made a note, but advised us to go the Pursers Desk (Guest Relations) and fill them in. We did so and they gave us Tan tags, which were right after the people who carried their own bags. We were off before 7:30, found our luggage in about 10 min. and were on our way.

 

By the way, we also spoke with our cabin attendant about it since they are the ones who actually bring the tags to your cabin. She was the best!!

 

Anyway, he made the deadline, went to basic training and is now a US Soldier. OOHH-AHHH!

[nfused2cruze]

....I'm thinking about being the last off the ship. We are driving to the port and will take us 6 hours to get home. I think that we can wait and be the last. Unless there is something else I need to know....?

[mcfaddensfarm]

I also have a question about the "do it yourself" debarkation...Last year I was reading a similar thread here on the boards. I remember someone saying that if you chose to take your own luggage off, you had to CARRY it off. They said "no rolling allowed". If you could not pick it up & carry it off then you had to use the regular tags & wait for your color to be called. They had said they saw several people struggling with large bags and that this was not a good choice for people who could not lift heavy bags. This seemed odd when I read it, so I thought I'd check with all of you folks who seem very knowledgable about this. Were they pulling people's legs? Or is this actually a policy?

[wrp96]

While it may not be an actual policy, it is good advice. I know on my Voyager cruise in January, I kept a small rolling carryon with me. There were several times getting off that it had to be lifted up and down and over, in different places along the way. I think you can roll a bag most of the way, but if you can't lift and carry your own bag, then you are probably better off not doing self-disembark.

[suezyq50]

On the flip side of early, what about last off. How late can that be?

[wrp96]

How late depends on how early the ship gets to port, if there are any customs delays, etc. It will vary from week to week and ship to ship. They want people off the ship as early as possible so they can get it turned around and let the next group start embarking. If you want to get off last, then when they distribute tags go to the Pursers desk and ask for the last color to get off. But they aren't going to let you linger once that last color is called.

[Happy ks]

If I could pack everything in a small rollaboard I might consider it, but even packing light we need full sized suitcases (4 of us!). There is no way I'm gonna fight through the crowds, up and down stairs, down ramps, through customs trying to maneuver a suitcase and other bags (purse, camera bag, toiletry bag).

 

If we have to disembark earlier than our assigned tags will allow, we go to the pursers desk the second or third day of the cruise. We also let our cabin steward know of our plans.

 

We like to get up early on the day of disembarkation and get to the dining room when it opens, or a few minute after. It is very crowded the last morning, if you wait until 8am, you will have to wait to be seated in the dining room and the buffet is a fiasco.