Is it reasonable to have to vacate cabins at 7am on disembarkation?

[LuAnn]

and yes...we had the "notice" that we were to be out of the cabin by 7 AM...and then we were told that was "incorrect" and it was 8 AM.

 

We got up...went to breakfast at Blu and then were out of the cabin by 8 AM...and off the ship by 8:15....45 minutes ahead of schedule. They had to "deep clean" the ship due to a noro outbreak...so maybe that helped to speed up the disembarkation??

 

I agree that 7 seems very early...but the poor cabin stewards have so much to do to get ready for the next passengers!!! LuAnn

[black forest]

7 am is too early. Even 8 am is quite uncomfortable. I wouldn't mind having access to the stateroom on embarkation at 3 pm.

[gold1953]

so with the old time of 8am I know many who saw that as 9.. so maybe they are seeing this new 7am as a way to clear rooms by 8am.. just a theory

[black forest]

sounds good and reasonable :-)

[MarkusToe]

to be very honest: I do not care...,

we'll go for breakfest about 730 the time it takes, the time it takes....,

back to stateroom, some refreshments - going out about 830 -845

Edited January 10, 2017 by MarkusToe

[Eloise4Ever]

7am is unreasonably early and even 8am is far too early in my opinion. There is no need to have cabins available for new passengers at midday. I don't know where this expectation or mindset came from. Hotels generally don't guarantee to have rooms ready until 3pm on check-in day and I don't expect or require anything more from a cruise ship. I am happy just being onboard enjoying the ship facilities and in no rush to go to the cabin.

 

Sounds like HAL handle the morning of disembarkation very well. We have been considering trying their new ship for a while now and this kind of unreasonable behaviour by Celebrity gives us another reason to consider alternative cruise lines.

[black forest]

Yes - I second that!

[villauk]

As I stated on the other thread concerning this issue, it has nothing to do with extra cleaning and everything to do with the reduction in stateroom assistants. Perhaps we all ought to send Lisa a polite notice stating that this is a cut-back too far. And that if the shareholders have requested this change to increase profits, then they are welcome to disembark at 7am sharp :p ;).

 

The first time we have ever had to point out several cleaning issues in our stateroom was on our last cruise a few weeks ago. They were rectified, but one does wonder if some of the previous assistants have been promoted to attendants too early and if four hands/eyes were better than two - more hands makes lighter work, as the saying goes :). I know I can definitely clean my house a lot quicker when there are two of us helping ;).

[CABINET]

Our last cruise with Celebrity was in 2012 and reading these boards is making me think that we won't be booking another one without a compelling reason (at the moment that might turn out to be a repositioning cruise that would get us to the US at a time which would enable us to have a longish holiday in the US before returning to the UK on the Queen Mary).

 

There just seems to be a steady drip of things going downhill and this is just the final straw.

 

It would appear, from the boards, that food quality is declining, that "free" drinks packages are resulting in poorer service from the bars, that the entertainment is not as good as once it was, Blu still has the same menu (after how many years now?), no "free" water in Aqua class after the first day, higher cover charges in the speciality restaurants while quality (certainly it seems in the Tuscan Grille) is lower etc etc etc. These are only a few of the things that I can remember off the top of my head.

 

Obviously some of these things are just the views of some people but that prices are going up and standards down really cannot be denied.

[beltane]

Ya, getting up and out by 7 a.m. sucks... but it's still WAY better than back when us Canadians and other non-U.S. citizens had to get up early to do Customs down in the theater on disembarkation day. Man I HATED that! So happy we can do it in the terminal now. Much more pleasant.

[Flafun888]

I'll definitely be sending a note to Celebrity if this is now the rule for every sailing - I'm very easygoing and just happy to be cruising. All the little things that bother people rarely bother me.

 

But this new rule doesn't work for us at all. Expecting passengers on vacation to be up by 6am to vacate by 7 is unreasonable - no hotel in the world expects that.

 

I have zero issues with waiting until 3 or 4pm (just like hotel checkin) the first day of a cruise. There are so many options and facilities open from pool to gym to spa cafe and buffet to just relaxing and people watching. I don't need a cabin at noon. I'd much rather allow the last sailing's passengers to enjoy their final morning in a reasonable manner, without being given the bum's rush at a ridiculous hour. So I can do the same on my last day.

 

That last morning is still part of a passenger's vacation. If it's not, then just end the cruise the night before, charge me for one less night and I can sleep in myself the next day at home or at a hotel.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Flafun888

[Cruisercl]

I agree with most, 7 am is waaaay too early. What happens if you aren't out by 7am?

Are the cabins open earlier for the next cruiser (if so why?) or is it that there are less stewards so it takes longer for them?

 

Having to wait for long periods of time to disembark reminds me of the 'cattle call' atmosphere of some other cruise lines. Hmmmm.

 

It appears to be staffing cuts which makes for poor customer service; Celebrity is supposed to be better than that aren't they?

 

Safe sailing!!! :)

[yoj13]

We disembarked Solstice (currently doing the Australia/New Zealand trip) in December and the time to vacate staterooms was 8.30 so a big difference to 7 a.m.

[Moonlitherial]

If this is a test to see if they should make the change long term I really really hope they're paying attention because I'm a strong no.

 

If the choice is, cabins ready earlier on boarding depart at 7am or cabins ready later on boarding and depart at 8am (or later even!) I'm choosing option B.

 

On boarding, sure it's nice to be able to drop your hand luggage but you're on the ship, enjoying a snack or a drink and sitting in a comfy chair. An extra hour then is much less of a big deal than setting an early alarm and rushing around trying to remember everything before getting off the ship.

 

Same thing for the earlier luggage in the hall time. Late diners shouldn't need to rush back as soon as they've eaten their last bite to get their clothes into the suitcase and into the hall. Start the pickups at 10pm and keep doing them til midnight. As it is they need to do multiple runs because one luggage cart can't clear a hallway so it's the same amount of work with less hassle for the passengers. It would actually make walking down the passageways the last night a lot less like an obstacle course.

[TenneSea]

So what do they do to you if you're not out by 7 a.m.?

[ChucktownSteve]

Vacating your cabin at 7am is no more mandatory as the time they ask you to arrive at the terminal for embarkation. But if half or more vacate at the requested time, that gives the cabin attendants enough to get started.

 

I suspect part of the problem is that my cabin attendant went from handling 24 cabins with an assistant to handling 14 cabins by himself on my last cruise. He needs more time to do more work without help.

 

On debarkation day I left my cabin at 6am to grab a couple of cups of coffee at Cafe al Bacio. My cabin attendant saw me leaving so he began working on the cabin doing the bed and restocking the toiletries etc. When I came back I grabbed my carry on and other things to trek to the waiting area.

 

Which would you prefer? Getting into your cabin later or leaving your cabin later? I like getting into my cabin early when I first get on. I'm not inconvenienced leaving earlier because I'm an early riser anyway.

Edited January 10, 2017 by ChucktownSteve

[dmp223]

I too, would be in favor of later access to staterooms on embarkation day if it meant they do away with this 7am vacate "policy". Typically, we don't head to our room until well past the announcement that rooms are ready, so this wouldn't bother us at all.

 

Perhaps a new poll suggestion?

 

What is more important to you:

 

Early access to your stateroom on embarkation day (12-1pm)

 

or

 

More "reasonable" stateroom vacate time frame (9-10am)

 

 

Of course, I don't expect anything to change but maybe if Celebrity saw a trend for one preference over the other? (dreaming, I know!!!) :)

[Solent Richard]

7am means everyone has to get up at around 6-ish the latest to start getting ready. I don't even get up that early for work. To get a full 8 hours of rest you'd have to be in bed by 10pm. I realize Celebrity Cruises sometimes resemble floating nursing homes but this is ridiculous.

 

It never ceases to amaze me.

 

In the Red corner we have passengers who want to be onboard and in their cabins before midday while in the blue corner are those that need to be dragged off screaming.

 

In the middle are the cruise companies.

[Solent Richard]

7am is ridiculous.

 

Even 8 am is a bit of a push considering that Celebrity cabins aren't available to the new contingent of passengers until around 2pm (well that has been my experience on the three cruises I have taken with them).

 

I have to say to the poster who said that Cunard were better that on our recent QE cruise we did find bathrobes for the next occupant in our wardrobes although it was no problem as we had already packed our stuff so the wardrobes were empty.

 

Cunard ask that you vacate your cabin by 8.30 which seems fine to me. I will say though that they did manage to annoy me by removing the Do Not Disturb card. As a result while we were half-naked in the process of getting dressed at around 7.30 am our steward knocked on our door, no doubt hoping that we were out and he could clean the room.

 

It really does take the shine off when you realise they just want you gone :( .

 

Of course a little forethought goes a long way.

[AnOnymously]

It never ceases to amaze me.

 

In the Red corner we have passengers who want to be onboard and in their cabins before midday while in the blue corner are those that need to be dragged off screaming.

 

In the middle are the cruise companies.

 

Have Celebrity allowed people to get into cabins an hour earlier by doing this, then? Or is, as I suspect, nothing has changed, except that they have reduced staff.

 

Remember too that people who don't want to leave their cabins by 7am ALSO do get on board ship and I think by the looks many would prefer, if Celebrity have to make compromises, that they get into cabins an hour later.

 

I think the early start might put more people off using them than later into cabins. Hanging about in the bars etc when starting a holiday is better than hanging about when leaving IMO.

 

But many hotels, including the one I stayed in just before Christmas, have to turn all their rooms around on one day and we had use until 10am but we were able to enter them at 12 noon. It is not just the unreasonable hour for me, it also just smacks of not caring and bordering on incompetence.

[JFontaine]

As someone suggested, I wrote to Celebrity about this. It is very easy to do on their website "contact us" link, and I referenced my cruise last month and my cruise next month. I have been sailing Celebrity since Horizon was new, and there is a history of them listening to their passengers, sometimes. Largely we are talking to ourselves here. Thanks

[Flafun888]

It never ceases to amaze me.

In the Red corner we have passengers who want to be onboard and in their cabins before midday while in the blue corner are those that need to be dragged off screaming.In the middle are the cruise companies.

 

Until this recent change, I thought the arrangement was a reasonable compromise for both audiences. Out by 8am...room is ready around 1pm. I'm not an early riser, but certainly can live with that.

 

However, setting an alarm for 6am on vacation to vacate a room is not a reasonable expectation for majority of vacationers. Sure a few won't mind because they're early risers. But it's not the norm for most like me who vacation to get away from the blasted 6am daily alarm clock for work.

 

Getting into a room at 2-3pm is reasonable to MOST people. Sure a few will complain they want earlier, but most will equate it to checking into a hotel. Sometimes you get the room earlier if you're lucky. But 2-4pm is std.

 

This change is not reasonable or standard.

Edited January 10, 2017 by Flafun888

[RiotAct]

No. I'd say 8:30 AM or later is reasonable.

 

7 AM is still pretty early for a lot of people.

[hcat]

Not everyone is allowed to leave the ship at the same time, (depends on walk off numbers, priority given to suites, flight times, etc, ) Not all of the pax can get served breakfast at the same time; and there definitely are not enough places where those waiting to get off can be seated comfortably.

 

Many folks ( like us ) do vacate early so there should be enough work for cabin stewards to get started...Last call to vacate by 8:30 seems more reasonable.

[Verona Gal]

We were on the Equinox in December and experienced this early vacate time. Since we are early risers this would not have been pleasant, but it would have been acceptable if breakfast in Blu were available by 6:00 AM. Since Blu only opened for breakfast at 6:30 there was no way to finish breakfast, return to the room for our bags and to brush our teeth, and still be out of the room by 7:00. Yes, we could have gone to Oceanview but when we looked it was a madhouse! Some people carried their bags down to Blu and did not return to their cabin but nobody was happy about it. Our stateroom attendant suggested we leave our bags in the room while we were at breakfast so we ate quickly, collected our bags and were out of the room by 7:30. While we were at breakfast he was able to make up the room except for the bathroom.

 

I hope Celebrity reconsiders this new policy. It certainly is an unpleasant way to end an otherwise excellent cruise.