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

[amias]

Just off the Silhouette on Sunday and although we enjoyed our first Celebrity cruise (usually sail with HAL) we felt that the rush of being out of the cabin at 7am was definitely a negative, especially since our estimated time to disembark was 9.50am (and breakfast in the Oceanview ended at 8am). Other passengers we spoke to were no happier about the timing, many of whom had been woken by the very lively seas we encountered after 3am and who, in many cases, were looking at a long day of homeward travel. Obviously, cruise lines have no control over the weather but an extra hour or two of rest would have made for more contented passengers. As others have noted, HAL manages to allow people to stay comfortably in their cabins until actual disembarkation time - a big plus. Count us in with the people who would be happy to board later rather than be turfed out of the cabin at such an early hour.

[Flafun888]

Just off the Silhouette on Sunday and although we enjoyed our first Celebrity cruise (usually sail with HAL) we felt that the rush of being out of the cabin at 7am was definitely a negative, especially since our estimated time to disembark was 9.50am (and breakfast in the Oceanview ended at 8am). Other passengers we spoke to were no happier about the timing, many of whom had been woken by the very lively seas we encountered after 3am and who, in many cases, were looking at a long day of homeward travel. Obviously, cruise lines have no control over the weather but an extra hour or two of rest would have made for more contented passengers. As others have noted, HAL manages to allow people to stay comfortably in their cabins until actual disembarkation time - a big plus. Count us in with the people who would be happy to board later rather than be turfed out of the cabin at such an early hour.

 

Please consider mentioning this in your survey feedback :)

[jg51]

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

 

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

 

We cannot believe that we are seeing this thread. We have never left a stateroom (Celebrity or other line) earlier than 8:30, and we try to remain there as late as possible -- for private use of the bathroom and for other reasons.

 

On our next cruise, we will not leave at 7:00 (or even at 8:00) if asked to do so, for two reasons:

 

1. Leaving that early is not necessary, given the time of the next cruise's check-in.

 

2. Being forced out early is totally unjust financially. Here's what we mean (and it is something that, we believe, a lot of passengers have never even thought about):

It is rare for anyone to be allowed to board earlier than 11:00 on E-Day -- and rarer still to be allowed to enter one's stateroom before 12:00. If guests are forced to leave at 7:00 on D-Day, then one of the "days" of the guests' cruise has had four or five HOURS "amputated!" In this way, it becomes a LIE for a cruise line to refer to a "7-day cruise," when, in reality, it was only a 6-and-3/4-day cruise!

 

Therefore, we say: "Yes, we will leave our stateroom at 7:00, if the cruise line will refund the part of our cruise fare (1/4 day's worth) that they would otherwise be keeping unjustly."

.

[bEwAbG]

I hope all of you who have sailed or are sailing on cruises with this announced 7am time will put this as feedback in your end-of-cruse survey.

[AlibearNS]

Just got back off the Silhouette and wrote a whole piece about this, then saw your thread, doh! To save time I'm copy and pasting some of what I wrote. And wanting to add to those saying Celebrity can't win, and is just trying to please people by getting them into rooms early - no, that was not the case. We were invited to board early (which is great for us and Celebrity's revenue) but the rooms were still not ready until 1.30pm, so no change there. I'm more than happy with later room entry. The bags don't arrive until later anyway, and it gives time to explore the ship. I am unhappy with the new 7am vacate

 

"We usually enjoy a leisurely MDR breakfast which starts 6.30, and there was no way we could take Canadian coats, and flight bags with us; the tables are squashed together as it is. I asked reception if the 7am was a typo as I was sure we had till 8am. The guy checked with colleague who agreed it WAS 8am. I asked why it said 7am then, and he shrugged, grinned, and said maybe housekeeping wanted to get people moving. When we received further information, still stating 7am, I had a word with the steward who allowed us to 7.30 saying he would do ours later. We rushed up to the buffet at 6.30 to allow us time to eat without stressing, and still have time return to the cabin to brush our teeth and finish up before leaving. And yes, there were already people loaded with flight luggage, pushchairs up there. I’m also wondering whether they stayed in their seats taking up space needed by others wanting to eat. We were lucky, we were on an early tour so our meeting place was at 8am but not sure where others were meant to go! So, my question is – was this a ship thing or are all Celebrity ship’s insisting on vacating the cabin by 7am? I guess if you live locally, and are walk off, this may be no big deal to you, but for those us with flights and a long day ahead, it IS absolutely stressful to be rushed out the door. I do hope they will rethink this. We prefer Celebrity to Princess, but Princess don't rush you out and still usually have the cabins ready by midday. Sadly it will affect our choosing Celebrity again if flying."

[Riocca]

As we said on Constellation at the moment finding it strange that it's cases out by 10pm but the only show is scheduled for 10.15pm. We are in Aqua and Blu is only open until 8am for breakfast, and whilst Concierge have a departure lounge Aqua doesn't! So why is Aqua a premium above Concierge if there are less perks?

We moved over to Celebrity in 2010 and are now Elite Plus but are really thinking that Celebrity has lost it's way, so this will probably be our last.

 

 

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[senior lady]

Princess allows you to stay in your cabin until 8-8:30

Plus you can get into your cabins as soon as you board........... last cruise in November we were on the ship by noon; dropped of hand luggage and headed to dining room for a civilized lunch;)

[CallyCruzer]

I love how people just arbitrarily say they will not be out of their cabin at 7:00 and they will be out when it works for them. So tell me, since I am one of the people that prefer to get into my cabin early (noon would be lovely) can I just make the decision that I am getting on the ship and going to my room and my chosen time? I mean if it works for you people in the morning - surely I have the same right???? Sounds silly, huh? I thought so too.

[C 2 C]

I think it is totally unreasonable.

Just imagine if you are renting a car for one day, arrive at the counter at 11 but are told that your car is available at 1 but you have to return it by 7 am.

 

It is not that the passengers that are the problem but the decision by Celebrity to cut the staff so that they cannot complete the task in the time allotted.

 

If we're paying for a day onboard I want the facilities for 24 hours, not 20' not 18 or anything less.

 

At one time celebrity would advise passengers to board at staggered times. Why not have departures staggered? Not everyone can disembark at once, not all cabins can be cleaned at once. Why have everyone vacate their cabin at once?

[lovecruzin]

I really dislike setting my alarm for 7am to be out of the cabin by 8. But we do it because it's what we're used to.

I'd much prefer not to be able to access the cabin until a bit later than have to leave by 7am, that imo is unreasonable and has me thinking twice about future cruises we have booked, or planned to book.

 

I think Arno is on to something with the staggered departures. Some people want or need to leave early and some of us don't! :o

[Jane2357]

So, so much moaning here and then to hear some say that "I'd be willing to get into my cabin later on embarkation day in order to stay in the cabin later on dis-embarkation day" - I'm not buying it! :eek:

 

Please - most people want on that ship on embarkation day as early as possible - the proof it at the pier. People want on, they want to eat lunch (which they will argue that they've paid for) and after lunch they want in their cabins. Just hang around as the clock ticks to 1:00 and no announcement of cabins being ready is forthcoming. The moaning and complaining is heard.

 

So we all want it ALL. We want staffing levels to remain the same, we want prices to not increase, we want on the ship early, we want our cabins spotless or else we'll post a photo of a hair in the sink. We want cabins available by 1:00 and we surely don't want to leave our cabin early. :cool:

 

I WILL leave my cabin at the time requested and I will do so out of respect for the staff charged with cleaning that cabin, who has a job to do and not a lot of time to get it done. :D

 

[Flafun888]

I love how people just arbitrarily say they will not be out of their cabin at 7:00 and they will be out when it works for them. So tell me, since I am one of the people that prefer to get into my cabin early (noon would be lovely) can I just make the decision that I am getting on the ship and going to my room and my chosen time? I mean if it works for you people in the morning - surely I have the same right???? Sounds silly, huh? I thought so too.

 

But what do we do when we book a hotel room? We wait until official checkin - usually later in the afternoon. Sometimes earlier - if they have rooms empty before normal checkout time. But is there a hotel anywhere on the planet that expects a vacationing guest from the night before to set their alarm for 6am and vacate by 7am on checkout day? Even Motel 6 lets you sleep in a bit.:D

[north29]

But after our Xmas and NY cruise and yes the 7 am out of cabin was asked and no problem for us and we are 70 and 76 years old. Having said that, we ask for early departure luggage tags which got us off the ship at around 7:30. If I had a luggage tag that was like 9-10am it would be a PITA to set some where and wait.

If the employed cut backs in room stewards is the reason, saving X money it is not fair to pass on time restraints issues to the cruiser.

For those taking issues with the 7 am out of cabin, I'm willing to bet that if you needed up to an extra hour NO PROBLEM.

[ChucktownSteve]

On my Equinox last month some people who were self disembarking started lining up at about 6:15am. The started down the ramp a little before 7:30. I started down the ramp in a luggage group about 7:50.

 

I caught a shuttle to the parking lot and was on I-95 by 8:25am headed north. That was much better for me than waiting until 10am to get off or on the front end waiting until 1pm to begin embarkation.

[gold1953]

I love how people just arbitrarily say they will not be out of their cabin at 7:00 and they will be out when it works for them. So tell me, since I am one of the people that prefer to get into my cabin early (noon would be lovely) can I just make the decision that I am getting on the ship and going to my room and my chosen time? I mean if it works for you people in the morning - surely I have the same right???? Sounds silly, huh? I thought so too.

 

The time to leave are staggered .. but by things such as flight times and tours. This is why we fill out departure info and turn it in mid cruise. Because we are scattered it is not like half the people in each cabin area are scheduled to leave early and half late

[gold1953]

The cabin attendant will be on the job before 7am that day .. and will have worked extra late the night before . he does deserve his break early afternoon. Most of them need a nap by then as they work extra hard the first day of any cruise with all the requests.. so staying later than 8 am like some suggest is not reasonable.

I will pack my carry on luggage and come back for it after breakfast and use the bathroom. I will leave things on the couch and not touch the bed

[CoconutOne]

So, so much moaning here and then to hear some say that "I'd be willing to get into my cabin later on embarkation day in order to stay in the cabin later on dis-embarkation day" - I'm not buying it! :eek:

 

Please - most people want on that ship on embarkation day as early as possible - the proof it at the pier. People want on, they want to eat lunch (which they will argue that they've paid for) and after lunch they want in their cabins. Just hang around as the clock ticks to 1:00 and no announcement of cabins being ready is forthcoming. The moaning and complaining is heard.

 

Getting on and being in your cabin are two different things.

 

The cabin attendant will be on the job before 7am that day .. and will have worked extra late the night before . he does deserve his break early afternoon. Most of them need a nap by then as they work extra hard the first day of any cruise with all the requests.. so staying later than 8 am like some suggest is not reasonable.

I will pack my carry on luggage and come back for it after breakfast and use the bathroom. I will leave things on the couch and not touch the bed

 

If they've worked extra late the night before, and also have to be up early, wouldn't it then make even MORE sense to have a later departure time?

 

I think the majority of cabin stewards would agree that they would rather extend their rest hours at night compared to napping in the early afternoon. Since new guests are more likely to have questions/requests compared to departing guests, how much napping time are they really getting?

Edited January 10, 2017 by CoconutOne

[nparmelee]

i think the 7:00am for out of the cabin is ridiculous, and we're morning people who are usually getting going so for us it would not be a problem, but still ridiculous. Unlike the early birds on E-Day, we don't show up at the crack of dawn and start a queue to get on the ship. We look at our vacation as a whole and are usually exploring whatever port city we are in before getting to the ship some time in the afternoon. As many have said, there is no way they can start cleaning all the cabins at one time anyway and there is a certain amount of natural emptying based on flights and tours already. I hope Celebrity listens to those who are adamant about this and figures out something more reasonable. For us, we like to leave our things in the cabin too, have breakfast, come back and brush teeth and do a final check to make sure we got everything. If people are being asked to vacate cabins by 7 and then still have to hang around in some location on the ship for a few hours, that is just crazy, more people and carry-ons to trip over just trying to get around.

[Peteymil]

When I stay at a hotel on vacation, I do not expect to vacate at 7:00 am. We stay up late (spending money on the ship, I might add), and 7:00 is just too early. I would rather have them tell me that the rooms will not be ready until 2:00 on arrival day.

[Duanerice1]

I'd rather have 8:00 but can live with 7. It's not the end of the world.

 

But, In December we had to be out of the room by 7:00 and didn't have departure until 9:45. Breakfast took maybe 45 minutes so I was pretty much stuck for 2 hours hanging out.

 

So, going forward I will tell them I have an early flight so I can get off early even though we drive. If I have to get up early, I'm getting off early.

[hcat]

On my Equinox last month some people who were self disembarking started lining up at about 6:15am. The started down the ramp a little before 7:30. I started down the ramp in a luggage group about 7:50.

 

I caught a shuttle to the parking lot and was on I-95 by 8:25am headed north. That was much better for me than waiting until 10am to get off or on the front end waiting until 1pm to begin embarkation.

 

You were lucky but it does not always work that way..hit or miss is our experience.

 

..We did walk off, ate breakfast as soon as buffet opened and were third standing on line.. lots of folks tried to cut in, suite guests were let off first... but regardless, disembarkation was delayed by more than an hour.

 

Crowding folks into the buffet at an unearthly hr and having them crowded into inadequate waiting areas with poor staff control...is not good management...must be a better way to stagger.

Edited January 10, 2017 by hcat

[anniegb]

As long as every passenger is made aware at the time of booking that they will be required to vacate the cabin no later than 0700 on the last morning, there will be less of an issue.

 

Annie

[AnOnymously]

As long as every passenger is made aware at the time of booking that they will be required to vacate the cabin no later than 0700 on the last morning, there will be less of an issue.

 

Annie

 

Bit late now for the thousands who have made bookings. Though perhaps they should all be written to and told, that might throw up some empty cabins.

[Fish Lover]

All very good points and agree with you. No one is complaining about being able to board before 11am.

 

Embarkation time and the time you must vacate your cabin have nothing to do with one another. It seems that the elimination of asst. cabin attendants is likely the reason why. That is a cost cutting measure. I absolutely object to getting up the last day early enough to vacate at 7am. I do not have any wish to cause more work for the attendants, but I also do not appreciate being rushed out at an unreasonable hour.

[mom says]

As long as every passenger is made aware at the time of booking that they will be required to vacate the cabin no later than 0700 on the last morning, there will be less of an issue.

 

Annie

 

Well there will certainly be less of an issue if enough people consider it the final straw in service reductions, and don't book or cancel existing bookings. There are a lot of people who already have cruises booked well into next year. This is pure cost cutting, and I won't have it. Options abound.