Please Follow the Rules

[sail7seas]

I have found a solution that works. I book either a late afternoon or evening flight home or stay an extra day or two. Relieves me of any stress to get off. In fact, my goal is to be the last off th.e ship. Relax on my balcony until I stop hearing colors called. Easy to find my luggage since there's few bags remaining.

 

 

That is what we did almost every cruise. we stayed over in disembark city for a few or so days. IT was great. I t extended our vaacation, took away stress, made our life easy and we remained relaxed after our cruise was over.

 

We

[mexico8]

We were also on the Veendam yesterday trying to get off the ship. When the elevator doors opened we had a hard time to get off because of the crowds in front of the elevators. I have a mobility scooter and when my husband asked someone from the ship about what we could do, they got us to the front of the line. I have a battery on my scooter and cannot sit in lines that inch along so slowly. It is a danger to hit people in front of me and my battery would be used up very quickly.

 

As others have posted, there needs to be more done to prevent this kind of bottleneck. People should not be allowed to disembark until their colour code is called and should not congregate in the stairways and in front of the elevators.

 

We waited in our cabin until our colour was called and were shocked at how congested it was. Worst disembarkation we have had in over 2:(0 cruises.

[Dismomx5]

The procedure varies by ship, with expectedly different results. On the Koningsdam they had a LONG line controlled by ropes that forced people to get into line at the appropriate time (monitored by the crew of course). This worked well, as it prevented line jumping and wrong color issues..

This is good to hear. When we were on the Koningsdam in November, the disembarkation was one of the most trying parts of our trip. I did report it, knowing that it was the same on most other ships, so good on HAL for trying something to maintain order. Our disembarkation off NCL Getaway in January was long and tedious-but part of that was the confusion over the travel ban as we docked.

[slidergirl]

People will ignore any instructions because they will believe they are exempt. I wonder how many of those are among those who ignore the suggested boarding time (the one on your boarding pass) and try to barge on at the sound of the first call? Wonder when those suggested boarding times become the time that you will be allowed to start boarding?

 

Hotel check-in and check-out times have similar problems. Some will arrive at 11am when 3pm is the posted check-in time and then go ballistic when they can't get a room. A check-out time of 11am always finds some people who believe it doesn't apply and will try to stretch that out to noon or 1pm.

 

It's not rocket science people. Those colors and suggested times are there to ensure a smoother embark/debark experience for ALL. It does not take many entitled twits to screw it up for all...

 

A self-debarker and proud of it.

[OlsSalt]

The list of essential cruise ship considerations continues to grow.

 

1. Do not force your balcony door to stay open

2. Do not flush anything down the toilet that does not belong

3. Do not go to the departure gangway until your color code is called

4. Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands

[iancal]

We either walk off with our bags very early or very late. All depends on our plans. This past Feb it was very late. The very last place we wanted to wait was near the disembarkation area. Casino and top deck were perfect. Coffee and danish set up to encourage people to stay until their group was called.

[navybankerteacher]

That is what we did almost every cruise. we stayed over in disembark city for a few or so days. IT was great. I t extended our vaacation, took away stress, made our life easy and we remained relaxed after our cruise was over.

 

We

This is the best way to handle debarkation - always pick latest time, and then slowly get off after the pushers and shovers have done with making themselves and others miserable. Staying over at least one night not only eases the transition, it allows a much broader selection of flights home - often at fares low enough to offset cost of hotel, because early flights, which cannot be caught on debarkation day, are frequently the least expensive.

[7leagueboots]

Since my first cruise in 1998, disembarkation has always been an exercise in herding cats. They've tried several variations of colors/numbers and having passengers what in public rooms or allowing passengers to remaining their cabins. Nothing works smoothly. I have been onboard a couple of cruises when disembarkation was stopped by the local officials because passengers would not wait in the designated areas, were crowding the gangway or sitting on the stairs. It's never been an easy, smooth process. Every cruise is the same thing; every cruise disembarkation is the worst part of it. I actually start mentally preparing for the nightmare of disembarkation a couple of days before the end of the cruise.

 

I think you nailed it comparing it to herding cats!:D

[Typhoon1]

I have found a solution that works. I book either a late afternoon or evening flight home or stay an extra day or two. Relieves me of any stress to get off. In fact, my goal is to be the last off th.e ship. Relax on my balcony until I stop hearing colors called. Easy to find my luggage since there's few bags remaining.

 

Always do the same. It's the best.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The procedure varies by ship, with expectedly different results. On the Koningsdam they had a LONG line controlled by ropes that forced people to get into line at the appropriate time (monitored by the crew of course). This worked well, as it prevented line jumping and wrong color issues.

 

HAL has improved alot in this IMO over the past several years. Of course they could do better. One issue that I experienced is that they should do a better job of explaining how the color codes are assigned an order to exit. For example, first the "self" disembarkers are let off (We can all understand this), often followed by a color such as Orange (or ?). The next color is normally the Neptune Suites and 4/5 stars. Often the NS or 4/5 stars try to get off when Orange (or whatever) is called, thinking that they are supposed to have VIP disembarking. What they do not realize is that their bags likely will not be ready anyway. Plus the Orange is usually people using the luggage program who have to be off early. A bit of explaining of this on the page explaining the process would greatly help IMO.

 

(bold is mine) I don't know if that would help. Maybe the part about your luggage not being ready would deter some people. Willingness to follow directions is about as rare as common sense. It really isn't difficult to comprehend. "This is your color. You may disembark when it's called." The people who go early probably would do the same thing no matter how detailed the explanation. I'm glad to hear that Koningsdam staff did a good job of controlling the issue. The bigger the ship, the worse it can get.

 

The Zuiderdam did it exceptionally well in January...funneled everyone down through the Queen's lounge (hallways to the disembarking area could not be accessed any other way)...they checked your tag and only allowed you to proceed if you had the proper tag...others were asked to sit in the lounge or one of the other areas well-away from the disembarkation area. Worked extremely well ...and we let Seattle know..wish they'd all adopt it!

 

 

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I think it's been like that on all the Vista ships we've been on. It's funny to watch people step off the elevator and turn toward the gangway, only to be sent in the other direction, looping around toward the Queens lounge. Last fall on Zuiderdam, the people at the elevator were sending passengers who were too early to some other area to wait. When they saw our color for NS (which had been called already), they seemed almost relieved to find passengers who were doing things correctly and smiled as they directed us to the Queens lounge.

[iancal]

It is what it is. We have zero expectation that it will change. We simply accept it as part of the program and get on with it. We don't get exited about it because it is beyond our control.

[ontheweb]

And talk about disembarkation horror stories' date=' on a Carnival ship not too long ago, we had priority disembarkation.(At least we were supposed to). Weather was not wonderful, so everyone was ready to get off, and no one paid attention to the schedule. We could not even get off the elevator because there were so many people trying to get off. It took us 30 min of riding an elevator because no one could get off.)[/quote']

 

I have an even worse story. This was on a Royal Caribbean ship. It was due in at Fort Lauderdale on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend, but due to a hurricane, it only reached port on Labor Day. Pretty much everyone had to switch to the earliest color tag because they now had to get to the airport to try to get standby flights. Plus there were now a lot of ships coming in that day, way too many for immigration to handle.

 

So, they called the first color, and we went down to where we were supposed to wait. And soon it became so crowded it was hard to breathe. And then they called the second color before anyone was allowed off the ship. There was finally an announcement. Every thought it would be that disembarkation was about to start. Instead, it was that you had a last chance to buy cruise pictures. Needless to say that was not met with any sort of approval.

 

We did finally get off, and as one can imagine the airport was a zoo. We were among the lucky ones able to get a flight home, actually on the second available flight to JFK on Delta. As the wait list went down for the first flight, we knew we would make that one.

[Sequim88]

So... we will have no flight in June. Just a short car ride home. I suspect we will be given the last possible color. I HOPE we will be given the last possible color. ;) I'm sure there will be a few poor planners trying to make a 10am flight out of Sea-Tac but that's a problem of their own making. I like the idea of controlling access to the disembarkation area and spreading out the people waiting. But by the time they come an drag us off I suspect crowds will not be an issue. :cool:

[3rdGenCunarder]

So... we will have no flight in June. Just a short car ride home. I suspect we will be given the last possible color. I HOPE we will be given the last possible color. ;) I'm sure there will be a few poor planners trying to make a 10am flight out of Sea-Tac but that's a problem of their own making. I like the idea of controlling access to the disembarkation area and spreading out the people waiting. But by the time they come an drag us off I suspect crowds will not be an issue. :cool:

 

If you aren't given the last possible color, don't worry about it. You don't have to leave immediately after your color is called. Although eventually, they will be looking for their "zero count" and make you go...;p

[JimnKaren]

We were on this Veendam itinerary. Several problems became apparent early.

For unknown reasons, we arrived about one hour later than scheduled. I watched from my verandah as the portable crane had to lift the gangway to its appropriate location. That process did not begin until all lines were attached, no anticipation of the the lines being snugly secured.

The water level was high, the angle of the ramp was steep and many passengers needed assistance. A partial solution would have been to have the gangway placed on a platform that was 2-3' high with a second ramp to descend the rest of the way to the pier itself. It appeared to me that the folks in Montreal did not seem to care much whether the incline was steep or not. Poor planning on their part.

Because of the location, the process of off-loading of luggage was cumbersome. The crane had to be re-positioned and connected to a 'cage' that off loaded one batch of luggage at a time. It was at leas 5 minutes for each cage-full to be deposited on the pier, then a fork lift could move it to the their spartan terminal. The process was done slowly and with colors off loaded in the order that they would be called.

We were Green 1, scheduled to debark about 8:00 a.m. It was about 8:45 before we were called and discovered many, many people there who had HAL numbered stickers (I am guessing that they were on HAL paid airport transfers). My recollection was that those #15 stickers were to be called about 8:45 and those folks just got in line, with little concern about others. Fortunately, they were turned away at the scanner; however, that did make the line longer than was necessary.

Once off, we found our luggage within 2 minutes and were out the door after another minute (or so). Into the cab and on our way to the empty airport.

 

I was regularly amazed at the lack of consideration of my fellow passengers regarding their self-centered actions. One gent, in the Ocean Bar, pushed his chair all the way back to the bar stool behind him thus forcing the wait staff to squeeze between the stool and the bar itself in order to pick up their orders. He just did not care. And another gent in the Explorations Cafe, turned a chair around to look out the window. In doing so, he blocked two other chairs. He sat there for less than 5 minutes and walked away, not caring about the situation that he created. It was early and no one was inconvenienced, but I turned the chair back to its original position.

 

Are the new breed of cruisers that HAL wants to have those kinds of people who will continue to create problems? Possibly. I did not see some of this when on longer cruises; maybe these disdainful folks take only the shorter ones.

 

Jim

[drowelf]

Always do the same. It's the best.

 

Ditto. If we can't get a flight out after 16:00 on departure day, its an overnight. I would hate for the ship to dock late and potentially miss a flight. In general since, there are never any afternoon flights from Europe, where we cruise the most, back to the US, its always an overnight and out the next morning.

[ArtsyCraftsy]

So... we will have no flight in June. Just a short car ride home. I suspect we will be given the last possible color. I HOPE we will be given the last possible color. ;) I'm sure there will be a few poor planners trying to make a 10am flight out of Sea-Tac but that's a problem of their own making. I like the idea of controlling access to the disembarkation area and spreading out the people waiting. But by the time they come an drag us off I suspect crowds will not be an issue. :cool:

 

That's my plan for my September Alaska trip -- I'll be staying overnight in Seattle before driving back home to Bellingham, so I'll be in no particular hurry to disembark.

[Homosassa]

I have cruised on a different cruise line twice and have been impressed both times with the handling of disembarkation procedures on that line.

 

The day before, you are given the colored tags along with a sheet that lists the colors, and the the name of a lounge or other area of the ship to report to at a specific time. These spaces are on the disembarkation deck. When it is time for that color tag to disembark, the announcement is only made in that lounge or area and only passengers with that color tag (must have a small sticky tab from the luggage tag on the room key) are escorted to the gangway. The walkway to the gangway is marked off by stanchions and ropes and line jumping is not permitted.

 

Color tags are again checked before being allowed to ding out.

 

No one is allowed to congregate on the deck used for disembarkation (security is there to move them if there is any resistance). Passengers must either be in their assigned color area or making their timely way to the meeting point.

 

Any one with mobility issues is asked to report to a specific lounge on the disembarkation deck where crew will identify your cabin number and color. When it is time for the color, the crew member will escort the person requiring assistance and their party to the gangway and stop the other passengers until the group is placed in the line.

 

Because that particular lines uses a luggage carousel on the pier, only the bags with that color tag is available for pickup. Unclaimed bags from earlier groups are placed by color elsewhere in the room.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I have cruised on a different cruise line twice and have been impressed both times with the handling of disembarkation procedures on that line.

 

The day before, you are given the colored tags along with a sheet that lists the colors, and the the name of a lounge or other area of the ship to report to at a specific time. These spaces are on the disembarkation deck. When it is time for that color tag to disembark, the announcement is only made in that lounge or area and only passengers with that color tag (must have a small sticky tab from the luggage tag on the room key) are escorted to the gangway. The walkway to the gangway is marked off by stanchions and ropes and line jumping is not permitted.

 

Color tags are again checked before being allowed to ding out.

 

No one is allowed to congregate on the deck used for disembarkation (security is there to move them if there is any resistance). Passengers must either be in their assigned color area or making their timely way to the meeting point.

 

Any one with mobility issues is asked to report to a specific lounge on the disembarkation deck where crew will identify your cabin number and color. When it is time for the color, the crew member will escort the person requiring assistance and their party to the gangway and stop the other passengers until the group is placed in the line.

 

Because that particular lines uses a luggage carousel on the pier, only the bags with that color tag is available for pickup. Unclaimed bags from earlier groups are placed by color elsewhere in the room.

 

Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen cruise luggage on a carousel. What cruise line was this and what port were you at?

 

Cunard assigns people to various lounges, but people don't cooperate. Sadly, Cunard makes no attempt to control the process. That's why we linger in the diamond/platinum lounge. Although we're called fairly early, we wait until the frenzy is over.

[Beach4me]

I have found a solution that works. I book either a late afternoon or evening flight home or stay an extra day or two. Relieves me of any stress to get off. In fact, my goal is to be the last off th.e ship. Relax on my balcony until I stop hearing colors called. Easy to find my luggage since there's few bags remaining.

 

We've never done this - have always either flown out or driven home same day. BUT, we talked about it a couple weeks ago and decided to overnight in Seattle after debarkation. We always cruise in suites so have always been in the first group off. This time, while still in a suite, we plan to be as close to last off as possible. 40 years in to cruising and we're going to try something new. LOL!

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

I was very lucky to find CC early on in my cruise planning stage so I've seen this problem discussed before. My cruise mate and I discussed it and opted to drive ourselves to Vancouver from southern Oregon and skip the whole airport mess. We are in no hurry to get anywhere after our cruise so our plan is to be the very last people off the dam ship!

 

 

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[kevingastreich]

I was very lucky to find CC early on in my cruise planning stage so I've seen this problem discussed before. My cruise mate and I discussed it and opted to drive ourselves to Vancouver from southern Oregon and skip the whole airport mess. We are in no hurry to get anywhere after our cruise so our plan is to be the very last people off the dam ship!

 

 

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We always pick the last group for disembarkation also. We wait in the cabin having breakfast and watching tv etc. It's funny though because people are always asking to come in and restock the mini-bar, strip the beds, hose off the veranda etc. We always say yes and just let them do their thing. They appreciate the extra time it gives them.

[greenfroggie]

It's a reminder in human nature. Especially at the end of a cruise where people expect you'll never see them again.

[Homosassa]

Interesting. I don't think I've ever seen cruise luggage on a carousel. What cruise line was this and what port were you at?

 

 

MSC in Miami, Terminal J (I think - it is the terminal after the ones that Carnival uses in Miami (parking garage G is just down the road from the terminal).

[3rdGenCunarder]

MSC in Miami, Terminal J (I think - it is the terminal after the ones that Carnival uses in Miami (parking garage G is just down the road from the terminal).

 

Thanks for the info. I haven't sailed out of Miami in ages, so I don't remember which terminal is which. That certainly is a way to control luggage availability.