Newbie Disembarkation Questions

[Sersee]

I had added this to my other post but felt like it didn't really belong there and would get buried.   I know I ask a lot of questions but first time cruising is a little overwhelming! I am sure once I go , I will understand the whole thing a lot better . I thank you all for helping me . .

 

I have no idea how to disembark. I have read that you can take your own luggage or put it out the night to have Carnival take your luggage. I am thinking I would rather deal with my luggage myself . I will be on the Breeze on the 11th deck.

 

1)How hard will it be for us to move our luggage ourselves?

 

2)When are we allowed to leave if grabbing our own luggage? Do I need a luggage tag?

 

3) Our ship docks at 8 am... typically how long does it take to get off the ship? I have a late afternoon flight and trying to figure out if I went to rent a car( so I can go get some lunch someplace before airport)  or just pay go port for a transfer.  

 

 

[BandBWCsmom]

Port Canaveral - there is nothing really between the Port and the airport in Orlando to get lunch. I would just do the port transfer, relax and enjoy a lunch at the airport. You jump right onto 528 West from the cruise terminal and you'll be at Orlando airport within 45-1hour. 

 

We left our luggage outside of our room except one carry on when we sailed last fall. We were off the boat within a half hour.  They call the cabins by floor number to disembark. 

 

We are sailing the Breeze August 31st so i can tell you more after that specific to the Breeze itself. We were on the Liberty out of Port Canaveral last and so I assume is very similar. 

[lasekeye]

We always take our own luggage off the ship.

No luggage tags involved, no hunting for your bag in rows of bags.

 

Disembarking the Breeze in Port Canaveral was a “breeze”.  

If you haven’t cruised before, watch the daily Fun Times publication that’s delivered to your Stateroom every evening, it will notify you of  a “talk” held in the main theatre explaining the process & answering questions.

Then that final morning listen to the loud speaker broadcasts, telling you where to wait (lounges/theatre/buffet area — not your room ) & which deck is to be proceeding to the gangway to leave.  The decks aren’t always called in numerical order, so listen.  I don’t remember exactly how long it took us to get off, but it was awhile, we had a early afternoon flight so we weren’t too stressed.

 

If you take the Carnival shuttle bus, or any other shuttle..we used Go Canaveral, there is staff in the open area once you are off the ship & outside to help guide you to the proper loading area.

 

[new_cruiser_75]

And if you have the time, there is no need to disembark when your floor is called.  I tend to drag my bags up to lido, find a place in the sun and read a book (might grab a last small bite to eat also), and wait to be one of the last off the ship.  Beats sitting in an airport every time!  (I'm also very careful that I'm not in the crew's way and clean up any mess I make - they're working hard to get ready for the next batch of tourists!)

[Organized Chaos]

49 minutes ago, Sersee said:

I had added this to my other post but felt like it didn't really belong there and would get buried.   I know I ask a lot of questions but first time cruising is a little overwhelming! I am sure once I go , I will understand the whole thing a lot better . I thank you all for helping me . .

 

I have no idea how to disembark. I have read that you can take your own luggage or put it out the night to have Carnival take your luggage. I am thinking I would rather deal with my luggage myself . I will be on the Breeze on the 11th deck.

 

Don't feel bad at all about asking questions. Some of us like to learn as much as we can before doing these things, myself included. That's what CC is for. You're right, once you get on and have all these experiences, it'll all click. There's a lot to cruising that is standard, especially on a single cruise line, so you'll be surprised how comfortable you become after just one cruise.

 

One thing I wanted to mention, if you choose Express Debark (carrying your own luggage off), just be aware that you'll have to carry it down the stairs and, probably, through crowds of people to make your way to the debark line. If you don't mind that, then there's nothing stopping you. Those who choose Express Debark are some of the first people off the ship.

 

If you do choose Checked Luggage Debark, you'll have to pick up your debark zone tags from the designated area on the last night of the cruise. As someone else suggested, you can go to the debark talk in the main theater or it'll also repeat on your TV. If you do check your luggage for debark, and want an earlier debark time, it's good to get your zone tags as early as possible. I'm not mistaken, there's only a certain number of early zone tags and could be gone if you wait too long. You'll set your luggage outside your cabin the last night and it'll be picked up by the crew and taken to a staging area. On debarkation day, you leave according to your debark zone number and your luggage will be staged inside the terminal, separated according to those zones (but still a sea of luggage, no pun intended). Just pay attention to the debark information and you'll be fine.

[Elaine5715]

There is a lot of walking, going down the ramp, escalators etc to maneuver with your luggage so be sure you are up to it

[Sersee]

1 hour ago, BandBWCsmom said:

Port Canaveral - there is nothing really between the Port and the airport in Orlando to get lunch. I would just do the port transfer, relax and enjoy a lunch at the airport. You jump right onto 528 West from the cruise terminal and you'll be at Orlando airport within 45-1hour. 

 

We left our luggage outside of our room except one carry on when we sailed last fall. We were off the boat within a half hour.  They call the cabins by floor number to disembark. 

 

We are sailing the Breeze August 31st so i can tell you more after that specific to the Breeze itself. We were on the Liberty out of Port Canaveral last and so I assume is very similar. 

Originally we had a lot of time ..our flight didn't leave until 8pm so we thought about going into Disney Springs to get my Disney fix.  But I changed my flight and we now take off at 3pm. So am assuming that wouldn't be enough time. 

[Sersee]

46 minutes ago, lasekeye said:

We always take our own luggage off the ship.

No luggage tags involved, no hunting for your bag in rows of bags.

 

Disembarking the Breeze in Port Canaveral was a “breeze”.  

If you haven’t cruised before, watch the daily Fun Times publication that’s delivered to your Stateroom every evening, it will notify you of  a “talk” held in the main theatre explaining the process & answering questions.

Then that final morning listen to the loud speaker broadcasts, telling you where to wait (lounges/theatre/buffet area — not your room ) & which deck is to be proceeding to the gangway to leave.  The decks aren’t always called in numerical order, so listen.  I don’t remember exactly how long it took us to get off, but it was awhile, we had a early afternoon flight so we weren’t too stressed.

 

If you take the Carnival shuttle bus, or any other shuttle..we used Go Canaveral, there is staff in the open area once you are off the ship & outside to help guide you to the proper loading area.

 

How crazy is it taking your own luggage?  I will look for the talks. So if you take your own luggage, they call you down by decks..? What about if you set up the night before? Do you get whatever is on your ticket called?

[Sersee]

38 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

Don't feel bad at all about asking questions. Some of us like to learn as much as we can before doing these things, myself included. That's what CC is for. You're right, once you get on and have all these experiences, it'll all click. There's a lot to cruising that is standard, especially on a single cruise line, so you'll be surprised how comfortable you become after just one cruise.

 

One thing I wanted to mention, if you choose Express Debark (carrying your own luggage off), just be aware that you'll have to carry it down the stairs and, probably, through crowds of people to make your way to the debark line. If you don't mind that, then there's nothing stopping you. Those who choose Express Debark are some of the first people off the ship.

 

If you do choose Checked Luggage Debark, you'll have to pick up your debark zone tags from the designated area on the last night of the cruise. As someone else suggested, you can go to the debark talk in the main theater or it'll also repeat on your TV. If you do check your luggage for debark, and want an earlier debark time, it's good to get your zone tags as early as possible. I'm not mistaken, there's only a certain number of early zone tags and could be gone if you wait too long. You'll set your luggage outside your cabin the last night and it'll be picked up by the crew and taken to a staging area. On debarkation day, you leave according to your debark zone number and your luggage will be staged inside the terminal, separated according to those zones (but still a sea of luggage, no pun intended). Just pay attention to the debark information and you'll be fine.

Thank you for the help and not minding answering my questions!  I have no idea if it will be an issue carrying our stuff down. My concern is putting out our luggage the night before and having to pack whats left into my carryon . I am not sure it would fit. I can always put stuff back in my bag when i get to the airport...

 

Is it first come first serve on the debark zone tags? Is it a mad das to try and get the earliest? 

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, Sersee said:

Thank you for the help and not minding answering my questions!  I have no idea if it will be an issue carrying our stuff down. My concern is putting out our luggage the night before and having to pack whats left into my carryon . I am not sure it would fit. I can always put stuff back in my bag when i get to the airport...

 

Is it first come first serve on the debark zone tags? Is it a mad das to try and get the earliest? 

 

Yes, it's first come, first serve to get the debark tags. They'll be on a hanging rack like this, as far as I know...

 

 

Sorry, I couldn't find a better picture online. Notice there's a lot fewer "Early Zones" tags (top row). The bottom two rows are "Late Zones." Early zones debark approx. 8:30-9:15 and late zones debark approx. 9:15-10:00am.

 

Honestly, we haven't done this new system yet. They hadn't started it when we cruised last summer, so I don't know what it's like getting them. Or maybe they had, but we had FTTF. I can't remember, do you have FTTF? If you do, then you don't have to worry about getting your own tags. For Platinum, Diamond, & FTTF, stewards still leave tags and instructions in your cabin the night before.

 

We do checked luggage debark. I just leave a set of clothes out for debarkation day. Anything important (passports or whatever) is in my backpack, which I carry on/off.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Organized Chaos

[coevan]

2 hours ago, new_cruiser_75 said:

And if you have the time, there is no need to disembark when your floor is called.  I tend to drag my bags up to lido, find a place in the sun and read a book (might grab a last small bite to eat also), and wait to be one of the last off the ship.  Beats sitting in an airport every time!  (I'm also very careful that I'm not in the crew's way and clean up any mess I make - they're working hard to get ready for the next batch of tourists!)

 

 

This is what we do. We never book an early flight the day of debarkation. Around 10 am they start calling for everyone to get off the ship

[TNcruising02]

The notice you get in your cabin will have the place to go to pick up the luggage zone tags and the time they will be ready.  As long as you show up early, you should be able to get an early zone.

We like to walk off of the ship early with our bags and find that it's the fastest way to get off of the ship.  We've never had to carry our bags down stairs, it's only been elevators and escalators.  It sounds like sometimes maybe that hasn't been an option for some people, but it's always been an option when I have cruised.  You do need to be able to handle your luggage easily so you don't hold up the line.  People move very quickly, so being able to handle everything is important.

Priority passengers, passengers who have purchased Faster to the Fun, and passengers with early flights can meet the earliest if they want to carry off their bags.  After those people have exited the ship, they will call other passengers by deck who want to carry off their bags.  Then they will start calling zones.  The notice you get the previous night will list several areas where you can wait until your deck or zone is called.  You will have time to get breakfast, if you would like it.

 

Edited July 22, 2019 by TNcruising02

[BandBWCsmom]

2 hours ago, Sersee said:

Originally we had a lot of time ..our flight didn't leave until 8pm so we thought about going into Disney Springs to get my Disney fix.  But I changed my flight and we now take off at 3pm. So am assuming that wouldn't be enough time. 

Disney Springs is further away from the Port than the airport. Definitely not enough time. It takes a while with traffic to make it to Disney Springs. Assuming you want to be at the airport by 1 PM, you'll likely be at the airport by 10 AM if my estimations are correct based on normal disembark. You can't do the springs in that much time. the springs adds about 30-45 minutes to your travel from the port, but just the coming and going is time consuming. There is a nice disney store at the airport to get gifts though. 

[Sersee]

Hmm . I have been to Springs a bazillion times. I was just trying to find something to kill some time. 

 

I am am a nervous flyer and sitting in the airport for hours gives me anxiety . 

[ksflann]

Sersee - Head over to Ron Jon Surf Shop and walk around.  It is a cool place to visit with nice clothes and beachy things.  Then you can walk out on the pier.  That would kill some time and it is very easy to get to - I am assuming you have a car rental.

 

[Kadeeu]

10 minutes ago, ksflann said:

Sersee - Head over to Ron Jon Surf Shop and walk around.  It is a cool place to visit with nice clothes and beachy things.  Then you can walk out on the pier.  That would kill some time and it is very easy to get to - I am assuming you have a car rental.

 

 

Yes, a good idea, but would need a rental car for the luggage.

Edited July 23, 2019 by Kadeeu

[Sersee]

This is exactly what I’m deciding. If i don’t have much time to do anything, I will get a transfer. But if I had time, I would rent a car.

 

Thats why I am trying to figure out how much time I would have...

[BandBWCsmom]

9 hours ago, Sersee said:

This is exactly what I’m deciding. If i don’t have much time to do anything, I will get a transfer. But if I had time, I would rent a car.

 

Thats why I am trying to figure out how much time I would have...

You'll have about four hours assuming you want to be at the airport 2 hours before your 3 PM departure. Ron Jon's is open in the morning. The pier will be too but not all the restaurants yet. It's $15 I think to park at the pier or you can park nearby if a meter is available. There is also miniature golf near Ron Jon's and one not far from the pier. All would require a car. 

[HangryGrl]

In regards to carrying off your own bags...if you are on the 11th floor you would need to be able to maneuver your suitcases and any other items you have with you down 8-10 flights of stairs as you will generally disembark on one of the lower decks.  The staircases can be crowded with people (sometimes even sitting on the stairs).  You can try to wait for an elevator but when we disembarked from the Breeze last December we waited about 30 minutes before finally giving up and just using the stairs.  After you get into the terminal you will need to haul everything you have down a longish hallway, down an escalator and then through the lower level to the customs line.  It can be done but if you are worried about it and have the time to spare it might be worth putting your luggage out the night before and just picking it up in the terminal before customs.  We always do self-assist but have seen many people struggle quite a bit and there is very little help to be had the morning you leave the ship as all of the crew is busy "herding cats" off the ship or getting ready for turnaround.

Edited July 23, 2019 by HangryGrl

[Sersee]

1 hour ago, HangryGrl said:

In regards to carrying off your own bags...if you are on the 11th floor you would need to be able to maneuver your suitcases and any other items you have with you down 8-10 flights of stairs as you will generally disembark on one of the lower decks.  The staircases can be crowded with people (sometimes even sitting on the stairs).  You can try to wait for an elevator but when we disembarked from the Breeze last December we waited about 30 minutes before finally giving up and just using the stairs.  After you get into the terminal you will need to haul everything you have down a longish hallway, down an escalator and then through the lower level to the customs line.  It can be done but if you are worried about it and have the time to spare it might be worth putting your luggage out the night before and just picking it up in the terminal before customs.  We always do self-assist but have seen many people struggle quite a bit and there is very little help to be had the morning you leave the ship as all of the crew is busy "herding cats" off the ship or getting ready for turnaround.

That does not sound like fun. Hmmm. Well I needed up booking go port. They say they run 7-10am  i believe my cruise gets in at 8 am. If I leave my bags the night before?  Will that be enough time?

[TNcruising02]

9 minutes ago, Sersee said:

That does not sound like fun. Hmmm. Well I needed up booking go port. They say they run 7-10am  i believe my cruise gets in at 8 am. If I leave my bags the night before?  Will that be enough time?

Sometimes you can wait on a lower deck.  Also, being forced to use the stairs is not common.  I've carried my bags off many cruises and never had to use the stairs.  A trick to the elevators on very busy days when everyone is headed in one direction is to go in the opposite direction first.  So if you can't catch a free elevator going down, catch one going up because it will do down at some point.

[Organized Chaos]

This is probably a minor detail, but I thought I'd throw it out there. At some ports, terminal employees (not Carnival) will watch the escalator and stop some carrying off their own luggage from using the escalators. They say it's unsafe, so they make them use the elevator, which then usually has a long line. Saw this in Miami last year and have read about it happening at other terminals, too. Just one more thing to consider if you're trying to get out quickly.

[lensonlife]

3 hours ago, Organized Chaos said:

This is probably a minor detail, but I thought I'd throw it out there. At some ports, terminal employees (not Carnival) will watch the escalator and stop some carrying off their own luggage from using the escalators. They say it's unsafe, so they make them use the elevator, which then usually has a long line. Saw this in Miami last year and have read about it happening at other terminals, too. Just one more thing to consider if you're trying to get out quickly.

When we were getting off in Miami (we carried our own luggage off), I noticed they were very actively working the escalators- grabbing luggage from guests just as quick as they could reach it- probably to avoid accidents/injury. I didn’t see them saying anything- but it makes absolute sense. One misstep... 

[modes]

On 7/22/2019 at 12:19 PM, Sersee said:

I had added this to my other post but felt like it didn't really belong there and would get buried.   I know I ask a lot of questions but first time cruising is a little overwhelming! I am sure once I go , I will understand the whole thing a lot better . I thank you all for helping me . .

 

I have no idea how to disembark. I have read that you can take your own luggage or put it out the night to have Carnival take your luggage. I am thinking I would rather deal with my luggage myself . I will be on the Breeze on the 11th deck.

 

1)How hard will it be for us to move our luggage ourselves?

 

2)When are we allowed to leave if grabbing our own luggage? Do I need a luggage tag?

 

3) Our ship docks at 8 am... typically how long does it take to get off the ship? I have a late afternoon flight and trying to figure out if I went to rent a car( so I can go get some lunch someplace before airport)  or just pay go port for a transfer.  

 

You will get a flyer in your room explaining everything.

 

[crusinpsychRN]

If you decide to self debark make sure you don't get off with the earlier passengers. Did this once by mistake as did about 4 others. They made us wait 2 hours to get luggage.