End of Cruise

[dealtom]

First time cruiser here!  What is the procedure when you arrive at your final port?  We arrive at 7am.  How long can you stay on the ship?   Do they serve breakfast?  Lunch?

[1025cruise]

You will be given information. Breakfast will be served earlier. You will need to be out of your cabin by 8:00 or 8:30 the latest. You will need to be off the ship by 10:30 at the latest, if not earlier.

[XBGuy]

Welcome to Cruise Critic Tom and welcome to cruising.

 

The specifics of disembarkment procedures will slightly between cruise lines, but, in a nutshell, they need to turnaround the ship for the next cruise.  So, not surprisingly, they are going to encourage you to leave fairly quickly.  They are going to want you to leave your cabin so that the stewards can prepare it for the next passengers.  Breakfast will be available somewhere on the ship.  If there is a buffet, it will, most assuredly, be open for breakfast.  Dining rooms may or may not be open.

 

More than likely, a few days before disembarkation, you will receive a questionnaire for you to complete in which you will give your preferences.  For example,

 

• Would you like to walk off the ship with your luggage, or would you like to have your luggage picked up the night before for you to claim at the pier?
• Do you have an airline flight to catch?  If so, what time does it leave?  Do you have a cruise transfer to the airport?
• Do you have independent travel arrangements?  If so, at approximately what time would you like to leave the ship?

It is hard to be more specific, because, again, different lines or, even, different ports might have slightly different procedures.

 

A couple days before disembarkment, you will receive disembarkation instructions which are customized for you depending on how you completed the questionnaire.  Generally, those instructions will also provide information as to where breakfast would be available.

 

SInce the ship is likely to be leaving on it's next cruise later that afternoon, and since a lot of work has to be completed, you can probably figure that they are going to want all disembarking passengers off the ship by about 10:30 am.

 

 

[franktown]

The last day of the cruise is very different from all other days.  The ship needs to get you off so they can get the ship ready for the next cruise that they usually start boarding around 11:30.  That means, as other have said you must vacate your cabin by 8 8:30.  Breakfast will be served in the buffet till around 9:30 and one of the dining rooms till around 9.  On my last cruise on the Regal last call to disembark was at 10.  They cannot bring new passengers on until everyone is off.

[travelin.sisters]

also helpful to know for the disembarkation, if you want Princess to take care of your luggage you must put it outside your cabin the evening before & only keep what you can carry off yourself...they will also let you carry off everything yourself

[helpmesailaway]

There is also a bit of crying - but it's never listed in the disembarkation instructions.

[partybarbie]

It would be helpful to know where you are disembarking.  While you will still need to vacate the cabin, some European and Tahitian ports will allow you to stay on the ship a little longer if you have a later flight. 

[Cool_Dude]

If you put your bags outside the night before disembarkation, make sure you have clothes and any toiletry items you will want in the morning. By the time you wake up your bags outside your door will be gone.

 

[BigGuy25]

10 hours ago, Cool_Dude said:

By the time you wake up your bags outside your door will be gone.

 

There are always those stories (or at least “folklore”) about people who party a bit too much on the last night and get back to their cabin, put on their night-clothes, and then put out their bags.  Only, they forget to leave out their clothes for the next morning,  It makes for an interesting de-embarkation!

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 hours ago, BigGuy25 said:

  Only, they forget to leave out their clothes for the next morning,  It makes for an interesting de-embarkation!

 

I've heard tales of people seen disembarking with their ships' bathrobes being worn!

[XBGuy]

OP, when I posted above, obviously, I was not thinking that you'd posted on the Princess forum, and that you were asking, specifically, about Princess procedures.  My bad.

 

Here is the "Disembarkation Information" that was delivered to our cabin a couple days prior to the conclusion of our recent Hawaii cruise.  I have received similar documents for every one of our Princess cruises, and you will also receive a similar document during your upcoming cruise.

 

Since I like to have our luggage picked up the prior evening, this document was accompanied by some colored luggage tags.  You may or may not be able to discern from the upper left corner of Page 1 that our tags were "Purple 1."  Specific to your original question, you can see available breakfast services towards the bottom of the right hand column on Page 1.

 

Notice on Page 2 there are some tables that indicate meeting venues and walk-off times based on either the Self Assist Walk Off Group number or the Luggage Tag Color/Number.  Walk offs on this schedule start at 7:30 am and the last group is scheduled for 10:00.  Give or take 10 minutes, or so, Princess and the staff on the pier do a pretty good job of hitting these projected times.

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

19 hours ago, travelin.sisters said:

They will also let you carry off everything yourself

It's a good idea to limit the amount of luggage you bring, if you plan on carrying all your stuff with you when you leave. No one will be available to help you until you're outside the port where the porters are located.

[vampiress]

last time, as we had no flight to catch because we live near the port, we were assigned to self disembark and keep our luggage.  i'm not going to do that again. it was impossible to catch a lift down, and we struggled with our luggage down the stairs.  this time i'm going to make sure we get assigned a luggage tag

[JF - retired RRT]

2 minutes ago, vampiress said:

last time, as we had no flight to catch because we live near the port, we were assigned to self disembark and keep our luggage.  i'm not going to do that again. it was impossible to catch a lift down, and we struggled with our luggage down the stairs.  this time i'm going to make sure we get assigned a luggage tag

Yeah...there is that.