big big tip for all upcoming cruisers...

[greg randall]

Carnival now has a self assist feature on their ships..i was just on the glory and am semi irritated that no one told me about it..this is the deal......IF you are willing to carry your bags off the ship yourself, you will have the very first opportunity to disembark...If i would have know this i could have been on the shuttle, back at the airport and in the delta crown room much sooner. they make it sound like you have to put your luggage out and let the ship take care of it. so not true...

[wannacruisemore]

Thanks for the tip!

[jakieemma]

I used the self assist on the Glory last Feb. and was able to make the 9:15 flight out of MCO. We called ahead to jetBlue and was put on stand-by. Our original flight time was 12:30. There were seats available so we got on.

We were back in OUR house in Boston by 1:00pm !!!!

[habby]

in the delta crown room much sooner. ...

 

This is one of the few good reasons I have heard for wanting to cut time on the ship short.

[keywest22]

We read about it in the capers the night before and decided to go for it, the only problems was we ending up waiting in the stairway for about 1 hour

b/c they were arresting someone on the ship:eek: ...no big deal for us as we

live in florida but I would not count on this as things do happen and I would hate for someone to miss a flight....:rolleyes:

[moonvine]

I always have way too much luggage to carry off the ship by myself. I'm one of those folks that only has two hands.:mad:

[LizaMM]

If you are thinking about self assist keep in mind that you need to be able to take your luggage all the way through the terminal by yourself which usually includes escalators etc. I had a hard time with just my carryon once :)

[iluvdoxies]

Carnival now has a self assist feature on their ships..i was just on the glory and am semi irritated that no one told me about it..this is the deal......IF you are willing to carry your bags off the ship yourself, you will have the very first opportunity to disembark...If i would have know this i could have been on the shuttle, back at the airport and in the delta crown room much sooner. they make it sound like you have to put your luggage out and let the ship take care of it. so not true...

 

 

Sorry, but this is old news. Carnival has had self assist for over a year now.

[big_duck]

Did you attend the debarkation briefing? It is usually brought up there (if not then the CD needs a 'pankin).

 

Your self-assist mileage will very, on some sailings hardly anyone does it and you breeze right through. On others it seems like everyone tries it and it takes a looonnng time to clear the line.

[deborahjo]

Had self assist on te Paradise in Nov of 03.

[Cotton]

Carnival put this policy in place awhile back. I first noticed it when on the Holiday in 2004.

 

However, it's worth bringing up for those who aren't aware they can do this. Yes, it is announced at the debarkation talk, but unfortunately everybody doesn't go to those.;)

[greg randall]

iluvdoxies is brutal...sounds like the kind of person who has to have the last word. all i was saying is that i did not know. i am not a habitual cruiser. take a pill

[dms_cruisers04]

iluvdoxies is brutal...sounds like the kind of person who has to have the last word. all i was saying is that i did not know. i am not a habitual cruiser. take a pill

No, not the last word, just that self debark isn't something that Carnival is "now" doing and not telling anyone about, especially when people need to get to the airport so they can hang in the crown room before their flight. Wouldn't wanna miss out on those free ... pretzels. :cool:

I mean thanks for passing the info onto new cruisers, but really it's not that big a deal that it's not new news.

[bjr928]

iluvdoxies is brutal...sounds like the kind of person who has to have the last word. all i was saying is that i did not know. i am not a habitual cruiser. take a pill

 

Actually, no she isn't that kind of person - she's VERY nice and sweet! :) She was not trying to be rude with you - but let you know that it's not a new thing to Carnival...you did state that you were "semi-irritated" with not knowing it about it...but if you would have gone to (or watch on your tv) the disembarkation talk, you would have known about it before hand. But hey, atleast you know about it for next time. ;)

[Iamthesea]

I'm more interested in the Delta Crown room. I am a Sky member. Do we get to use the room and if so what is included and where is it in Orlando? We have a late flight out, so we are planning on staying on the ship as long as possible and then going to the airport.

[dms_cruisers04]

I'm more interested in the Delta Crown room. I am a Sky member. Do we get to use the room and if so what is included and where is it in Orlando? We have a late flight out, so we are planning on staying on the ship as long as possible and then going to the airport.

Nope, crown room is pay-to-play. They've apparently even phased out the free option for Platinum Skymiles members.

[greg randall]

if you have a platinum amex you can use the room..we did not pay..just happened to have the right credit card. the room is huge and lavish and it isnt just for free pretzels...your drinks are all free, non and alcohol. you also have plush couches to nap and even a 60 inch plasma to watch a game or cnn..

[dan40]

The better way to work it is to stay on board until they come and drag me and my luggage off.

 

And stop badmouthing fellow Gloryhounds.

 

Dan

[greg randall]

i wish i could be like that..unfortunately, when i wake up on the last day i consider the cruise over and just want to move on

[fig414]

I'll give the other side of how great self assist is. 2 weeks ago we waited on the Lido deck for our deck to be called, grabbed an elevator down and walked right off. Total time from Lido deck to bags: 5 minutes. The best part was no sea of black bags to wade thru and a short customs line. So, self assist is great, both ways.

[Bunkie103]

I'm more interested in the Delta Crown room. I am a Sky member. Do we get to use the room and if so what is included and where is it in Orlando? We have a late flight out, so we are planning on staying on the ship as long as possible and then going to the airport.

 

Why would you want to stay on the ship "as long as possible" ? Nothing is open, you can't get anything to eat, you're impeding the turnover process, and remember how anxious YOU were to get on the ship a week ago!

:rolleyes: oops, guess I'll get ripped for that one!:o

[Iamthesea]

;)

Let me rephrase that we will stay "as long as possible" that we are allowed to stay on the ship by Carnival. There will be no impending of future passengers.

 

We plan to get up and eat in the dining room as usual. Then, we will go back to the room to freshen up and be out of our stateroom when we are told to be. We will then go to a card room, lounge or around the pool. Yes, you can get a drink around the pool and who needs food after a huge breakfast. :D

 

Try it sometime, it is very relaxing to have a couple of extra hours on an almost empty ship. Stretches your vacation!:cool:

 

Our limo will pick us up around 10:00 and off to the airport to wait for a 2:40 flight. :(

 

Just realized that you are from Bucks, PA. We just built a new house here in TN and our stone mason is from Bucks!

[southbayer]

LOL, ok he should have said thanks so much for the tip, I was able to do this before myself, but for all the newcomers out there, go for it! As for me, i knew about it already too :D

iluvdoxies is brutal...sounds like the kind of person who has to have the last word. all i was saying is that i did not know. i am not a habitual cruiser. take a pill

[sallyb]

I also want to stay on the ship. I always book a late afternoon flight and my plans for the day in port are not open that early.

FYI- There was no self assist on the Miracle 1-29 sailing because we were not going back to the terminal. There was a ship off-loading oil in the channel, so we went to an industrial port & boarded a bus back to the terminal.

Still, our color was one of the first called, so off we went.:(

[kstrickman]

We did self assist last year to get off the ship early to do a college visit before flying home. Just remember--you must be able to carry your luggage down the many flights of steps because the elevators most likely will not be working. The stairwells were extremely crowded with those leaving. Did I mention, we went during one of the weeks of springbreak? Just be prepared.