Debarkation Carry Off Luggage - thoughts?

[cellfree]

I remember when this first became a practice. Few people used it. Just off the Magic yesterday and ship was close to capacity. I would say at least half did the “carry off” thing which took a huge amount of time. The rest of us waited in the Theatre at our respective times while these crowds thinned out. My suggestion would be to let those who put their luggage out the night before debark first, we move along quicker than those toting their huge bags and then needing to wait for an elevator if they cannot put one hand on the escalator handrail. If the trend continues soon close to the entire ship will be carrying off their own bags. Thoughts? Or was yesterday’s experience rare?

[KmomChicago]

Your bags are in the process of being taken off the ship by porters or crew while the self carriers are on their way. You would just be waiting in the baggage area where there’s hardly anywhere to sit instead of waiting comfortably somewhere in a lounge onboard.

[Elaine5715]

9 minutes ago, cellfree said:

I remember when this first became a practice. Few people used it. Just off the Magic yesterday and ship was close to capacity. I would say at least half did the “carry off” thing which took a huge amount of time. The rest of us waited in the Theatre at our respective times while these crowds thinned out. My suggestion would be to let those who put their luggage out the night before debark first, we move along quicker than those toting their huge bags and then needing to wait for an elevator if they cannot put one hand on the escalator handrail. If the trend continues soon close to the entire ship will be carrying off their own bags. Thoughts? Or was yesterday’s experience rare?

It takes longer for terminal crew to unload bags and put in the terminal than those carrying off to move their own.  Luggage crew are not starting at o'dark hundred.  

[LatinaInTexas]

Have done carry off three times with only one time being anywhere orderly/timely. The other two times there were delays that caused the carry off people to wait over an hour past their time and then that caused the waiting people to start at their normal time causing nothing but disorder from crowds of early morning grumpy people.

If I drive to port I wait but if I have a flight I don't really have a choice.

[Elaine5715]

1 minute ago, KmomChicago said:

Your bags are in the process of being taken off the ship by porters or crew while the self carriers are on their way. You would just be waiting in the baggage area where there’s hardly anywhere to sit instead of waiting comfortably somewhere in a lounge onboard.

Border control do not want people waiting any longer than needed around the luggage area,  

[KmomChicago]

22 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

It takes longer for terminal crew to unload bags and put in the terminal than those carrying off to move their own.  Luggage crew are not starting at o'dark hundred.  

Right, and in any case, they can't start until the ship is cleared. . . whereas self carry can also start around the same time, when the ship is cleared. 

[bguppies]

2 hours ago, cellfree said:

I remember when this first became a practice. Few people used it. Just off the Magic yesterday and ship was close to capacity. I would say at least half did the “carry off” thing which took a huge amount of time. The rest of us waited in the Theatre at our respective times while these crowds thinned out. My suggestion would be to let those who put their luggage out the night before debark first, we move along quicker than those toting their huge bags and then needing to wait for an elevator if they cannot put one hand on the escalator handrail. If the trend continues soon close to the entire ship will be carrying off their own bags. Thoughts? Or was yesterday’s experience rare?

Many ships probably have more than 50% carrying their own luggage.

(Especially on cruises of 7 nights or less)

 

Until the days when Carnival hires enough Genie's to magically blink all of the luggaeg off the ship and lay it out for pickup....Those not industrious enough to carry off their own luggage will just have to wait their turn.

[ninjacat123]

Ever since I did my 11 day Europe land trip last July with just a carry on, I am inspired to do all my travel with just a carry on.  So far, so good.  My DH and DD's did carry on as well in Europe so I'm thinking this upcoming 5 day Thanksgiving cruise will be a piece of cake.  We will be rolling on and off the ship! 😃

[JT1962]

We used self debarkation when it first started and it was much quicker since not many people used it. Now it seems that at least half of the ship uses it. We now just let the ship take care of our luggage and it is much less stressful than the Express Debarkation stampede. With most people taking their own luggage, it is very easy and quick to find your bags in the terminal.

[ober134]

10 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Ever since I did my 11 day Europe land trip last July with just a carry on, I am inspired to do all my travel with just a carry on.  So far, so good.  My DH and DD's did carry on as well in Europe so I'm thinking this upcoming 5 day Thanksgiving cruise will be a piece of cake.  We will be rolling on and off the ship! 😃

^^^THIS!!! Also did 8 days in Italy with carryon and personal item. Shoes are always the tricky thing for me. Packing now for an 8 day cruise + 2 extra days. Struggle is real but I'm determined.

[ninjacat123]

22 minutes ago, ober134 said:

^^^THIS!!! Also did 8 days in Italy with carryon and personal item. Shoes are always the tricky thing for me. Packing now for an 8 day cruise + 2 extra days. Struggle is real but I'm determined.

I also have a 10 day cruise out of Rome next October with 4 days land travel through Italy before the cruise.  Soooo excited!!  Planning on carry on😄 Yes! Shoes are a very big factor.  And time of year.

Check out Travel Fashion Girls on FB.  Lots of input there.

Edited October 30, 2022 by ninjacat123

[sammee]

If we only have a 1 to 2.5 hr drive, we'll let them carry off the luggage and not stress it. More than we lug our own off so we can get right on the road for that long haul.

[sgttami]

Carry on. Carry off.

 

I travel with one bag that has everything I need for the duration of my trip.  Easy for me.

 

The only time I checked luggage and put it out for debarking was my first cruise 30 years ago because I was told that's what you had to do.

 

Lesson learned.  Never listen to those that believe they are experts in everything! ( HA HA)

[staceyglow]

47 minutes ago, ober134 said:

^^^THIS!!! Also did 8 days in Italy with carryon and personal item. Shoes are always the tricky thing for me. Packing now for an 8 day cruise + 2 extra days. Struggle is real but I'm determined.

Just did 10 days on Pride plus 4 days prior in Rome with just a carry-on and a backpack. Here is how I did shoes: I wore athletic shoes onto the plane, and packed flip flops, topsiders, and dressy flat sandals. Didn't miss any other shoes. 

[ninjacat123]

4 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Just did 10 days on Pride plus 4 days prior in Rome with just a carry-on and a backpack. Here is how I did shoes: I wore athletic shoes onto the plane, and packed flip flops, topsiders, and dressy flat sandals. Didn't miss any other shoes. 

We will be on Pride next October.  What did you think of the itinerary and the ship?  TIA!

[staceyglow]

Just now, ninjacat123 said:

We will be on Pride next October.  What did you think of the itinerary and the ship?  TIA!

Loved it! Pride is my favorite ship. It never felt crowded and it is a very easy ship to navigate. If it had a Cucina del Capitano, it would be perfect! 

 

I thought all of the ports were great. I only wish the 1 sea day was more towards the middle of the cruise. We were pretty tired by the end! 

[ninjacat123]

Just now, staceyglow said:

Loved it! Pride is my favorite ship. It never felt crowded and it is a very easy ship to navigate. If it had a Cucina del Capitano, it would be perfect! 

 

I thought all of the ports were great. I only wish the 1 sea day was more towards the middle of the cruise. We were pretty tired by the end! 

I was thinking the same thing about the sea days!  We will be disembarking and riding the train to Venice to spend the night there and then fly home the next day.  Airfare from Venice to Charlotte is $600 less per person than Rome to Charlotte.  And we get to see Venice.  Yay!!

[cruisemom67]

1 hour ago, JT1962 said:

We used self debarkation when it first started and it was much quicker since not many people used it. Now it seems that at least half of the ship uses it. We now just let the ship take care of our luggage and it is much less stressful than the Express Debarkation stampede. With most people taking their own luggage, it is very easy and quick to find your bags in the terminal.

We did the same thing. We are also back to setting our luggage out and not messing with it. We also now wait until last call to leave the ship. We enjoy out last few minutes and basically walk through customs. Our bags are easy to find. And NO STRESS. 

[bguppies]

11 minutes ago, cruisemom67 said:

We did the same thing. We are also back to setting our luggage out and not messing with it. We also now wait until last call to leave the ship. We enjoy out last few minutes and basically walk through customs. Our bags are easy to find. And NO STRESS. 

This is how you do it if you don't want to carry your own luggage.

 

Not expect everyone else to wait for you.

[cruisemom67]

2 minutes ago, bguppies said:

This is how you do it if you don't want to carry your own luggage.

 

Not expect everyone else to wait for you.

Not sure what you mean about everyone else to wait for you. Are you saying we are holding people up? We relax and let those that need to get on the road, or have flights go before us. We are platinum status but don't feel the need to go before others that have a definite reason to leave early. We live 30 minutes from a port,  and so we can wait. No one is "waiting" for us to get off.  We wait in very short lines to step off the ship, and very short lines to walk through the photo i.d.  We have always looked at it as  help to those who need to leave early.

[Bostwick girl]

We always check our 1 piece of luggage so just have a small carryon and mobility scooter. The only problem I have with people carrying their own luggage off is that they don’t wait for their area to be called, they just go. They clog up the elevators with huge bags and you can’t get an elevator if you have a mobility scooter. Being Diamond, we usually are supposed to meet in the little lounge by the exit at say 7:30. We start trying to get an elevator around 7 and it usually takes 15 to 30 minutes to get one that has any room in it! Usually time we do make it to our waiting area, they’ve already called Diamonds and they’re getting off. I forget what ship it was, but one time there was a designated elevator for mobility scooters which worked out great. You might still have to wait a bit, but you knew you were moving soon.  Still amazes me at how much luggage some people carry off. Once we did a b2b and had to wait in the lobby for everyone to debark. It was crazy! People carrying 2 of those huge suitcases, along with smaller ones for a 4 day cruise! Was a total zoo!

 

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Bostwick girl

[sanmarcosman]

Once we made platinum we go to the assigned area at the early time and walk right off. Long Beach has been especially good for us. Often we are in our car in 20 minutes from the time we start leaving the Vista dining on Deck 4, which is the usual meeting place on Panorama for platinum self-debark.

[1025cruise]

I think part of the problem is that when Carnival switched to putting luggage tags out for taking, people take more than needed, leaving people who don't want to carry their luggage stuck doing so,

[Ilovesailaway]

I try not to be pressured to get off the ship when the cruise ends. I carry off but I find a comfortable place to relax till the crowd has left. Then I walk off and go have a bite to eat and a cocktail at an airport lounge before my flight. The last thing I want to do at the end of a vacation is stress. 

[staceyglow]

1 hour ago, 1025cruise said:

I think part of the problem is that when Carnival switched to putting luggage tags out for taking, people take more than needed, leaving people who don't want to carry their luggage stuck doing so,

What ship is this? I believe that every cruise I have been on, the steward left the tags in our Cabin.