Disembarking in Livorno on last port day on Enchanted Princess - Can we?

[karatemom2]

My daughter and her fiance, soon to be husband, are going to be honeymooning on the Enchanted Princess. Their cruise ends in Rome, with the last port day being Livorno for Florence/Pisa. Because their time is so limited their, they are wondering if they could perhaps disembark at that port, stay the night in Florence and then proceed to Rome via train the next day where they will be spending a few more nights before flying home.

 

I remember on our British Isles cruise last year a number of passenger disembarking on our last port day in Le Havre to proceed on to Paris instead of going back to Southampton so this would be a similar situation.

 

Has anyone done this and if so, how do you make arrangements with Princess? Thanks for any advice!

[1025cruise]

Definite maybe. Only Princess can give you a definitive answer.

[chicgotgame]

Princess shoreside/off the ship will make it complicated once you are on the ship let guest services know you plan to disembark early. Give them a minimum of two days notice. Guest services told me that you can disembark without telling them unless you want to rejoin the ship at a later port. Very easy to do in Europe but don’t try this on a ship that has port stops in the US. 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

My daughter and her fiance, soon to be husband, are going to be honeymooning on the Enchanted Princess. Their cruise ends in Rome, with the last port day being Livorno for Florence/Pisa. Because their time is so limited their, they are wondering if they could perhaps disembark at that port, stay the night in Florence and then proceed to Rome via train the next day where they will be spending a few more nights before flying home.

 

I remember on our British Isles cruise last year a number of passenger disembarking on our last port day in Le Havre to proceed on to Paris instead of going back to Southampton so this would be a similar situation.

 

Has anyone done this and if so, how do you make arrangements with Princess? Thanks for any advice!

It is not a maybe at all.  Where you suggest sounds just fine.  What you do is contact Princess well ahead at Customer Relations and place a request.  If you booked via a TA, they should have the information and be able to submit it on your behalf.  Just explain what you want to do and they notify the ship.

 

We just did this last October in Messina, Sicily, getting off before ship returned to Civitavecchia.  We spent six days in Sicily, flew to FCO, and then out to Civi and got onto another PCL ship.

 

 

ETA:  It is called a deviation request.  AFAIK, you should let them know before you sail, but the post above indicates you can let them know on board.  If so, I would get to Guest Services pronto after boarding.  They do prepare a list of anyone disembarking early and pass it on to the authorities at that port.  A Princess GS rep met us and we were clocked off the ship at the end of the day.

(Normally, such guests depart in the morning, but we left later in the afternoon officially).

Edited June 30, 2023 by Steelers36

[karatemom2]

Thanks everyone - I spoke to a Princess representative today and she confirmed that it is definitely something they can do. She made a note and then told me to have them notify Guest Services when they board so it’s logged and planned for so they can account for them leaving a day early. She said it’s likely they won’t be the only ones. They are so thrilled to get to spend the night in Florence!!

[DallasGuy75219]

15 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

They do prepare a list of anyone disembarking early and pass it on to the authorities at that port.  A Princess GS rep met us and we were clocked off the ship at the end of the day.

(Normally, such guests depart in the morning, but we left later in the afternoon officially).

Just a heads-up that you don't always get a choice of when to depart the ship.  I had to disembark in Puerto Vallarta to fly back early for a funeral, and I was told when (like early o'clock) to meet at Guest Services to debark.  Basically since Puerta Vallarta isn't normally a disembarkation port, the customs agents had to come aboard to inspect my documentation (and all my bags) and process me, after which I had to immediately debark.  The customs agents, not me, decided when that would happen.

[Steelers36]

2 minutes ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Just a heads-up that you don't always get a choice of when to depart the ship.  I had to disembark in Puerto Vallarta to fly back early for a funeral, and I was told when (like early o'clock) to meet at Guest Services to debark.  Basically since Puerta Vallarta isn't normally a disembarkation port, the customs agents had to come aboard to inspect my documentation (and all my bags) and process me, after which I had to immediately debark.  The customs agents, not me, decided when that would happen.

Yes, a guest should expect to be disembarking early on after ship is cleared.  But it may be possible to delay that to sometime prior to the all-aboard.  It's going to depend on local authorities at the port.  The customs/immigration officials may not be around all day I suppose.  Anyway, just ask at GS on board as the mgmt on board has final say.

[DallasGuy75219]

15 hours ago, chicgotgame said:

Princess shoreside/off the ship will make it complicated once you are on the ship let guest services know you plan to disembark early. Give them a minimum of two days notice. Guest services told me that you can disembark without telling them unless you want to rejoin the ship at a later port. Very easy to do in Europe but don’t try this on a ship that has port stops in the US. 

Not the best advice.  The proper process is to request a deviation ahead of time through Princess shoreside and get their approval.  Otherwise what is someone going to do if they make travel plans and don't tell Princess until they're aboard, then they're told no they can't debark early? 

 

Also when you try to disembark with luggage, security will call Guest Services to make sure you've been processed off the ship.  If you are somehow able to debark without telling Princess, you're now potentially inconveniencing the whole ship when they're ready to depart and trying to track you down like a late passenger/pier runner.

[Essiesmom]

50 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Yes, a guest should expect to be disembarking early on after ship is cleared.  But it may be possible to delay that to sometime prior to the all-aboard.  It's going to depend on local authorities at the port.  The customs/immigration officials may not be around all day I suppose.  Anyway, just ask at GS on board as the mgmt on board has final say.

Schengen country, they are already IN the Schengen group of countries, no customs or immigration.  EM

[Steelers36]

23 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Schengen country, they are already IN the Schengen group of countries, no customs or immigration.  EM

Yes, that may make it easier, but IIRC, they were informing the authorities of anyone departing the ship.

[chicgotgame]

2 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Not the best advice.  The proper process is to request a deviation ahead of time through Princess shoreside and get their approval.  Otherwise what is someone going to do if they make travel plans and don't tell Princess until they're aboard, then they're told no they can't debark early? 

 

Also when you try to disembark with luggage, security will call Guest Services to make sure you've been processed off the ship.  If you are somehow able to debark without telling Princess, you're now potentially inconveniencing the whole ship when they're ready to depart and trying to track you down like a late passenger/pier runner.

Having done this several times in the past couple years I’d say it worked well, no issues and the ship said there was no need to give them more than a couple days notice. Last time was October 2022 where I got off 2 days early in Poland as the airports in London were having issues and flights back to the states were much more expensive. I followed guest services advice and it worked perfectly. Having done route sector deviations in the past I wouldn’t bother for Europe in the future.