Can you leave the ship the night before debarkation day?

[SoBaycruiser]

To get home from our cruise with the fewest flight stopovers possible, we will have to book a departure flight late in the evening… around 11pm.  Since we have an overnight in our debarkation port, we thought it might make sense to leave the ship the night before and go directly to the airport for the late night flight.  Has anyone done this?  Is it allowed?  Do you just notify guest services and do a walk off?

 

Any information is appreciated.

 

 

[uktog]

You will need to check with Azamara as your luggage/customs clearance would be happening at a time they may not have permission to do it at.  It can be allowed but only Azamara can 100% say yes

[SoBaycruiser]

13 minutes ago, uktog said:

You will need to check with Azamara as your luggage/customs clearance would be happening at a time they may not have permission to do it at.  It can be allowed but only Azamara can 100% say yes

Thanks.  Now if I can get a correct answer from them.  They don’t have a great record lately.

[Host Jazzbeau]

14 minutes ago, SoBaycruiser said:

Thanks.  Now if I can get a correct answer from them.  They don’t have a great record lately.

And they may not be able to get a solid answer from the governing authorities, which is the only answer that counts.

[Grandma Cruising]

We have done it twice in Dubai. Asked them ahead of time and they said probably OK, but need to tell Guest Relations as soon as we get onboard. A lot can depend on local immigration and customs officials. I have heard of people refused this in Lima.

[SoBaycruiser]

20 minutes ago, Grandma Cruising said:

We have done it twice in Dubai. Asked them ahead of time and they said probably OK, but need to tell Guest Relations as soon as we get onboard. A lot can depend on local immigration and customs officials. I have heard of people refused this in Lima.

That’s what worries me… “probably” doesn’t work when you have a flight booked that requires early departure from the ship.   This is the Australia intensive cruise so the entire cruise is in the same country.  I would think that would make it easier.  I’d rather email and get their answer in writing but I could only find a phone number for US passengers.

Edited October 17, 2023 by SoBaycruiser

[AnnaNicole]

10 minutes ago, SoBaycruiser said:

That’s what worries me… “probably” doesn’t work when you have a flight booked that requires early departure from the ship.   This is the Australia intensive cruise so the entire cruise is in the same country.  i would that would make it easier.  I’d rather email and get their answer in writing but I could only find a phone number for US passengers.

Here is a link to the contact form:  https://www.azamara.com/about-azamara/contact-us

Also, try support@azamara.com

[uktog]

Australia is certainly a tricky one. They had the most unusual arrangements of any cruise I’ve been on certainly when disembarking in Cairns and Freemantle. I’d not bother with the stress in case the authorities change what they’d agreed as happened before. Just get a different flight 

[ECCruise]

@SoBaycruiser It will depend on what customs/immigration procedures will be in force when you want to disembark.

 

Even though you never leave Australia there may be a requirement to pass through customs and/or immigration and those officers likely would not be available the evening before scheduled disembarkation.

 

You may try this email contact: bookingsupportaunz@azamara.com

Edited October 18, 2023 by ECCruise

[terry&mike]

This evening/night flight schedule thing has occurred for us in several areas (South America, Africa, Asia), and how I handle it is to make the most of that last day; depending on the area and/or distance to the airport, I generally do one of two things.

I either book a private tour with a car and driver and let them know I'll be bringing our luggage along, and that we need to end the tour with an airport drop off.

Or, I book a hotel room for one night, bring our luggage over and have the hotel store it for the day (on occasion they have given us our room early), and then go off exploring. We come back some time in the afternoon, and can freshen up and relax in the room, and then head for the airport later that evening. 

This may be a better idea than trying to arrange an early departure from the ship, as this needs to be cleared with local immigration to ensure they have the staff available to handle the request at the time you need it. 

[hamrag]

18 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

To get home from our cruise with the fewest flight stopovers possible, we will have to book a departure flight late in the evening… around 11pm.  Since we have an overnight in our debarkation port, we thought it might make sense to leave the ship the night before and go directly to the airport for the late night flight.  Has anyone done this?  Is it allowed?  Do you just notify guest services and do a walk off?

 

Any information is appreciated.

 

 

I wouldn't trust a response from a form submitted to Az, or any cruiseline for that matter. Australia does what they do, and there are NO guarantees they would do then what they may tell Az now!  You have excellent advice at posts #10 and #12.....I would strongly recommend you take said advice. 😉

[SoBaycruiser]

Thank you everyone!  There has been some good advice here. We are flying home from Perth and I have to accept it’s just going to be a very long arduous trip.  We have decided not to leave early and enjoy our last day in port.  
 

I’d like to say that I have a much better appreciation for the effort the Aussies must go through in their travels to the US and Europe.

[SoBaycruiser]

Additional question…  Now that I’ve decided to not try to leave the ship early, I have new questions.  If we book a flight that leaves Perth earlier and then have an overnight 12 hr layover in Melbourne, can I assume the following?…

1)our checked luggage will be checked on through to our destination and we will only have access to our carryon in  Melbourne

2) we can leave the terminal and check in at the Park Royal hotel  overnight (across the street.)

3) when we return to the terminal we only need to go through security as I assume we are issued both boarding passes in Perth)

 

I’ve never had this long of a layover and it only makes sense if you get to take advantage of those hours.  But am I missing some pitfalls

[Dynacruiser]

3 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

Additional question…  Now that I’ve decided to not try to leave the ship early, I have new questions.  If we book a flight that leaves Perth earlier and then have an overnight 12 hr layover in Melbourne, can I assume the following?…

1)our checked luggage will be checked on through to our destination and we will only have access to our carryon in  Melbourne

2) we can leave the terminal and check in at the Park Royal hotel  overnight (across the street.)

3) when we return to the terminal we only need to go through security as I assume we are issued both boarding passes in Perth)

 

I’ve never had this long of a layover and it only makes sense if you get to take advantage of those hours.  But am I missing some pitfalls

I'm eager to read the answers from other folks here, but I suspect that you are asking for questions that nobody can respond to with 100% certainty.

 

It may be up to the airline, perhaps?

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Dynacruiser

[uktog]

5 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

Additional question…  Now that I’ve decided to not try to leave the ship early, I have new questions.  If we book a flight that leaves Perth earlier and then have an overnight 12 hr layover in Melbourne, can I assume the following?…

1)our checked luggage will be checked on through to our destination and we will only have access to our carryon in  Melbourne

2) we can leave the terminal and check in at the Park Royal hotel  overnight (across the street.)

3) when we return to the terminal we only need to go through security as I assume we are issued both boarding passes in Perth)

 

I’ve never had this long of a layover and it only makes sense if you get to take advantage of those hours.  But am I missing some pitfalls

Ask the airline. Only they can fully answer your question. They may even provide the hotel. I know of two others who do on long layovers 

[blag]

6 hours ago, SoBaycruiser said:

Melbourne, can I assume the following?…

1)our checked luggage will be checked on through to our destination and we will only have access to our carryon in  Melbourne

2) we can leave the terminal and check in at the Park Royal hotel  overnight (across the street.)

3) when we return to the terminal we only need to go through security as I assume we are issued both boarding passes in Perth)

We had a similar problem in Copenhagen recently. Here are answers based on our experience there:

1) If your flights, are with the same airline - yes, your checked bags will not need collection at Melbourne.

2) We did an overnighter in a hotel near the airport.

3) if you already have boarding passes you go through security only - no need to check-in at the desk, but make sure you check-in online if necessary. 

[bebtwice]

I just asked about leaving the ship early a few days ago. The ship will be docked overnight in Lisbon and we wanted to leave at 6:30 AM on the final day. At first I was told we could not do this, which made no sense to me. We have been on other cruise lines (both river and ocean) where people have left during the night in order to catch early morning flights. The rep told me that Azamara has the day before listed as not available for disembarkation. She misunderstood what I was asking. The cruise officially ends at 8 AM, so it's not like the 90 minute difference should be a big deal. Azamara tells passengers who have booked air thru them that flights can't be booked in their system before 10 AM, due to their transfer schedule. Since we have booked our own air, we are already doing our own transfers, so I didn't see a reason for us to not be able to leave the ship early. After a number of emails and her consulting a senior agent, we were told that we have to tell Guest Relations when we get on the ship what we will be doing, but that we may have to deal with our own luggage (no big deal). Seemed odd to me that they haven't had similar requests numerous times and have a policy available to the agents to deal with what I see as a pretty common request. If we weren't allowed to leave early, we would have had to stay overnight (at our expense) and fly out the next day, as there are no afternoon flight from Lisbon to our home airport.

[Scots Caz]

I finished a cruise in Lisbon in November (on Journey).My brother and wife were also onboard and had an early flight. They checked with Guest Relations and walked off with their baggage about 5am

[Grandma Cruising]

49 minutes ago, bebtwice said:

I just asked about leaving the ship early a few days ago. The ship will be docked overnight in Lisbon and we wanted to leave at 6:30 AM on the final day. At first I was told we could not do this, which made no sense to me. We have been on other cruise lines (both river and ocean) where people have left during the night in order to catch early morning flights. The rep told me that Azamara has the day before listed as not available for disembarkation. She misunderstood what I was asking. The cruise officially ends at 8 AM, so it's not like the 90 minute difference should be a big deal. Azamara tells passengers who have booked air thru them that flights can't be booked in their system before 10 AM, due to their transfer schedule. Since we have booked our own air, we are already doing our own transfers, so I didn't see a reason for us to not be able to leave the ship early. After a number of emails and her consulting a senior agent, we were told that we have to tell Guest Relations when we get on the ship what we will be doing, but that we may have to deal with our own luggage (no big deal). Seemed odd to me that they haven't had similar requests numerous times and have a policy available to the agents to deal with what I see as a pretty common request. If we weren't allowed to leave early, we would have had to stay overnight (at our expense) and fly out the next day, as there are no afternoon flight from Lisbon to our home airport.

The issue is that it depends on the customs/immigration authorities in the port & what time they are willing to start work.

[uktog]

43 minutes ago, bebtwice said:

I just asked about leaving the ship early a few days ago. The ship will be docked overnight in Lisbon and we wanted to leave at 6:30 AM on the final day. At first I was told we could not do this, which made no sense to me. We have been on other cruise lines (both river and ocean) where people have left during the night in order to catch early morning flights. The rep told me that Azamara has the day before listed as not available for disembarkation. She misunderstood what I was asking. The cruise officially ends at 8 AM, so it's not like the 90 minute difference should be a big deal. Azamara tells passengers who have booked air thru them that flights can't be booked in their system before 10 AM, due to their transfer schedule. Since we have booked our own air, we are already doing our own transfers, so I didn't see a reason for us to not be able to leave the ship early. After a number of emails and her consulting a senior agent, we were told that we have to tell Guest Relations when we get on the ship what we will be doing, but that we may have to deal with our own luggage (no big deal). Seemed odd to me that they haven't had similar requests numerous times and have a policy available to the agents to deal with what I see as a pretty common request. If we weren't allowed to leave early, we would have had to stay overnight (at our expense) and fly out the next day, as there are no afternoon flight from Lisbon to our home airport.

I think very many Azamara cruisers do not fly home on disembarkation day unless it is a close to hand flight (eg UK guests might go back from Lisbon but if it was from say Miami they might not).  Azamara's hands are tied by the customs (not immigration agents) as to when they are available to check items and no one can disembark without their say so

[bebtwice]

We're US citizens returning to the US, so flight options are not necessarily common in the afternoon, but will of course depend on your destination in the US and how many connections you are willing to endure. I understand the cruise lines have a hard time keeping up with the airlines' ever-changing schedules to make it most convenient for passengers, but if the ship is docked from 1:30 the previous afternoon, it doesn't seem like they should have to wait till the last minute to have the ship cleared. Every cruise we have been on has wanted passengers off by 9-9:30, so doesn't seem like they would be clearing a ship of 700+ people at the last minute. If Guest Relations are aware of people needing to depart before 8 AM, I would think there would be a process to allow those people to be cleared at the beginning.

[Grandma Cruising]

7 hours ago, bebtwice said:

We're US citizens returning to the US, so flight options are not necessarily common in the afternoon, but will of course depend on your destination in the US and how many connections you are willing to endure. I understand the cruise lines have a hard time keeping up with the airlines' ever-changing schedules to make it most convenient for passengers, but if the ship is docked from 1:30 the previous afternoon, it doesn't seem like they should have to wait till the last minute to have the ship cleared. Every cruise we have been on has wanted passengers off by 9-9:30, so doesn't seem like they would be clearing a ship of 700+ people at the last minute. If Guest Relations are aware of people needing to depart before 8 AM, I would think there would be a process to allow those people to be cleared at the beginning.

The issue is not about what the ship will allow, but what the local immigration and custom services are prepared to do

[uktog]

And Lisbon authorities have had issues and worked to rule and itineraries had to be changed due to port strikes in recent years.
 

We saw it the reverse way relating to embarkation. They refused to come on shift last year until 1400 to process guests even though guests had 1300 boarding slots and some had arrived even earlier.  The terminal was full to capacity and beyond and the port agent and hotel director tried to get them to start.
Eventually they came out of the room they were sitting in and I’d say deliberately took ages to set up their systems and it was nearer 1430 before the first guests embarked. 
 

People need to realise it’s not what the ship wants their hands are tied, even if you’ve been in a country for several days you need both immigration (border) agents AND customs- two separate agencies in many countries to be involved at the port before guests can disembark.  
 

It’s tough if it’s your turn to be in the location with the less good flight times, we all get them somewhere in the world and just have to make arrangements for an extra day etc. 

 

[Riocca]

Istanbul yesterday the ship was moved from Galataport to Sarayburnu Port, all passengers had to pass through immigration and they only supplied 1 agent. It wasn’t until almost 8.30 a second agent was supplied at the ship’s insistence.

Ships are always in the hands of local authorities and with the best will in the world can’t confirm early departure will be possible.