Disembarkation across P & O

[Poppy6879]

Have just returned from my second cruise on P&O, Arcadia.

I would like some advice from some of the more experienced travellers regarding disembarkation.

We received the itinerary of what to do prior to disembarkation, and followed it to the letter!

Cases outside the cabin door by 10pm, out of cabin by 8am.

And then, assembled in the Palladium theatre just before 9am.

Was shocked to see, barely a dozen people in the theatre.

A member of staff then arrived about 9.10am, to say we could all now leave.

Left the ship and was very shocked upon entering the baggage collection to see hardly any suitcases left!

 

So my question, is do any seasoned travellers, follow the ships itinerary regarding departure? 

Or do you just carry your own suitcases off the ship?

I imagine the process in different on the larger ships???

[Harryjacobs]

I was on the same cruise as you and left Arcadia today.  We take our own suitcases off as they allow you to leave at 7am so first off the ship and front of the queue for taxis. 

[9265359]

8 minutes ago, Poppy6879 said:

So my question, is do any seasoned travellers, follow the ships itinerary regarding departure? 

Most do, some don’t, and I have never seen security called to restrain people from leaving before they are scheduled to do so - at the end of the day they want you gone to receive the new batch. 

[davecttr]

In contrast Arvia disembarkation earlier this year was a shambles. i arrived at my disembarkation area on time and there was only a few people there. A crew member said just get off. on arrival in the luggage hall it was packed with 2 long queues to leave. made worse when passengers decided to start a third queue and push in at the exit, absolute chaos and took almost 30 minutes to get out

[9265359]

6 minutes ago, davecttr said:

absolute chaos and took almost 30 minutes to get out

Which is why some people take an alternative approach - and that isn’t self disembarkation. 

[david63]

To some extent it depends on how disembarkation is going on the day. If everything goes well then quite often by the time that you get to your meeting point that group has already been called - so basically you can just walk off.

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, 9265359 said:

I have never seen security called to restrain people from leaving before they are scheduled to do so - at the end of the day they want you gone to receive the new batch. 

🤫

[john watson]

On 12/9/2023 at 5:25 PM, Poppy6879 said:

Have just returned from my second cruise on P&O, Arcadia.

I would like some advice from some of the more experienced travellers regarding disembarkation.

We received the itinerary of what to do prior to disembarkation, and followed it to the letter!

Cases outside the cabin door by 10pm, out of cabin by 8am.

And then, assembled in the Palladium theatre just before 9am.

Was shocked to see, barely a dozen people in the theatre.

A member of staff then arrived about 9.10am, to say we could all now leave.

 

I think the problem relates to the length of cruise and disembarkation relates to how quickly the shore staff can arrange all the cases in the baggage hall. If the cruise is under five days many passengers only take a small suitcase and they can easily manage self-disembarkation. If 75% of passengers self-disembark then only 25% of cases need to be handled by staff and transferred to baggage hall. So basically a typical schedule is somewhat unrealistic and the times move up. On a weekender I went down early and was told to just get off now as luggage had all been transferred to baggage hall.  If you went for fourteen days everyone would have heavy suitcases and far fewer would self-disembark and you would find the schedule much more realistic.

 

Regards John

[Baolua]

The biggest issue with Ocean terminal baggage reclaim hall is that a) it is not large enough to cope with the quantity of baggage from Iona or Arvia and b) not designed correctly to ensure the optimum flow of people through it.  To avoid the delays and queues P&O need to stick to the disembarkation times....

[david63]

1 hour ago, Baolua said:

To avoid the delays and queues P&O need to stick to the disembarkation times....

And do as Princess do and arrange the baggage by disembarkation group rather than by deck. That way you do not have passengers wandering up and down the entire baggage hall trying to locate their "lost" case.

[jeanlyon]

We always self-disembark and usually get off around 0815.  

[laslomas]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

And do as Princess do and arrange the baggage by disembarkation group rather than by deck. That way you do not have passengers wandering up and down the entire baggage hall trying to locate their "lost" case.

 

This is the way Celebrity do it too. So the hall gradually empties from one end and it works really well.

[john watson]

Disembarkation groups make sense as the multitude is sub divided into smaller piles of suitcases in the baggage hall.

 

Regards John

[terrierjohn]

6 hours ago, john watson said:

Disembarkation groups make sense as the multitude is sub divided into smaller piles of suitcases in the baggage hall.

 

Regards John

It works for Princess and the RCI ships at City Terminal, but P&O don't seem to want to learn from other cruise lines.

[davecttr]

15 hours ago, john watson said:

Disembarkation groups make sense as the multitude is sub divided into smaller piles of suitcases in the baggage hall.

 

Regards John

The cases are laid out by deck in the baggage hall, however there seems to be no check on you sneaking off early

[AchileLauro]

 

On some previous cruises especially one on Ventura several years ago it was an absolute nightmare, but we disembarked off Aurora two weeks ago and the system employed that day worked superbly.

Basically following a relaxed breakfast in the main dining room we collected our overnight bags and coats from our cabin and went to the theatre. On entering the theatre we were informed that we could disembark immediately. There were very few people in the baggage hall and we quickly and easily located our cases and were de-icing the car within 10 minutes of leaving the theatre. On the road by 08.10 a.m.

[Fionboard]

The problem is that people take no notice of the disembarkation times they are given and all try to get off at the same time. 

[john watson]

5 hours ago, davecttr said:

The cases are laid out by deck in the baggage hall, however there seems to be no check on you sneaking off early

What people need to realise is that forklift trucks etc. lay out cases whilst self-disembarking passengers walk by with there luggage in hand.  Clearance is given from the Baggage Hall once a complete Deck or Group set has been laid out. Once this has occurred  the relevant station is radioed on board and releases their group. Anybody could pretend to be a self-disembarking passenger and walk off with token luggage.  However once in the Baggage Hall you would find Deck E or whatever suitcases have not been laid out and you would need to wait down there. The Passenger Handlers would not want you stood still and ask you to move on. I know this because we accidently disembarked as told and it was too early.  If you walk past a certain point there is no readmission except through security and their rechecking you

 

.Regards John

[terrierjohn]

Since you can choose your own disembarkation time then there is no possibility that arranging luggage by deck is ever going to be beneficial to luggage collection. However arranging disembarking and luggage by time slot will still enable passengers to choose their own time, and it makes it much easier for luggage collection with passengers no longer searching all over the baggage hall at the same time.

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, Fionboard said:

The problem is that people take no notice of the disembarkation times they are given and all try to get off at the same time. 

My sense is that that the vast majority of people must adhere to the strict disembarkation instructions. My rationale for that is that when we walk directly off the ship after a leisurely breakfast, there is never a long queue, and sometimes no queue at all, so my assumption is that most people are compliantly sitting in lounges waiting until they are told that they can leave 🫣😂

[Bill Y]

39 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Since you can choose your own disembarkation time then there is no possibility that arranging luggage by deck is ever going to be beneficial to luggage collection. However arranging disembarking and luggage by time slot will still enable passengers to choose their own time, and it makes it much easier for luggage collection with passengers no longer searching all over the baggage hall at the same time.

We have not had any problem searching for our luggage within our deck number, maybe P&O needs to issue deck numbers to passengers much like HAL having mats with the day of the week in the lifts to assist their clientele. We have been issued with coloured and numbered luggage tags on Princess that I thought was to assist people getting on the right coach for airport/hotel transfers.

[Red Leicester]

Self disembarked from Iona in November.  It's the default now it would appear, you don't have to register.  We also got a disembarkation time of 09:20 should I have needed assistance.  I was home, 111 miles away, by 08:45.  If you can do, and we are lucky we can,  it it is much much easier.

[terrierjohn]

49 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

We have not had any problem searching for our luggage within our deck number, maybe P&O needs to issue deck numbers to passengers much like HAL having mats with the day of the week in the lifts to assist their clientele. We have been issued with coloured and numbered luggage tags on Princess that I thought was to assist people getting on the right coach for airport/hotel transfers.

You are missing my point. If the luggage and disembarkation is done by time, then passengers are only searching in one section of the luggage hall, rather than searching all over the place. This also means that if you disembark later your listed time, it is far easier to find your luggage, as it stands out like a little island in the empty sea.

[david63]

And with Princess you have to show the stub of your luggage label to be allowed to disembark - far better system (although it still does not prevent half the ship congregation around the exit!)

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, david63 said:

And with Princess you have to show the stub of your luggage label to be allowed to disembark - far better system (although it still does not prevent half the ship congregation around the exit!)

I could not find a stub on my luggage labels, but was not asked for it and not prevented from disembarking from our July cruise.