Why is priority disembarkation a good thing?

[e&mcruise]

Hi all,

 

Sorry if this has been covered but what am I missing here?

 

If you are in QG and have paid top dollar why would you want to leave the ship any earlier than you have to? Understand some people may want this "perk" if they have flights or similar to catch but otherwise like a late checkout in a hotel I do not understand this supposed benefit at all.

 

Can anyone enlighten me?

[exlondoner]

5 minutes ago, e&mcruise said:

Hi all,

 

Sorry if this has been covered but what am I missing here?

 

If you are in QG and have paid top dollar why would you want to leave the ship any earlier than you have to? Understand some people may want this "perk" if they have flights or similar to catch but otherwise like a late checkout in a hotel I do not understand this supposed benefit at all.

 

Can anyone enlighten me?

So I can get to Waitrose nice and early, also unpack, put out washing in time for it to dry before it gets dark. Why do I want to linger on the ship, with nowhere to put hand luggage and nothing much to do?

[e&mcruise]

Sorry not talking about coming in to a home port but if part of a longer vacation.

 

I have no desire to get up and off the ship at 8am. It's not like you can go to your next accomodation to check in that early.

 

As QG, I want to be last off the ship, not first, after enjoying a leisurely last breakfast.

 

Other than the time it takes to clean the cabins I don't get this logic.

[exlondoner]

8 minutes ago, e&mcruise said:

Sorry not talking about coming in to a home port but if part of a longer vacation.

 

I have no desire to get up and off the ship at 8am. It's not like you can go to your next accomodation to check in that early.

 

As QG, I want to be last off the ship, not first, after enjoying a leisurely last breakfast.

 

Other than the time it takes to clean the cabins I don't get this logic.

Well, you have partly answered your own question. If you want early embarkation the quid pro quo is early disembarkation, so the cabin can be readied. But there would be nothing to stop you remaining on board elsewhere until final ejection. I would not think a huge number of people are cruising as part of a longer vacation, at least at Southampton, and of those that are at Southampton, many may well wish to get to London, which can take a while.

Edited Sunday at 12:47 PM by exlondoner

[Host Hattie]

Unfortunately your last breakfast won't be very leisurely, restaurants close at 8am on disembarkation day.

[exlondoner]

51 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Unfortunately your last breakfast won't be very leisurely, restaurants close at 8am on disembarkation day.

Off topic, but are you safely home, HH?

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, e&mcruise said:

Sorry not talking about coming in to a home port but if part of a longer vacation.

 

I have no desire to get up and off the ship at 8am. It's not like you can go to your next accomodation to check in that early.

 

As QG, I want to be last off the ship, not first, after enjoying a leisurely last breakfast.

 

Other than the time it takes to clean the cabins I don't get this logic.

Being a bit paranoid, we like to be off asap so we can be sure our bags haven't been taken by mistake.

 

We try and embellish the bags with coloured ribbons  but so many bags look similar these days, we like to be doubly sure by picking up the bags as soon as we can.

On extended stays, any hotel booking we've had has been booked for the night before so we can go straight to the room.

[Host Hattie]

Just now, exlondoner said:

Off topic, but are you safely home, HH?

Just....

[3rdGenCunarder]

38 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Being a bit paranoid, we like to be off asap so we can be sure our bags haven't been taken by mistake.

 

We try and embellish the bags with coloured ribbons  but so many bags look similar these days, we like to be doubly sure by picking up the bags as soon as we can.

On extended stays, any hotel booking we've had has been booked for the night before so we can go straight to the room.

 

Not paranoid, sensible. I've had my bag taken by mistake. It went from Brooklyn to Port Liberty where it spent 10 days in the Caribbean. I have to say the port services people at Brooklyn were wonderful. They did everything they could to find it, but by the time it was found sitting in a hallway in Somehing Big of the Seas, it was too late to retrieve it. When it got back to the port, they delivered it to my home. (This was before the tracker devices)

 

I used to laugh at the ribbons and such on luggage, thinking silly people can't recognize their own bags, but now I see it your way, making sure others don't think it's theirs. My new luggage tag is large, red and says THIS IS MINE. 

 

And to answer the original question, once I've had breakfast, there's nothing to do but sit around and wait to disembark. There are no activities, because all staff are busy, some doing crowd control for the disembarking passengers, others doing set-up/prep work for the next bunch. If I have onward travel, then looking forward to that makes me eager to go. If I'm going home, then the vacation is over, might as well get on with the everyday stuff. 

[MCC retired]

Your vacation is over .

You are now in the way.

Early thru customs line

Early jump on transportation home.

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Not paranoid, sensible. I've had my bag taken by mistake. It went from Brooklyn to Port Liberty where it spent 10 days in the Caribbean. I have to say the port services people at Brooklyn were wonderful. They did everything they could to find it, but by the time it was found sitting in a hallway in Somehing Big of the Seas, it was too late to retrieve it. When it got back to the port, they delivered it to my home. (This was before the tracker devices)

 

I used to laugh at the ribbons and such on luggage, thinking silly people can't recognize their own bags, but now I see it your way, making sure others don't think it's theirs. My new luggage tag is large, red and says THIS IS MINE. 

 

And to answer the original question, once I've had breakfast, there's nothing to do but sit around and wait to disembark. There are no activities, because all staff are busy, some doing crowd control for the disembarking passengers, others doing set-up/prep work for the next bunch. If I have onward travel, then looking forward to that makes me eager to go. If I'm going home, then the vacation is over, might as well get on with the everyday stuff. 

And it is always nice to be home, if not quite as exciting as embarking.

 

From surveying the luggage hall with all the smart new suitcases, I think the thing to do is to have very tatty, but not collapsing, luggage, then nobody will think they are theirs. Ours are getting that way.

[3rdGenCunarder]

56 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

Your vacation is over .

You are now in the way.

How the cruise line sees the morning. "We've loved having you with us, now don't let the door hit you in the posterior on the way out."

 

57 minutes ago, MCC retired said:

Early thru customs line

Early jump on transportation home.

How the passenger sees the morning. Return to reality.

[Victoria2]

1 hour ago, exlondoner said:

And it is always nice to be home, if not quite as exciting as embarking.

 

From surveying the luggage hall with all the smart new suitcases, I think the thing to do is to have very tatty, but not collapsing, luggage, then nobody will think they are theirs. Ours are getting that way.

Ah but

I also want bags which will pass the elephant test and when inadvertently dropped will either not split open and will hopefully know how to swim without getting too wet! 🙂

 

 

[MylesS]

Worth saying as well, past 8 there’s nothing to do. At all. 
 

Regardless of category you’re just sat around with everyone else, most of who are probably complaining about things given the early start! 

[Winifred 22]

7 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

Just....

Glad to hear you are safely home. Have enjoyed following along with you . 

[space oddity]

I’m right there with you — we tend to linger onboard until nearly the last possible moment. Typically we’ll leave our cabin fairly early, but have breakfast in the buffet (on qm2, arriving in Southampton, it is open till some sensible hour — iirc 9:30), walk around the deck a bit, and just generally say goodbye. By the time we leave it is completely calm in the terminal (and our bags have never been stolen or lost, despite potentially sitting there for a while).  To each their own!

[Pushpit]

I also try to avoid the crowds and leave late. I also aim to avoid the rush to get onboard, in both directions it tends to be much quieter and more civilised leaving late. I've done the inverse, and been the first passenger off, if I'm on the early Loganair departure from Southampton, but that's not by choice.

 

There are things to do, such as using the library, walking the decks, having a coffee (Carinthia on QM2 serves light breakfast so they will also do you coffee). So long as you get out of the cabin by the advertised time, you can just wait until they may slightly edgy PAs inviting all remaining guests to leave the ship. Then the gangway off and the cruise terminal will be largely empty and one can just stroll off.

[NE John]

13 hours ago, e&mcruise said:

Hi all,

 

Sorry if this has been covered but what am I missing here?

 

If you are in QG and have paid top dollar why would you want to leave the ship any earlier than you have to? Understand some people may want this "perk" if they have flights or similar to catch but otherwise like a late checkout in a hotel I do not understand this supposed benefit at all.

 

Can anyone enlighten me?

The only time I sailed QG (this summer), we were in no hurry to leave the ship however the butler was insistent on us vacating the suite ASAP for turnaround. We were allowed to leave our hand luggage in the cabin while we ate bfast but there was no lingering during disembarkation morning. I thought the same thing as you with having a more leisurely AM in QG and I would have loved to kill time onboard but it’s eat and you’re outta there. 

[e&mcruise]

5 minutes ago, NE John said:

The only time I sailed QG (this summer), we were in no hurry to leave the ship however the butler was insistent on us vacating the suite ASAP for turnaround. We were allowed to leave our hand luggage in the cabin while we ate bfast but there was no lingering during disembarkation morning. I thought the same thing as you with having a more leisurely AM in QG and I would have loved to kill time onboard but it’s eat and you’re outta there. 

We experienced roughly the same. Our butler said it was fine for us to leave our hand luggage and come back to brush our teeth etc after breakfast. Then we just enjoyed some people watching in the public areas over a last cup of coffee.

 

We were fine with having to get out of the cabin as opposed to a last sleep in but it all just seems so early and such an abrupt end to a trip. On holiday I prefer not to even wake up before 8am, let alone have to be showered, dressed, finished hand luggage packing and eaten breakfast by that time.

 

By the time you do get off the ship you are ready for a snooze!! 😉

 

[Winifred 22]

Unfortunately that is not how cruising works in the main. I prefer at the start of the cruise to have anything ready for me promptly because they have been able to get everything turned round on time earlier on in the day.