Can anyone tell me about self disembarkation?

[cantwait2cruise]

I think we may try it on our next cruise b/c we have a pretty early flight. Anyone have any tips? What time were you off the ship?

[Host Caroline]

We have done this on Carnival Victory last Sept in New York, Fantasy in Canaveral and on RCI.. You have to have manageable luggage, first i.e. there is NO assistance with the bags. All we did was show up at the appointed place at 8:15 and get off. They had a lounge near lobby for the people doing that although some others went off later.. It's great.. we were on the road at least 45 mins sooner than usualy mainly bec. we had to wait for a cab to take us to the car!

[mohavemommy]

This was a second use for the bungee cords. We brought rolling duffles and bungeed the smaller bags to the top and rolled off. I don't know that I would ever go back to the old way again of waiting for my color to be called.

[cpayne]

Can someone fill me in on the particulars of self disembarkation? I've never heard of this, but it sounds great! Do all ships offer this or only Carnival?

[pholter]

If you do this, do you have to carry your luggage down 8 flights of stairs if you're on the Veranda Deck? I've heard you cannot use the elevators for some reason... Also, are you forced to get off the ship at 8am (ish) or can you have a leisurely breakfast and shower, then go? Do you have to go through customs the night before or how does that work please?

[kapcruiser]

We are traveling on the inspiration, we would like to first have breakfast and get dressed. What time is the latest we can self disembark? I didn't want to have to rush so much that day. I would rather carry my own luggage than have to wait to be called color by color. When do you have to tell the crew if you want to self disembark?

[kristikae]

I did this on the Glory and I wouldn't do it again. By the time we finally got an elevator to get to deck 3, The line wound all of the way through the lobby and down into the halls. Then when you do finally make it off the ship there are Carnival people in the terminal barking orders at you to keep going. I felt like I was in the army. I had a wheeled suitcase with a carry on piggybacked on it and a garment bag. There is also an escalator in the terminal which isn't easy to do with a big suitcase. By the time I finally made it out of the terminal my arms were tired and I'm not in bad shape. At one point I lost my shoe and I had a guy yelling at me to keep going but I told him I wasn't leaving without my shoe.

[gatour]

I have done this once on a short cruise, and was not too impressed. Ended upstanding in a hallway for a long, long time. I couldn't imagine doing it for a seven day cruise and probably won't do it on a short cruise either. Not a great way to end a cruise lugging baggage for hundreds of yards.

[Jante]

We had luggage on wheels on our first cruise in Jan on Triumph & did the carry it off yourself option. We kept our bags in our cabin the last night, had breakfast on the Lido deck the next morning & the "do-it-your" group was called to disembark first - about 9am. There was a bit of a wait for the elevators but not too bad & we were off the ship & into a taxi by 9:30am. We loved it & will do it again on our next trip.

[Brneyznfl]

It works well if you can manage all of your luggage. I did it on the Sensation but I only had my carryon. I was off the ship by 8:30. I was with Host Kristii on the Glory and it was awful..not to mention potentially dangerous. Getting down an escalator with a suitcase in each hand isn't as easy as it sounds. I remember on the Conquest, they called for self assisted luggage people about 8:00 a.m.

[halos]

We did this and I recommend it if you can manage your luggage.

 

We had a ton of luggage and did it anyway. At first, when I saw the line to disembark, I thought we were insane, but it moved quickly.

We were on the Miracle out of NY. The ship was at full capacity. We docked, by the time they were done calling people about customs and paying thier S&S bills, it was after 9:00. They finally called self assist. We drug the luggage, waited a while in line and were in the parking lot, with the luggage in the car and all seat-belted in at exactly 10:00.

 

Would I do it again?...in a heartbeat. But next time, I'll pack lighter!!

[L2J]

Do you have to go through customs the night before or how does that work please?

How would one do this?

[MERVYN BREMMER]

How would one do this?

We took advantage of this as well and it was a breeze for us. As for customs we just filled out the card the night before and handed it off to officials on the way off the ship....no problems.

One thing I haven't heard mentioned and maybe it has changed since last Oct but on Triumph they announced that in order to take advantage of the early off you had to be a U.S. Citizen. Like I said that was the announcement and this too may have changed.

[MartiniMama]

I have to say that disembarking is my least favorite part of cruising. Except for the Disney cruise, the others have all been alot of hurry up and wait. :( Most of the ships require you to be out of your cabin by 8 am so they can clean and prepare for the next cruise. The waiting areas are crowded. The buffet lines for breakfast were really long and seats were difficult to find. I don't believe that the restaurants were open and that's why the buffet was so crowded. (Except for Disney where we had a nice sit down breakfast and then leisurely walked off - no lines at all!) The lines to disembark were long and sometimes disorganized, especially when the elevators let out in the middle of the lines. On RCI, we saw people almost come to blows because of that. Once off the ship, the lines move well through baggage claim and customs. I would love it if the cruise lines allowed people to order room service and stay in their cabins until 10am so that those who needed or wanted to get off early could do so to try to eliminate the mad rush... :eek:

[thebird]

If you do this, do you have to carry your luggage down 8 flights of stairs if you're on the Veranda Deck? I've heard you cannot use the elevators for some reason... Also, are you forced to get off the ship at 8am (ish) or can you have a leisurely breakfast and shower, then go? Do you have to go through customs the night before or how does that work please?

 

Dang, Pholter....

 

JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kristikae]

I would love it if the cruise lines allowed people to order room service and stay in their cabins until 10am so that those who needed or wanted to get off early could do so to try to eliminate the mad rush... :eek:

On the Glory and the Conquest they did let you do this. You had to have your room service order turned in by midnight the night before though. You just used the little door hanger order form.

[MartiniMama]

Kristi - do you think the reason for doing this on the Glory and the Conquest is because those ships are much bigger than some of the others? Did it help with disembarking? Do you think they might try this with the other ships? My last experiences were soooo unpleasant, it really figured into my recent booking decision.

[serene56]

We were able to stay in our cabin til 10am also. We get up- go to the buffet for a nice breakfast then go to the cabin until we are given the all clear to leave. Never had a problem.

[Vicar]

We did the self Disembarkation on the Conquest last November and it was no problem at all.

 

We stayed in our cabin until they called us, It was not that bad to get an elevator. Maybe had a little backup waiting for Customs (maybe 15 mins ) and we were out of there.

 

Even though we kept our bags with us we were all showered and packed up the night before. So when we got up we had a nice breakfast on Lido, then went back to our cabin to wait to be called.

 

Remember (and they tell you this on the ship) don't opt for the self disembarkation unless you really are able to handle it all whether health or strength reasons or number of pieces of luggage.

 

Saw a few people really strugggleing with these huge steamer trunk looking things plus a ton of carry on stuff because they thought they would get off the ship quicker.

[kapcruiser]

When do you have to decide to do this?

[Vicar]

Kapcruiser

 

On the last night before you go to bed , you can either leave your luggage outside your cabin door and they will take them, or just keep them inside and in the morning wait until your floor or color is called and just head out.

[thebird]

When do you have to decide to do this?

 

 

oohhh....

 

HOLD ME BACK!

[kapcruiser]

Vicar - thank you for the information, I am so glad that we don't have to decide when we board the boat. Now, I can wait and see how everything goes during the week. My boys might be too tired to carry all our luggage - 5 people.

[DreadPirateRobert]

Gosh, I thought self disembarkation meant jumping off the ship.

[kristikae]

You need to decide the last night of the cruise because if you're going to do regular debarkation you have to put your bags out the night before. The one thing I liked about the self-assist was that I didn't have to pack until the last morning. Nothing is more of a downer than packing your stuff on the last day of your cruise!