Set luggage out night before or carry it?

[scottlyn]

I have heard that some people do not set their luggage out the last night. They just carry it all with them. How do they get through customs? Has anyone done this? Reccommend it?

[suzy671]

Some people prefer to carry their own luggage out if they have an early flight and don't want to look through all the other luggage. Everyone must go through Customs whether you carry out your own luggage or not.

[pandaruth27]

I say leave the luggage out the night before this way there is not a lot of hassle trying to carry it down stairs and in crowded elevators. If everyone does this debarking may go a little bit faster. Also this way your luggage is normally down in baggage claim before you. In tampa they just lined them up but sometimes not together. In port caneveral they had turnstills with baggage tags assigned to one.

[GoinCruisin]

It's called self assist... you have to be able to carry your own lugggage, up and down stairs, etc. You will have a 1 hour window to get off the ship, generally starting at 6:30am... you must be ready to get off the ship when they call for you.

[seashell36]

We have carried our luggage off both of our cruises. In Tampa you weren't allowed to pull any rolling luggage - you had to carry it through customs. But, last month in Port Canaveral there were people pulling their rolling luggage. We usually have two suitcases plus our bathroom bag. This time DD had a backpack and a tote bag with souvenirs, but we still were able to carry everything easily. DH calls me the mix and match queen everything I pack goes with at least 2 or 3 outfits (that goes for me and the kids too).

[caribbean dreams]

We just put our luggage out the night before because we never book a flight before noon, but on our last cruise when they called for the self assists, i opened the cabin door to take a look and the halls were jammed with people, a few minutes later there was an announcement made that if your were not leaving the ship to please stay in your cabins, if you were leaving, do not use the elevators.

Once the self assists were all cleared out, the colored tags were called qiuickly and 2 at a time.

[elon mom]

I have found that the self assist works really well. Two cruises since August and did it that way both times- once at Port Canaveral and once in Miami. You don't have to go when they call self assist...we held back a little while and walked straight off the ship both times. We were able to roll luggage through customs coming off in both places...

[iluvdoxies]

No way would we do self assist---1 suitcase each, garmet bag and duffle bag--not going to hassel with all of that.

 

Before they introduced hte platinum perks (early debarkation is one ) we just chilled out on the Lido deck--we always drive to the ports, so no hurry to get off. Wait till the lines dies down.

 

Unless you have an early flight I just dont understand the hurry to get off.

[mikefast]

The way my wife packs, (At least three changes of clothes per day) there is no way we could carry it all off by ourselves. No choice but to put it out the night before and just struggle with all of our carry-ons.

[Islandbuoy]

we just returned this AM from 5 day on Celebration--so not too much luggage-all with wheels--we were in our car at 8:30 AM!!

[veryhotred]

We did self assist, each had our own suit case and was told be ready to get off the ship at 6:30 am, well at 6:45am they made the annoucement that it was time to get off the ship. We were off and standing curbside at 7am, and at 8am at the Ft. Lauderdale airport. Our room was on the Empress deck near the end of the hall so no traffic to get through, not that there was a lot anyway, so getting off was a breeze. I prefer keeping my luggage with me that last night so I can pack the last minute things and not carry my pajamas, etc.

[irishgirl]

I just came off the Conquest cruise of 10/29 and if I had it to do over again, I would do self assist.

 

When I found my big bag, someone had already thought it was theirs, the handle was up and it was in the middle of the aisle where everyone walks. I never found my 24" bag and I had 2 Carnival people looking with me. So I know someone thought that was theirs too.

 

I filed a lost luggage claim with Carnival and left the terminal. When I got back to Houston, I received a call that they found my bag right in the row it was supposed to be in. Which we looked and looked and it wasn't there.

 

I just received my suitcase today (Thursday), unlocked with a note it had been searched and not re-sealed with a cable tie.

 

So, I will probably always do self assist no matter what from now on. I'll be Platinum my next cruise, so I will get priority debarkation anyway.

[dan40]

Can't see carrying luggage one inch more than necessary. Especially on vacation. 47 cruises and well over 2000 flights, always check my bags. Never had a problem with lost or missing bags. Had some visit places I didn't, but they came back in a day or two.

 

Dan

[bobandsherry]

Why go out on a vacation and then get up early to rush off the ship :eek: (unless you have an early flight, but then why book an early flight I say).

 

We find that we enjoy spending a few last hours on the ship, much more relaxing. We prefer to take our time, being almost be the last ones off the ship. We get up at a reasonable time, shower, go to breakfast, walk the ship one last time, head back to our room to collect our overnight bags and then sit relaxing in one of the lounges. We then casually get off the ship, find our luggage (which is also now easier to find since everyone else rushed down) and then get to the airport without rushing to catch our Noon-early afternoon flight. :)

 

On second thought - we hope everyone plans to do "self assist" and rush off the ship - we'll then even have less of a crowd when we get off. :D

[RoryS]

What's considered an early flight? When does a ship normally dock and what is the standard time to disembark everyone.

[Bunkie103]

We tried to do self assist off the Fantasy in May, but it was a disaster. We were on the Empress deck, so it should have been just a stroll down the hall and off the ship, but there were so many people blocking the hall, not doing self assist, waiting for their color to be called, we didn't have a chance. Never Again! :mad:

[GoinCruisin]

What's considered an early flight? When does a ship normally dock and what is the standard time to disembark everyone.

 

Generally a flight before noon.. although they don't recommend flights before noon and many insurance companies won't cover missed flights before noon. As for when the ship docks, that depends on the ship... sometimes the ship is early, sometimes late. There is no real "standard" time... it depends on when the ship gets in and clears customs. I've seen debarkation start as early as 6:30, and as late as 9:30...

[Wennfred]

If you are VIP, then leave them out the night before, You will leave the ship first and your bags will be waiting for you in a separate VIP area.

 

If you have a later Flight, then once again leave your bags out and just look for them in the Terminal. No Rush and No one gets Hurt lugging these heavier bags off the ship.

 

Fred

[Wennfred]

If you are VIP, then leave them out the night before, You will leave the ship first and your bags will be waiting for you in a separate VIP area.

 

If you have a later Flight, then once again leave your bags out and just look for them in the Terminal. No Rush and No one gets Hurt lugging these heavier bags off the ship.

 

Fred

[bobandsherry]

Generally a flight before noon.. although they don't recommend flights before noon and many insurance companies won't cover missed flights before noon. As for when the ship docks, that depends on the ship... sometimes the ship is early, sometimes late. There is no real "standard" time... it depends on when the ship gets in and clears customs. I've seen debarkation start as early as 6:30, and as late as 9:30...

I've seen nearly 11AM, literally. We didn't get off the ship until 10:45. Thankfully we had a limo arranged to pick us up. Managed to get our luggage and then the driver did what he could to make sure we made our 12:30PM flight. Since this was right after 9/11 you can imagine the lines at the airport, but ATA made sure we made it through the gates and to the plane as quickly as they could (giving special service through security for those with planes that were soon departing).

[DqALEX]

I carry it off if I drive to the ship. I did it in Jax and it was very fast. I was off to my car in about 20 min.

[GoinCruisin]

I've seen nearly 11AM, literally. We didn't get off the ship until 10:45. Thankfully we had a limo arranged to pick us up. Managed to get our luggage and then the driver did what he could to make sure we made our 12:30PM flight. Since this was right after 9/11 you can imagine the lines at the airport, but ATA made sure we made it through the gates and to the plane as quickly as they could (giving special service through security for those with planes that were soon departing).

 

LOL, on our Conquest cruise a few weeks ago, there were people still on the ship at 1:30pm!! It was crazy!! I missed my flight, didn't get home until the next evening... it was WAY fun :rolleyes:

[DqALEX]

LOL, on our Conquest cruise a few weeks ago, there were people still on the ship at 1:30pm!! It was crazy!! I missed my flight, didn't get home until the next evening... it was WAY fun :rolleyes:

LOL if I was still on the ship at 1:30PM I would really think about staying for another one