Information on Disembarking at the end of your trip.

[findwaldo]

I would like to confirm the proceedure, as this is the first time we are sailing with HAL. On Princess, we were allowed to keep our luggage and disembark early. We did not have to give up our luggage the night before.

Does HAL offer this as well?

If not what is the proceedure for the luggage, etc.

 

Thanks for the info.

[cruisinbulldog]

I would like to confirm the proceedure, as this is the first time we are sailing with HAL. On Princess, we were allowed to keep our luggage and disembark early. We did not have to give up our luggage the night before.

Does HAL offer this as well?

If not what is the proceedure for the luggage, etc.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Yes HAL calls it express check out.. You do have to carry all your luggage yourself..

 

Bulldog

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Bumping up Bulldog's post, because on the main board it's showing that nobody has responded to Waldo's request.

 

Karin

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Bumping up Bulldog's post, because on the main board it's showing that nobody has responded to Waldo's request. Things are getting worse around here, wish they would fix these boards......

 

Karin

[Old As Dirt Mom]

I promise, I only pressed the dam button once!!!

[Old As Dirt Mom]

I think I'm going to take a li'l vacation from CC for a while....There's a great forum for Cruise Line Fans that actually works.....

 

Karin

[SanDiego Single]

I think this whole thing with WSOD is similar to junk mail at this point. Its a fact of life and its really not that hard to deal with it :) I am here to stay.

[Jemima]

HAL does not ask that luggage be put out nearly as early as Princess does. You put the luggage outside your door before retiring or by I think around midnight (Couldn't find the disembarkation information from our 2006 HAL cruise.)

We did the early disembarkation/tote your own luggage on the Diamond Princess in the fall, but haven't done this on HAL. I do think it works about the same and I'd like never to do it again. What happened can happen on any cruiseline. There were somewhere around 700 people who selected to do this. Probably works well most of the time, but not when that many people select it.

[RevNeal]

They do have the "Express Check Out" on HAL, for those who wish to carry their own luggage off the ship. I know a few people who have done it, and they all liked it because it got them off the ship FAST and they were able to keep their luggage all night.

 

Next time I take a 7-day cruise and try to travel with just one checked bag and a carry on, I think I'll try it and report back on it here. Of course, I don't have a 7-day cruise booked for anytime during the next 2 years, so that doesn't do much good, does it!!!!! :)

 

Anyone have an "Express Check Out" story first-hand?

[bishop84]

I would like to confirm the proceedure, as this is the first time we are sailing with HAL. On Princess, we were allowed to keep our luggage and disembark early. We did not have to give up our luggage the night before.

Does HAL offer this as well?

If not what is the proceedure for the luggage, etc.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

 

Express check out can be convenient but in can also be a nightmare! All depends on how much luggage you have and where you are disembarking. For example in New York the number of guests is restricted and you must get off within a 10-20 minute window allowed by customs. You must carry all your luggage off in 1 trip as you are not allowed back onboard by US Customs rules. However this is made up by having the convenience of a taxi rank right outside the terminal on the level you disembark at.

 

Other ports you have to go get down to ground level via elevator, escalator or even stairs. Fort Lauderdale comes to mind as the terminal HAL use (Pier 26?) only has one small, slow elevator.

 

If you opt for normal disembarkation the system is much the same as Princess or any other line. Put your bags out before you goto sleep and let the cruise line do all the carrying. Advise the Front Desk that you need to be off early you will be off almost as fast as the Expess line without the hassle of moving your luggage

[Jemima]

As mentioned previously I did express check-out on Princess & think the process is similar. It probably works well most times and usually gets those who choose it off early and fairly quickly. Here's what happened. We were part of a large group of several hundred. In order for our group to have buses to take us to our hotel or airport, we were required to do the express disembarkation. Add to this large numbers of other passengers who also chose express and the result wasn't good. Neither Princess nor the terminal seemed prepared for the unexpected big number. I'd like to think that HAL would have been better prepared, but it amounted to crowding, blocking of elevators (no room for people to get off elevators), and very long waits in line in the terminal. As I recall the express didn't all get off the ship and through customs until after nine. The point is if there is a large group on your sailing and they have this type of arrangement, then the express check-out may be anything but express.

We hadn't expected to do this. To make it doable we stuffed everything from our folding garment bag and dd's over-the-shoulder carry-on into our two suitcases and my big computer bag. We stuffed dd's carry-on bag into one suitcase & rolled the empty garment bag up, secured it with a luggage strap & it was light enough for my daughter to carry. This was a 7-day cruise. No idea how we'd do this with our luggage for longer cruises & don't think I want to try it.

It probably does usually work quite well most times provided everyone in the party can easily handle all their own luggage.

[nana50]

We did not do express check-out on our cruise. We said we would like to check out around 9:00 a.m. We put our bags out just before bedtime, (you could do this up until 1:00 a.m.) got up and waited until our number was called. We were called at 8:58 and were off the ship in 5 minutes. We got our luggage in 5 minutes as it is ready and waiting for you, and were waiting for our ride by 9:15. It was incredible fast.

[findwaldo]

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who replied to my question above. it is so nice to ask a question and get the information the next day. I tried to get this off of the HAL web sight and there was nothing in reference to disembarking. I think we will be going with the express check out, on Hal, as it worked great with Princess.

 

Thanks again, and happy sailing to all.