A newbie question re disembarking

[Maclean girl]

Sorry for the dumb questions but here is another one about disembarking. If we decide to take our luggage with us on our private tour on the final day, before heading out to the airport in Athens, does our luggage still get picked up during the night from outside our cabin?

 

If so, is it clear where we then pick it up?

 

If not, are there carts to carry the luggage down off the ship to the waiting taxi?

 

Thanks so much!

 

Dorothy

[jtl513]

does our luggage still get picked up during the night from outside our cabin?

 

If so, is it clear where we then pick it up?

Yes, you put it outside your door and you claim it on the pier. They will be grouped by tag color and number, and the bunch that you have to search through isn't huge. We've never had a problem. Then you get your taxi.

 

If you decide to get a HAL bus transfer to the airport instead, it's the same procedure - claim you bag and take it to the bus.

 

If you travel light enough to take all your bags down the gangway yourself (no carts) you can do an "express" self disembarkation. In that case you do NOT put your bags outside the door the night before. :)

[grannynurse]

If you're on a HAL tour in Athens with transfer to the airport your luggage will go on the bus with you. I think the self service for carrying off luggage is for people with independent travel, as I said, I think.....

You may want to ask about the fairly new express service to the airport where they print your boarding passes and take the luggage directly to the airport and you don't see it again until you get home. I know it's in effect for 9 HAL ships and in certain US cities but not sure about Europe.

We hope to do this in Ft. Lauderdale when we get off Westerdam.

Again, I hope you like Rotterdam as much as we do, have a grat cruise.

GN

[eh2zed]

We disembarked in Athens earlier this summer. I don't believe there was any Express Service there. The luggage process was quite organized in the Terminal. We took a taxi to our hotel. If you are being picked by a private tour they will be waiting just outside the door by the taxi stand with your name on a card.

[RuthC]

I don't know the reason (ship, port, or Europe as a whole), but there was no express disembarkation available when I left the Prinsendam in Amsterdam last Saturday.