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How long can you stay on the ship on disembarkation day?


lissvarna
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My boyfriend and I had to choose between a cutting it close flight or a late flight, and we chose late. We don't have anything planned for Ft Lauderdale that day. How long can we hang out on the ship, ha? What time is everyone usually off by?

 

Also, do they serve lunch this day, or only bfast?

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They serve lunch, but for the next group of passengers :) Last call for departing pax will be around 10. They will start boarding the next cruise around 11:30, so they need everyone off to get the ship ready.

 

You might want to look into getting a hotel in FLL for the day, depending on when your flight is. Or, you can take a tour of the Everglades offered by Carnival...they will drop you off at the airport after the tour.

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I think you can hope everyone is off by 10, and on a good day, that will be the case. Many things can delay debarkation. On our cruise on the Victory in October we were in the last group called and were not off until noon. Fog can delay debarkation if the ship doesn't dock until later. Etc. So you can assume it will be cleared by 10 but that is by no means a guarantee.

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I love the fact when I read posts about people who want to tempt fate with an early flight all you get is horror stories about how the odds of people making it to the airport for an 11:00 am flight are as rare as snow in Miami...

 

But, when people ask about when a ship is cleared and the last person is off, everyone says there is little chance of being on board past 10:00.

 

I know its risk and there are a bunch of variables and customs holds all the cards, But the responses are such polar opposites its amusing.

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Stay on the ship as long as you can. Be The Last Person off. Someone has to do that dirty job.

Longer you stay, the more cruise you get for your money. When there calling you by name then you know its time to go

 

 

Yes, and maybe someone on the cruise BEFORE them will be wanting to do the same thing, hence causing them a delay in starting THEIR vacation.

It works both ways.

 

BTW, the cabin stewards will prop open your cabin door at a certain time so you just cannot lounge around in there in hopes of dragging out your time. They want and need you out to prepare for the next group of passengers. You will have to go wait in a public area and most everything will be closed. Enjoy your breakfast and debark in a timely fashion to allow the crew to get ready for the next group.

 

Here is a list of hotels in FLL that will offer day rooms if you want to linger by the pool before your flight. http://www.sunny.org/visitors/cruiseandplay/hotels/

 

 

Good luck.

 

:):)

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I would rather hang out at the airport than on the ship on debarkation day ... it is mostly people pushing and shoving and just trying to get their crap together after a whole week of being lazy :D It is not as easy it it sounds for some people.

 

Get off the ship in a timely manner - since you have time, linger over breakfast and debark when you are called (you can ask for the LAST baggage tags, so you know you will be the last to be called off the ship - they unload baggage in zones so that those with early flights or tours can get off quickly). You can also carry off your own bags if everything you have is small and can be managed by stairs if necessary.

 

Ft. Lauderdale is nice and you could easily enjoy a day there ... driving is not hard (IMO) and some car rental services offer port and airport shuttles (Alamo used to - you would have to call them). You can also find tours through the cruiseline or privately from Port Everglades, just the same as you find them at other destination ports. Just make sure part of the package is drop off at the airport and taking care of your baggage.

 

Some airlines participate in the checkthrough service - you can check all of your baggage from the ship straight through to your airline - you never touch it again until you get home. That would free you up with just a backpack or whatever for morning essentials (you set out your bag the night before) to hop in a cab and enjoy Ft. Lauderdale. Check on this service as well before you go - don't just plan on it being there - not sure if every airline or every ship/port participates.

 

Hope this helps!

Edited by Lisl123
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On our last morning we went down for breakfast at 6:30. We left our stuff in our room because we knew we had until about 8 to be out. When we got back from breakfast at about 7:15, the beds were made up, the towels changed and they made it pretty uncomfortable to be in there as we didn't want to mess anything up.

They want you out so they can turn the room over for the next guest. you are pretty much status non grata on the last day.

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I love the fact when I read posts about people who want to tempt fate with an early flight all you get is horror stories about how the odds of people making it to the airport for an 11:00 am flight are as rare as snow in Miami...

 

But, when people ask about when a ship is cleared and the last person is off, everyone says there is little chance of being on board past 10:00.

 

I know its risk and there are a bunch of variables and customs holds all the cards, But the responses are such polar opposites its amusing.

 

Just because you're off at 10am doesn't mean jack. You still have to clear customs, get your luggage, get a taxi, make it to the airport.

 

Plus, this discusion is what the 'usual' debarkation process is like. I have been on ships where there have been 'issues' with customs and the ship didn't clear til after 1pm.

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On our last morning we went down for breakfast at 6:30. We left our stuff in our room because we knew we had until about 8 to be out. When we got back from breakfast at about 7:15, the beds were made up, the towels changed and they made it pretty uncomfortable to be in there as we didn't want to mess anything up.

They want you out so they can turn the room over for the next guest. you are pretty much status non grata on the last day.

So true......:rolleyes:

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Just because you're off at 10am doesn't mean jack. You still have to clear customs, get your luggage, get a taxi, make it to the airport.

 

Plus, this discusion is what the 'usual' debarkation process is like. I have been on ships where there have been 'issues' with customs and the ship didn't clear til after 1pm.

 

I was going to make this same point. One of the reasons I do Platinum self assist is because I don't want to be behinds thousands of people already in the terminal having trouble finding their documents or handling all their luggage.

 

I was in Miami one time when our ship didn't clear customs until close to noon and it was a nightmare. They went ahead and set up for lunch like usual but wouldn't let any of us have anything to eat. It's a good thing I always have protein bars with me......

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On our Liberty cruise out of Miami, we ordered room service breakfast and coffee on the last day. I sat on the balcony and watched people get off, the activity below of moving luggage off the ship, the drug-sniffing dogs, LOTS of activity.

 

At 8:30am we went up to Lido buffet to wait for our number. I think they were on number 8 and we were number 26. We sat down, grabbed our cellphones and checked email, Facebook, made phone calls, checked the news, ate breakfast, watched the workers move the signs from "BREAKFAST" to "LUNCH" :(, lots of cleaning etc. We sat there until well past 10am when they finally called our number. I looked around at that point and saw there were only 2 other families still there. We went down, found our luggage, stood in line at customs for about 10 minutes, and out the door. It took us less than 1/2 hour to go from the Lido deck where we were sitting to a waiting cab.

Edited by ibcnusoon
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I expected some rude replies, but I also needed to know so I went for it. To the many of you that were helpful, thanks :)

 

I give Carnival plenty of money so I have no issue with getting off the ship as late as we can. I seriously doubt that is going to effect the enjoyment of the next passengers, btw. (Have been on 2 other cruises but had early flights both times)

 

I also see no reason to be up super early if I can get the later disembarkation time. We may do a FL excursion, or just do brunch somewhere. It will be nice not to be in a huge rush at the airport like I usually am while traveling. Ha.

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I hear all these "horror" stories about all the things that "could" happen that would prevent one from exiting the ship in a timely fashion and I must say that out of 20 Carnival cruises I don't recall debarking later than 10:00 ever. I'm sure it happens, but I'm also sure its quite rare. (living close to my home port, there are actually times I've been home and unpacked by 10:00am):rolleyes:

 

I would never book a flight earlier than 2:00pm, however. I prefer to book a much later flight JUST IN CASE that fog and customs GREMLIN enters the picture.

 

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I expected some rude replies, but I also needed to know so I went for it. To the many of you that were helpful, thanks :)

 

I give Carnival plenty of money so I have no issue with getting off the ship as late as we can. I seriously doubt that is going to effect the enjoyment of the next passengers, btw. (Have been on 2 other cruises but had early flights both times)

 

I also see no reason to be up super early if I can get the later disembarkation time. We may do a FL excursion, or just do brunch somewhere. It will be nice not to be in a huge rush at the airport like I usually am while traveling. Ha.

 

 

 

I honestly don't think that anyone here was trying to be rude, they were just pointing out that the Carnival employees are wanting to get the ship ready for the next set of passengers and the courteous thing to do is to vacate your cabin at the time that they tell you too. I don't know what you mean by "sleeping-in" but your cabin steward will be propping your cabin door open so they can clean and get a group of cabins ready at the same time. You can get a later debarkation # but it will not mean that you will get later cabin privledges. All it will mean is that you will have to camp-out with your carry-ons in a public location waiting for your number to be called. The crew is not going to be catering to your every whim like they do when you first embark. They want and NEED that time for turn-around and other than grabbing something from the breakfast buffet you will be on your own. We had everything packed up in our cabin and went down to the buffet for breakfast. Like another poster said, the cabin steward was friendly but firm, he wanted us out and propped open our door plus several other in our line of cabins.,,,,,,, and this was at 7:45 not 8:30 as others have said. They have a quota to meet. We thanked him for our great service that week and went out to a public seating area to wait to debark.

 

You might not be effecting the enjoyment of the other oncoming passengers -but- you will be effecting the effeciency of the crew trying to ready the cabin and ship for the next set of cruisers. We as well as many others shell out plenty of money to Carnival as well but that does not mean I am entitled to do as I please even if it inconveniences the crew.

 

***** Sorry to say , but you vacation kinds of ends when you set your luggage out the night before. The next morning they want you to eat and leave and are not shy about letting you know so

****

 

 

 

 

...

Edited by Hoosiercouple
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It took quite a few disembarkations to finally figure out the BEST way to do this. First, we never book a return flight before noon and often plan to stay an extra day or two in that city before heading home. Next, my DH and I are both late risers. We like to stay up late and get up late - especially on vacation. So we don't even get up until pretty close to 8:30 - and then quickly get dressed and head up to Lido for breakfast. We pay NO ATTENTION to the color of our luggage tags. We simply hang out there until last call, read a little or play cards...then leisurly make our way off the ship. We're among the last to leave and there is no line. By the time we get to the luggage, it's about 10:00 and our luggage is just about the only ones there. There is no hussle or bustle.

 

If we have an evening flight...we often arrange for a rental car for the day and do a little sight seeing, book a massage or see a movie. No stress!

Edited by ssolomon56
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I hear all these "horror" stories about all the things that "could" happen that would prevent one from exiting the ship in a timely fashion and I must say that out of 20 Carnival cruises I don't recall debarking later than 10:00 ever. I'm sure it happens, but I'm also sure its quite rare. (living close to my home port, there are actually times I've been home and unpacked by 10:00am):rolleyes:

 

I would never book a flight earlier than 2:00pm, however. I prefer to book a much later flight JUST IN CASE that fog and customs GREMLIN enters the picture.

 

 

I know you've cruised a lot, as have we. On our last cruise (Victory), we were not off the ship before noon. The one prior to that (Elation), we sat outside Mobile harbor waiting for the fog to clear and docked at 3PM. You are correct in saying it is the exception rather than the rule, but as we have now found out, anything can happen.

 

For the OP, who has a late flight rather than early, I'd say sleep in as long as you can. Of note about that, on debarkation day, they start those God-forsaken announcements very early, like around 6ish. They really do want you up and out as soon as possible and will make it next to impossible to sleep after about 6:30 or so, especially if you are light sleepers.

 

If DH and I have a late flight or are driving, we do get up and out by 7 at the latest as a courtesy to the steward, but then meander to the MDR and have a nice, leisurely breakfast, then amble to some public area and just relax until time to go. DH brings his ipad and I bring my Kindle and we just sit and read until time to go. No stress, no worries :)

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Just because you're off at 10am doesn't mean jack. You still have to clear customs, get your luggage, get a taxi, make it to the airport.

 

Plus, this discusion is what the 'usual' debarkation process is like. I have been on ships where there have been 'issues' with customs and the ship didn't clear til after 1pm.

 

We were on Imagination this fall....some big issue with customs, we did not debark until 11:30 and had probably half the ship behind us. There was a family reunion going though customs in front of us, the wife crying and yelling to her husband "are we going to make our 11:30 flight?" At that point it was about noontime......

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Stay on the ship as long as you can. Be The Last Person off. Someone has to do that dirty job.

Longer you stay, the more cruise you get for your money. When there calling you by name then you know its time to go

 

 

Be forewarned (;)). While waiting to have our number called, and we were pretty much the last ones. Even thou we were casually spending that time playing cards, we were "treated" to the perky little Carnival Cruise song over and over and over and over.....!?!? It was no big deal at first. But, after 2 hours of it, well............. :eek:

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  • 5 months later...

Disney has the best debarkation process I have ever had and I can't figure out why all the other cruise lines haven't figured out a way to make it a more pleasant experience.

 

ON DCL you go to breakfast the same as dinner the night before. Early seating is 6:45AM and late is 8:15. You take whatever you are carrying off with you to breakfast, eat and them walk off the ship. There was a line to get through customs, but not bad, less than 10 minutes. We were in our car driving out of the parking garage by 8:30. It was so nice not to have throngs of passengers sitting around that you had to wade through to get off the ship.

 

Since we drive we will have one of the last zones. So if I understand you can wait on the Lido deck? Is that a good place to wait?

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