Disembarcation? How leisurely can you go?

A lot of disembarcation questions deal with cruisers asking how fast they can get off the boat after the cruise ends. Mine is just the opposite. When not in any hurry, how leisurely can you get off at Red Hook and do you have a choice?

I'd like to set a time for the car to pick us up in Red Hook after the big initial rush.

Is there a time by which you must be off the boat so I can plan accordingly?

(Want to enjoy every QM2 moment as long as possible):)

A lot of disembarcation questions deal with cruisers asking how fast they can get off the boat after the cruise ends. Mine is just the opposite. When not in any hurry, how leisurely can you get off at Red Hook and do you have a choice?

 

I'd like to set a time for the car to pick us up in Red Hook after the big initial rush.

Is there a time by which you must be off the boat so I can plan accordingly?

 

(Want to enjoy every QM2 moment as long as possible):)

Hi I dont know about red hook, but at Southampton as long as you can easily carry your case off, you just walk off when you feel like it, obviously vacate your room as early as possible so that they can prepare it for the next passengers, but you can usually get coffee and sit around on deck until at least 11.00 am and wait for all the queues / lines to disappear.

Mark

yes, at Red Hook, too. We thought we'd do it in a leisurely fashion as our flight from La Guardia wasn't until afternoon. But as it turns out, we were glad to get off the ship. You have to be out of your cabin by 8, and breakfast finished quite early, too. The crew have to turn over the entire ship in a few hours, so the disembarkation is planned to keep passengers in limited areas and out of everyone's way. We did sit near our assigned disembarkation point, but no one checked who was where, and I think you could wander a bit on deck 7 or go way up top. There are so many announcements to get everyone off in an orderly fashion, that it takes away from your ability to just relax on deck.

Also, bear in mind that the luggage is grouped by departure color/number/letter, so if you wait, your luggage will be hanging out on its own. Not too many chances of it being taken by someone else, I suppose, but still ...

Thanks for the information. I will monitor the situation and be prepared to leave anytime. Who knows, we may be ready to leave as suggested or we might try to stick around a little longer.

Because we don't know what time we'll be off, I haven't ordered any car to pick us up. I assume there will be some cars/taxis waiting or we could always call one if we have to.

Does this make sense?

A lot of disembarcation questions deal with cruisers asking how fast they can get off the boat after the cruise ends. Mine is just the opposite. When not in any hurry, how leisurely can you get off at Red Hook and do you have a choice?

 

I'd like to set a time for the car to pick us up in Red Hook after the big initial rush.

Is there a time by which you must be off the boat so I can plan accordingly?

 

(Want to enjoy every QM2 moment as long as possible):)

We sailed on QM2 out of NYC in November 2004. Upon our return, we choose to not use the self-disembarkation. We were able to meet our dining room companions for breakfast, and then sat in a lounge for a few hours. We were on deck 10, and there were delays getting everyone off the ship. We did have a car service meeting us, and had to call the driver a couple of times (using our cell phone) updating them on when we expected to leave the ship. I believe the ship arrived in New York around 6:00 am; we got off around 10:00 or 10:30. We're sailing again on Sept 2 and plan to use the self-help disembarkation. From what I've read, Cunard states that self-disembarking passengers can expect to leave the ship approximately 30 minutes after she arrives in New York...for us, that will be about 7:00 am. Have a great cruise!

I never advise them I am not choosing to use their calling proceedure, I get out of the room early to make it easy for the room attendants, and dont try to get off the ship too early and risk clogging up their system.

The thing I hate is sitting round with loads of anxious people waiting to be called, I sit where ever I like the look of, and find a coffee somewhere and then when the announcements seem to be getting to the end, I just stroll off.

At the end of the day all they want to do is get rid of everyone, so they aren't going to argue! every guest is swiped off the ship so they know you have gone whether you follow their colour codes or not.

I'm a typical Gemini and can't bear being told what to do and being hurded around like a sheep, however I do everything to avoid screwing them up at the same time!

10.30 is an ideal time to book your car.

If i needed to be off extra early I would definitely advise them and get one of the early passes.

On October 16th I'll be disembarking QE2 at Southampton and have booked a 10 am train to London.

What is the best way to get off? I am booked in a Queens Grill stateroom

Reint

On October 16th I'll be disembarking QE2 at Southampton and have booked a 10 am train to London.

 

What is the best way to get off? I am booked in a Queens Grill stateroom

 

Reint

You may be best sticking to the recommended method as queens grill are amongst the first to go, if you chose the self disembarkation the official way you may end up waiting around at the station a long time, the queens grill lounge / bar whatever it is called is where you are supposed to gather but it wasn't a pretty sight in there when we departed from breakfast, it was a bit like rush hour in Morecambe (a sad seaside resort in England where they put cardboard cut-outs of tourists at the bus stops to make it look busy) you could wait anywhere really and you will hear your colour called.

> What is the best way to get off? I am booked in a Queens Grill stateroom

Are you booked in one of the penthouses? Separate arrangements were made for penthouse passengers on our cruise last year. We were told we could make our way (at a particular time) to the Queens Grill Lounge and a crew member would meet us and take us to disembark. There would be no announcement on the PA. Our luggage would have been taken off the ship first.

We chose not to do this, as the time was far too early for us. Unfortunately I cannot remember the time. We had been in the Yacht club until 2AM and did not make it to breakfast until the time we could have been disembarking.

We had a leisurely breakfast and sat in the sun on deck until they had called all decks and did a last call for departing passengers. Our suitcases were the only ones left in the baggage hall.

Best wishes, Stephen.

> What is the best way to get off? I am booked in a Queens Grill stateroom

 

Are you booked in one of the penthouses? Separate arrangements were made for penthouse passengers on our cruise last year. We were told we could make our way (at a particular time) to the Queens Grill Lounge and a crew member would meet us and take us to disembark. There would be no announcement on the PA. Our luggage would have been taken off the ship first.

 

We chose not to do this, as the time was far too early for us. Unfortunately I cannot remember the time. We had been in the Yacht club until 2AM and did not make it to breakfast until the time we could have been disembarking.

 

We had a leisurely breakfast and sat in the sun on deck until they had called all decks and did a last call for departing passengers. Our suitcases were the only ones left in the baggage hall.

 

Best wishes, Stephen.

we were just a bit later than that and the customs had packed up when we got off, we were relieved due to a few extra ciggies, however as is it was the same day the airports were all closed due to the recent terror alerts it was maybe a little remiss of them. phew

Thanks for your replies. I am booked in QG single guarantee so I imagine it'll be the standard procedure to get off with the rest of Queens Grill passengers.

Otherwise I'll check once onboard what the best possibility would be

Reint

we were just a bit later than that and the customs had packed up when we got off, we were relieved due to a few extra ciggies, however as is it was the same day the airports were all closed due to the recent terror alerts it was maybe a little remiss of them. phew

They weren't there when we got off around 9.50am either, It didn't look like they had been there at all, but like you we were relieved ;)

Stupid duplicate post due to having to refresh the page, sorry!