Selbourne

You are wrong I’m afraid. Many folk using self disembarkation are carrying suitcases, not just hand luggage. They use the facility as they wish to get off early, not necessarily just because they are travelling light. Furthermore, as the husband of a full time wheelchair user, I can assure you that trying to get in a lift during normal disembarkation can be the most challenging time of the cruise, even when people just have hand luggage. If suitcases are added into the equation it adds another level of problems. That’s why self disembarkation is always early, to get those folk out of the way before the peak period of lift usage kicks in.

Exactly and this point has been made several times. Me thinks someone is being deliberately provocative 🤔

We had B165 on Arcadia (a corner one with wrap around balcony) and the balcony was great, as it was part shaded and part open, so usable in all conditions. We viewed one on another deck and the balcony was entirely covered, so made the suite very dark and it was like looking out through a tunnel. This wasn’t apparent on the deck plan. Just thought I’d flag this whilst you still have options.

You don’t actually register for self disembarkation and nobody ever checks what disembarkation time you have been allocated when you leave the ship during normal disembarkation, so technically this is possible. However, this would only work for those with hand luggage who are relaxed about what time they leave, given that there can sometimes be a pause between self and standard disembarkation if baggage trolleys are still being offloaded. However, if you attempted to do this with suitcases then you would rightly be challenged, as lifts are at a premium during normal disembarkation.

But presumably you applied for both within a fairly short period, which wouldn’t necessitate having to prove the shareholding twice? The interesting thing will be applying for OBC for another cruise say 6 or 12 months after providing the proof of shareholding. I’m not sure if this service has been going long enough to know, but I’d expect to be asked to confirm shareholding again.

I would assume the same. I’ve no idea who knows what, but my guess would be that if Carnival had a way of knowing whether or not people were still shareholders they wouldn’t be paying to use the services of StockPerks. After all, Carnival still have to do the work in applying the OBC, so the only way in which StockPerks could save them time is by verifying shareholdings.

I think there’s always been the risk of people selling their shares once the OBC has been applied, but prior to the cruise. I’ve not tested it personally, as my shares have appreciated in value by 50% since I bought them and, on top of that, I’ve had about 150% of the outlay back in OBC in less than a year, but given how poor the IT systems are that Carnival use I have no doubt that this would be possible.

It’s extremely rare though and I don’t think that the OP needs to worry about that with Iona. Oriana left P&O 5 years ago!

Have a great cruise Andy. Are you doing Club dining this time?

To be clear, normal disembarkation doesn’t always start as soon as self disembarkation has finished. There can be a pause, for safety reasons, whilst the porters are moving large pallets of luggage around the luggage pick up hall. During this time, nobody is allowed off the ship. If you want to self disembark (which given your train time you will) then you cannot wander off at your leisure. You have to leave within the designated time slot (it’s at least a 30 minute window, but always early). The good news is that you don’t have to register for self disembarkation, so you could wait to see what disembarkation time you are allocated and then take a view, but if you wish to use normal disembarkation then you have to put your luggage outside your cabin as you go to bed the last night. If you are travelling light and will be time limited, I would just self disembark as you are guaranteed not to have any delays in getting off the ship, trying to find luggage, getting through customs etc. We went on Iona in the August school holidays with 5,750 others and whilst the ship felt crowded, disembarkation was very good. One of our daughters decided to self disembark and was off the ship, collected her car and on the road by 7.30am. She was very impressed with it.

They always get back on time, so you needn’t worry about that! The ships are usually docked by around 6am. We’ve never done self disembarkation, so others can confirm the precise timings, but I think it’s usually between around 7.15 and 8am. If you intend to stay in your cabin until 8am and then go for a quick breakfast you will be too late for self disembarkation and will have to wait for regular disembarkation. Your best bet is to grab a very early breakfast in the buffet and self disembark. It’s quite a walk to the station, especially with luggage, but you will be fine with a 9.30am train if you self disembark.

If booking within the 3 months prior to the cruise (after balance due date - when the bargains can sometimes occur) isn’t an option for you (which I quite understand), booking at launch will usually be the best option. The general pattern tends to be that once the launch period has ended, prices go up. Thereafter, until the balance due date, prices will usually be higher than at launch, and sometimes by a very large amount (double the launch price isn’t at all uncommon). The best you can then hope for is an extra OBC offer that effectively takes the net price down towards launch price territory. It’s important to re-state that the two bargain fares that I secured were both after balance due date (so 3 months prior to departure). Booking a 2026 cruise in 2025 is almost certainly going to cost you a lot more than booking it now. Hope that all makes sense.

Yes I completely understand that. Neither did I until retirement, hence why we always used to book at launch. Obviously booking at launch gives the satisfaction of having secured your first choice and being able to look forward to it over a prolonged period. Usually it also has the added benefit of being the best time to book, price wise, which was another reason why we always did it. It was a pleasant, but unexpected, surprise that we managed to nab two cruises at short notice at bargain prices. No idea if we will be as lucky again, but booking over 2 years out is no longer sensible for us given my wife’s health, so it’s a chance we’ll take. In the end, we all have to do what’s best for our circumstances. As we often say, there’s no right or wrong answer.

Exactly. No lottery at all in our case. On both occasions that we booked after balance due date we were told the cabin numbers prior to paying, and they were cabins that we would have chosen had we booked on launch day at a much greater cost!

We were definitely lucky Dai. On both cruises where this happened, I had enquired on a couple of previous occasions for each, and there was no availability of accessible balcony cabins, yet on the third time of asking (after balance due date) we managed to get one (in fact we had a choice of 2 on Britannia). As we know, a lot can happen in the two years between launch and balance due date that may affect people’s desire to go on the cruise. Obviously I have no idea why those 3 bookings were cancelled, but logic would suggest that those requiring accessible cabins may be more likely to have to pull out due to health related issues? Naturally I have no way of knowing if this will happen again as it’s supply and demand. This is now the second launch in a row where we haven’t been wowed enough by any itineraries to book so far out, and the few that have slightly appealed have been more than we’d be prepared to pay. However, I’ve kept a note of the launch prices and will monitor up to sail date. If the price becomes more attractive I might enquire, but I’m fully aware that luck would need to be on our side.