NEW Stateroom Direct Service

[Australian family]

That is great news, but does that mean that guests have to leave their cabins earlier on the day they disembark?

[Krazy Kruizers]

thanks

[Bear007]

Thanks for the information:)

[kazu]

That is great news, but does that mean that guests have to leave their cabins earlier on the day they disembark?

 

DBA stated on a previous thread regarding this (links are int he other post) that there should be no change on disembarkation :)

[Himself]

This explains why all vacating passengers must be out of thier rooms by 8:00 AM

[Kathyh1313]

This explains why all vacating passengers must be out of thier rooms by 8:00 AM

 

Huh? Where did you get this from? This is not how I read the e-mail I received nor the post from DBA. Unless you have an 8:15 disembarkation time, then 8am makes sense.

 

Help me understand your statement.

 

Thanks, Kathy

[artnak]

When we boarded the Westerdam Dec 31st, I was very surprised to find out that our cabins were ready at 11:30.

We dropped off our hand luggage in the room and went to the MDR for lunch.

On our way to the MDR, we encountered an officer on the elevator and I mentioned to him how wonderful it was that the cabins were ready so early.

He commented it was nice to hear this and that they are always trying to give the guests a better experience .. or something to that effect.

I looked at his name tag and saw he was the Hotel Manager :D I guess this was just the type of comment he wanted to hear.

I didn't find any of the debarkation times earlier or later than usual. Seemed the same to me.

[Kay240]

Personally, we would have rather had the option of staying in our stateroom until disembarking - but getting into our cabin earlier will be nice too. Can't have one without the other!

 

We book later flights just in case so are usually among the last to leave and it was easier to wait in the stateroom - the room steward just prepared the room while we were there and only had to replace the towels and finish the bathroom when we left.

 

 

We were pleasantly surprised to find our cabins ready for us when we arrived on the RYNDAM Dec. 12, but I was concerned that we would be rushed out of our cabin. I had read a thread discussing this a while back, so I was even happier when we were allowed to stay in our cabins until our turn to disembark (which was @9 AM).

We had a similar experience earlier this month on the Maasdam; both times we were driving and were in no rush to leave. I will say that the sheets were collected and fresh linens were distributed quickly.

[Cruising-along]

I think this is a great change. The Lido was always packed with people and their luggage, as we waited for our cabins to be ready. I'm really looking forward to this. :)

[NMLady]

Please read DBA's comments on the "Disembarkation" thread. He clearly stated (and attached a sample note) that the new disembarkation only requires you to leave your cabin 15 minutes before your scheduled disembarkation time.

 

That wasn't the experience that someone in another thread had who just disembarked the other day. They said their letter in their cabin said to be out of the rooms by 8:15am and wait in a public area.

I wonder if, like so many things, it varies by ship.

[eldercruser]

Perhaps changes are coming, but on our recent (Feb 6) Noordam cruise, cabins were not ready until 1:30.

 

Also as I noted on Bepsf's Disembarkation thread, the stewards were in our room changing the bedding and cleaning the bathroom when we returned from breakfast at 0700.

[kazu]

Perhaps changes are coming, but on our recent (Feb 6) Noordam cruise, cabins were not ready until 1:30.

 

Also as I noted on Bepsf's Disembarkation thread, the stewards were in our room changing the bedding and cleaning the bathroom when we returned from breakfast at 0700.

 

the change does not come into full effect until the end of February.

 

the stuff referred to in Bepsf's thread has been going on for a long time.

 

we normally put up the do not disturb sign, but they still come and wash windows and stuff (which I can not really argue with)

 

New bathrobes, sheets, etc have been in the drawer under the bed the night before to prepare for some time. It's not a big deal or anything new.

[Vic The Parrot]

Having access to the cabin upon boarding will be nice. I guess going to a public room 15 minutes before disembarkation time is a reasonable trade-off.

 

 

I agree with you on this one, Jim.

 

 

It doesn't really effect me one bit if I have to leave my cabin on the last morning, and hang around in a public room.

 

Did it before the "new", which is the "old" way right now. And I never had a problem keeping comfortable while waiting my turn to disembark.

 

;)

[Philip217]

Frankly, I am not sure that the new service will be entirely without trade offs. I was on the Westerdam 2/4 - 2/11 and staterooms were ready at 11:30, our bags arrived shortly thereafter. Kudos for this. But .... When we signed up for luggage direct we were told that we had to leave the ship between 7:15 and 8:00 to take advantage of the service ... That makes no sense for anything except to encourage many more of us to leave the ship very early rather than at our convenience to enable staff to get the cabins ready.

 

The real question is ... Is the cruise experience better when it begins with cabin access, or ends at our leisure? Different folks will clearly have thoughts on this.

 

Actually, the real question is...Why do you need to leave so early when you sign up for luggage direct? Although is may be true that different folks will clearly have thoughts on this, you may be surprised to learn that the US Customs Service - NOT the cruise line - has determined that you need to leave early.

 

And you may also be surprised to learn that on EVERY ship, from EVERY cruise line, in EVERY US Port where luggage direct service is allowed, the pasengers are required - by US Customs - to depart the ship early.

 

What is it they say about "Never Assume" ???

[MICHARCH]

When we signed up for our upcoming Panama Canal Cruise they mentioned that we could board around 11AM or so and eat lunch @ Lido. I hope it's true as we are arriving at SD about 11AM on 3/18 and plan on grabbing a bite @ Lido.

[arzz]

I hear you -- but why was early disembarkation not a requirement when we used luggage direct in San Diego in December? We had late, independent disembarkation -- no questions asked.

[LindaJ+]

We enjoyed being able to go directly to our cabin upon embarking Volendam in Jan. Only glitch was ... the trash hadn't been emptied yet and it didn't look like it had been vacuumed. Made me wonder about the beds. We went to lunch and explored the ship for a while and everything was spiffy when we got back.