Suggestions for expediting disembarkation?

[pzbz]

We have an early flight post cruise and would appreciate any suggestions to make our exit strategy smooth to catch our internatiomnal flight flying form Schipol to the US. We are conierge on board the Silhouette.

Thanks!

[chemmo]

Quickest way is express. You do not leave your luggage outside your room, you keep it and then in the morning queue up to be earliest off the ship carrying all your luggage. Only possible if you travel light.

 

Otherwise will receive a form stating what time you need to be off and then will be allocated a number. When it is called you leave. This is what most people do.

 

If you are traveling in a suite the conceirge will escort you past queues to luggage collection (suite luggage does have priority) and will then escort you to join immigration. This can be a big time saver.

 

Others have reported if you use a porter from luggage collection that will get you through faster.

 

What time is your flight? Schipol is a really big airport. Every time we have been through security has been very busy and has taken quite a lot of time.

[Project_gal]

I agree. Schipol airport is large and queues long. Personally, I would not want to risk a morning flight after disembarking. I have had a bad experience there. I hope the OP's flight is not too early.

Edited June 6, 2015 by Project_gal

[4774Papa]

Try departing the ship as soon as possible. If the ship docks at 6am, be ready to depart as soon as clearance is announced.

 

If you can't handle luggage on your own, you can request early departure. You can indicate on your disembarkation forms you wish the earliest departure, citing your flight.

Talk to guest relations in person if in doubt.

 

We have been on Celebrity ships that would not allow self-disembarkation.

[Phxazzcruisers]

By early, exactly what time is your flight ? I agree, if you can handle your own luggage, keep it in your room and be ready to walk off with it a soon as the ship has been cleared. That is the fastest way off the ship. The rest depends on customs, traffic, and how busy the airport is. Again, what time is your flight?

[ClaudiaB]

OK, yes, self-disembarking is the way to go. However, please IGNORE the time they give you to line up. If you go when they say, you will be about 100 in line.

You go to the designated spot and place your luggage and that is your place in "line." You can then take turns getting something to eat. We've never just left our luggage unattended but some do. But go about 45 minutes to an hour ahead. Seriously. The first time it happened we asked the people at Guest Relations how early people lined up. They told me what I just said.

Then, you're guaranteed to be one of the first few off. We've done this 4 or 5 times and it works well. It may be a bit cumbersome at some point if you have a lot of luggage, but if you can do it yourself then it's the way to go. Honestly, once our cruise is over we like to get off and be done with it, no hanging around, no spending another day in port - we are ready to get home at that point.

[ClaudiaB]

I have to add that you don't exactly have to pack light to disembark yourself with all your luggage. We can do it ourselves with a large suitcase (28") EACH, a big golf club bag, and one or two rolling carry-ons EACH. We stack the carry-ons onto the big luggage and pull that in one hand and pull the golf bag in the other. Stairs we do in tandem. It's not something we'd like to do everyday and we're maybe a bit slow but the walk isn't too bad and it's well worth it. So, packing very light isn't a necessity if you can manage it.

[pzbz]

Quickest way is express. You do not leave your luggage outside your room, you keep it and then in the morning queue up to be earliest off the ship carrying all your luggage. Only possible if you travel light.

 

Otherwise will receive a form stating what time you need to be off and then will be allocated a number. When it is called you leave. This is what most people do.

 

If you are traveling in a suite the conceirge will escort you past queues to luggage collection (suite luggage does have priority) and will then escort you to join immigration. This can be a big time saver.

 

Others have reported if you use a porter from luggage collection that will get you through faster.

 

What time is your flight? Schipol is a really big airport. Every time we have been through security has been very busy and has taken quite a lot of time.

 

We dock at 6:00 am and I have a private taxi picking us up. The disembarking venue has been moved but is actually closer to Schipol with easy access to the freeway.

[DYKWIA]

OK, yes, self-disembarking is the way to go. However, please IGNORE the time they give you to line up. If you go when they say, you will be about 100 in line.

.

 

When we were on the Eclipse coming back to Southampton we self disembarked about 10 minutes after they started allowing people off (about 610am) - We just wandered along with all our luggage, It was very quiet and no queue. 10 mins later we were in our car and on the road home.

[cle-guy]

We have an early flight post cruise and would appreciate any suggestions to make our exit strategy smooth to catch our internatiomnal flight flying form Schipol to the US. We are conierge on board the Silhouette.

Thanks!

 

Have you posed the question in your roll-call? Some there may have done this in the past at your specific port and have real-world experience.

[Escriteur]

We did this last summer on the Reflection in Rome. Make sure to tell Guest Relations that you want to do "Express Walk-Off" and they'll give you a form to fill out to request early departure. As others have suggested, it's a good idea to go early. They had us gather at the Passport Bar (Deck 3); when it was time to disembark, crew were loading people in specific elevators that sent them directly to the gangway. Good luck!

 

~ Shay

[Northern Aurora]

We have flown out of Schipol and found the airport easy to navigate with clear signage. However, if the OP has any concerns about whether a 6 AM disembark is early enough for a 10 AM flight post this question on the "British Isles/Western Europe" forum (under "Europe" in the "Ports of Call" section). Cruise Critic member Ine monitors that forum and is the expert on "all things Amserdam." Her posts are very helpful.

[CathyCruises]

We disembarked in Amsterdam and left the ship about 9 AM. The queue for taxis was at least half an hour long. Luckily we weren't in a hurry but it was a misery.

 

Luggage was very hard to find since there are two numbers in each lane, one on the floor and a different one on the wall. Mine was not in either place, very aggravating, but we found it out in the middle of the concourse with a few others. So careful planning and early departure is pretty critical in this disorganized port. . .

[GottaKnowWhen]

We have flown out of Schipol and found the airport easy to navigate with clear signage. However, if the OP has any concerns about whether a 6 AM disembark is early enough for a 10 AM flight post this question on the "British Isles/Western Europe" forum (under "Europe" in the "Ports of Call" section). Cruise Critic member Ine monitors that forum and is the expert on "all things Amserdam." Her posts are very helpful.

 

 

I have flown in/out of Schipol several times, have also had connecting flights through there. This airport is way at the bottom of my list of airports in terms of convenience, ease of getting in/out, check in, immigration clearance, etc. If I have any other option (e.g., train/Chunnel to Heathrow, train to Paris, etc.) I will take another option. From the post I am quoting above, others obviously have had different experiences. YMMV. But I would have a Plan B in mind in case you cannot make an early flight.

[rahrah50]

Schipol airport now has two security screenings to go through. Make sure you allow lots of time there as they were not close together. We left Silhouette in Stockholm at 6 am as we had a 9:30 flight to Amsterdam. We had a prearranged transfer and disembarked on our own. Walked right off the ship. We were the last people onboard our flight to the US as we had to walk all over Schipol for screening and backtrack to our gate.

[pzbz]

Thanks for all the advise regarding Schipol Airport etc. I have just found out that starting June 3rd they have begun a new system of central screening which is "supposed" to make the process easier for US connections. I will be interested to hear if anyone has been through this new system.

[need2cruisesoon]

Thanks for all the advise regarding Schipol Airport etc. I have just found out that starting June 3rd they have begun a new system of central screening which is "supposed" to make the process easier for US connections. I will be interested to hear if anyone has been through this new system.

 

I'll let you know early August as we also have an late am flight out of AMS to Rome. Hopefully we are able to self disembark at the earliest possible hour, your idea of booking a taxi ahead of time is a good to know.

Edited June 8, 2015 by need2cruisesoon

[pzbz]

I'll let you know early August as we also have an late am flight out of AMS to Rome. Hopefully we are able to self disembark at the earliest possible hour, your idea of booking a taxi ahead of time is a good to know.

 

I look forwards to hearing how you get through the new secutiy system at Schiphol. I have done everything that I can think of to get our plans in line for making it to our flight on time and yes, booking a private taxi ahead of time is a must! You can't wait for everyone to board a bus when you are on a time crunch!!

[2psoki]

We are on the Baltic cruise May 2, 2016. Upon our return, we have a flight back to the USA @2:55PM. We arrive back in Amsterdam @6AM. Does anyone know how late you can stay on the ship? Can we plan breakfast on the ship prior to leaving? Thanks, in advance, for the info.

[CathyCruises]

We are on the Baltic cruise May 2, 2016. Upon our return, we have a flight back to the USA @2:55PM. We arrive back in Amsterdam @6AM. Does anyone know how late you can stay on the ship? Can we plan breakfast on the ship prior to leaving? Thanks, in advance, for the info.

 

Yes, you can have breakfast in the buffet, and the main dining room is usually open for a relatively short amount of time. The latest I've ever stayed on board is about 930 but I haven't waited until they actually kick me off!! I think 10 would be the absolute latest.

[Project_gal]

Yes, you can have breakfast in the buffet, and the main dining room is usually open for a relatively short amount of time. The latest I've ever stayed on board is about 930 but I haven't waited until they actually kick me off!! I think 10 would be the absolute latest.

 

Agreed, those times are the norm. They usually say 10;30 but get everyone off by about 10:00 if they can. However, on our latest cruise, the target was to get everyone off the ship by 9:30. We were in the very last group [ten people with post-cruise hotels book through Celebrity] and disembarked at 9:50.

 

I have never disembarked in Amsterdam but I think that the target time depends on many things: the efficiency of port authorities, how many ships are in port, type of cruise [ours was a repositioning cruise expecting inspection by both US and Canadian authorities], etc.

[CathyCruises]

Agreed, those times are the norm. They usually say 10;30 but get everyone off by about 10:00 if they can. However, on our latest cruise, the target was to get everyone off the ship by 9:30. We were in the very last group [ten people with post-cruise hotels book through Celebrity] and disembarked at 9:50.

 

I have never disembarked in Amsterdam but I think that the target time depends on many things: the efficiency of port authorities, how many ships are in port, type of cruise [ours was a repositioning cruise expecting inspection by both US and Canadian authorities], etc.

 

Well this May in amsterdam we held out till about 9:30 before leaving Tuscan Grille, which was the elite holding pen. We were among the last leave but not the very last. We had rented an Airbnb apartment with some friends and couldn't get in till about 11 so we were trying to stretch it out as long as possible!!

[rlbeck]

We disembarked Silhouette on 7/27/15 at 8:15 a.m. and it was horrendous. We had a 1:00 p.m. flight to Minneapolis and had purchased Celebrity transfers to Schipol. We barely made it to the gate as boarding had already commenced. Total disorganization on the part of Celebrity and their inept port agents. Dutch security screening was massive yet understaffed at D-1, as only about half the counters were manned. I will not even try to list all of the steps taken to get on board that aircraft! The airport was a complete zoo. It was like several football stadiums full of people pushing and shoving, and in the case of Celebrity staff, yelling at folks trying to get their baggage off one of the mis-stacked trucks, the higher numbers came off first.:( It was total absolute chaos. We will avoid Amsterdam at all costs in the future. BTW, the cruise was very nice, but a really sour and stress-laden way to end it!

[Phxazzcruisers]

You must be out of your room by 8:00 latest, but we have hung around the ship until 9:00 or 9:30 the very latest. We were in a Suite so we were able to hang in Michaels Club, but I saw people hanging in the lounges when we lest at 9:00.

[Iamthesea]

OP, what is your flight time? :)

 

We had a pleasant experience when we docked in Amsterdam on the Constellation in May of 2014. Our flight was at 10:55 am. We did self embarkation with a group of us and we had lined up a private taxi van. Our driver arrived right on time (a little after we had walked to our meeting post.) We were at the airport in no time and walked right through security. We even had time to sit and eat a breakfast snack before heading to our gate. ;)

Edited July 30, 2015 by Iamthesea