Self disembarkation

[maljeff]

DW and I want to try self-disembarkation for our Jan 2017 cruise. However, we only want to do this if we get off the ship earlier than than the "traditional" disembarkation. Our flight leaves a little earlier than previous cruises so this is why we want to self-disembark.

 

Does anyone have experience with this? Do self-disembarkation folks always get off 1st? Or does it depend on on the ship, port, etc?

[jelayne]

In our experience self debarkation gets off before they call any luggage tag numbers to leave.

[Orator]

Self disembarkation passengers are the first to leave the ship. You will be told where you should assemble and leave as soon as the ship receives clearance. You must carry your own luggage and cannot get assistance. I've done this many times.

[Cruise Raider]

We almost always do the self assist disembarkation and yes, we are amongst the first passengers off the ship.

[riclop]

DW and I want to try self-disembarkation for our Jan 2017 cruise. However, we only want to do this if we get off the ship earlier than than the "traditional" disembarkation. Our flight leaves a little earlier than previous cruises so this is why we want to self-disembark.

 

Does anyone have experience with this? Do self-disembarkation folks always get off 1st? Or does it depend on on the ship, port, etc?

 

Yes that is what that means.

[ClaudiaB]

I feel like I keep writing this same thing, but I hope it will help you.

We do self-disembarkation most times because we like to get home asap, so we take a flight about 10 a.m. out of FLL.

 

When you're told what time to have yourself and your luggage in line downstairs make sure you ignore that time.

Go about 45 minutes ahead of that and line up your luggage as your place saver. Then when it's time to go you should be among the first handful - literally - to get off the ship. We usually don't eat breakfast on those mornings, although it's been my observation that most people just leave their luggage in line and then go grab something.

 

First time we did it, we showed up about 5 minutes ahead of the appointed time. Found that we were about 100th in line! We still made our plane but the line was snaking all around deck 3 and we didn't get off much before the first group was released.

 

It *is* nice not to have to put out the cases the night before.

[donaldsc]

I feel like I keep writing this same thing, but I hope it will help you.

We do self-disembarkation most times because we like to get home asap, so we take a flight about 10 a.m. out of FLL.

 

When you're told what time to have yourself and your luggage in line downstairs make sure you ignore that time.

Go about 45 minutes ahead of that and line up your luggage as your place saver. Then when it's time to go you should be among the first handful - literally - to get off the ship. We usually don't eat breakfast on those mornings, although it's been my observation that most people just leave their luggage in line and then go grab something.

 

First time we did it, we showed up about 5 minutes ahead of the appointed time. Found that we were about 100th in line! We still made our plane but the line was snaking all around deck 3 and we didn't get off much before the first group was released.

 

It *is* nice not to have to put out the cases the night before.

 

Sounds like you are one of the people who "reserve" chairs near the pool. Put down a towel and come back later. I do not self-disembark but if I saw your luggage reserving a place w/o a person near the luggage, I would not leave it there but I would push it aside. Luggage does not hold a place in line - people do.

 

DON

[dodger1964]

Sounds like you are one of the people who "reserve" chairs near the pool. Put down a towel and come back later. I do not self-disembark but if I saw your luggage reserving a place w/o a person near the luggage, I would not leave it there but I would push it aside. Luggage does not hold a place in line - people do.

 

DON

 

I think most (all?) people just take turns going to eat so no one has to push them aside...

[maljeff]

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

One last question. We have always paid for and taken the celebrity bus/shuttle so my experience with taxis is zero. I assume once we exit the terminal there will be a taxi queue we can get in to get a cab to the airport? Or is it a free-for-all?

 

Just want to prepare myself for what I should expect.

 

Thanks again.

[GUT2407]

In our experience self debarkation gets off before they call any luggage tag numbers to leave.

 

That was ours too.

 

Not sure if it varies by port though.

[bigbeergut]

DW and I want to try self-disembarkation for our Jan 2017 cruise. However, we only want to do this if we get off the ship earlier than than the "traditional" disembarkation. Our flight leaves a little earlier than previous cruises so this is why we want to self-disembark.

 

Does anyone have experience with this? Do self-disembarkation folks always get off 1st? Or does it depend on on the ship, port, etc?

 

We always carry our bags off the ship. This isn't much different than moving your own bags around the airport. This is just one less chance for the bags to get lost or damaged.

 

You will find a lot of different opinions about making early flights out of Fort Lauderdale, but the time your ship arrives in port, how many customs agents are working that day and your choice of airlines can make a huge difference. If I counted correctly, I saw 9 ships in port one day last weekend. If you were on the Harmony/Allure or one of the other first ships to arrive you would likely have little difficulty finding a taxi or getting through the TSA lines at the airport. If you were on one of the last ships to arrive after the early ships are already sending passenger to the airport it would be a completely different experience (Good Luck). The Security lines for Delta can get very long but the lines for the Southwest terminal sometimes can be horrendous. I have seen them extend out of the terminal onto the walkway to the parking garage.

 

We have sailed a lot on the Oasis/Allure leaving the ship about 6:45 and sometimes we could have made an 8:00 flight and sometimes we would barely make a 10:00 flight. It also depends on your options if you miss the flight.

 

My rule is not to schedule a flight before 10:30 if my ship arrives early, otherwise 11:30 is the earliest I would feel comfortable.

 

Good Luck

Edited November 23, 2016 by bigbeergut

[BosoxI]

Thanks everyone for the info.

 

One last question. We have always paid for and taken the celebrity bus/shuttle so my experience with taxis is zero. I assume once we exit the terminal there will be a taxi queue we can get in to get a cab to the airport? Or is it a free-for-all?

 

Just want to prepare myself for what I should expect.

 

Thanks again.

 

Yes, taxis are readily available and you should have no problem finding the queue. Sometimes, however, taxis might be a bit late in arriving but still no problem getting to the airport.

 

We used to disembark ourselves quite frequently. As others have noted, the lines to leave the ship can be lengthy and on at least one occasion we had to disembark from a higher deck than we were first told. That was really terrible, as many passengers were physically incapable of easily carrying their bags up a flight of stairs. Had one tripped, it could have been tragic for all below. So, in the unlikely even such a deck switch does occur, be sure you can handle your luggage, if necessary

[helen haywood]

Call an Uber. I have never had to wait for one longer than 6 minutes and its cheaper than a taxi.

[jelayne]

We used Uber earlier this month and avoided the taxi line and saved a few bucks.

[TeaBag]

Self disembarkation is getting more and more popular. Often there is not enough room for everyone and their suitcases to wait in the designated spot. We were told once to go the opposite side of the exit door and when disembarkation started, I watched many an argument between people coming from each direction. However, we still think it is the only way to go.

 

Yes, taxis are plentiful. We are going to have to try Uber in some of the ports, one of these days. We don't have it in Vancouver so we have no experience with it.

[dkjretired]

DW and I want to try self-disembarkation for our Jan 2017 cruise. However, we only want to do this if we get off the ship earlier than than the "traditional" disembarkation. Our flight leaves a little earlier than previous cruises so this is why we want to self-disembark.

 

Does anyone have experience with this? Do self-disembarkation folks always get off 1st? Or does it depend on on the ship, port, etc?

 

Just curious but what time does your flight leave.

[maljeff]

Our flight leaves at 11:10 and we are flying Air Canada.

[dkjretired]

Our flight leaves at 11:10 and we are flying Air Canada.

 

Wouldn't worry about it too much, we've done self debark and been at the airport by 7;30.

[hcat]

On Infinity in Ft Lauderdale last month, it was made clear when we were on line that no one could take the stairs for self disembark and we would go in groups by elev to disembark deck...this would avoid people with luggage on escalators where there had been incidents at the pier...

 

Despite attempts to control semi-chaos on Infinity, there were numerous attempts/ strategies to beat the line. Monitors removed all unattended luggage off the line and tried to direct the line which wrapped all the way around the Rendevous Lounge by the time self disembark started. Quite a few folks asked to go to the head of line because they had early flights but so did most everyone on line...so they had to go to the end...guess they were not aware of how early you need to get there and quite likely would miss their flights. Others raced to other floors not realizing the cruise line was controlling the elevs down..

 

We were third on line...stood for a very long long time as there was a delay. To everyone's surprise...a very large number of suite guests appeared at the elevators and were taken down first,,,..many unhappy campers over that.

 

The pier was the one with the long outdoor walkway.,,,and once inside the line managment was poor....we waited our turn, cleared through without incident or stress because we did not have an early flight to catch...We always self disembark to insure luggage does not go missing.

 

It's arduous but we pack light, get to the walk off point early, & try not to be stressed .We breathe a big sigh of relief when we walk out of the terminal.

 

Hope they bring back a version of Luggage Valet...worked well for us.

Edited November 23, 2016 by hcat

[sofietucker]

DW and I want to try self-disembarkation for our Jan 2017 cruise. However, we only want to do this if we get off the ship earlier than than the "traditional" disembarkation. Our flight leaves a little earlier than previous cruises so this is why we want to self-disembark.

 

Does anyone have experience with this? Do self-disembarkation folks always get off 1st? Or does it depend on on the ship, port, etc?

 

We've done self-disembark when we have an early flight and it *usually* works well...

You can also get an early ship's transfer with self-disembarkation, which we first experienced a couple months ago in Civitavecchia (for FCO/Rome).

 

A disaster--not due to the shuttle bus, but:

1. Although we were early enough not to have tags, we were still told to "stay in our staterooms" (which we usually do) until called. but when we went to breakfast we saw many, many folks gathered in all the public areas with their luggage. So we began to make our way down from deck 7 towards the gangway--and our time was called as we went. Of course, every elevator was packed, so we carried our luggage down the stairs--halfway down, the first group of "regular" disembarkers was called and many of them had already lined up at the gangway, blocking our ability to exit.

2. After much struggle and "excuseme/excuseme/excuseme," we were sent down the very steep and slippery gangway (did I mention it was raining sideways??). Our luggage was pulling us headlong and pushing us from behind. I suppose the porters were forbidden to help. We're fairly strong; I can't imagine how the elderly folks managed. Then we were sent--not under a canopy but through the driving rain, along a road about twice the ship's length, amid potholes and puddles, trying to yank our luggage when it got stuck in those.

3. We finally arrived, drenched, to the luggage warehouse/terminal. Two sets of ship's reps directed us to a doorway straight across, where our shuttle bus waited. When were got there, we were all told, by yet another ship's rep, "nonono"--we were then sent all the way down the length of the terminal to another exit. There, we were all sent out into the rain again--and THEN shoved back inside "because it's raining"! (Don't forget, during all of this most of us are managing a suitcase, a carryon, and a "personal item.")

4. We were finally sent down the sidewalk, approx half the length of the terminal, to where the bus was waiting. Once aboard, all was hunky-dory, and we arrived at the airport right on time.

 

All to say: plan for a comedy of errors, and if goes smoothly, hurray!

[cb at sea]

Any flight out of FLL after 10am is so totally doable...no need to rush, push or whatever. The taxi line is right outside....get in line...and you will be on your way in no time.

[lauraapp]

Wouldn't worry about it too much, we've done self debark and been at the airport by 7;30.

 

I hope so we have an 8.45am flight on Southwest. Figured it was worth a try, the next flight is st 6pm.

[dkjretired]

I hope so we have an 8.45am flight on Southwest. Figured it was worth a try, the next flight is st 6pm.

 

When I said that, it was arriving at the airport not going through security. A flight as early as you made it is the last thing I would ever do. We do not want to go on a cruise and worry during the entire cruise whether were dging to make the flight home. 8:45 is just too darn early.

[ECCruise]

Any flight out of FLL after 10am is so totally doable...no need to rush, push or whatever. The taxi line is right outside....get in line...and you will be on your way in no time.

 

With one HUGE caveat.

 

If you are on a TA, that MAY be too early. Although it is fairly rare, we have had delays up to 2 full hours due to customs, immigration, Coast Guard inspections and USPH/CDC inspections. Ours was very smooth on Sunday (we were at the airport at 7:30) but add a couple of hours to that and no way you make a 10 AM flight.

[dodger1964]

When I said that, it was arriving at the airport not going through security. A flight as early as you made it is the last thing I would ever do. We do not want to go on a cruise and worry during the entire cruise whether were dging to make the flight home. 8:45 is just too darn early.

 

That is the feeling of many. I hope it stays that way, leaving the early off's less people to have to compete with.

 

Many people would spend the whole cruise worried about the early flight...but others (like us) would not even give it a second thought. We would have our exit planned b4 getting on the ship, and wouldn't need to worry any more after that. It's not rocket science, and if something happens with timing of exit (which we can't control anyway) we just roll with that. Taking out TA's I wonder what the percentage of on time disembarkations actually are. I'll bet it's in the very high 90 percentiles.

 

We have saved huge $$'s over our cruising career by taking early flights on the majority of our cruises.