Disembark carrying own luggage

[mAlien13]

Hello,

 

My husband and I are sailing Princess for the first time and will be docking at the World Cruise Center in LA for the first time on the 19th of this month. We'd prefer to just keep our luggage and carry it off with us, but I'm not sure what the pros and cons are. Can anyone who's used this method give me some insight into how it works on Princess and/or at WCC?

 

I'm trying to arrange ground transportation to SNA, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out how long it will take us to get off if we're scheduled to dock at 6:15am.

TIA!:)

[USN59-79]

Hello,

 

My husband and I are sailing Princess for the first time and will be docking at the World Cruise Center in LA for the first time on the 19th of this month. We'd prefer to just keep our luggage and carry it off with us, but I'm not sure what the pros and cons are. Can anyone who's used this method give me some insight into how it works on Princess and/or at WCC?

 

I'm trying to arrange ground transportation to SNA, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out how long it will take us to get off if we're scheduled to dock at 6:15am.

TIA!:)

The pro is that you can be among the first to leave the ship that morning. If I were you I would not try to leave the ship before 8:00. Have a leisurely breakfast, make sure everything is packed, and walk off the ship. Princess will ask you to clear your room by 8 so they can prepare it for the next guest. A day or two before the end of the cruise you will get a questionair asking about your preferences for disembarking. Let them know you will carry off your luggage and that you want to leave as soon as possible.

[satxdiver]

We have done the walk off at disembarkation. There will be 3 or 4 groups of walk offs scheduled and they leave in maybe 10 minute intervals. Elite members have the first choice but all that want to do the walk off will be accommodated. You will be off the ship usually by 8 AM or so. You will have to be able to carry off all your luggage so it depends on how much you bring. Once in the terminal, you will have to negotiate the escalator. They only allow pax to be carrying one small shoulder bag and pulling one roll on suitcase. More than that and they will make you take the elevator which usually has a line as it is slower. It has been the same procedure at most cruise terminals. If you want off the ship as early as possible and don't have a large amount of luggage (one roll on suitcase/pax), this is a solution.

[mAlien13]

Thank you both, so much! Would we likely be able to meet a car by 9:15 or 9:30? Or should I push our arrangements out a little further?

[easyboy]

Thank you both, so much! Would we likely be able to meet a car by 9:15 or 9:30? Or should I push our arrangements out a little further?

 

 

I don’t think that would be a problem.

 

 

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[hpeabody]

I have rarely done early "Walk-Off".

 

What I found difficult was trying to get into an already crowded elevator. People + their rolling cases. I have had to wait for several passes before I can enter an elevator.

[Amtrack Springfield]

We walked off on 11/5/17. We had four suitcases. We had no problems with the elevators. We met in the Explore lounge at 7:00 and were off at 8:00 Our shuttle picked us up at 8:30. Our shuttle driver took us to LAX. There was a line of traffic for departure, so our driver took us to the pickup gates.We walked up the stairs and checked in our gate by 9:30.

[cruzsnooze]

Hello,

 

 

 

I'm trying to arrange ground transportation to SNA, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out how long it will take us to get off if we're scheduled to dock at 6:15am.

TIA!:)

SNA is what?

[hpeabody]

SNA is what?

 

It is Orange County/Santa Ana/John Wayne Airport. An alternative to LAX

[skynight]

Thank you both, so much! Would we likely be able to meet a car by 9:15 or 9:30? Or should I push our arrangements out a little further?

You can make those times. At San Pedro there is a waiting area for car services. I would think you just call them once off the ship and tell them exactly where you are. Fairly easy. Around 45/50 mins, maybe a little less, down the 405 to SNA. If you are not in a hurry think about booking one of the shuttle services. We took one to SNA a few years ago.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Although I did not walk off the Ruby Princess early in November, I have to say Princess has an excellent disembarkation program. You are assigned a time and a room in which to meet based on your request. As others have said you will be in the first four groups to leave. On my cruise, the walk offs left about 8AM.

 

I was in a Princess airport transfer group, scheduled to be in my departure lounge at 8:40AM. I was there early and my group was called at 8:30AM.

Incidentally, there is not a universal broadcast of which group leaves when; the crew member in your departure lounge makes the announcement within that room.

 

I was off the ship by 8:40AM, my luggage was available, I boarded the bus which left at 9:00AM, and being a Saturday we were at LAX by 9:30AM. It all went perfectly.

 

You should have no problems walking off in San Pedro.

[mAlien13]

I am so grateful for all of the help here! I'm glad to have a sense of how things will work at the other end. I'm now planning a car pick up at 9:30. That way we don't have any rush. Many thanks to you all! (y)

[polmcs]

I got off the Ruby in San Pedro on Saturday. We were driving home to San Diego, so not in any particular rush to get off the ship. We opted for the 9:30AM time slot with luggage assistance. We had to vacate our cabin by 8:15, so the plan was to get down to breakfast in the MDR before they closed the doors at 8:30, have a leisurely breakfast and then head up to the Elite lounge around 9:15 and wait our turn to get off.

 

We ended up at a table for 2, so breakfast was over a little quicker than we had planned. We were in the Elite lounge about 8:55 and our group were called about 9:20. We were outside the terminal by about 9:45.

 

There was also a 9:00 time slot with luggage assistance, so you could probably pass up on the early walk off option and still be outside in time for a 9:30am pickup

[JWUC]

We actually prefer to walk off. We can handle our own bags. We prefer to have our bags with us on the last day. There have been two or three times where it took a while to find our luggage after we left the ship when we didn't do a walk off.

[JF - retired RRT]

I'm trying to arrange ground transportation to SNA, and I'm having a really hard time figuring out how long it will take us to get off if we're scheduled to dock at 6:15am.

TIA!:)

What time is your flight?

Is the ship in on a week day or weekend?

This is important information due to traffic in So Cal.

It can take 45 minutes or 2+ hours to get from San Pedro to Orange County.

[polmcs]

We actually prefer to walk off. We can handle our own bags. We prefer to have our bags with us on the last day. There have been two or three times where it took a while to find our luggage after we left the ship when we didn't do a walk off.

 

Heck, we couldn't even handle our luggage from the entrance gate to the car park (where the porter drops off the luggage) out to our car that was about 3 rows away! :) I left my wife with the luggage whilst I ran to go and grab the car. That was a one week cruise. I'm dreading how much luggage we'll have in tow for our 14 day Oz-Fiji cruise next year. Traveling light is not in our vocabulary! :')

[frugaltravel]

Heck, we couldn't even handle our luggage from the entrance gate to the car park (where the porter drops off the luggage) out to our car that was about 3 rows away! :) I left my wife with the luggage whilst I ran to go and grab the car. That was a one week cruise. I'm dreading how much luggage we'll have in tow for our 14 day Oz-Fiji cruise next year. Traveling light is not in our vocabulary! :')

 

I guess not. After so many trips I have learned to travel light. I did a CA/NE cruise in October 2016 with just a carry on roller bag and a backpack. If I go to a warm weather climate I can easily pack 7-10 days in a rollerbag.

[Frenchymp]

What time is the latest walk off in Port Everglades? 10:00 or 10:30?

Thank you

[SadieN]

I have rarely done early "Walk-Off".

 

 

 

What I found difficult was trying to get into an already crowded elevator. People + their rolling cases. I have had to wait for several passes before I can enter an elevator.

 

 

 

Could get into any empty elevator. Many times we’ve gone up to go down or down to go up. Eventually it’ll get to your floor.

[mAlien13]

What time is your flight?

Is the ship in on a week day or weekend?

This is important information due to traffic in So Cal.

It can take 45 minutes or 2+ hours to get from San Pedro to Orange County.

It's actually not a flight; we're picking up a rental car at SNA because we fly out of there a few days later.

 

We're scheduled to dock at 6:15 on Tuesday, December 19. How do you think traffic will be on a Tuesday early morning?

[polmcs]

I guess not. After so many trips I have learned to travel light. I did a CA/NE cruise in October 2016 with just a carry on roller bag and a backpack. If I go to a warm weather climate I can easily pack 7-10 days in a rollerbag.

 

Roller bag usually has the toiletries, medicine, snorkels and sun screen, etc. Backpack has the laptops, iPad, chargers, headsets, jewelry etc. If those were the only bags we brought on board, we'd have nothing new to wear for the rest of the week! :p

 

That's what I like about sailing out of San Pedro. As it's within easy driving distance, we can take all the luggage we want. We did go back home with one side of a full sized suitcase with unworn clothes.