Walk off disembarkation?

[Josie201]

Does HAL allow/offer self walk-off disembarkation, specifically in San Diego.  Starting to look at flights and there is an 11:50 a.m. flight, with the next one later in the afternoon and an overnight stay en-route.  Would only consider the 11:50 a.m. if we could self-disembark and get into a cab early.  Yes, I know there is always a chance of immigration  or other clearance delays. 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

The short answer is yes. But make sure there is no special event going on in San Diegonbear the port that may prevent you from getting to the airport in a timely manner. 

[waASPCrusier]

my post on this from 12/12/21:

 

Here is our experience with self disembarkation on 12/12.  We had a 9:45AM flight, we also had a backup 4pm flight the next day, quick learning moment, if you have a backup on the same day, the airline will nicely pick one and cancel it for you about 3 weeks out. 😁  The ship arrived on time, if this doesn't happen then nothing else is really going to matter.  At roughly 6:50AM we went down to deck 2 between the Ocean Bar and BB King, there were maybe 6 other people there with luggage.  After a few minutes ships crew had people lineup to the BB king side of the door with the line going towards the BB King venue.  We were about 7th or 8th in line, people kept straggling in and by the time they opened the doors at roughly 7:40, there were maybe 35-40 people in line behind us.  They had 3 security stations to check you off the ship, then you went thru the reverse of boarding.  Down the sky walk, then across the upper concourse, where a couple of shore people were directing people to the elevators.  Since we only had 1 large bag each, we just took the one flight of stairs and then the longer walk down the 1st floor concourse.  At this point we were the 1st people into the building, we were ushered up to customs, thru customs and out of the building before anybody else even entered.  Grabbed the first taxi, $15 flat rate to SAN, and were to airport, bags checked in before 8AM.  Everything went right for us, please keep that in mind.

[jkrislc]

The airport is only 2 miles from the port, so unless the ship is delayed for some reason, you shouldn’t have any problem even with regular disembarkation. 

[CruiserBruce]

17 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

The airport is only 2 miles from the port, so unless the ship is delayed for some reason, you shouldn’t have any problem even with regular disembarkation. 

Except, historically, there have been chronic problems with Immigration and Customs.

 

That being said, on March 13, we carried our luggage off when the ship was cleared at 7:45, with about 100 or so other people some of whom were pretty rude, just cutting in wherever they felt like it. Otherwise, we cleared Immigration, there was no Customs procedures, and we were in the airport terminal at 8:15. There weren't a huge line of cabs at the port, tho.

[DAllenTCY]

You should be fine with a flight at 11:50 am.  

 

This Sunday (San Diego 1/2 Marathon) these early departure times are booked:

 

09:00
09:05
09:05
09:15
09:15
09:20
09:20
 

I'm going to bet on none of these guests making it in time.  

 

David

[jkrislc]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Except, historically, there have been chronic problems with Immigration and Customs.

 

That being said, on March 13, we carried our luggage off when the ship was cleared at 7:45, with about 100 or so other people some of whom were pretty rude, just cutting in wherever they felt like it. Otherwise, we cleared Immigration, there was no Customs procedures, and we were in the airport terminal at 8:15. There weren't a huge line of cabs at the port, tho.

I guess I've been lucky the three times I've sailed through San Diego, but you raise a good point. It's probably also worth checking to see if there are other ships in port as I know that can delay things. It's sad, though, that I can sail out of Port Canaveral and not worry about making an 11:50 a.m. flight even though the airport is 45-60 minutes from the port.

[DAllenTCY]

The roadway from the pier to the airport will be closed for the San Diego Half Marathon, 5K, and 10K races.

• 04:00am: Lane Closures begin
• 06:55am: 5K Starts at 5th Ave & Harbor Dr
• 07:30am: Half Marathon Starts at 5th Ave & Harbor Dr
• 08:10am: 10K Starts in Liberty Station
• 07:08am: First Finisher at 5th Ave & K St
• 08:10am: Completion of 5K Race
• 11:45am: Completion of All Races. All lanes re-open

 

 

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

28 minutes ago, jkrislc said:

I guess I've been lucky the three times I've sailed through San Diego, but you raise a good point. It's probably also worth checking to see if there are other ships in port as I know that can delay things. It's sad, though, that I can sail out of Port Canaveral and not worry about making an 11:50 a.m. flight even though the airport is 45-60 minutes from the port.

You have been lucky.  I've had a few disembarkations from San Diego that were late, barely made a 1 PM flight one time.  This was at least 5 plus years ago.  I have to say last Sunday was probably the best.  I was in the first group to get off Sunday as I needed a covid test to fly to Canada.  I wanted to make sure there were no problems.  There was maybe 30 people in front of me.  The ship only had around 45% percent occupancy though.  When I sailed in November I probably left around 9:15 ish and the port was much busier.  The occupancy rate on that cruise was probably around 60%.

[crystalspin]

I think this is worth a mention, although the OP may be taking it into consideration, but if you want to be in the first "walk-off" disembarkation, you must be able to handle all of your luggage and DON'T put it outside your room door the night before.

 

ETA: sorry if someone above also made that point.

Edited March 23, 2022 by crystalspin