Disembarkation - better early or better later?

[BarbieGee]

Is getting off the ship (disembarkation) as soon as possible the best idea or would it be better to allow the bulk of passengers to leave and wait till later? We all live close to the port (Tampa) and there is no time crunch for us to leave the ship which is scheduled to dock at 8am. We could then have a leisurely breakfast without rush and avoid the crush receiving our baggage. 
Good idea or bad?

Or does the staff require all passengers to be off by a certain time?

[wemjam]

5 minutes ago, BarbieGee said:

Is getting off the ship (disembarkation) as soon as possible the best idea or would it be better to allow the bulk of passengers to leave and wait till later? We all live close to the port (Tampa) and there is no time crunch for us to leave the ship which is scheduled to dock at 8am. We could then have a leisurely breakfast without rush and avoid the crush receiving our baggage. 
Good idea or bad?

Or does the staff require all passengers to be off by a certain time?

You have to be out of your room by 8am, so if you aren't getting off you will need to find somewhere to hang out.  What time you have to be off the ship by though I am not sure.  We are usually off early.

[asalligo]

Oh my, later is so much better if you have the time. We live in Florida, so we take the last checked luggage number and just relax until our number is called. Have a long breakfast, find a nice place with a view and watch everyone else clamor off the ship, then walk off the ship and there is our luggage easily located since almost everyone else is gone. 

[BarbieGee]

7 minutes ago, wemjam said:

You have to be out of your room by 8am, so if you aren't getting off you will need to find somewhere to hang out.  What time you have to be off the ship by though I am not sure.  We are usually off early.

When getting off early, is it very crowded and disorganized? 

[asalligo]

9 minutes ago, wemjam said:

You have to be out of your room by 8am, so if you aren't getting off you will need to find somewhere to hang out.  What time you have to be off the ship by though I am not sure.  We are usually off early.

In all our cruises we have never seen debark go past 10am. 

[asalligo]

2 minutes ago, BarbieGee said:

When getting off early, is it very crowded and disorganized? 

Yes, it can be very much so. Self assist early debark can be hundreds of people all lugging their own luggage off the ship down stairwells, through the atrium and then the gangplank and through customs. Completely different experience from the last people getting off. When we have done early self assist debark we had no choice. Early flight or Long drive with a time constraint. 

[sanger727]

My opinion is different. We typically do self-disembark and found it quite easy to manage our own luggage down the stairs with a short line to exit the boat and customs.

 

We did "regular" departure once and will never do it again. We had our breakfast and were assigned an area to wait for our zone to be called. There was some delay with debarking so we were not called until well after our assigned time. This left us sitting on the ship for a couple hours after breakfast with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Then there was a matter of trying to locate our bags as we left the ship and wait in a long line at customs. 

[wesorbeth]

If time is not an issue I would get off the ship later.  

[asalligo]

I know I have seen video of self debark on YouTube, that was a total mess. Let me see if I can find it. Not sure if you have cruised Carnival before, but Self Assist debark means you carry all your own luggage off the ship. All of it. If you cannot or do not want to self debark, there will be luggage tags out on the last full day of the cruise. Get there early if you have a preference. We almost always take the last number. Remember you can check everything if you want when debarking. Even things you carried on. We do this so that we can just relax at breakfast. You will see many people hefting their carry-ons around for breakfast waiting for their number to be called.  

[Joebucks]

Unless I absolutely have to be somewhere else early (which I usually don't) we go later.

 

I'm not looking to fight the crowds of people that just have to be off. I'll be on the lido deck enjoying my last breakfast and last moments on the ship.

[mrpayroll]

13 minutes ago, BarbieGee said:

When getting off early, is it very crowded and disorganized? 

YES.....

[asalligo]

15 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

My opinion is different. We typically do self-disembark and found it quite easy to manage our own luggage down the stairs with a short line to exit the boat and customs.

 

We did "regular" departure once and will never do it again. We had our breakfast and were assigned an area to wait for our zone to be called. There was some delay with debarking so we were not called until well after our assigned time. This left us sitting on the ship for a couple hours after breakfast with nowhere to go and nothing to do. Then there was a matter of trying to locate our bags as we left the ship and wait in a long line at customs. 

The secret is be first or last. Self debark if you are prepared can be fine. If you pack light and can carry off what you have easily. Most people who self debark though have decided at the end to take that option due to necessity and now they are really carrying off more than then can handle. Add to that the stairs that are often required because the elevators are packed with people waiting on every floor and the luggage crew using half of them for getting luggage debarked.  Makes for long lines of unhappy people. Then you get off and wait in a long line to get through customs and then find your luggage. When you get off at last call, there are no lines anywhere, no lines at customs, your luggage is sitting in the middle of a warehouse all by itself. You just cannot have anywhere you need to be quickly and you do have to be ok with a long wait after breakfast. We play cards. 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by asalligo

[ultrafighter]

When I don't have small kids to try and keep track of, we like to disembark later rather than earlier.  Let the big crowds who absolutely have to get off quickly go and get out of the way.  We definitely don't do self-assist with our kids (and all of their stuff), but we try to get off and on the road as soon as we can because it's easier to keep them contained and out of trouble in the van.  🙈

[ober134]

We usually book mid to late afternoon flights. As such, we don't rush. Out of cabin before "last call" and off to MDR for breakfast....  Breakfast isn't exactly leisurely, cuz they try to start clearing the ship at 9:30. At that point, can walk right off and  not much wait for taxi or uber.

[Joe817]

50 minutes ago, BarbieGee said:

When getting off early, is it very crowded and disorganized? 

Yes, very. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's just the way it is....at least that's how we found it.  Bring plenty of patience when you begin the disembark process.  

[LHARTWICK]

1 hour ago, wesorbeth said:

If time is not an issue I would get off the ship later.  

Agreed for us as well!  We do the self assist in the P/D group since we have a long drive home - gets us off the ship much earlier.  If I lived near the port, I'd take my time leaving for sure.

[2wheelin]

1 hour ago, asalligo said:

I know I have seen video of self debark on YouTube, that was a total mess. Let me see if I can find it. Not sure if you have cruised Carnival before, but Self Assist debark means you carry all your own luggage off the ship. All of it. If you cannot or do not want to self debark, there will be luggage tags out on the last full day of the cruise. Get there early if you have a preference. We almost always take the last number. Remember you can check everything if you want when debarking. Even things you carried on. We do this so that we can just relax at breakfast. You will see many people hefting their carry-ons around for breakfast waiting for their number to be called.  

Unless of course you want to wear PJs or brush your teeth in the morning. 🤣

[asalligo]

14 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

Unless of course you want to wear PJs or brush your teeth in the morning. 🤣

Well yes, a very small bag should be held out. I carry this super compact foldable backpack from Amazon. Only half a pound. And PJ's are for children. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DNGEHP6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Edited September 6, 2022 by asalligo

[Ilovesailaway]

I will do anything I can to avoid lines and crowds. I embark late and I debark late.

[beachbum53]

3 hours ago, BarbieGee said:

Is getting off the ship (disembarkation) as soon as possible the best idea or would it be better to allow the bulk of passengers to leave and wait till later? We all live close to the port (Tampa) and there is no time crunch for us to leave the ship which is scheduled to dock at 8am. We could then have a leisurely breakfast without rush and avoid the crush receiving our baggage. 
Good idea or bad?

Or does the staff require all passengers to be off by a certain time?

Unless Debarkation is delayed for some odd reason, it typically starts about 8:00 a.m., and all passengers have to be off of the ship by 10:00 a.m. 

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by beachbum53

[seaman11]

i get off as  late as i can  l so im not rushed and in line long. 

[samiam0403]

Just off Liberty yesterday, and I was AMAZED at how orderly and efficient the disembarkation was. For the first time, I carried off my small suitcase (usually put it out the night before), and I had a leisurely breakfast and a latte and strolled off the ship at 0800. Small line, but it never stopped moving. No one parked on the stairs with 5 pieces of luggage. No hordes of people blocking stairs and elevators. I was pleasantly surprised - especially as it was a fully booked holiday sailing. Liberty, at least, has disembarkation down to a science!

[JT1962]

We used self-debarkation when it first started, and it worked well since very few used it. Now it seems most use self-debarkation and it is chaos. With the ability to choose your departure tags now, we will choose a high number / later departure in the future to have a better experience.

[skrufy]

4 hours ago, BarbieGee said:

Is getting off the ship (disembarkation) as soon as possible the best idea or would it be better to allow the bulk of passengers to leave and wait till later? We all live close to the port (Tampa) and there is no time crunch for us to leave the ship which is scheduled to dock at 8am. We could then have a leisurely breakfast without rush and avoid the crush receiving our baggage. 
Good idea or bad?

Or does the staff require all passengers to be off by a certain time?

We can disembark early due to platinum status but take our time. Out of cabin early, breakfast in the MDRand then a cup or two of coffee. We sit and talk with others waiting to disembark. Around 9:30 am we set out to retrieve our luggage. Never plan  flights before 1pm.

[notplatinum]

5 hours ago, BarbieGee said:

Is getting off the ship (disembarkation) as soon as possible the best idea or would it be better to allow the bulk of passengers to leave and wait till later? We all live close to the port (Tampa) and there is no time crunch for us to leave the ship which is scheduled to dock at 8am. We could then have a leisurely breakfast without rush and avoid the crush receiving our baggage. 
Good idea or bad?

Or does the staff require all passengers to be off by a certain time?

What's the rush? You just spent time aboard relaxing. You live close. Taky your time