Why is Debarkation such a hassle?

[wrp96]

I do not believe this is totally true. For one thing, as far as I could tell, threre was only space for six (6) customs agents in the RCL terminal in Miami when we left Freedom last week. Also, I would think that RCL could work something out with the the government to get more agents, particulary if they agreed to pay for the extra agents (less than $150 for three hours per agent).

 

 

As I said in your review thread, you can't see it but there is space for a lot more immigration agents at the RCCL Miami terminal. They just have it divided into multiple areas so not all the desks are together.

 

It would not be a good idea for companies to start paying for the agents - because that could be seen as a bribe to the US government.

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We have been on two RCI cruises and have had such different experiences with both of them it's scary! On the Jewel last April diembarkment was a breeze in Ft. Lauderdale. We walked right off, found our bags and we were gone in a heartbeat. On the Explorer in Miami the year before we walked right off the ship with no problem, but hit a long non-moving line on the gangplank. We waited on the gangplank for over 2 hours! There were only 2 immigration people there that we saw. Someone said one agent was gone for a long time, so it was down to one. We had a late flight and one the last colors, but still did not leave the terminal until after 1 PM.

 

On both cruises we had one of the last colors. We thoroughly enjoyed our time before our colors were called. We vacated our cabin before 8 AM, had a leisurely breakfast in the Windjammer and then waited in an uncrowded public area. On the Jewel we grabbed lounge chairs in the solarium, read a book and also took naps while we chatted with new friends. Meanwhile there were throngs of people jammed into the Centrum, sitting on the stairs and floor, looking very grumpy. I''m not sure why, as the announcements made it very clear that ANY public area of the ship was available. It made it nice for us, though!;)

[Onessa]

Biggest issue on RCCI is there is little to do during debarkation time. We actually started bringing our own pingpong balls and some cheap golf balls so that we could play pingpong and mini-golf. You can generally find the paddles and putters, but few or no balls. On our last cruise (not RCCI) we were allowed to stay in our cabins until our number was called - and they had some decent movies on the tv.

 

RCCI seems to rather blatently be telling us that now that our seapasses are closed out and they can't make any more money on us, that they really don't care about our comfort or satisfaction. Seems short-sighted to me but so many of you repeat with the line that I suppose they don't need to take complaints too seriously :)

 

I agree the time to debark are too long and the lines should research ways of making it less long. They should also look into ways to make the time go faster so that it is less painful.

[HebeJebe]

It seems like Disney has spoiled me.

Here is what happens during debarkation on Disney.

As soon as the ship is cleared you can get in line (10-15 min wait) to leave the ship. As soon as your card is swiped you exit the ship and take the escalator down to a large room full of luggage. Everything is divided by color and the colors are assigned by cabin location. Once you locate your luggage you get in line for customs and then that's it.

What is it like on RCCL? I'm an obsessive planner if you haven't already guessed that.

[long time lurker]

I think part of the delay in debarkation is passengers who refuse to follow the rules. As other people said there are many who have not had their color called that insist on debarking anyway. To compund this problem RCI does not use any of the onboard staff to supervise the debarkation process. They are so afraid of offending anyone (see any thread regarding dining room dress code:D .) that they do not question those that leave the ship early. The staff is also not around to handle the confusion and mass of people in the public areas. Nobody likes dragging their carryon luggage and everyone is fighting for a space to sit. I believe if Royal Caribbean would allow people to say in their cabins as some other lines do then tempers would not be so hot and crowds would not be as bad. If people had a comfortable place to wait then maybe they would not be so overanxious to leave.

[Happy ks]

I think the problem is with Customs and Immigration, not with RCI, or any other cruise line. It's the same with international airports, sometimes you can sail right through, sometimes there is a wait.

 

I've disembarked at ports quickly, some slowly, every time seems to be a different experience.

 

Perhaps instead of RCI monitoring this thread, Customs and Immigration should. They obviously need more agents, all of our borders need more. The starting salary is over 42,000 per year, they don't have part timers. Since it is a specialized job title, with a lot of training, I hardly think they have alternate agents waiting in the wings when one may call in sick.

 

The cruise lines already advise that you not book a flight home before 12 noon. They want you off the ship, many of you have already stated there is nothing to do, the staff is busy preparing for the next group of cruisers, who are itching to get on just as early as possible.

 

This, for me, is under the same heading as the cruiselines wanting us to have passports (or other proper ID) to board the ship. The cruiseline doesn't want it, the gov't wants it, the cruiseline just wants to make sure they can get rid of you when your cruise time is up.

 

Perhaps, after everyone has to have passports, the lines may go a little quicker. Especially when the embedded chips are in place.

 

It doesn't surprise me that Disney does it better, Disney is a master at organizing lines!

[HebeJebe]

It doesn't surprise me that Disney does it better, Disney is a master at organizing lines!

 

Ain't that the truth! :D

[arabrab]

Part of the blame would be the names you hear over and over again to report to the pursers desk. You know the ones I'm talking about!! :eek: :D Yes those poeple who hold up everything...Once they finally show up and clear with customs, then disembarkation begins.

:D

 

***

 

I don't get this. Why hold up EVERYONE on the ship because a few miscreants haven't settled charges or something? Since you need to use your ship card to exit the ship they could certainly program the system to prohibit those folks from leaving until their account is cleared ?

[time4u2go]

Another thing to consider is that Disney's ships are much smaller than many of RCI's ships.

[cgc33a]

thanks for everyones great responses. I am glad I am not alone in how I feel about this subject. You would think the cruiselines would want people off quicker so they could turn the ship around faster but they need to get a clue. I guess no one really complains about this to them b/c they are on their way off the ship.

To clarify a point made by someone earlier about DCL: there are 2 breakfast times the last morning. Early diners (the 6 PM dinner times) have breakfast at about 7 AM; the late diners (Dinner at 8PM) eat at about 8 AM (I think I am a few minutes off, but you get the idea). So the early people leave the ship as they finish breakfast. Same with the next seating. In the past they have also had the buffet open a little later (didn't check to see if this was an option on my last DCL cruise in June). People staggered themselves off & can you believe it, the ship is suppossed to be empty of (returning) passengers by about 9 AM and it is!!!

 

RCCL GET A CLUE (or get more Customs agents working if that is what your hold up is)

[time4u2go]

Another thing to consider is that Disney typically has more families on board, and since the customs agents process one family at a time, that would mean less "groups" (families) to be processed overall for a similar-sized Disney ship, which could result in faster-moving lines for the same number of customs agents.

[katiel53]

In ports, ie Pt Canaveral, the luggage comes off on a carousel, just like at the airlines. The luggage is loaded onto the carousel by colors, but just like everthing else, the ME generation feels there is no reason to wait until the color he/she has is called. So, firstly, they block all the areas near where one would debark. Even repeated comments to move are obviously for someone other than the ME people.

 

They get off the ship, surprise, no luggage and they crowd the carousel area and create havoc for everyone else. I guess that's part of feeling more important than everyone else. If these people would just follow the cruiseline's instructions, they wouldn't have half the problems they do.

 

The same thing happens in ports that don't have carousels. The "important people" feel they have to be off first. Somehow, these are the same people who get on a flight and stuff everything they own into the overheads and the rest of us have no place for things.

 

As far as the paging of passengers, it is an annoyance to all of us waiting to get off. There are people who do feel they can get away without paying the huge bill they ran up, but until they show up, no one can debark. Can you imagine what it would be like allowing everyone else to get off and oops, you can't leave--what do you mean? I am leaving and off they go. Never happen!!!

 

If all passengers would be considerate of others, debarkation would be a lot smoother. I know I live in a dream world and think that someday, the ME generation will wake up and realize they aren't the only important people on earth.

[Calicruisefamily]

Last year on Voyager in the port of Miami it took so long to get off the ship and we almost missed our flight :eek: They only had 3 custom agents working. The color they gave us one of the final 3 :mad: It took so long to call our color that it turned out to be lunch time at Windjammers. I sure hope things go better in december.

:rolleyes: If only getting off the ship could go as fast as getting on :rolleyes:

Voyager W. Caribbean 12/16/06 "Our First AFT 1688"

Voyager E. Caribbean 11/05

S.S. Azure Seas Baja 11/90

[Nurse Daybreak]

I don't get this. Why hold up EVERYONE on the ship because a few miscreants haven't settled charges or something? Since you need to use your ship card to exit the ship they could certainly program the system to prohibit those folks from leaving until their account is cleared ?

 

I think the "miscreants" have not completed proper alien immigration forms.

[RevSmith]

It does seem a shame that there is such a long wait...but I have learned to deal with it...it is the same on the CB but that is the only Prince ship I have been on.

[g_bowden]

Of course the best solution to the slow clearance would be for the TSA to fly two or three agents to the last port of call before the cruise end. They would board and ride back with the ship and have plenty of time to review all documents for each PAX before the ship arrives in Port.

Your departure color would be pre-determined, assigned and noted on your seapass card (just like your dining room table now is)

Luggage would then be unloaded and sniffed by the dogs or whatever and then RCCL could call colors for departure. An overhead sign before the gang way would display which color or colors were cleared to depart and advise PAX that if their color has not been cleared yet, not to enter the departure line or they will be delayed.

Departing PAX would have to insert their seapass card and if their color had been called, they could proceed. If not the seapass card machine would just eat their seapass card. The rude line cutting PAX would have to go to the jogging track and do laps while the slowest purser trainee is sent to retreve the seapass cards deposited in the seapass machine for safekeeping until all of the other colors ahve been called. That would bring some order to the mass confusion that now ends a otherwise delightful cruise experience with a sour note.

[madforcruising]

I have experienced bad debarkations on RCCL too, though I have to say that this has been many years ago. Maybe I´ve been lucky but since maybe 5 years I only encountered smooth and quick debarkations.

 

 

Of course the best solution to the slow clearance would be for the TSA to fly two or three agents to the last port of call before the cruise end. They would board and ride back with the ship and have plenty of time to review all documents for each PAX before the ship arrives in Port.

 

Though I´m not sure it´s TSA agents I can say they already do that.

It´s not done on each itinerary but I´ve seen it on many cruises.

 

Customs & Immigration has been onboard before arriving back to the US.

There has been a time schedule, usually sorted by decks and cabin numbers and every guset had to go through immigration. The imigration people had lists to check off people who went through already and the ship had the Seapass machines like at the gangway to make a double check.

 

So you see your idea is not new to them and they do it already.

 

Of course people still need to stand in line and the standing in line just happens now on a vacation day instead of debarkation day:rolleyes: .

 

I´ve seen this process running really smooth with low waiting times (mostly when people follow the rules and show up at the time they should) and I´ve seen this procedure happen with a line going all the way through the ship sometimes on several floors.(Happens when people think "heck with the schedule" I´ve other things to do let me go when I want")

 

 

Your departure color would be pre-determined, assigned and noted on your seapass card (just like your dining room table now is)

Luggage would then be unloaded and sniffed by the dogs or whatever and then RCCL could call colors for departure. An overhead sign before the gang way would display which color or colors were cleared to depart and advise PAX that if their color has not been cleared yet, not to enter the departure line or they will be delayed.

Departing PAX would have to insert their seapass card and if their color had been called, they could proceed. If not the seapass card machine would just eat their seapass card. The rude line cutting PAX would have to go to the jogging track and do laps while the slowest purser trainee is sent to retreve the seapass cards deposited in the seapass machine for safekeeping until all of the other colors ahve been called. That would bring some order to the mass confusion that now ends a otherwise delightful cruise experience with a sour note.

 

Well I get the humor in your idea here, but you get it to the exact point.

I don´t think it´s up to the cruiseline here. They do their best with assigning colours ect. the problem is the pax here that always think s it´s ME ME ME and I don´t care about the rest of the world.

[erntrish]

In ports, ie Pt Canaveral, the luggage comes off on a carousel, just like at the airlines. The luggage is loaded onto the carousel by colors, but just like everthing else, the ME generation feels there is no reason to wait

 

It doesn't work that way in all ports. Actually, I believe in most debarkation ports the luggage claim "process" involves lining bags up by color- or in the wort case, just dumping them in disorganized piles (thankfully rare!).

 

Also, I don't believe the "ME" people you refer to are limited to a particular generation...I'm in my late 30s, follow the rules, and act responsibly. But not all in my age group do the same. THe same can be said for those in their 20s, as well as those in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. In my experience, the most demanding, me-first pax tend to be in the 45-65 demo.

[PADutchman]

That me me me is not a age group its just about everybody and on all cruise lines. Everybody wants to be first on and first off. Some are just alittle more wild then others, thats part of cruiseing

[grandsix]

We agree that that the primary culprits are those who do report on a timely manner to immigration and lack of customs agents. It is difficult to blame any of the cruise lines as they want you off their ships as soon as possible to begin the new process.

[Happy ks]

Of course the best solution to the slow clearance would be for the TSA to fly two or three agents to the last port of call before the cruise end. They would board and ride back with the ship and have plenty of time to review all documents for each PAX before the ship arrives in Port.

.

 

Except, it's not TSA agents who are working the Customs and Immigration for clearance of pax from the cruise ships. They are Border Patrol agents, there is a huge difference between the two. TSA agents are little more than minimum wage employees, with little training. Border Patrol Agents are highly qualified, highly trained and well paid. The difference is like comparing a detective to a first day security patrol personnel at the local mall.

 

grandsix is correct, the ship wants you off, they have no reason for delays. They have every interest in getting you off and have no desire to extend your stay.

 

The people who state that others need to settle balances aren't quite correct. For the accounts that are paid in cash, you don't get to charge any more to your cabin if you don't have a minimum balance, they write you a check at the end of the cruise, if there is any cash left. Accounts paid by CC are settled the night before, if there is a problem, you can be sure they will call you to the desk the night before disembarkation, not wait until morning.

 

The ship cannot start disembarkation until all foreign (to the US) pax are processed through immigration. I'm not completely sure, but I have my doubts that your seapass card would identify you as a foreigner to the US. How would the staff at the gangplank know how to identify people not cleared?

 

Bottom line, stop blaming the cruiselines, blame customs and immigration.

[Annieeee]

It is oh so easy to blame the cruiselines for the confusion during debarkation. They call colors for a reason. They tell you in your documents not to book early flights. Then here comes some passenger that says they have to get off first cause they have an early flight, or because they have to go to work early! Well gee dummy can't you read, you should have read your docs! So they get off and then they have to wait or their luggage to get cleared by customs. So they stand there clogging up the areaways making it difficult for those whose colors have been called to collect their luggage. Then there is always the family that has one customs form between oh say 5 people, and only two are in line before the customs official, so that holds up the line. I think encrypting your seapass card with a color is a good idea. They call colors and you can not debark until your color is called. If you try to get off, your seapass card should be collected and sent to the guest relations desk where you would have to go and pick it up AFTER all the colors have been called. Whoever suggested that had a brilliant idea. Think it should be sent to RCI executives.

We have not had a bad time of it during any debarkation process. We tend to book later flights and stay out of the way on the ship until most guests have already left.

Annieeee

[Sunny AZ Girl]

We have not had a bad time of it during any debarkation process. We tend to book later flights and stay out of the way on the ship until most guests have already left.

Annieeee

I also have booked late flights and stayed in an uncrowded public area. Of course, I'm the one they have drag of the ship while clinging to the edge of the carpet!:D

[time4u2go]

Bottom line, stop blaming the cruiselines...

I don't think the OP was specifically blaming the cruise line, they were just wondering how the experience can be so much better on one cruise line than on another.

[shoreless]

From my vast experience (one cruise :) ) on NCL, that was one thing they did really well. They told us the night before, approximately when our color would be called, and we were allowed to stay in our cabin until then. It took less than ten minutes total to leave the cabin, get off the ship, show our paperwork, find our luggage, get someone to put it on a cart, and get the luggage and us into a cab. This was in Seattle; I'm sure some ports must be easier than others. Embarkation was almost as quick -- from our Edgewater hotel room to our cabin on the ship in less than half an hour.