Princess Rolls out new disembarking process

[Smartcookie]

I would LOVE it if we could have lunch in the dining room on embarkation day!

 

I hope we get some reports back soon as to whether they're really going to implement this.

[Pam in CA]

Wonder how it will play out for Platinum and Elite members.

Platinum and Elite have their own lounge with coffee, pastries, etc. We just hung out in the Platinum/Elite lounge and they took good care of us, letting us know what numbers were being called.

[Pam in CA]

On Disney you go to your assigned dining room for breakfast. Ours was 7am. When you are done eating, you simply walk off the ship. No announcements, no colors. Seems the pax were spread out since the breakfast dining times were also spread out. We also used the DCL transfer the airport. That included our luggage being directly taken to the airport. Once we were off we didn't need to hunt for luggage, we simply got on the bus.

But that only works if you have an assigned dining room, no? And are you saying that you had an assigned dining time? Was that for the whole cruise or just disembarkation day? I'm a little confused as to how this could work on Princess with Anytime dining or why this is better than going to an assigned lounge at a particular time with the new disembarkation process.

[paul929207]

We had the new disembarkation on the Royal in Rome in November. It worked well.

[regnig]

Platinum and Elite have their own lounge with coffee, pastries, etc. We just hung out in the Platinum/Elite lounge and they took good care of us, letting us know what numbers were being called.

 

Pam you answered my question before I could ask it, many thanks.

 

Does anyone know where in the disembarkation process they schedule those people who do not have flights to make? Since we will be driving to/from Fort Lauderdale for the first time I'm just curious as to when "our" time for disembarkation might occur.

[OnTheBrink]

So at a certain time, we'll go to a certain public room. Are the times all different? What do we do before that time? Can we stay in our cabin? Wander around? How long do you typically wait in the assigned room?

[bdjam]

I would LOVE it if we could have lunch in the dining room on embarkation day!

 

I hope we get some reports back soon as to whether they're really going to implement this.

Cruise News Daily (www.cruisenewsdaily.com) reports that part of improved embarkation services will be that one of the restaurants will be open for lunch.

[TinaLee]

Our traveling companions on our next two cruises are pretty much spread all over the ship - will there be any issues with all of us having the same disembarkation location?? How would we arrange to all stay together during the process? We had assumed we'd just wait in the Platinum/Elite lounge, but it sounds like that's been done away with now?

[KFL]

On our October cruise, we (4) waited in the Elite lounge until we were told it was time to move to the Handicap area for assisted departure. So the Elite lounge was open then.

[Coral]

Crystal had a "no-announcement disembarkation". It was a tad bit different but excellent. I am glad Princess made this change.

[MichCook]

Sound like a positive change.

 

Found this:

 

"PRINCESS HITS A HOME RUN - MAKES CRUISING EASIER

 

<SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Sylfaen"><FONT face=Arial>Princess has announced that they have successfully implemented new and improved disembarkation procedures. In the past, passengers were instructed to wait patiently in public lounges and disembark the ship by designated group colors. With our new procedures, passengers are asked to meet at a host lounge at a certain time and thereafter are promptly escorted by staff to the gangway for disembarkation. The benefit of this is that our atriums are no longer overcrowded and passengers can better plan their last morning on the ship.

[teachergal29]

So at a certain time, we'll go to a certain public room. Are the times all different? What do we do before that time? Can we stay in our cabin? Wander around? How long do you typically wait in the assigned room?

 

My question exactly. What do we do before our assigned time to meet? Can we stay and enjoy our cabin like we were able to do on HAL (which was fabulous!!)?? Does anyone know the answer???

[Host CJSKIDS]

But that only works if you have an assigned dining room, no? And are you saying that you had an assigned dining time? Was that for the whole cruise or just disembarkation day? I'm a little confused as to how this could work on Princess with Anytime dining or why this is better than going to an assigned lounge at a particular time with the new disembarkation process.

 

You do have an assigned dining time throughout the cruise and that will determine your breakfast time on disembarkation day. You can chose to not have a sit down breakfast and have it at the buffet or skip breakfast completely and simply walk off the ship.

With Disney, once the ship has been cleared you are welcome to leave. We always take our time since we're driving right home from the port so we're not in any hurry, but it's a real pleasure.

[honey8572]

I think they were using that process when we disembarked the Dawn after New Years--only problem was that we were doing express walk-off because it was announced that it would be a late disembarkation (like 9 am) and were afraid to wait much later due to our flight time. In SD when the Dawn is the 2nd ship the non-US passengers had to do Customs in the dining room, and it must have been over 1/2 of the ship that was non-US. The crowd for the express walk-off was waiting to get in the dining room (where we were supposed to meet) early (like 7 am) even though 8:15 was the assigned time. The letter we got about express walk-off didn't say that the non-US people did Customs at 7 am in that dining room and that you wouldn't be able to get in there early. We finally got into the dining room at about 8:30, only to turn around and walk right off (non-US people were late getting there and the Customs people didn't release the ship until they were all checked). There were people yelling and screaming about having flights at 9 am (!), but that's a different topic.

 

Still, I think it's a better plan--I'll see in March on the CB.:)

 

Doodie

[cruiserjanet]

We like the new disembarkation process. It was so nice to be able to enjoy some last moments in our room and on our balcony without being bombarded with disembarkation announcements. It's hard enough saying goodbye to the ship as it is. The whole process actually went smoother than flip day.

[mycruz]

For some reason it didn't work on the Emerald 12/6-12/16 Seinfeld cruise! While in the Platinum/Elite lounge I thought wow! this is really nice and civilized. Once our color was called in the lounge and we entered the atrium area it was pure chaos! I'm still not sure what happened that morning but I hope I don't ever have to endure another debarkation like that one.

[mycruz]

For some reason it didn't work on the Emerald 12/6-12/16 Seinfeld cruise! While in the Platinum/Elite lounge I thought wow! this is really nice and civilized. Once our color was called in the lounge and we entered the atrium area it was pure chaos! I'm still not sure what happened that morning but I hope I don't ever have to endure another debarkation like that one.

 

On Disney, there is rotational dining. The dining room you are in the last night is the dining room you have breakfast in the last morning. Your server makes sure you understand where and when you need to be for breakfast. I agree, it is one of the most enjoyable disembarkation I've experienced.

[bdjam]

We had assumed we'd just wait in the Platinum/Elite lounge, but it sounds like that's been done away with now?

It does? The Platinum Embarkation lounge is still available.

[NSWP]

When Regal arrived in Sydney on her last cruise, Oct 2..we waited in Platinum/Elite Lounge (Show Auditorium) That was good and civil, but on being called, as usual had to battle through hundreds milling around the gangway.

 

ANYWAY..that is history..NOW with Sun Princess in Australia, does anybody know if this new disembarkation procedure has been implemented on Sun Princess? If so, did it work?

 

Cheers..Les:cool:

[MichCook]

Previous post wasn't complete with full copy/paste. Sorry

 

Princess has announced that they have successfully implemented new and improved disembarkation procedures. In the past, passengers were instructed to wait patiently in public lounges and disembark the ship by designated group colors. With our new procedures, passengers are asked to meet at a host lounge at a certain time and thereafter are promptly escorted by staff to the gangway for disembarkation. The benefit of this is that our atriums are no longer overcrowded and passengers can better plan their last morning on the ship.

 

The result is a more relaxed, express process with more happy passengers. This has "got" to be a big improvement.

 

The staggered embarkation times are determined by the flight departures of each passenger. Therefore, the first group to disembark the ship would be passengers with scheduled morning flights and so on.

 

We are pleased to report that passenger and crew feedback have been very positive. To date, the program has been implemented fleet-wide, with the exception of Diamond Princess where implementation will depend on the assigned pier while in the Port of Los Angeles and Sapphire Princess, who’ll begin their new procedures at the end of the Asia season.

 

Got it from: http://www.travelpleasegoaway.com/5541365_46055.htm

[Pam in CA]

My question exactly. What do we do before our assigned time to meet? Can we stay and enjoy our cabin like we were able to do on HAL (which was fabulous!!)?? Does anyone know the answer???

No. You can't or shouldn't stay in your cabin. That disrupts and holds up the stewards and cleaning crews who are preparing the cabins for the next passengers. Just go to breakfast in either the dining room or the buffet and head to your assigned lounge at the time indicated. It works pretty well.

[Pam in CA]

I read in Cruise News Daily (http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com/) tonight that Princess is also going to start allowing passengers to board as soon as the ship is cleared. Your cabin may not be ready but you could always drop off your carry-on and go explore the ship. They are also going to offer "restaurant" lunch in addition to going to the buffet.

 

It would be fabulous if this were offered on our Sapphire cruise. Can't wait to get onboard the ship and get going!

[Atomica]

We had this disembarkation process on the Crown in September and found it very easy - with a few exceptions. We noticed that there were a few groups, still hours away from being called, that were crowding our disembarkation spot, forcing everyone coming in at the appropriate time to sit on the floor. Then there were the people who hadn't paid attention to their disembarkation time or flights, and were running up and down the corridor screaming at the first attendant they saw to let them off.

 

So when I say easy, it was easy for us - because we followed the directions. I'd really like to see a disembarkation process like Holland America's though - they still use color coded tags, but pax can remain in their cabins until they are called. I know that delays the cleaning of cabins, but it meant tripping over less passengers on the way out :)

[judyjudy56]

Hopefully there will be lunch available in the dining room this Saturday when we board the Golden. Also looking forward to the new disembarkation system.

Has anyone recently found dining rooms open for lunch on embarkation day and if so on what ship?

[Pam in CA]

I'd really like to see a disembarkation process like Holland America's though - they still use color coded tags, but pax can remain in their cabins until they are called. I know that delays the cleaning of cabins, but it meant tripping over less passengers on the way out :)

Actually, with the new process, there's no tripping over any passengers unless something unusual has happened and there are delays. When we disembarked, we just walked from the lounge off the ship. No going through crowds, no tripping over people. It couldnt' have been easier or more efficient. Even on HAL, I found people wandering around and congregating around the departure area.