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Disembarkation tips


CALFROM

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Hello,

 

We are in a CLS on Allure in a few weeks. Our flights are at 3:30 so don’t need to feel rushed that day.  What is the latest we can disembark so we can make the morning as relaxed as possible.  Would you recommend self assist disembarking if you would like to get off the ship as late as possible?  
 

any insight is appreciated !

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Disembarkation is easy peasy.  

I don't know what your definition of "relaxing" is, but for us, it meant being prepared.  So with that in mind, we woke up early (by 6am), got breakfast, took our final showers and packed PJ's in our backpacks, left the room by 7:30, got our final lattes, and then sat for about 45 minutes in the Royal Theater until we were called get get the hell off of the ship. 🤪  I will say this, we were off of the ship as part of the second to the last group to disembark, but by the time our shuttle to the airport arrived, the ship was pretty much empty and the doors closed by 10:00.

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30 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

Disembarkation is easy peasy.  

I don't know what your definition of "relaxing" is, but for us, it meant being prepared.  So with that in mind, we woke up early (by 6am), got breakfast, took our final showers and packed PJ's in our backpacks, left the room by 7:30, got our final lattes, and then sat for about 45 minutes in the Royal Theater until we were called get get the hell off of the ship. 🤪  I will say this, we were off of the ship as part of the second to the last group to disembark, but by the time our shuttle to the airport arrived, the ship was pretty much empty and the doors closed by 10:00.

Yes to all of the above in terms of relaxing !  Maybe I will have to look into a quick something for us to do in FLL before getting to the airport , rather than wait at the airport for hours.

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45 minutes ago, CALFROM said:

Yes to all of the above in terms of relaxing !  Maybe I will have to look into a quick something for us to do in FLL before getting to the airport , rather than wait at the airport for hours.

Well, we were completely off of the ship in June around 9:15ish and our flight was for 5:30.  We didn't fly home until 2 and a half days later.  Moral of the story, don't think those 2 to 3 hours are plentiful.  They may not be.  

Also, when we finally got a flight home, we left the hotel at 11 am.  The train ride to the airport was supposed to by 25 minutes (we did it 4 times and knew it well).  Our flight was for 3pm.  We got to the gate at 2:30 because there was a baseball game AND a soccer game going on and the trains were full and/or breaking down from extra use.  Certainly not relaxing.

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We usually opt for assisted departure to not have to deal with our bags in the morning. 

We leave our cabin with all our carry ons with a few mins to spare to get to the main dining room right before it closes (usually 8:00 if I remember correctly).  Then we eat a leisurely breakfast taking our time with no rush.  We're usually one of if not the very last ones out of the dining room (we make sure to tell the waiter our plans so they aren't prevented from doing their turnaround day duties).  Then when we're finished we just stroll off the ship as usually our group number has already been called. 

We're usually off the ship around 9:30 which is about as late as you can reasonably get.  Also customs and baggage pickup are usually not too crowded at this time.  I find "waiting" in the dining room way more relaxing than any other common areas of the ship as it's significantly less crowded.  It's also amazing to me just how few people eat breakfast there on debarkation day.

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@CALFROMsince you are in a CLS I would decide weather your comfortable carrying your own luggage off or not.  Either way I would leave my room at 8 and head to the suite lounge, if your carrying off your luggage it can sit there.  Have a relaxing breakfast in CK and then if you want sit around the lounge for a bit.  Let the Suite Concierge know what your plans are.  If you like I'm sure the Concierge will escort you off the ship when you or the ship is ready for you to go.

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4 hours ago, CALFROM said:

Yes to all of the above in terms of relaxing !  Maybe I will have to look into a quick something for us to do in FLL before getting to the airport , rather than wait at the airport for hours.

Royal does offer excursions at the return port and from what I understand they will make sure your luggage is taken care of and that you get a ride to our airport if you elect to do one.

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I find this less stressful for me.  I do self-assist, so I do not have to worry about putting bags out the night before.  I can pack whenever I am ready; the night before of the morning of.  I get up and shower and be ready to leave the room at 8:00 am.  I wonder up to get a bite to eat at the last part of breakfast at the buffet.  Then I mosey off the ship about 9 am with my bags.

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We have a flight from JFK at 18.00; assume need to be at the airport for 15.00.  If they are going to kick us off pretty rapidly; say by 9am and assuming Custom is quick; that's roughly 5 hours to kill.

Thinking either to book the Manhattan highlights tour with airport transfer or is that literally 5 hours on a bus or potentially head back to Manhattan; find somewhere to store luggage then get lunch somewhere...

Love to hear suggestions and/or ideas on what do/where...

Thanks.

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1 hour ago, djandyb said:

We have a flight from JFK at 18.00; assume need to be at the airport for 15.00.  If they are going to kick us off pretty rapidly; say by 9am and assuming Custom is quick; that's roughly 5 hours to kill.

Thinking either to book the Manhattan highlights tour with airport transfer or is that literally 5 hours on a bus or potentially head back to Manhattan; find somewhere to store luggage then get lunch somewhere...

Love to hear suggestions and/or ideas on what do/where...

Thanks.

I did a Manhattan bus tour years ago.  I don't recall it being more than 3 hours and we got 45 minutes at one of the big museums and 45 minutes at the Empire State Building.  Having said that, I cannot answer your question because I don't know any details of the tour you are referring.  

I have been in Manhattan several times and can tell you that if you have 5 hours to spare, you can easily see a couple of things on foot and within 3 hours.  If you aren't dealing with luggage, then I suggest a walking/subway self-guided tour.  Go see the Empire State Building (although I liked Rockefeller Center views better), have a hot dog or Halal Guys off a cart, have a slice of pizza.

OR--do the Empire State Building and then take the subway (about 15 minutes) to Greenwich Village and try Russ and Daughters Bagels.  Right next door to Russ and Daughters is the world famous Katz Deli (one of my go to places).

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There's an official Royal Caribbean Excursion called Manhattan Highlights followed by a transfer to JFK.

Thinking instead of getting a taxi into Brooklyn (we are doing Manhattan in the days before the cruise) then finding somewhere to store our bags for a few hours...  Then head out for lunch/sightseeing before the flight back to the UK.

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1 hour ago, djandyb said:

There's an official Royal Caribbean Excursion called Manhattan Highlights followed by a transfer to JFK.

Thinking instead of getting a taxi into Brooklyn (we are doing Manhattan in the days before the cruise) then finding somewhere to store our bags for a few hours...  Then head out for lunch/sightseeing before the flight back to the UK.

Brooklyn is...okay.  If you have enough time between now and the cruise, make reservations for Peter Luger's.  We spent the day in Brooklyn and to be honest, Peter Luger's was the main highlight.  Everything else was more or less the same as any other borough.

Oh and taxis to brooklyn are expensive.  Try ride share options or subway.  Subway was our top choice for travel in NYC.

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On 8/3/2022 at 10:22 AM, CALFROM said:

Yes to all of the above in terms of relaxing !  Maybe I will have to look into a quick something for us to do in FLL before getting to the airport , rather than wait at the airport for hours.

We learned the hard way our airline would not let us check our luggage or issue boarding passes more than 3 hours prior to our flight.  We needed to wait for 90 minutes or so.  We had to find a spot in the unsecured lobby area to hangout.  All the restaurants/bars at the airport were in the secure area 😞

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I'm going to hijack to ask a question. I am on the NotS this weekend. I arrive back in port at 7am Monday. I have a zoom meeting for work at 7:30am before I can drive home. Should be done by 8. It sounds like I should be able to take my zoom meeting before I leave my stateroom and disembark. Is that the case? Or is it possible to leave right at 7 and be past customs by 7:30 so I can take the meeting off ship?

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2 hours ago, cjx said:

I'm going to hijack to ask a question. I am on the NotS this weekend. I arrive back in port at 7am Monday. I have a zoom meeting for work at 7:30am before I can drive home. Should be done by 8. It sounds like I should be able to take my zoom meeting before I leave my stateroom and disembark. Is that the case? Or is it possible to leave right at 7 and be past customs by 7:30 so I can take the meeting off ship?

Both could be possible. If you do self-disembarkment, you could leave around 7:10/7:15. It should be about 5-10min if you use a passport to get through customs. Or you can stay on the ship and have your meeting. They normally want you out of the room around 8:30, which is enough time to do your meeting. 

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2 hours ago, cjx said:

I'm going to hijack to ask a question. I am on the NotS this weekend. I arrive back in port at 7am Monday. I have a zoom meeting for work at 7:30am before I can drive home. Should be done by 8. It sounds like I should be able to take my zoom meeting before I leave my stateroom and disembark. Is that the case? Or is it possible to leave right at 7 and be past customs by 7:30 so I can take the meeting off ship?

I was on Mariner this morning and they didn't start debarkation until 730. They wanted folks out of their staterooms by 8:15. I would plan to do it on the ship, but you may not have reliable VOOM service in the cabin. You will know this by the last day so you can figure out where would be a good alternative..perhaps deck 14 in the public space by the Suite Lounge and Diamond Lounges.

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2 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

Both could be possible. If you do self-disembarkment, you could leave around 7:10/7:15. It should be about 5-10min if you use a passport to get through customs. Or you can stay on the ship and have your meeting. They normally want you out of the room around 8:30, which is enough time to do your meeting. 

 

1 hour ago, AshleyDillo said:

I was on Mariner this morning and they didn't start debarkation until 730. They wanted folks out of their staterooms by 8:15. I would plan to do it on the ship, but you may not have reliable VOOM service in the cabin. You will know this by the last day so you can figure out where would be a good alternative..perhaps deck 14 in the public space by the Suite Lounge and Diamond Lounges.

Thanks for the tips! I only have to be on voice, no video or screen share, so the ship wifi should hopefully be good enough. I could just call in, but I don't want to be stuck on the ship's cell towers, not sure if they still take priority at the LA port. 

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10 hours ago, cjx said:

 I could just call in, but I don't want to be stuck on the ship's cell towers, not sure if they still take priority at the LA port. 

Ship cell towers won't be on when they're in port, so calling in will be an option. Again, service will be dependent where you are on the ship. I had zero cell signal in my cabin.

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Along the same lines(-ish) -

Is it feasible to disembark at Southampton, and make it to Heathrow for US-bound flights the same day? Most of them cap at around 2pm for the latest, avoiding the dreaded "+1".  We are still a ways out, but trying to get arms around what's reasonable, time-wise.

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1 hour ago, brgreens said:

Along the same lines(-ish) -

Is it feasible to disembark at Southampton, and make it to Heathrow for US-bound flights the same day? Most of them cap at around 2pm for the latest, avoiding the dreaded "+1".  We are still a ways out, but trying to get arms around what's reasonable, time-wise.

I believe the ship will port at 6am and maybe pax will be allowed off starting at 7am. So, any flights after 12pm will be fine. 

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6 hours ago, AshleyDillo said:

Ship cell towers won't be on when they're in port, so calling in will be an option. Again, service will be dependent where you are on the ship. I had zero cell signal in my cabin.

That's good to know, that was a big concern of mine. I have The Key, so I'll be in the MDR for breakfast1 (I think that's where it's at?), which ends at 9:30am so I should have signal. And if it uses shore cell towers, I should have hotspot access as well. Thanks for the tip!

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