Would you rather……..

[Vancity Cruiser]

Everyone here, myself included, loves to get on a cruise ship as early as possible on embarkation day to begin enjoying the ship and everything it has to offer. The downside to this is on disembarkation day we are kicked off the ship much earlier than I think most of us would like so the next passengers can get on early. I’m curious how many here would like more lines to adopt Virgin Cruises schedule where the earliest embarkation time you can get is 1 or 2 pm but you don’t need to disembark until 10 or 11am?

[smokeybandit]

I like to get on a ship as early as I can and get off as early as I can.

[OCSC Mike]

18 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I’m curious how many here would like more lines to adopt Virgin Cruises schedule where the earliest embarkation time you can get is 1 or 2 pm but you don’t need to disembark until 10 or 11am?

No thanks.

[CanHardlyWait]

To get on is exciting and you cannot wait to get started. But after a week I don't even have breakfast, I'm full and just want to see my dog. LOL.

[tonyfsu21]

I like to get on the ship as early 10:30am and off the ship as soon as the ship is cleared by customs. The vacation is over and it’s time to go home and get the new round of guests on as early as possible.

[Ryan79]

It sounds good in theory, but I like to get off ASAP because the trip home is already going to be long enough. 

[teddy]

Living in northern New England, most cruise ports are a long day’s travel from home… before any travel delays or cancellations.  Because of this, we like to get off early and start the trek home.   Even if we are planning on staying an extra night in the port area, we are still ready to get home. 
 

The exception to this was when we cruised out of Boston last fall.  We sauntered off the ship and were home before noon.  That was nice.  

[Vancity Cruiser]

17 minutes ago, teddy said:

 

Living in northern New England, most cruise ports are a long day’s travel from home… before any travel delays

 

I hear that. I’m from Vancouver Canada so have to traverse the continent when cruising from Florida but on the plus side we gain 3 hours going home

[teddy]

15 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I hear that. I’m from Vancouver Canada so have to traverse the continent but on the plus side we gain 3 hours going home

Oof.  I never even thought about time zones 

[SweetPea]

I'm in the minority obviously, but I'd love that. Neither of us are morning people and never get to the port before 12:30 anyway, vacation or not. 

[OCSC Mike]

46 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I’m from Vancouver Canada so have to traverse the continent when cruising from Florida

In 2018, after 10 days on land in Alaska followed by a 7-night cruise southbound, I spent half a day in your fine airport waiting to take a red eye to Chicago en route to my home here in Florida. That was a very long day/night.

More power to you traveling all the way here to take a cruise.

[tjcruisers]

Not being near any cruise ports we like to disembark as early as possible to get on the road. The wife and I are thinking about getting a vacation place in Florida in the future, in that case might change our mind

[FionaMG]

3 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Everyone here, myself included, loves to get on a cruise ship as early as possible on embarkation day to begin enjoying the ship and everything it has to offer. The downside to this is on disembarkation day we are kicked off the ship much earlier than I think most of us would like so the next passengers can get on early. I’m curious how many here would like more lines to adopt Virgin Cruises schedule where the earliest embarkation time you can get is 1 or 2 pm but you don’t need to disembark until 10 or 11am?

I would absolutely prefer this. I hate, hate, hate having to be up at the crack of dawn to get off the ship, especially if we're flying home transatlantic on disembarkation day, since those flights are overnighters that don't leave till later in the day. Those extra few hours on board would make a world of difference to us.

[Vancity Cruiser]

3 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

More power to you traveling all the way here to take a cruise.

We just kind of accept it since we love to cruise the Caribbean. Unfortunately it’s not just the time but the airfare costs which sometime match or exceed the cost of the cruise

[Ryan79]

51 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

We just kind of accept it since we love to cruise the Caribbean. Unfortunately it’s not just the time but the airfare costs which sometime match or exceed the cost of the cruise

Same here! I’m in LA and have a $6k cruise booked that will cost about $6-7k to fly my family out to San Juan to embark onto the ship.

[Melnie1]

We would love this, too! We are not morning people at all and even having another hour before having to disembark would be wonderful for us. We would gladly embark one hour later at the start in order to leave one hour later at the end.

[tonyfsu21]

6 hours ago, Ryan79 said:

Same here! I’m in LA and have a $6k cruise booked that will cost about $6-7k to fly my family out to San Juan to embark onto the ship.

This here is dedication^^^^^ I can’t believe the cost of airfare nowadays. 

[ScottD]

Honestly, it doesn't matter either way... we are fine getting off in the morning, gives us more time to get to the airport or in the case of our last cruise, more time to hang out and explore a little.   And we don't rush to get on... around noon-1pm is fine with us so we can grab a snack, a drink then basically head to unpack. 

[Biaggio]

Early on, early off thank you

[DunkelBierJay]

I follow the early on early off sentiment in this thread. With no services except MDR and Windjammer on disembarkation going on, I would just feel ancy and want to get off the ship. My only wish is that there was a decent lounge in the Orlando or Jacksonville terminal that is pre-TSA, because I typically sit around for a few hours with my luggage to take advantage of lower fares.

[Bowen]

Early on, early off for me. 

[Mike.s]

As we have to kill time waiting for a late afternoon or early evening transatlantic flight a later departure fom the ship would be great, but accept we're part of a small minority.

[She Sails Away]

Although I'm always sad to see disembarkation day come, once it's here I want off the minute the ship is open. I am ready to get home and usually anxious to get straight to the airport and catch the earliest flight possible. I also would not enjoy having to wait until after 1 o'clock to get on the ship on that first day. That's half your very first vacation day wasted.

[Babsy47]

I sometimes enjoy the later boarding.  After 1:30, there are no lines, you can go straight to the cabin, and most eating alternatives are open without so many people.  Of course, if you eliminated the earlier boarding, these advantages would disappear.

[PL8SWPR]

I'd prefer another hour in the AM to leave for sure, especially when it seems like most flights back home for us have been either too early, or mid afternoon. 

I don't like having to set an alarm so early on the last day.  Would much rather take our time.  Would lead to a more relaxing disembarkation process.

[WAYNO]

The earlier the better, both in getting on and getting off the boat. 

Flying from the Pacific Northwest, often to Florida, we're battling very long days, against time zones, and with often very inconvenient flight options.  Earlier bark/de-bark times give us a larger window to find doable airline connections, as well as shuttle and/or  motel connections.

[Jolly Ogre]

NO NO NO... board as soon as possible!!

[DublinFC]

On 4/30/2023 at 6:18 PM, Vancity Cruiser said:

Everyone here, myself included, loves to get on a cruise ship as early as possible on embarkation day to begin enjoying the ship and everything it has to offer. The downside to this is on disembarkation day we are kicked off the ship much earlier than I think most of us would like so the next passengers can get on early. I’m curious how many here would like more lines to adopt Virgin Cruises schedule where the earliest embarkation time you can get is 1 or 2 pm but you don’t need to disembark until 10 or 11am?

A friend of mine was just telling me about the Virgin embarkation and disembarkation times.  I like that passengers are not rushed off of Virgin in the mornings, but like the early embarkation of Royal.  But, with the later departure for Virgin getting on the ship at 1 or 2p is close to the same time for Royal embarkation to sail times.

[jticarruthers]

Depends on the cruise, for the most part though I am up and ready to get going early so the later debarkation wouldn't do much for me.

[CrimsonCruiser]

I think I might be in a serious minority here lol.

I like to get on early-ish. I like to sleep in and usually we plan our boarding time around when our hotel check out is so we have time to have breakfast, repack whatever we unpacked the night before and then comfortably head to the shuttle and port.

And when it comes to leaving, I do wish we could get off a little later. Mainly, again, to sleep in, do a final did-i-get-everything check and still have some time for breakfast and to say a mental goodbye to ship without feeling rushed or frazzled. (Our departure from Allure last year may have been our most relaxed departure - we got some pastries from the Central Park Cafe and enjoyed them while waiting in the champagne bar for the suite departure time - but even that wasn't relaxing because we had to be alert and ready to jump up and go when the concierge came by)

so my ideal is early on late off.

but if i had to shuffle it all, i'd have no problem late on late off. More time to enjoy the city we're leaving from.

[DoomSlayer]

I like early on and early off.  We are usually home and resting by 3pm which makes for a nice end of the vacation -- Especially if I have work the next day.  We live in the Dallas area and usually sail out of Galveston.

[mac66]

We've found it better to get on later. Just walk on, the food venues are less crowded and less waiting around for the ship to depart. Not big drinkers so drinking half the day before the ship leaves is not for us.  No problem getting up and off early for us.

[mk-ultra]

I prefer a boarding time that opens around 11.  Not so much for the additional ship time, but because most hotels (unless you're booked under one of the deals that allow late check-out) require you to be out of the room by 11.  Then again, with early embarkation you also have to clear the ship early at the end... and you run into the 3 PM check-in time for most hotels.

Either way, I like snagging the earliest possible embarkation slot so I have some time to explore the ship before it fills up.

[rjweber3]

On 4/30/2023 at 5:18 PM, Vancity Cruiser said:

I’m curious how many here would like more lines to adopt Virgin Cruises schedule where the earliest embarkation time you can get is 1 or 2 pm but you don’t need to disembark until 10 or 11am?

Like several above, No Thanks.

[CPCruiser4Life]

I have one goal....first one on the ship and first one off. 

[FSUFAN]

The Virgin schedule sounds good, but I want to get early on and then get off and go home.