Getting off of the ship was awful

[Ajax586]

We had a great time on our 4 night Bahama and Coco Cay cruise on Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, but trying to get off of the ship was a disaster.  We were given a time to get off of 9:10 so we got up at 6:00 to be sure to be out of the stateroom by 8:00 as requested and still have time to get a bite to eat before going to our appointed area.We had a lot of walking to do and when we got there we were told to go back to where we had just come from and just get in line.  When we got there it was bedlam, there was one line and every one coming from all parts of the ship had to get into 1 line.  I found out later that only one gangway was open.  I am sure we walked for more than an hour.  Our driver was there waiting for us since 10:00 and it was well after 11:30 when we finally got off of the ship.  My main complaint is that with the ship wifi why could they not let us know that we were going to be in line for quite a while and maybe make some accommodations for th older people who, like me have trouble walking and standing for a long time, My friend an I are both 80 years old and this was dreadful after a wonderful cruise.

[twangster]

I hope you mentioned this in your post cruise survey.

[smokeybandit]

It happens sometimes. Lots of reasons things hit snags on disembarkation, many outside the purview of RC.

Last summer on Navigator, I was one of the last ones off the ship (literally didn't get off until the count was at 100) and still waited over an hour in line for customs because they sent half the CBP staff on duty to do crew inspections.

 

[WAYNO]

Our last couple of de-bark's have been dreadfully slow, and dreadfully un-organized.

 

That said, I've learned to expect these snags, book a late flight, and life goes on wonderfully.

[tonyfsu21]

I can’t imagine people still getting off the ship at 11:30am. By that time, I would have already been 3 beers deep at the pool bar after embarkation!

[DoomSlayer]

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It happens sometimes. Lots of reasons things hit snags on disembarkation, many outside the purview of RC.
 

Yup.  Last trip I was on, they had to pause disembarkation for a while because CBP and the escalators at the terminal were getting backed up.  CBP issue, not Royal.  And then my luggage was missing when I went to get it.  Someone mistakenly took my bag.  Royal agents spent an hour looking through the luggage terminal with me and were all extremely helpful and friendly while trying to help me find my luggage.  They helped me file a lost luggage claim and pointed out what the next steps were.  We left the terminal and I got a call from the person who had my luggage as we were approaching downtown Houston.  Fortunately they were nearby and we found a Flying J where I could get my bag from them.  I called Royal's loss management line and told them I had my bags and what happened and that they could close out my issue.  Shortly later, the Royal agent at the terminal called me to verify I got my bag back so she could release the other bag to the person that mistakenly took my bag originally.  The agent said she wanted to verify because my bag was their original priority.  Once again, not a Royal issue and it could have happened at the airport too.

[wordell1]

If you are physically able, I highly recommend the self-assist walk off debarkation.  It avoids all of that mess.

[RafaellaCG]

5 hours ago, wordell1 said:

If you are physically able, I highly recommend the self-assist walk off debarkation.  It avoids all of that mess.

YMMV, but when we disembarked the difference was only about 15 minutes (my dad self assisted, the rest of us waited for our luggage to be ready). Of course, all in all it was more, since we stayed on the ship extra time too. 

[bhee]

Recently sailed on Mariner of the Seas, normally they have two gangways , one forward and one aft and it is a wonderful thing, you are off the ship in no time. Well the aft  gangway wasn't working (the line I was in) so things gat snarled. Don"t know who owns those rolling gangways...Other than that fun was had by all!

[OCSC Mike]

8 hours ago, wordell1 said:

If you are physically able, I highly recommend the self-assist walk off debarkation.  It avoids all of that mess.

I also enjoy not having to pack & get my suitcase out in the hallway the last night.

The old fashioned way went smoothly last time we sailed with extended family as well but that was in a suite so it’s not really apples to apples.

[brdjnr]

@Ajax586 sorry you had that experience, ending a great trip like that stinks.  We have had one tough experience disembarking, and it was about 10% my fault.  I zigged when I should've zagged (a fact my wife didnt let go unnoticed lol)

[HeWhoWaits]

It's a YMMV thing and not just on Royal.

Our recent Holland America Panama Canal Transit ended in San Diego. Customs came on board to do the clearances and instructions were to wait in your stateroom or a public area until your group was called to get in line. They were supposedly only allowing you to get in line once your group was called to the line.

The first group was called to proceed to Customs at close to the scheduled time. Then no announcements were made for over 45 minutes, at which time they announced that all of the first SIX groups were free to depart the ship (not just go to customs, but to debark). Needless to say, the line for customs clearance was a complete cluster at this point. We ended up in line for about an hour when we should have been about 10-15 minutes had they followed their own published procedure.

Similar to @Ajax586, my mother, who had prearranged departure assistance with a wheelchair, was forced to stand and walk through this process BEFORE being able to get her wheelchair.

[wordell1]

6 hours ago, RafaellaCG said:

YMMV, but when we disembarked the difference was only about 15 minutes (my dad self assisted, the rest of us waited for our luggage to be ready). Of course, all in all it was more, since we stayed on the ship extra time too. 

I usually get off early with the first few groups. I will typically get up early and eat breakfast but I don't really enjoy just hanging around the ship on debarkation day.

[Ajax586]

Thank you so much for all of your comments.  Just to add, people who were self assist were stuck in this line also.  My main complaint was that no one let us know what was going on, we were still on the ships wifi it would have been easy for them to let us know.

[Jill]

6 hours ago, wordell1 said:

I usually get off early with the first few groups. I will typically get up early and eat breakfast but I don't really enjoy just hanging around the ship on debarkation day.

We’re the same. Get off early with self assist. We don’t even eat breakfast. Get off, get in the car and find a Denny’s or IHOP