Disembarking Question (Wonder)

[RSJC]

How does Disney (Wonder) handle Disembarking? I have been on other 7-day cruises Carnival & NCL. Does Disney handle it differently? What I have seen on the others is that they call groups by colored luggage tags. That has always taken hours it seemed like.

Thanks

 

[hydster]

With Disney you just go to breakfast and then walk off the ship. No number calling or Color calling you just walk off. When we did the Wonder in 2002 we went to breakfast at Parrot Cay with our day bags with us. Ate at our leisure (like 30 min total) and then grabbed our bags and walked right off the ship without any kind of a wait. I have never understood why it is so hard for other lines to accomplish the same thing..must just be Disney pixie dust! We were on a RCCL cruise once and it took us almost 3 hours to get off the ship by the time all the colors were called. I thought I was going to go insane by the time we got our luggage and on our way back to the airport! Disney is definitely EASY to get off from!

Heidi

 

[NCRedding]

I agree with Heidi: love the DCL system. With late dining, I have enver had to wait more than a few minutes in line to leave. The luggage is much easier to find than on our RCCL cruise, and there was no waiting for the tag color to be called. When we rode the shuttle to Avis after one cruise, the driver commented that he didn't know how Disney did it, but he was able to finish every DCL shuttle trip before Carnival or RCCL started unloading any passengers.

 

[RSJC]

boy that sounds great !!!!!!! we will be driving up to Datona Beach that day

 

[TheWog]

Your bags are sorted by character tag as well and all located together (for the most part). It's really a great system.

 

[inkkognito]

The disembarkation process is one of the BEST things about DCL! We have sailed on RCCL four times, and all four it was a total joke. They use that "call the luggage tag color method" that does indeed literally take hours. Disney's system of allowing you to walk off whenever you want is so smooth and efficient. I have never figured out why other cruise lines don't do the same. I sure hope their process with be the same if (when) they sail out of California.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Jillpie]

I'm not quite getting how exactly they do this. This will be our first cruise and all I can compare it to is how they store our luggage at the resorts in those different compartments. Do you just give them your name and they go searching for it? And what about the whole "customs" thing, I'm really not familiar with that at all.

 

[hydster]

Jill--The night before you disembark the room steward will give you luggage tags based on your deck and room. When we stayed in 8550 we had Tinkerbell. After we ate breakfast we walked off the ship and into a big warehouse type place where they had the luggage sorted by Character you just looked for yours and then they had all the luggage together for each room. It is very simple and painless (*except for that whole going off the ship and leaving it for the next group*) also the night before you disembark they will give you customs forms where you fill out what you bought on the cruise. You declare everything and you are allowed an allowance without having to pay duty or customs charges but I can't remember what.

HTH
Heidi

 

[inkkognito]

And you don't even have to put your luggage out to be taken to the terminal if you don't want to. You can just keep it with you and then carry it off the next morning.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com

 

[Jillpie]

Heidi, that was perfect, thank you. I like to picture in my mind how things worked, that was great. Now, this customs thing...so would I have to list every single thing I buy on board or does this just mean anything I buy on the islands (Nassau in my case)?

 

[tvguy]

Okay, I'll be the trouble maker. I don't like how DCL gets you off the ship as compared to other lines.
I prefer the system were to get off the ship based on what time your flight leaves. It was a zoo getting off the ship. NOW, the organization on the pier was perfect, just getting off the ship was the mess.
We were on the 12-27-03 New Years Eve Eastern. It was a full ship and that may have been the difference. We had late breakfast (8 am). At 8:30 we got in line to get off the ship. The line started all the way in the very back of Parrot Cay, ran past the Promenade Lounge, and through the lobby to the exit. It took us 45 minutes from the time we got in line to get off the ship.
NOW, once on the pier, it took us less than 15 minutes to get our luggage, clear immigration and customs, check our bags at AA and get on the DCL bus.
At the airport we heard the last folks didn't make it off the ship until 10:15.
My two cents.

 

[aprilgail2]

I dont remember the exact time we got off the ship but it was pretty early....we skipped early breakfast and got in line to debark, there was about a hundred people in front of us, we walked off pretty quickly....within minutes a porter had our luggage, it was in the trunk of our car and by 10am we were well into the state of Florida heading back home to NY! It was quick and painless. Customs took a couple minutes to get through, nice and quick.