Getting it all back in the suitcases
The last night of the cruise can be pretty hectic. Your bags except what you will wear the next day are expected to be in the hall before you head off to dinner that night.
Prior to this night you will find in the the Princess Patter or the other newspaper that the cruise line publishes, a list of colors of baggage tags. This is used to store your bags in a particular spot prior to you leaving. You will be issued a series of tags that bear this color in your communication slot outside your room. If you need more of your color they may be obtained at the pursers desk. The pursers desk is also the place that if your feel that you have been categorized with a time that will not allow you to meet your connections, you can plead your case. We are nearly always the last to leave the ship since we go out and get in our car to drive home.
Bags are tagged and but out at dinner the night before so that the crew members can hustle them down to the cargo hold and get them to a particular area so that you can find them the next day. An airline may have as many as 200 passengers, a cruise line will have over 3000. This is the way you can get to your bags without looking through 10,000 bags. Because of this huge effort, elevator use is somewhat slow during this time.
The Last Night in the Ship
The coast of Northern California is nothing to sneeze about regarding its intensity. The last night of the cruise will probably be the roughest. When the ship finally makes it around the bend in the predawn morning it all calms down. The sight of the Golden Gate Bridge in the premorning fog is pretty cool. Bring a coat and enjoy the lights of the city.
On some cruises depending on the nationalities of the crew and the passengers, an immigration check is made the minute the ship reaches dock. If this occurs, a member of each cabin must cue and carry the passports of all that are in the cabin. This can be pretty crazy especially since no one can get off the ship until the sweep is made. This can occur between 6 and 7:30 am. Those that are not complying are targeted with an all call. Luckily this has not happened in the last several cruises we have made.
Tips for the Disembark
Many people run for the buffet the morning of the disembarkation. As there as so many people that need to get off the ship not everyone should be running to the exits all at once. Having a nice made to order breakfast will help your transition to the real world. A cautionary note: The bar tags are all completed so if you plan to buy a drink before you leave, it will not happen. This is even true in regard to a soda. Coffee is provided at some of the waiting stations and water and some juice. But my first suggestion is to bring your walk off bags and go for a nice breakfast. It could be along time before you see your lunch. I really don't plan on being on solid ground until 11:00.
Be sure to pack your cellphone with your in your carryout bags. You will be close enough to call your land world on your trusty plan. You will be able to upload the photos you took for free as you wait for you color to be call of finish that book you started. There may be up to three hours to wait before you can get off the ship. Some folks find a spot to sleep a little longer.
You will be out of your cabin by 9 am. Those without immediate colors will be relaxing in one of the assigned public areas. This is a good time to fill out your comment cards. Give some kudos to the people who have been working for you. The biggest comment card will occur when you get home and are asked to take a survey of your opinion of the various aspects of the cruise. On the day of your departure, you will not see your room steward or your table waiters. If you plan to tip the room steward in person, or the table steward, it is best to do it on the afternoon before your last night. A tip is included in your daily cruise card tab. It will be forwarded to you the night before you leave. Be sure to look it over a day or two before it gets published to your room. This will allow you to clear up any discrepancies. The pursers desk will print you an itemized total at anytime during the cruise. Your cruise card tag will be charged to your credit card on midnight of the night before leaving. Your liability for the card you posted will be checked several times on cruise to make sure that your card has room to cover your charges.
The people that come it to clean the rooms are from shore and they power through each room and collect all the junk that will left behind in big paper trash bags. You must to a very careful job of getting your stuff out of your room in the morning. There is no recovery of found items like you would have in a normal hotel room. The classic thing left behind is electronic chargers. By the way, charge your electronic devices that night before. Make sure everything is out of your mini safe.
When your luggage tag color is called you will head to the 4th deck with your cruise card and all of your walk out bags. We usually have a backpack for this stuff. Your curisecard will be checked and you will head down the gangplank to the dock. Sometimes you might be on the 5th deck instead of the 4th because of tides.
There is often a line along the gangplank as the customs and the immigrations people and the department of agriculture give you and your bags a look over. If you ordered extra booze from the duty free stores you it will be delivered to your cabin the day before. You will have to hustle it out with you as you depart. On some cruises people are required to pay some duty on the booze they bought. If you plan to do this you may consider packing you your bag a collapsible dolly. It is not recommended you pack your duty free booze in your big bags.
Retrieving your Bags
It is critical to know how many bags you set out the night before. To retrieve the bags you will go to that color of your disembarkation and search for your bags laid out on the ground. Once your have gathered your bags, I always get a porter to take the bags to the curb. Be sure to have a 20 dollar tip ready for this people. They will pick up your bags including your carry off bags and select a spot that your can have your driver partner (if you are working that way) pick you up. It is pretty much chaos on the streets so having a good spot is important. It is also nice to have them in one place and everything lifted and put on a cart. People without bags are usually able to walk right off the ship without having to go through this step. Unless you are really light dressers and strong muscled people, this is not a good objective for a 10 day Alaskan cruise.
Best Advice
I think that the best advice of all is to have fun and let the little things go. Princess is great at knowing that you are on vacation and are adept at getting the most of the little things done. Don't be the old lady that returns her banana 5 times because it is not ripe enough or that it has too many spots on it. Go with the flow and smile often.
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