Up next in 10
12 Major Cruise Disembarkation Day Blunders To Avoid
954 views
Jan 28, 2025
Discover the 12 biggest cruise disembarkation day mistakes and blunders that you need to avoid. These are things that I have seen, heard from other cruisers they did and even did myself. There are 12 top tips and things to watch out for and do to make sure you have a smooth, stress free and good embarkation from your cruise. SUPPORT THE CHANNEL BY: Buying my Cruise T-shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore Booking your next cruise with CRUISEDIRECT.COM: http://bit.ly/TFTBookCruise WATCH THESE POPULAR RECENT VIDEOS: 10 Cabins to Avoid: https://youtu.be/PgTGLma919A European River Cruise Watch-Outs: https://youtu.be/oqhz54wStyk 5 Cruises To Avoid: https://youtu.be/CNiPzK4IRWA Alaska Cruise Need-to-Knows: https://youtu.be/Tn7dpNw5kSI Things Cruise Lines Don’t Want You to Know: https://youtu.be/cs5UKha9ALc Rules Passengers Break Most: https://youtu.be/djZLZ3XV_f0 Things You Can’t Do On A Cruise Any More: https://youtu.be/zas6F4wMD0Q Should You Pay Cruise Gratuities: https://youtu.be/QBYzqxXjEXQ Gary Bembridge's Tips For Travellers aims to help you make more of your precious travel time and money on land and when cruising the oceans or rivers of the world. To help you, in every video I draw on my first-hand tips and advice from travelling every month for over 20 years and 60+ cruises. Follow Tips For Travellers on:
View Video Transcript
0:00
what are the 12 biggest blunders that
0:02
cruisers make when it comes to
0:05
disembarking the ship hi I'm Gary
0:08
Bainbridge this is another my tips to
0:09
travelers these are 12 things that I
0:11
want to share with you to make sure when
0:14
you next leave your cruise you don't
0:16
make the same mistakes as lots of
0:18
cruisers make starting with this one
0:21
first of all never go for self
0:23
disembarkation unless you are really
0:26
sure that you can manage all of your
0:27
luggage and potentially having to carry
0:30
it down multiple stair levels and
0:32
multiple decks because the elevators
0:34
could be really full self disembarkation
0:37
is great because if you can carry your
0:38
own bags off the ship you normally first
0:41
off the ships so you can get off the
0:42
ship really early and you can get off
0:44
out back home or off to connections or
0:48
do whatever you want to do however you
0:50
will be given no help whatsoever you
0:52
have to be able to carry everything so
0:54
you need to bear in mind the elevators
0:56
might be really really busy and you
0:58
might have to carry those bags right
1:00
down to the gangway so really before you
1:03
go for disembarkation make sure that you
1:05
can carry all of your bags next is
1:08
making sure that if you have put your
1:10
bags out to be collected and taken on to
1:13
the pier for you the night before that
1:15
you have actually kept enough clothes to
1:17
get off the ship on there's many jokes
1:19
of about people having to Mady scramble
1:22
around to find clothes or have to leave
1:23
the ship with a bathrobe because they've
1:26
packed their clothes absolutely make
1:27
sure that you've left enough clothes to
1:29
get off the ship and particularly is
1:30
going to be hot or cold you've got the
1:32
appropriate clothes the other thing that
1:33
I recommend you do is always make sure
1:35
that you've got a nice big bag does some
1:37
sort of hold or bag that you can just
1:39
chuck everything that you might have
1:41
left behind or forgotten to put in your
1:43
bags that you can then repack once you
1:45
get off the ship but be really really
1:47
careful make sure that you've packed the
1:48
right and enough clothes to get off the
1:50
ship the other big blunder that people
1:53
make is they book their flight home or
1:56
to the next destination either too early
1:57
or too late a cruise ship will normally
2:00
get into port seven or eight o'clock
2:02
however you're not going to be able to
2:04
disembark until the ship is cleared so
2:07
depending on your grade and status you
2:09
might find that you're only getting off
2:10
the ship quite late most cruise lines
2:12
will give you a recommendation
2:13
a time that she booked a flight I
2:15
wouldn't only say aim for noon or later
2:18
because you even if you're getting off
2:21
the ship quite late you still got time
2:22
to get to the airport and get onboard
2:25
the other mistake that people make and
2:27
this is one thing that I do particularly
2:28
when working with agents is they try and
2:30
book you on a flight that's too late
2:32
so you waste a complete day most
2:34
airlines only open their check-in desk
2:36
two hours before a flight so the danger
2:39
is if you've got a flight late afternoon
2:40
or early evening you could be sitting at
2:42
the airport for many hours hanging
2:44
around until check-in opens before you
2:46
can go through so booking your flight
2:48
early or too late is really really a big
2:51
blunder that people make getting the
2:53
right time around about noonish time if
2:55
you can is the optimal time for a flight
2:58
the next blunder the people make is they
3:00
just accept the time they're given so
3:02
normally when you disembark you're given
3:04
a color code and you put that in your
3:06
bags to put out and then you use that
3:08
color code to get off the ship and
3:10
you're given a allocated time if the
3:13
time doesn't suit you it's too early or
3:14
it's even too late go and try and
3:17
negotiate because you'll normally find
3:19
that the Gift Services has some
3:21
flexibility and they will let you go on
3:23
a different time so you might want to
3:24
get off early because you want to go off
3:25
sightseeing or get to that flight or you
3:27
actually might want to get off late
3:28
because you're checking into a hotel and
3:30
you can't check in till two o'clock or
3:32
whatever so always go negotiate just
3:34
don't accept the time you're given and
3:36
trying to go she ate a time that works
3:38
for you the fifth big blunder that
3:42
people make is not carefully checking
3:44
their statement before they get off the
3:46
ship now normally you can check it
3:48
online there's lots of apps you can go
3:50
to get services and check it during the
3:52
cruise which I recommend you do so if
3:53
there's any errors you can pick it up
3:55
quite early on normally you'll get a
3:57
statement delivered to you overnight
3:58
check it really really carefully because
4:01
once you're off the ship trying to
4:02
correct errors is almost impossible it's
4:05
really difficult to do and I have
4:06
stories from so many people that have
4:08
ended up with all sorts of charges which
4:10
they dispute but they didn't check
4:12
really carefully nowadays because of
4:14
technology you can check as you go if
4:16
you don't have an app I was going to get
4:17
care services to print me out a invoice
4:20
and various points of time but check
4:22
before you get off that invoice really
4:24
really important the sixth blunder that
4:27
Pia
4:27
we'll make and we've all kind of done it
4:29
is leaving stuff in the cabin now
4:31
there's two really really critical
4:32
things first of all check the safe
4:34
because that's where you're gonna have
4:36
your money your passport valuables of
4:38
your medication really make sure that
4:40
you've checked the safe now one of the
4:42
tips that I got from someone once is put
4:44
something that you're gonna have to wear
4:46
the next day so one of your shoes or
4:47
something in the safe if you want to
4:49
keep stuff in the safe because when you
4:51
get ready in the morning you're gonna be
4:52
looking for the shoe and it's in the
4:53
safe so that's a really good tip the
4:55
other thing to do is do a triple check
4:57
in every single drawer Cruze cabins have
4:59
loads of storage lots of little nooks
5:01
and crannies and inevitably you've put
5:04
some charges or something you haven't
5:05
really used some clothes perhaps that
5:07
you brought but you didn't use and so
5:10
many times I found on a triple check of
5:12
a cabin stuff in little drawers that I'd
5:14
forgotten about so when you've packed
5:16
before you put the cases out if you're
5:18
traveling or someone get them to do a
5:20
double check in every single drawer
5:22
before you leave literally go and double
5:23
check so you don't leave stuff behind
5:25
because once you're off the ship is
5:26
really hard to get it back sort of link
5:30
to that another blunder that people make
5:31
is not getting their pass but depending
5:33
on where you're cruising to you might
5:35
actually have to hand your passport in
5:36
to get services which they keep as you
5:39
go through the different immigration
5:40
checks in the different countries you go
5:42
to and then on the last day you can go
5:44
and fetch your passport someone's going
5:46
affected the day before really really
5:47
important make sure you get your
5:49
passport I have been on trips before
5:51
where people have got on the excursion
5:52
bus or the transfer and realized they
5:55
haven't got their passport it's a real
5:56
hassle getting back on the ship so
5:58
absolutely make sure what I always do is
6:00
I read a big note for myself I stick it
6:02
on the safe or put it in the safe put it
6:04
on my bags to remind myself to fetch the
6:06
passport the next blunder that I see
6:09
people make is forgetting what color
6:12
their luggage tag is and not keeping the
6:15
little receipt to help you get off the
6:17
ship so you've given those colored tags
6:19
which you put on your bags which you put
6:20
out and you ask to keep the little tag
6:22
and that's what you show often to get
6:25
off or to show that you are in that
6:27
particular time start to get off the
6:29
ship and often you have to show that
6:30
because they control you and without
6:32
that they won't let you off the ship and
6:33
they make you wait till later
6:35
the other big issue of course if you've
6:36
forgotten your color and you walk into
6:38
where all the bags are where they could
6:40
thousands and thousands of bags and you
6:43
then have to try and remember what color
6:45
you are and where your bag could be so
6:47
really important make sure you remember
6:49
the color and it'll tag one things I do
6:51
is you want me get a little piece of
6:53
paper when you get those luggage tags
6:55
which will tell you your color on that
6:57
so I just file that with my passport all
7:00
my documents so even if I have forgotten
7:01
a little chitti I forgot my color I have
7:03
the original document that tells me what
7:05
color I am and I know it's go and find
7:07
my bags
7:09
the next big blunder though it's not the
7:11
end of the world is people leaving their
7:13
key card in their cabinet after you know
7:15
when you leave a hotel if you've self
7:16
checked out you can just leave the card
7:18
in the room and off you go
7:19
that doesn't work on a cruise ship you
7:21
need that key card to get off the ship
7:24
so if you've left in your cabin you get
7:26
to get off the ship you have to go all
7:27
the way back to your cabin and find the
7:30
steward if your cabin is closed and get
7:32
the key card so always make sure you've
7:33
got your key card with you right through
7:35
until you're off the ship one of the big
7:38
challenges that you're going to face on
7:40
disembarkation day is elevators lots of
7:44
people but if you're a big ship we're
7:45
going to be trying to get off the ship
7:46
so everybody's because they've got their
7:48
bags with their self disembarking or
7:50
just got the hand luggage I like to be
7:52
using the elevators and they're going to
7:54
be really busy so a couple of little
7:55
tips and tricks if you don't want to
7:58
walk down the stairs first of all avoid
8:00
the midship elevators because normally
8:03
you're going to find that's the most
8:04
busy of also use the elevators at either
8:07
side of the ship but the best above all
8:09
is push up go up at least one level
8:13
because the lifts going up is going to
8:15
be not very busy so go up to come down
8:18
and that's your best chance of getting
8:19
in a lift with luggage and being able to
8:22
get down you'll probably drive people
8:23
crazy because they'll see you do it but
8:26
it's an absolute must if the elevators
8:28
are busy another big mistake that people
8:31
make is they take things from the cabin
8:33
the most obvious of these are things
8:34
like the bathrobes the umbrellas things
8:37
that are in the cabin supplied as part
8:39
of the cabin immunities if you take one
8:42
of those items it's a big mistake
8:44
because you're going to be charged for
8:46
it and the price that they put on those
8:48
things is pretty hefty so don't bother
8:50
taking things from the cabin now they're
8:52
probably the big exception that
8:54
is if you're our salon one of those
8:56
cruise ships that haven't moved to
8:57
refillable toiletries you've got the
8:59
little miniatures of toiletries if you
9:01
really want to take those with you my
9:03
best advice is take some of those
9:05
halfway through the cruise put them to
9:07
one side and a cupboard or something and
9:08
the they'll be replenished so you know
9:11
that it's going to be okay but be very
9:13
careful about what you take off the ship
9:14
because you will probably be charged a
9:16
big premium for taking those off another
9:21
big tip / blunders / opportunity is
9:24
there are different cruise lines that
9:26
are making it even easier to get off and
9:29
disembark easier obviously one of the
9:30
obvious ways of doing it is if you're
9:32
cruising in a suite you get preferential
9:35
disembarkation early as you are a lot
9:38
more and more loyal to a cruise line and
9:40
you work your way up the different tier
9:41
levels you'll also find that you get
9:44
early disembarkation but there aren't
9:46
increasingly a number of cruise lines
9:47
that are started to build in other
9:49
things so you can sometimes by a
9:50
specific pass which gives you early
9:52
embarkation and disembarkation but you
9:55
find in some ports for example it's only
9:57
at the time of recording on some Royal
9:59
Caribbean cruises you're able to
10:00
actually check in your bags on the ship
10:03
and the bags are then taken to the
10:04
airport and to the airline so that you
10:07
don't even have to worry about taking
10:09
your bags off at all and taking them to
10:11
the airport you're also fine for example
10:13
on Disney cruises if you're staying in
10:15
their parks in Orlando they will do an
10:18
arrangement where you can check your
10:19
bags in there and they'll be taken to
10:21
Port Canaveral and onto the ship so
10:23
increasingly find out if there's any
10:24
little opportunities that you can have
10:27
from the cruise lines to ease through
10:29
the whole process of disembarkation
10:31
there's a whole bundle of blunders that
10:34
people make that end up making
10:35
disembarkation day quite stressful these
10:38
are some of the things that I do to
10:39
basically make disembarkation much
10:41
easier and avoid some of the blunders
10:43
that people make I have loads more
10:45
videos packet or cruising advice and
10:46
tips so why don't you watch another one
10:48
of those right now
#Travel Guides & Travelogues