4 Things You Should Always Do on Disembarkation Day

There are certain things you should always do on disembarkation day to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Cruise Lines have to be amazingly organised on disembarkation day. They need to get all the passenger’s luggage off the ship, clean all of the cabins, and restock their supplies before welcoming thousands more new guests onboard.

#1 Make Sure You Leave Your Cabin On Time

Usually, you will have to leave your cabin early in the morning – typically 7.30 am or 8 am.

This is because the crew will have a very busy day ahead of them, -cleaning the cabins and making them perfect again for the new guests arriving later in the day.

When I went on a 1990’s themed cruise, my friend Patrick overslept and the housekeeping team had to wake him up and ask him to leave! Not a great way to start the day…

Find out about that fun 1990’s themed cruise here:

To make sure that everyone can leave the ship in an orderly fashion, they give everyone a set disembarkation time. This is normally based on the cabin you are in – for example, everyone at the front of deck 7 will leave at 8am.

This works very well, but if you are travelling with family or friends in cabins in other parts of the ship you will find they have different disembarkation times.

You can ask for your disembarkation time to be changed at Reception, but you need to do that before the last morning.

Find out about some other things you should be doing BEFORE disembarkation day, read this article next:

5 Things You Should NEVER Leave Until Disembarkation Day

#2 Check That You Have All Of Your Belongings

Double, triple and quadruple-check that you haven’t left anything in your cabin!

Do what I call an “Idiot Sweep.” Check the drawers, cupboards, under the bed and the safe. Make sure you haven’t left all your toiletries in the bathroom!

I once left a set of expensive professional photos in my cabin on Norwegian Spirit. I rushed straight back to the room before I disembarked and asked the Cabin Steward – but he said he hadn’t seen them.

The photos were never seen again, and I was very cross that I had wasted my money!

I left these professional photos in my cabin on Norwegian Spirit – and never saw them again!

Find out what happens if you have to disembark the ship in an emergency and leave some of your belongings behind. It may take weeks – or months to get them back – if you ever see your things at all, that is!

Hear all about Rebbecca’s experience in the article below:

Leaving a Cruise in an Emergency – What Happens Next? (PASSENGER INTERVIEW and Advice)

#3 Have Breakfast

Having breakfast doesn’t necessarily mean going to the buffet. Most of the passengers on the ship will be doing that on the last morning, and it will be very busy.

Sometimes the main restaurant will be open for breakfast on the last morning. This might be a better option than the buffet.

I am not a big breakfast eater, so I tend to bring some food back from the buffet the night before and keep it in my mini-bar. A roll and a banana are generally all I need to set me up for the day.

A perfect breakfast for me – bread rolls and a banana

I shouldn’t actually eat bananas on cruise ships. Find out why here:

7 Bizarre Cruise Superstitions (That You’re Probably Breaking)

#4 Disembark On Time

Disembark the ship at the time you have been given. Your coloured luggage tags and your time of disembarkation will be left in your cabin in the last couple of days of your cruise.

If the time doesn’t suit you – or you find that all the members of your party are supposed to be leaving at different times – go to Reception and ask to change the time. I have never known changing to be a problem.

You don’t want to be in a position where you have a Taxi waiting on the dockside, and you are unable to disembark the ship to get to it.