The Cruise Checkout Rules That Surprise Almost Every First-Time Cruiser

If you are used to staying in hotels, you might think that checking out of your cabin on a cruise ship would be much the same. Nothing could be further from the truth!

In this article, we look at what to expect on the last morning of your cruise, so there won’t be any unwelcome surprises!

#1. Cruise ship checkout is not like a hotel checkout

Disembarking a cruise ship feels very different from checking out of a hotel for many reasons:

• The last morning of a cruise feels very different.
  • There is no getting up and having a leisurely checkout by 11 am or noon.
• Guests usually have to leave their cabins very early.
  • You will usually have to be out of your cabin by 8 am.
• There are no off days.
  • The same cabin may have new guests arriving just a few hours later.
  • The cabin stewards have to get all of the cabins ready in time; they are under a lot of pressure!
• Thousands of passengers may be leaving and boarding on the same day.

Disembarking so early can feel like a bit of a shock after your relaxing cruise.

Turnaround days are so tight for the crew that they need you out of your cabin as soon as possible.

The early disembarkation time may seem harsh, but there is a reason for it.

2. What time do you usually have to leave your cabin?

The time you have to leave your cabin depends on the cruise line, but 8 am is about the average.

Norwegian Cruise Line may allow you to stay in your room until 8.30 am, but when I cruised with Disney Cruise Line, they asked us to vacate our cabin by 7.30 am.

You will be told the exact time in the disembarkation letter, which will appear in your cabin a couple of days before the end of your cruise.

You may also find the same information on the cruise line app.

You will be left luggage tags to attach to your cases. The different colours signify different times/groups. Not everyone can disembark at the same time, it would be chaotic!

3. Why do the cruise lines need cabins empty so early?

Cabin stewards need access to your cabin as early as possible, as they have a lot of work to do.

• Beds are stripped and remade.
• Bathrooms are cleaned.
• Towels are changed.
• Bins are emptied.
• Minibars/paperwork/cabin will be set up for the new guests.
• Maintenance issues will be checked to make sure the cabin is in good condition for the new occupants.
• New guests will be boarding by late morning or in the early afternoon.
• The crew has only a few hours to reset the entire ship.
• Each cabin steward will have multiple rooms to attend to on turnover day.

Thousands of people may be leaving or joining the ship within a few hours. It is quite impressive when you think about the scale of the operation.

4. Leaving your cabin does not mean leaving the ship

Leaving the cabin and disembarking the ship are often totally different things.

You will know which group you are in, and announcements will be made so you know when it is time to actually get off the ship.

The buffet, and sometimes the main dining room are open for breakfast, you can check the opening times in the daily schedule.

You can go and get some breakfast before you disembark, but expect the buffet to be crowded, as everyone else will be doing the same thing!

Once you have had your breakfast, you can wait in lounges, the theatre or other public areas until your disembarkation group number is called.

When your number or colour is announced, you get up and leave the ship. The crew will scan your cruise card for a final time, so they know you have left.

Everything is usually very well organised, the cruise lines have disembarkation day down to a fine art!

5. What happens to your luggage?

You will place your cases outside your cabin on the last night of the cruise, and the crew will remove them from the ship and group them together by colour or number in the terminal building.

This will help you find your case when you are looking for it in the terminal building on the last morning.

You need to remember to keep your valuables with you – and don’t pack things you will need for the last morning.

You might want to keep with you:

• travel documents
• medication
• phone
• charger
• toiletries
• hairbrush
• clothes for the morning
• shoes
• passport
• Your cruise card – you will need it to disembark.

It is not uncommon for passengers to pack all of their clothes or forget to leave themselves a pair of shoes to wear! You don’t want to be that person in the terminal in your pyjamas with bare feet…

Self Disembarkation

Once my cruise has come to an end, I am always keen to just get off and go home.

I tend to opt for the “self-disembarkation” option, particularly if I am cruising from my home port of Southampton.

If you self-disembark, you don’t need to put your case outside your room.

Instead, you keep your luggage with you, and take it off the ship yourself. You can disembark early, I just get up and go as soon as it is announced that they are ready to start disembarkation.

You need to be capable of dealing with your cases yourself. There won’t be any crew on hand to help you with your luggage, and remember that the lifts/elevators are often quite busy on the last morning.

I often call in to the buffet on the last evening and pick up some fruit or a banana for the next morning’s breakfast. Then I just get up on the last morning and leave. I don’t go to the buffet at all.

Self-disembarkation is good if you have an early flight or train to catch, or if you are sailing from your local cruise port.

If your flight is later in the day, you might be better off sticking with your standard disembarkation time, as you will only be hanging around at the airport longer if you get off the ship really early.

Choosing self-disembarkation means you will have to manage all your luggage yourself. This might involve carrying your case down multiple flights of stairs if the lifts/elevators are busy.

One cruise line that doesn’t follow this standard disembarkation procedure is the Italian cruise line, Costa.

Guests disembark and embark at multiple ports, so there isn’t a single “disembarkation day”.

When I sailed on Costa Smeralda, we disembarked in Barcelona, but many other guests were staying onboard and leaving at other ports.

As an English-speaking guest, I was in the minority on the ship. Costa had their own “English-Speaking Representative” onboard. She was there just to help the English-speaking passengers.

I asked her what time we had to get off the ship, as our flight home wasn’t until late in the day.

We had to leave our cabins early, but she said as long as we had got off by the time the ship sailed away at around 4 pm, all would be good!

We could stay onboard later and continue to use all of the facilities and our drinks packages until we got off.

That is SO unusual, it really sticks in my memory.

Find out about that really cheap Costa cruise below. Some people really hate Costa, but we had a great time onboard:

6. How to make the final morning less stressful

There are plenty of things you can do to make sure that disembarkation morning goes smoothly.

I would recommend:

• Pack most things before dinner on the last night.
  • Keep a small overnight bag for your essentials.
• Set out clothes and shoes for the morning.
• Check your final bill the night before.
  • Once you have disembarked, it will be far harder to rectify any mistakes.
  • There is likely to be a long queue at Reception on the last morning, so going on the last evening to sort out any problems will save you hassle later on.
• Read the disembarkation instructions carefully.
  • Make sure you know what group/colour/time your disembarkation group is and where you will be meeting.
• Go to breakfast early if possible, or pick up something from the buffet the night before, as I often do.
• Expect lifts to be busy.
• Do not book flights too early.
  • It can be stressful if things don’t go according to plan and you are on a tight timescale.

The last morning is usually the saddest bit of a cruise. Planning ahead and knowing what to expect will make it much less painful for everybody!

7. What first-time cruisers should remember

The key points to remember are:

• Expect to leave your cabin early.
• Around 8 am is a sensible assumption – unless you have been told otherwise.
• Check your specific cruise instructions the night before.
• Leaving the cabin does not always mean leaving the ship immediately.
• Keep essentials with you – don’t pack your clothes or your shoes!
• Disembarking is nothing like checking out of a hotel on land.

To find out anything else you want to know about cruising, watch my comprehensive cruise video next.

It covers everything you need to know – from embarkation, drinks packages, gratuities, destination suggestions and much, much more…

You will then be more prepared than 99% of other first-time cruisers onboard!

Before You Go

There are many areas of a cruise ship that passengers don’t get to see. You might want to take a behind-the-scenes tour to see what goes on in the ship’s working areas. Find out all about cruise ship tours here:

Cruise Ship Tours That Take You To Areas Most Passengers Never See

People seem to think that going on a cruise in the summer is the best time. I have found that this isn’t always the case. Read more about that here:

The Best Time To Cruise Isn’t When Most People Think