Cruise secrets have revealed how to avoid one of the worst things that can happen during a holiday.
Many ships can hold as many as 4,000 passengers, meaning huge queues when trying to get on or off a ship at port.
Sometimes it can take up to an hour to get off while everyone tries to leave at the same time.
Cruise liners offer something called “early disembarking” or “self-debarkation” to be allowed to leave earlier than others.
This can mean having luggage delivered to the room and passengers travelling off the ship with it themselves, as opposed to getting their bags after leaving.
However, this is often where the biggest queues happen as everyone chooses to get off first.
While normal passengers may have to wait up to an hour while bags are released from a ship, this sometimes is not much longer than the “early” queues.
Early or Express queues can be good for those needing to try and follow a schedule, something Royal Caribbean say is for those who have “travel plans, work requirements, or other needs”.
Other lines such as Princess and Norwegian also offer the earlier debarking.
Cruise goers took to forum Cruise.co.uk to give their best advice on avoiding queues.
One wrote: “Arrive early or arrive late, the latter being far less likely to have a delay.”
Departing last can also mean having more time on the ship while avoiding queues when getting off.
Other advice included “avoiding large ships” and choosing “longer cruises” to avoid queues.
This is because there are not just fewer people to queue, but also because shorter cruise-goers can often be in a rush following the quick holiday.
It is also advised to avoid the casino onboard ships during a cruise.
The odds on a ship is often much worse than on land, due to the lack of competition.
Las Vegas, for example, has to compete with hundreds of casinos, therefore, can offer lower rates.
Blackjack onboard can be “paying 6-to-5 instead of the more usual 3-to-2 [on land],” according to cruise website Cruzely.
While this may not seem like much of a difference, this could result in a difference of a $ 10 bet paying “$ 12 on blackjack instead of $ 15 under the typical rules.”.
