The last morning: how getting off the ship works

Two ways off: tags or carry your own

Luggage collection: the night before, you put your large bags outside your cabin with the colored or numbered tags the line gives you. They reappear in the terminal the next morning. You leave the ship at the time your tag color is called.

Self-assist (walk-off): you keep your bags and carry them off yourself. It is the fastest way off, usually first, as long as you can manage everything down a gangway without help.

The order on the last morning

1. The ship docks early and local authorities clear it.
2. Self-assist guests usually leave first.
3. Groups are called by luggage tag color or number.
4. You leave the ship with your room card, collect your bags in the terminal, and go through customs.

Here is how one line states its timings. Other lines work in much the same way; your line puts its own times in the final-night schedule.

What to keep out of the hallway bags

• Medication
• Passports and documents
• The clothes and shoes you'll wear in the morning
• Toiletries for the morning
• Phone charger
• Anything valuable or fragile

People really do come down to breakfast in whatever was left on the floor. Pack a small bag for the morning before you put the big ones out.

Booking your flight home

Customs, collecting bags and getting to the airport take longer than you might expect. A flight in the early afternoon or later is safer. An early-morning flight means waking at dawn and worrying through breakfast.

Settle your account

Your final bill arrives in the app or under your door on the last night. Check it then, not in the line at guest services the next morning. If you registered a card, it is charged automatically.

If you can carry your own bags, walk off. You'll be in a cab while everyone else is still waiting for their color to be called.