One more thing about luggage, and debarkation: It varies a little from cruise line to cruise line. But here's the usual scenario. On one of the last days of the cruise your cabin steward will leave a custom's declaration form, and color coded luggage tags in your cabin. You fill out the tags and attach them to your suitcases.
On the last night of the cruise you will put your packed and tagged suitcases outside your cabin door before midnight, where the cabin stewards will pick them up and take them to a holding area till morning. After the ship docks, the suitcases will be transferred to the large terminal building there.
While packing you need to be very careful to keep in the room with you: the filled out customs form, a carry-on and any clothing or other items that you will need in the morning. This you will carry off the ship yourself. On many ships, passengers are asked to be out of their cabins at a specified, somewhat early hour in the morning of debarkation. In this case you find a comfy spot in one of the public areas and wait.
After the ship has cleared customs, and after everyone on board has taken care of their accounts, they will then start calling the color codes on the intercom. ( Or they may have a time schedule set up ahead of time). The staff will have asked for your home going flight info at embarkation, or in your registration on line, so that passengers with early flights will have be given luggage tags indicating an early color code. People driving, or staying in port for a post-cruise hotel stay, are usually given the later codes.
When your color is called you leave the ship via the designated gangway. From there you will exit directly into the terminal where all of luggage is arranged according to color code. You go to the group of suitcases with your color and find your bags. You will have a brief pause with the customs people, to answer a question or two, and to turn in your custom's declaration form. There will be lots of baggage handlers there, with wheeled dollies, to help you gather your bags and take them out to the shuttle buses or taxi pick up area. Ilke I said, be prepared to tip.
Carnival and most other cruise lines also now to allow you the option of carrying all your bags off yourself, thus allowing you to leave with the earliest call. If chosing this option, you do not put your luggage outside your door that last night, and you must be capable of carrying ALL your bags by yourself as you disembark. The self service debarking gets you off the ship earlier, but still cannot start until the ship has cleared custions. So the timing is unpredictable.
