Check in time on cruise ticket. Can we check in earlier? (Meraviglia)

We got our cruise tickets today and our check in time is at 15:15. Are we allowed to check in earlier than that or will they send us away if we arrive earlier?

I know the check in time on NCL isn't enforced but I don't know how it works on MSC.

Our plan was to arrive sometime between 10 and 11 and hopefully board among the first.

We are in the Yacht Club and I'm Black, my wife isn't, if that matters.

My advice is get there as early as you can, from what we could make out the times are not enforced. Our embarkation was chaotic to be honest and not a great experience.

We did. See my OP on the 'Live from Meraviglia' thread.

Alan ................ the reason for that was that the port authorities had only allowed MSC 2 exits on that day which caused a lot of problems at embarkation. Having said that, we boarded before the check-in desks opened, so didn't witness any of the chaos.

We did. See my OP on the 'Live from Meraviglia' thread.

 

Alan ................ the reason for that was that the port authorities had only allowed MSC 2 exits on that day which caused a lot of problems at embarkation. Having said that, we boarded before the check-in desks opened, so didn't witness any of the chaos.

Thanks, again!

So I had to read your first post again but I really didn't mind since I really liked to follow your thread from Meraviglia!

Did you see any Prosecco or Cava in the area where you waited to board? I have seen that they have it in Genua but don't know how it is in Barcelona.

Did you see any Prosecco or Cava in the area where you waited to board? I have seen that they have it in Genua but don't know how it is in Barcelona.

There wasn't any. We were seated in the waiting area when a butler brought a tray with juice and water over to one of the rows and offered it to 2 couples, passing other people who were also waiting for check-in to open. He didn't even look in our direction as he didn't know we were also YC. DH went over to the desk to let them know that we, too, were waiting. The butler followed him back to our seats with the tray. An elderly woman, seated beside us, reached out to take a cup of water. Thankfully, the butler didn't refuse her. However, when he returned with more for us, he had to explain that it was only for YC guests when she attempted to take another. It was very unpleasant, I thought! Perhaps they should have had a reserved area for YC guests?

Further up the terminal, out of our view, there was a stand where juice and water were available but no-one thought to inform anyone.

There wasn't any. We were seated in the waiting area when a butler brought a tray with juice and water over to one of the rows and offered it to 2 couples, passing other people who were also waiting for check-in to open. He didn't even look in our direction as he didn't know we were also YC. DH went over to the desk to let them know that we, too, were waiting. The butler followed him back to our seats with the tray. An elderly woman, seated beside us, reached out to take a cup of water. Thankfully, the butler didn't refuse her. However, when he returned with more for us, he had to explain that it was only for YC guests when she attempted to take another. It was very unpleasant, I thought! Perhaps they should have had a reserved area for YC guests?

 

Further up the terminal, out of our view, there was a stand where juice and water were available but no-one thought to inform anyone.

That was the issue all cruise, nobody tells you or informs you of anything, you have to find everything out for yourself with varying answers depending who you speak with. We were on flexi dining, but we just got a note in our door saying we were changed now to formal first sitting. When I contacted reception they simply said flexi didn't work and it was being cancelled!

There wasn't any. We were seated in the waiting area when a butler brought a tray with juice and water over to one of the rows and offered it to 2 couples, passing other people who were also waiting for check-in to open. He didn't even look in our direction as he didn't know we were also YC. DH went over to the desk to let them know that we, too, were waiting. The butler followed him back to our seats with the tray. An elderly woman, seated beside us, reached out to take a cup of water. Thankfully, the butler didn't refuse her. However, when he returned with more for us, he had to explain that it was only for YC guests when she attempted to take another. It was very unpleasant, I thought! Perhaps they should have had a reserved area for YC guests?

 

Further up the terminal, out of our view, there was a stand where juice and water were available but no-one thought to inform anyone.

Strange that they don't have a special waitingarea for the Yacht Club.

Strange that they don't have a special waitingarea for the Yacht Club.

MSC is building a new terminal in Barcelona. I'd say there will be a small, separate waiting room incorporated for YC guests like there is in Venice.

That was the issue all cruise, nobody tells you or informs you of anything, you have to find everything out for yourself with varying answers depending who you speak with. We were on flexi dining, but we just got a note in our door saying we were changed now to formal first sitting. When I contacted reception they simply said flexi didn't work and it was being cancelled!

Thanks for that warning.

I guess that's one of the bad things with cruising on a new ship.

I will absolutely do my homework before we go so that I know what to expect so that I can ask if something is missing in my experience.

Our second time on Norwegian Epic our butler forgot to give us our invitation to the captains reception in the Haven but since we knew about it we asked the concierge about it and he told us when it was.

He also missed to give us our invitation for a "cake party", it was our honeymoon, but they gave us a bottle of sparkling wine instead and that was better, I think.

MSC is building a new terminal in Barcelona. I'd say there will be a small, separate waiting room incorporated for YC guests like there is in Venice.

So maybe next time then!

If you want to use the water park you need to sign up for it.. I kid you not. There is a form to fill out for everything! We went to the water park, but had to leave as we didnt have the 'water park bracklet', you need to sign up for it at the Sportsplex. Also if you have kids you need to sign them for kids club, it's not automatic like I thought once the receive their kids wrist bands on embarkation. Surely it would be better to sign up to everything or whatever you wanted upon embarkation / check-in??

If you want to use the water park you need to sign up for it.. I kid you not. There is a form to fill out for everything! We went to the water park, but had to leave as we didnt have the 'water park bracklet', you need to sign up for it at the Sportsplex. Also if you have kids you need to sign them for kids club, it's not automatic like I thought once the receive their kids wrist bands on embarkation. Surely it would be better to sign up to everything or whatever you wanted upon embarkation / check-in??

I do appreciate that you are warning me.

As for the kids wristbands, maybe every kid need to wear them even if they won't go to the kids club? I know that on NCL the parents must sign the kids for kids club if they shall use it so that's not specific for MSC.

I do think that it's strange that on MSC the keycards for the cabin is in the cabin, on NCL they are given to you when you check in. That means that all cabins are unlocked until the guest has arrived to their cabin, right?

I do appreciate that you are warning me.

 

As for the kids wristbands, maybe every kid need to wear them even if they won't go to the kids club? I know that on NCL the parents must sign the kids for kids club if they shall use it so that's not specific for MSC.

 

I do think that it's strange that on MSC the keycards for the cabin is in the cabin, on NCL they are given to you when you check in. That means that all cabins are unlocked until the guest has arrived to their cabin, right?

All kids under 12 need to wear them. You get them with your cruise card when you embark but forms for pool and kids club are not do 3 at embarkation and need to be done separately.

I do think that it's strange that on MSC the keycards for the cabin is in the cabin, on NCL they are given to you when you check in. That means that all cabins are unlocked until the guest has arrived to their cabin, right?

MSC introduced this some time ago and we've cruised a couple of times where the cards were in the cabin. But when we embarked on Fantasia in February, people were being directed to one of the lounges where the cruisecards were being issued.

The cards and wristbands were in our cabin on Meraviglia. This is how they were presented:

As your photo is attached to your card, there's no fear that others can use it. Your picture appears every time a crew member swipes it so they know it belongs to you.

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Strange that they don't have a special waitingarea for the Yacht Club.

They have it in Genoa.

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Thank you for asking the question - we are staying in Barcelona before hand so we'll arrive after our hotel check out time [emoji4] I'll be chomping at the bit by then anyway!

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As your photo is attached to your card, there's no fear that others can use it. Your picture appears every time a crew member swipes it so they know it belongs to you.

 

 

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I'm not worried about it, I just think that it's strange.

Thank you for asking the question - we are staying in Barcelona before hand so we'll arrive after our hotel check out time [emoji4] I'll be chomping at the bit by then anyway!

Kikki, unless you have plans for the morning, I'd head down to the terminal a little earlier if I were you. If you don't mind waiting around the terminal 'til the desks open, that is. Aren't you in Aurea? You'll get priority boarding, too. Make sure not to take a number - tell the staff you're Aurea with priority boarding when you enter the building.

We boarded in Barcelona last week.

There is a YC tent just outside the main entrance where you are checked in by shoreside staff and you deposit your luggage. Then you are taken inside direct to a chained off reserved seating are for YC guests. Our tickets said boarding was at 1430 but we arrived at 11.15. We were asked if we would like a glass of prosecco, which we did, and then immediately escorted to the security desk at the top of the gangway, then passed over to a butler who then took us to the YC concierge. Our room was ready and we were in it by 1130. It appeared that the main embarkation didn't start until around noon.

We boarded in Barcelona last week.

There is a YC tent just outside the main entrance where you are checked in by shoreside staff and you deposit your luggage. Then you are taken inside direct to a chained off reserved seating are for YC guests. Our tickets said boarding was at 1430 but we arrived at 11.15. We were asked if we would like a glass of prosecco, which we did, and then immediately escorted to the security desk at the top of the gangway, then passed over to a butler who then took us to the YC concierge. Our room was ready and we were in it by 1130. It appeared that the main embarkation didn't start until around noon.

Interesting. Was that on Meraviglia or on a smaller ship?

Kikki, unless you have plans for the morning, I'd head down to the terminal a little earlier if I were you. If you don't mind waiting around the terminal 'til the desks open, that is. Aren't you in Aurea? You'll get priority boarding, too. Make sure not to take a number - tell the staff you're Aurea with priority boarding when you enter the building.

Thanks for the tip Bea! Yes we are Aurea. They must clean YC & Aurea rooms first I guess [emoji4]

We will be chilling out this side of the cruise so we'll be catching up on sleep! [emoji12][emoji12][emoji12]

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SC ...............Glad to hear they've sorted that out in Barcelona. I think, because of the problems they had with port authorities on the day we boarded, things were a bit chaotic and unorganised. When we arrived at the YC tent, there were people disembarking with luggage aIl over the place. There were others being led out to the buses for excursions - the place was a nightmare!!

I certainly remember having Prosecco offered at that port before while waiting to check-in. Also, there were many complaints from YC guests on our cruise and you could see that the crew were doing their level best to address these and make sure there weren't any repeats. They've obviously improved the embarkation process.

Mind you, we weren't bothered about not being offered a glass of bubbly. I find that it can be a bit of a hindrance as we never usually wait too long to board from the time of arriving to the terminal. On this occasion, we just went a bit earlier because I preferred to be there rather than pace my hotel room anxiously waiting to head to the port. LOL. We were onboard by 11.45am - check-in desk staff weren't even in position then.

Kikki ................. no way will you be having a lie-in on embarkation day - are you kidding???? :D :D