GraceCruisin

I had selected the dining time and king bed already (I booked for July 14 on February 24th) but didnt know we could do the online check in before it was fully paid!

I went and did it now, and the earliest available check in at the port was 11:30 already! I didnt realize they would fill up, or maybe that's just plat/dia & fttf that are earlier?

Guess we'll be early anyway, as the hotel checkout time is 11, and we are taking the hotel shuttle, not sure if we have the choice or not of when to go or if they will take all their park & cruise folks at one time.

Funny, I decided to go a day early and stay at the hotel so I wouldnt have to be so concerned with port check in time and Im still confused about it.

Oh well :')

Sorry you didn't get a timely response...you might have gotten more if you asked this question out on the main board for your cruise line, even if it specific to Mobile.

 

First all, relax. You are overthinking this, and worrying about it too much. I haven't cruised out of mobile, but I've cruised out of Miami (many, many times), Port Canaveral, New Orleans (many times), and Seattle (many times), and the routine is the same at every port, and with every cruise line.

 

I'm doing some deductions here from your post - you didn't mention the cruise line or the departure time specifically. It appears your cruise leaves at 4pm, due to your remarks about the bags needing to be checked in by 2pm. If that is the case, I would try to arrive at the port no later than about 10am. This should give you plenty of time to park your car and get to the terminal. If you're really nervous about this, you can get there earlier. If you get there before the terminal opens you'll just have to stand in line until it does, but that's not a huge thing.

 

Pick that time for your "arrival time" if you can, but don't stress about it. These times are only there to try and spread out the rush of arriving passengers. I know of no cruise line that enforces those times.

 

Since it's your first cruise, here's how it works at the terminal: When you drive or walk up with your bags, the first people you will encounter will be the luggage porters. They will want to check your cruise documents and check that against the tags you will have put on your bags that morning. If you don't have the bags tagged, they can tag them for you. They will whisk your luggage away and you will not see it again until later that day on the ship. Bring $2 or $3 per bag as a tip for the porters.

 

Then you'll go into the terminal where your cruise documents will be checked again. You'll go through an airport style security system. Your carry on bags must fit through an airport style x-ray scanner and you will walk through a magnetic metal detector.

 

After that you'll be given a simple health form to fill out for everyone in your party. Then your cruise docs will be examined again and you'll be directed to the appropriate line to check in. Here you'll provide your credit card, have your photo taken for your ship's key card, and get the key card(s). You'll likely be given a boarding # at that point, and directed to somewhere to sit and wait until that boarding number is called. Once they call your group, you're guided onto the ship.

 

Some people like to bring their bathing suits in their carry on's (and this is particularly true if you have kids), so they can change in the changing rooms near the pool and start the party off right away. Others go and have lunch in one of the dining rooms. At some point, there will be an announcement that your cabins are ready, and you can go down and see your cabin and drop your carry on. Because you'll have to keep your carry on with you until that time, it's best if they're not too big or heavy.

 

Your luggage will show up at your cabin door at some point during the afternoon or early evening.

 

Relax and enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for your tips VideoTech :) I posted in this forum because I have seen quite a few posts that only got for a reply "you would have gotten a better response if you put it in [x forum that specifically applies to the question]" :( So I did that. smh.

I didnt mention the cruise line (Carnival) because there is only one that uses Mobile, and I figured you vets would already know that. ;)

Im considering wearing a bathing suit under my clothes for easier changing, saw someone suggest that.

I did read that the parking doesnt open for going in until 10 am because hose leaving have to get out first.

I know about how the bags show up later, altho its too bad they dont put them IN your room, it seems like they are subject to someone rifling thru them just left in the hallway. =/

I didnt know how it went in the terminal though, so thanks for that insight.

When you say cruise docs, you mean both the boarding pass and your ID/papers right? Or is that later the check the ID? We're going with birth certs & ID, as we dont have passports and the current price in Florida is $170 each. Too many expenses this summer, along with the cruise, to add that too. If it turns out that we really like it and are likely to go again (not sure how soon though, we are likely to only get one vacation a year and I also would like to travel to see family, and we only have one income ) then we will get passports.

Also if I may ask further, the luggage tags, they say you can print them- if it's raining wont they get ruined, just being a flimsy piece of paper? Or can you have them mailed? Or do you put them in something? Its been a really log time since I travelled anywhere with checked luggage.

Also if you didnt see in my followup, I reserved a hotel for my husband and I, so we wont have to park at the terminal. Also, my kids are grown and we don't have any kids together, so its just us. Hoping it will be somewhat of a romantic getaway :hearteyes:

That's ok @LeeKristina25

I researched every thread on this board that I could find related to this, and found that the experiences really varied. Some people breezed right in, and some people got stuck in lines for hours. It didnt relate to the time because some came early and had issues (too early and the parking garage isnt open because everyone in it has to leave first) and others came late and had just as many problems, while someone else posted the opposite experience. The middle of the day is the busiest time of all from what I read.

So the only way I could relax about it was to just get a park and cruise hotel, and be dropped off by a shuttle, so no need to be concerned with the parking. We will probably have to wait at the terminal, but we can be at the terminal at whatever time we choose to set, and have one less headache, and have one more night of vacation*.

(*My husband's time off starts several days before, and ends several days after, but Im considering vacation as actually being way from home, which since we got together in 2007 we have only done to visit my mom once in 2011, and once for when my mom passed away in 2014, definitely not a pleasure trip. :( So I'm really ready for an actual away-from-home vacation.)

If you cant do park and ride, I guess all you can do is take a chance and hope it goes well, but be prepared to wait in line for the parking. They do say the parking will be sped up if you prepay it, which i guess you can do any time before you actually get to the payment booth. But for another 50 bucks or so, I think its worth it to get the extra vacation time and reduced stress.

Well alrighty then, I thought with the number of members here I could get some real-time responses. :(

But for the sake of readers to come, hubby and I decided to get the hotel room with a park & cruise package after all. Took hours and hours to find what I needed though, most of what you can pull up thru a google search of park and cruise is out of date! Shame that hotel listings near cruise terminals don't more explicitly list the package or list the shuttle in the selling points.

At least it should be cake to set an arrival time now!

For anyone else looking for that sort of deal, be sure to CAREFULLY read what you get when looking online. Some offer ONLY extended parking and no transportation to the port, or in one case, it was one way! (You're on your own to get back to the hotel apparently.)

Some provide a hotel shuttle, but even more expect you to call a specific taxi, which may or may not be covered in the package? Not even sure on that, but a taxi service might not be available when you need them, or not show up - but you always know the hotel shuttle is going to be starting at the hotel.

Im guessing that you should also book as early as possible as they limit how many park n cruise they provide, and as it gets close to the cruise there's going to be a lot of folks looking for hotels, with or without a shuttle! And Im still 4 months out. The nice thing, many don't charge you until you arrive, so no need to worry about the charge up front.

Anyway Im sure many of you already know this stuff, but thought Id share for anyone who's a newbie like me and hasnt had the time to check on that yet :)

(Fair warning, Im a worrier, and indecisive! How I ever booked my cruise I dont know, probably because I can also be spontaneous- like doing something before I get the chance to worry about why I shouldnt)

;p

Im wondering how I am supposed to know what time to select for "arrival appointment"?

We will be driving about 3 hours, but I have read some horror stories of delays at Mobile's terminal, although I plan to pay for the terminal parking in advance, it still doesn't help traffic issues.

Some people suggest arriving after 1 pm, but the embarkation info says you have to take your own bags aboard if they are not checked 2 hours prior to departure, so they would only have until 2 pm to get checked, and if there is a line, Im worried the bags wouldnt make it!

People say that its quite a long time before rooms are ready and I dont want to drag our suitcases around the ship for hours until the room is ready, and there's no way I am going to fit stuff in just carry ons, it may be only 5 days but Im a notorious overpacker! :o

So aiming for earlier may be better, but then how much time do I allow for the (possible? inevitable?) delay? If we get there too soon, before our selected time, then we mess things up for people who have selected that time, and CREATE more lines!:(

So Im really confused. I know I over-think, but don't know what to do.

Considering getting the hotel park & cruise, but since we don't actually NEED a hotel, its an extra expense that Id rather not have, so not sure it's worth it.

Any suggestions? This will be our first cruise. :)

So many people complaining about this thread! yes it started a long time ago, but has plenty of current (2018) responses, so apparently people are still interesting in discussing it (or bashing it as the case may be) :rolleyes:

I found it entertaining, and I read the entire thing! Ok some posts are way too rude, some folks should stop taking someone else's opinion so darn seriously.

I found it enlightening and encouraging that NCL actually has Pepsi! I can tolerate coke but dont bother to drink it and most any other full calorie soda, just too many calories wasted for me. So i choose diet, and I there wasnt any I liked until Pepsi changed to sucralose, now i really like it!

On the other hand, diet coke is undrinkable to me. My first cruise will be on Fantasy, and I was ready to buy the soda package until I was crestfallen to find they only have coke! My husband, who feels pretty much the same as me about soda, and I will probably just drink whatever is the freebies, as we aren't interested in alcohol either.

Also very disappointed with how many restaurants (not on cruise ships) serve only coke! We dont necessarily skip those, but if there's a place we like that has Pepsi, we will often choose it instead.

Nothing wrong with drinking what you like, and it's no one's business to publicly disagree with why someone chooses one cruise ship or line over another. Everyone has different priorities. Who decides which (of someone else's) priority is acceptable or reasonable and which isn't?

When I booked our cruise, I didnt have a choice of cruise line, it was the only one leaving from the port we chose (chosen because its the closest). I have since looked around at other choices, and while I was going to dismiss NCL from my future consideration because it's quite a bit more expensive than Carnival, hearing that they actually have pepsi makes me want to consider them again!

Soda preference is really no better or worse than some of the other "petty" complaints I've seen in the hundreds of reviews I have read so far! People like what they like, some to more degree than another. Just because you dont agree doesnt mean there's something wrong with the other person.

Do the oceanview rooms on the Fantasy have a mini fridge?

Not sure if you have cruised yet or not, but in case you didnt find out and for anyone else browsing, I have read in my research of Fantasy that only the suites have them.

Bummer because we booked an oceanview room also. :(

Funny that a motel for 70 bucks (often less) a night will have a fridge but an oceanview room on a cruise cant manage a tiny fridge :o

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=8447

There is an interesting comment on this article, if this guy really does have inside/local info, it does make sense and would be reassuring, to everyone who isn't the ferry operator's family anyway :( (I hope it's okay to quote the following reply here?) Of course I cant vouch for the info, or how he knows it's "obvious" but it is interesting to consider.

Kevin Orr ·

Omaha, Nebraska

If it's comforting to any cruiser- know that the attack and attempted attack isn't targeting cruisers/touists. It's became obvious it's to be detrimental to the ferry company operating those rides- who is owned by a man whose son is rival to the drug cartel taking responsibility. Avoid the ferry's and your safety and security as the same there they were before this. Cozumel has great beaches, snorkeling, mediocre ziplining, shopping. The big miss on the mainland is the caves.