Board Early or Late on Embarkation Day?

[ithaca gal]

Since rooms are ready at boarding now, we definitely want to be among the first on the ship. We carry all of our belongings onto the ship -- we each have a 25" suitcase and a carry on that is easily managed. We get on the ship, drop off our luggage, look around, get a bite to eat, unpack before muster and just enjoy the first day of our cruise. Why not spend as much of that first day ON the ship instead of paying for it and spending it someplace else? :)

 

Since we have a twelve hour drive home, we always get off the ship as soon as possible, take the shuttle to the hotel where we've left the car and hit the highway!

 

Carrying everything on and everything off makes life (cruising) so much easier! (And yes, we still manage to pack nice clothes for Formal Nights for both of us!)

[CruisingSince2012]

I like to board early and eat lunch on the ship after unpacking everything. I also take pictures of the ship. However, this year I will take a HOHO bus tour on the embarkation day, so boarding time definitely will not be early. I won't get on late and feel rushed either.

 

On debarkation day, I will take a floatplane to Victoria at 10:20 and have to get off the ship in time for that. How long we stay on the ship depends on when we have to be at the floatplane terminal.

[0106]

Does HA have an option to pay for priority boarding and avoid the line? We arrive to FLL at 9:30 and would like to get on the ship ASAP.

[RuthC]

Does HA have an option to pay for priority boarding and avoid the line? We arrive to FLL at 9:30 and would like to get on the ship ASAP.

No, HAL doesn't.

They have to get the debarking passengers off the ship, and get the cabins and public areas cleaned and ready for the new passengers. This all takes place in a very short amount of time.

Boarding generally starts about 11:30 with suite and disabled passengers boarding first. Then people board in groups, based on when they arrived.

[scluvsrain]

I like to board as early as I can. Like others have mentioned, my vacation cruise doesn't "start" until I'm on board. :)

[SonnekeH]

OK, I usually catch that, but didn't tumble on this thread until your post. :D

 

But, I agree, it is still relevant. Although things have changed over the years. Here is a synopsis of our experiences/preferences.

 

Non-U.S. embarkation ports: We have always booked the cruise line hotel and transfer (Costa from Venice, HAL from Rome, Copenhagen, Dover and Amsterdam.) We got on the bus when we were told to ;) and checked in when we got to the terminal. As four-star and/or suite passengers in Dover and Amsterdam, it was somewhat faster, but still, the bus arrived when it did. Most times, we were on before or at lunch time.

 

U.S. ports:

 

Seattle twice: Seattle is basically home, and we had spent days ahead visiting our sons, so we boarded before noon, to enjoy the ship as much as we could.

 

Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa: Many times since 1996.

 

Early on, we took HAL flights (from Seattle) and booked HAL hotels (Hyatt Regency Pier 66, although once a Marriott at Miami airport; Marriots in Tampa), and did the "get on the bus now" thing, and waited in a large room in the terminal until our number (usually about 254, IIRC) for our "M" class guarantee was called and we joined the line to get our photo taken with the woman in Dutch traditional clothing ... usually about 2 p.m. We then would rush madly about, doing "chores" such as registering our credit card at the front office (this was before Internet was ubiquitous), sign up for the laundry package, get the shore excursion list and fill it out, usually in the Ocean Bar with a celebratory drink, and put in in the box (the shorex order, not the drink) by the shore excursion desk so we hopefully would get the ones we wanted, and try to breathe before boat drill. Somewhere in there, we would check to see if our rooms were ready and our bags had arrived.

 

Then, HAL started boarding early if you went to the Lido, and then, more recently, had the rooms ready pretty early. Coupled with that, Internet ordering of excursions, specialty dining options, etc. and the fact that we moved to the D.C. area and prefer to drive to Ft. Lauderdale/Tampa to arrive at least the day before, means we tend to arrive at the port just after 11:00 a.m. That's when inbound passengers are allowed to enter, the debarking passengers have mostly driven away from the parking garage and we have our choice of parking spots, and now that we are 4-star Mariners we get priority boarding, we find an arrival at about 11:30 in the terminal works fine for pretty much immediate boarding. Now that we have few or no "chores" to do (and free laundry, yes!), we just drop our bags in the cabin, get a quick snack and introduce ourselves to the bar staff(s).

 

(Much) shorter answer: We like to board early.

 

For debarkation, we usually get off early as well, using the drag your own bags option when available. In Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, it's so we get to our car and get on the road before traffic gets too, or at least more, crazy.

 

We debarked in New York several times, as well, and debarked there early as well, so we could get a cab to Penn Station to get an Amtrak train to D.C.

 

YMMV,

Dave

correct me if I'm wrong....but.......it is embark and disembark, is it not?

 

you don't "bark"(woof woof) or "debark" (taking the bark of a tree)?

[jtl513]

correct me if I'm wrong....but.......it is embark and disembark, is it not?

Debark is also correct, just less commonly used.

de·bark

 

(dĭ-bärk′)v. de·barked, de·bark·ing, de·barks

v.tr. To unload, as from a ship or airplane.

 

v.intr. To disembark.

.

Edited December 22, 2015 by jtl513

[silly44]

We usually show up as right at the embarkation time and there is always a line up. I don't mind waiting to get on, it's part of the fun I think. The longest we have waited was about an hour in Vancouver for an Alaskan cruise.

[Lizzie68]

Shoot, I thought de-bark was that nasty little operation they do on yappy dogs.:( It's always been disembarkation as far as I know, but bastardized words continue to be accepted by Websters.;)

[dakrewser]

You could also say OFFLOAD, but - like debark - that typically refers to cargo, not people.

[vicd1969]

You could also say OFFLOAD, but - like debark - that typically refers to cargo, not people.

 

Oops, so I should use disembark when referring to getting off a HAL ship and debark when getting off a Carnival ship, right?:p

 

I kid, I kid.

[Sir PMP]

Do you board as early as possible on embarkation day or do you take in the sights and board at your leisure?

 

Several hundred passengers were stranded in San Juan on Sunday when the Port Authority ordered the Carnival Victory and Serenade of the Seas to depart early to avoid Hurricane Irene.

 

I never thought about this scenario... We usually board early, but know others do not.

 

The best time to board is around 5:00pm....

[Kooolmomma]

We like to board as early as possible, eat the Mariner lunch in the dining room and then it gives us plenty of time to explore the ship, unpack and adjust dining times or reservations if necessary all before the muster drill.

 

Mary Lou

[OceanTraveller4ever]

Very early if we are Neptune, but otherwise earlish, so we can get the MDR lunch.

No way we touch the Lido business on embarcation....