How late does check in stay open on a cruise which is overnight in port for 1st night

[Suite Susie]

Am slightly freaking out as my husband is insisting that we fly in on the day that our cruise starts, as the ship is overnight in port and does not leave until the next day. Our flight is due to land at 12.55, so in theory we should have no problem, but am obviously concerned should we get delayed. If anybody has any experience of this please let me know. I plan to call Celebrity at the weekend, but am not sure if they will give me the correct answer. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Suite Susie

[camarodrivenrs]

Not sure about check in, but maritime law requires a gangway watch at all times a gangway is in place. Interesting question though, hope someone else can provide an answer for you.

[Illyria]

Someone else was asking a related question earlier in this thread: http://forums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2214167

 

Basically it comes down to the check-in schedule that the ship will provide in your documents. Even though the ship is sitting in port, they will still only have a certain check-in window on the first day. If you are late - it's nice that you don't have to chase the ship in the next port, but they will close down the gangway and mark you as a no-show.

 

The other poster said that they were told to email Celebrity for permission for late check-in on the first night. That's with advance planning...if you're just running unexpectedly late, you can run into a lot of hassle trying to board the ship (you'd have to notify them, they'll have to be expecting you, otherwise security in port won't let you anywhere near the ship, etc. etc.)

[Bo1953]

I Am sure CC will provide the correct answer as far as their requirements goes, so I would not discount that too quickly.

 

Since we do not know where it is you are to embark and I Am sure your husband has his reasons for not wanting to arrive on day 1, how about you taking the tact and finding out if you can check in 'on time' with your husband checking in at a later time for the cruise?

 

This way, you are on the ship and not worried, if your husband misses the boat or for some reason cannot check in when he wants, there is the next port for him to meet you in...

 

Your main question may be, if we get delayed en-route to check-in on day 2, should we just go to the next port since we chose not to check in on day 1? In which case I suggest calling CC and letting them know. I hope your travel insurance will cover this, possibly not as you are not checking in when required, day 1. Just check the policy to be sure.

 

bon voyage...

[DinaS]

I Am sure CC will provide the correct answer as far as their requirements goes, so I would not discount that too quickly.

 

Since we do not know where it is you are to embark and I Am sure your husband has his reasons for not wanting to arrive on day 1, how about you taking the tact and finding out if you can check in 'on time' with your husband checking in at a later time for the cruise?

 

This way, you are on the ship and not worried, if your husband misses the boat or for some reason cannot check in when he wants, there is the next port for him to meet you in...

 

Your main question may be, if we get delayed en-route to check-in on day 2, should we just go to the next port since we chose not to check in on day 1? In which case I suggest calling CC and letting them know. I hope your travel insurance will cover this, possibly not as you are not checking in when required, day 1. Just check the policy to be sure.

 

bon voyage...

 

You misunderstood their question. They are arriving and want to check in on day one, but are concerned that a delay might happen.

 

My advice would always be to arrive the day before the cruise and avoid these potential problems, but for some reason they don't want to do that.

 

Call Celebrity and find out what would happen.

[TommyD3]

One time when cruising on the Millennium out of Hong Kong our Delta flight arrived 2 days late. We were originally supposed to arrive the day before embarkation. We arrived on the day after embarkation but while the ship was still in port. We were able to get onboard the ship w/o a problem but had to wait 15-30 minutes on the deck near the gang plank before someone from guest relations came to get us. We checked in at guest relations.

[Bo1953]

You misunderstood their question. They are arriving and want to check in on day one, but are concerned that a delay might happen.

 

My advice would always be to arrive the day before the cruise and avoid these potential problems, but for some reason they don't want to do that.

 

Call Celebrity and find out what would happen.

 

 

My profound apologies for the mis-read. Arrive the day before then you know you are there, unless there is some aversion to the departure city. If it is the cost of a hotel stay, possibly taking the last flight of the day to arrive as late as possible before the next day...

 

Have a good trip anyway you go for it.... I would still check what your insurance policy states in a situation like this.

[Suite Susie]

My profound apologies for the mis-read. Arrive the day before then you know you are there, unless there is some aversion to the departure city. If it is the cost of a hotel stay, possibly taking the last flight of the day to arrive as late as possible before the next day...

 

Have a good trip anyway you go for it.... I would still check what your insurance policy states in a situation like this.

 

Going out for dinner tonight - gonna work on him to change our flights after a glass of wine. We're departing from Istanbul and he's worried about terrorists etc. Wants to get on the ship and stay on the ship. He's a wimp!! We've been to Istanbul before, so have no need to see anything.

 

Thanks for all the great advice.

[villauk]

Going out for dinner tonight - gonna work on him to change our flights after a glass of wine. We're departing from Istanbul and he's worried about terrorists etc. Wants to get on the ship and stay on the ship. He's a wimp!! We've been to Istanbul before, so have no need to see anything.

 

Thanks for all the great advice.

 

 

If you're on the August Equinox sailing (you haven't stated in your post), there are many of us flying into Istanbul the day before ;). We've also had a first night in port on Solstice out of Sydney and people were still checking in when were we going back into the city late in the afternoon ;). You can advise X if you are going to be extremely late.

[Suite Susie]

Pleased to say that he weakened and I've changed our flights to the Sunday. Yes we're on the Equinox and I'm now much happier and more relaxed and we get an extra day's holiday!

[villauk]

Pleased to say that he weakened and I've changed our flights to the Sunday. Yes we're on the Equinox and I'm now much happier and more relaxed and we get an extra day's holiday!

 

Good, glad he succumbed :). You'll probably see many of us at the airport if you're flying TK ;).

[Bo1953]

Congrats! Make sure he has wine the night before and on the plane too... have a good flight and even better cruise...