When can I Embark?

[babygoats]

My cruise leaves at 4 and paperwork says embarkation is from 1-3. But I see lots of posts about people embarking at 11 am. What's the rule here?

 

I have priority boarding if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks!

[runner15km]

Get to the pier at 10:30 am.:)

[evandbob]

My cruise leaves at 4 and paperwork says embarkation is from 1-3. But I see lots of posts about people embarking at 11 am. What's the rule here?

 

I have priority boarding if that makes a difference.

 

Thanks!

 

If you are platinum or diamond, boarding generally starts about 11:30AM. If you have FTTF, your group will be after them. If you are part of a wedding you will be ahead of the plats.

 

Read some of the threads about "How long can I stay on the Ship" to understand why the 1st pax get aboard at this time.

[babygoats]

Thank you both very much! I'm excited and nervous for my first cruise!!!

[gtouch]

Thank you both very much! I'm excited and nervous for my first cruise!!!

 

Congrats have a great cruise. Remember it is what you make it so have fun.

[SadieN]

Which port? It does vary. Generally boarding starts around 11:30. We find getting port around then gives us minimum wait time. We sail mainly on the West Coast.

[vwrestler171]

Feel free to arrive earlier, but don't be surprised if you have to wait to board.

[smyliecruising]

We go early and usually 10-11 while we are on our way there we get an email that tells us to not go until one. crowd control maybe? We never stand in line. We check in and sit in a chair until they tell us to board. On before noon.

[Hawaiifrank]

Either go early, 10-ish, or go late. Eleven to noon I would avoid. I have waited in a line outside the terminal, in the hot sun, waiting to get inside. Once the terminal and waiting areas are full, they have keep people outside until boarding starts and the terminal has room.

 

Some ports handle it better than others. If you specify the port, you will probably get a more specific answer.

 

Sometimes a ship has a need to delay boarding--special cleaning after a noro outbreak, required drills, delayed debarcation, USCG inspection, etc. Once, in Barcelona, they didn't allow us to board until 2 pm. We were kept waiting in the hot, stuffy terminal, with practically no seating, for over 2 hrs. That is not typical, just be aware it can happen.

 

Sometimes you have very little control over when you arrive. If your flight arrives at 6 am, you either wait at the airport or the cruise terminal. If the shuttle from the hotel leaves at 10:30 am, that's when you go. If you drive you leave early enough to allow for traffic or a flat tire, but if everything goes according to plan with no delays, you arrive way early.

 

For a 4 pm departure, 1 pm is the latest I'd plan to arrive and there'd probably be no lines at all. I'd rather shoot for much earlier and arrive before 11 am.

 

Too early and you run into the crowds of people still getting off. Most of that is gone by 10:30 or so.

[IPlayWithString]

Also..if anyone in your group is special needs, you should probably contact Carnival before your cruise. They MIGHT be able to get you on somewhere between Platinum/Diamond and Faster to the Fun.

 

MIGHT.

 

Not saying it WILL happen...but you can call and have the special needs notation added to your file.

 

 

We've always cruised with our son, who is high functioning autistic, and on our last two cruises Carnival was able to get us on pretty soon (like within 15-20 min) of us checking in. It's not that he is unable to wait, but by the time we get to the port his excitement/anxiety tends to skyrocket even though he's cruised several times before. The combination of excitement and anxiety tends to get him really wound up and he melts down because even though he's excited, he's also really REALLY anxious because...well...there's usually about a thousand different reasons. He can also get overwhelmed with that many people in a room and them being loud and stuff because they're all chatting or on their phones or whatever. Sensory overload sucks donkey butt.