What time to typically board 1st time back in states after transatlantic?

[Alter Ego]

Hello - I'm on the short 2 day Allure cruise which is the 1st cruise back after Allure's summer season in Europe. Our cruise documents say boarding at 3pm, which we assume is due to immigration and crew changeover. However, many people are planning on getting to the port early (some 11am, regular boarding time.)

 

Just wondering if anyone has any experience specifically with traveling after a ship returns from overseas. Did your documents have a later boarding and departure time (we leave at 8pm)? What time did they allow people to board?

 

 

Thanks for any help!!

[Clarea]

When we boarded Indy on the cruise after the TA, boarding was delayed a couple of hours.

[Alter Ego]

Thanks for the quick reply!!

[riclop]

It will probably be a couple of hours.

[cinnamon]

I once disembarked after a Westbound TA at 12 noon. The pier was chaotic with so many people waiting to board mingling with those trying to get taxis and shuttles after the cruise.

[rolloman]

The ship is scheduled to arrive at 5 AM. This arrival time is earlier (1.5 hours) than normal. The ship will be arriving in a terminal designed for it and quite honestly has a history of expedited excellence during embarkation/debarkation. While delays can happen on any cruise line for multiple reasons, the stage is set for an embarkation of the "usual" time frame.

 

A couple things to consider, since this is a 2 day cruise, 90 percent of the passengers will be local. That being said, the departure time is later (8 pm) to capture as many locals as possible to fill up a 5000+ ship without interrupting their work schedule. The later than normal sail away will also dramatically spread out the flow of passengers needing processed during embarkation. Personally, when sailing out of this pier during peak season, I have walked right onto the ship.

 

I am extremely confident, an arrival time of 11:30 AM will meet zero resistance during embarkation for this voyage. If it does not work out that way, it will be classified as an anomaly.

[cruisenfever]

On September 15th we board Serenade in Port Liberty after her summer overseas. We received an email stating that Boarding would begin at 1PM due to all the formalities that must be done when a ship returns from across the pond. We arrived at the port at 10:45 and were on board by 11:30.

[cruisenfever]

The ship is scheduled to arrive at 5 AM. This arrival time is earlier (1.5 hours) than normal. The ship will be arriving in a terminal designed for it and quite honestly has a history of expedited excellence during embarkation/debarkation. While delays can happen on any cruise line for multiple reasons, the stage is set for an embarkation of the "usual" time frame.

 

A couple things to consider, since this is a 2 day cruise, 90 percent of the passengers will be local. That being said, the departure time is later (8 pm) to capture as many locals as possible to fill up a 5000+ ship without interrupting their work schedule. The later than normal sail away will also dramatically spread out the flow of passengers needing processed during embarkation. Personally, when sailing out of this pier during peak season, I have walked right onto the ship.

 

I am extremely confident, an arrival time of 11:30 AM will meet zero resistance during embarkation for this voyage. If it does not work out that way, it will be classified as an anomaly.

The ship will have to go through US Coast Inspection and then all staff and crew, besides passengers, must go through Customs & Immigration because it has been out of US waters for an extended period of time. These are things that, if they do not go smoothly, can hold up embarkation for other pax no matter how efficient the terminal is.