Boarding time when ship is empty before cruise?

[Dixie24]

Going on the Sunshine out of NYC on 6/21. The ship's previous cruise ends on 6/20 in Charleston then it is traveling empty to NYC for the 6/21 cruise. Since there will be no disembarking passengers, will embarkation start earlier than normal or should I still plan for it to start at 11 at the earliest? I normally arrive at the terminal around 10:30 no matter where the cruise starts from.

[LisaH]

This just happened with our cruise on the Breeze out of Galveston. She arrived empty from Miami to start the Galveston route. They boarded us as soon as we arrived between 11:00-11:30. We did not get our luggage until 5:00. That was the earliest we have ever gotten on and the latest we have ever gotten our luggage.

[MMLEsq]

Sorry, I can't speculate about NYC, but we were on the first cruise on the Splendor in March after its dry dock -- which left from Miami. Embarkation pretty much started at the normal time, although all the cabins were ready when we got on, if I remember correctly.

 

The one thing we hadn't thought of -- which is unlikely to be a problem (or as much of a problem) in NYC -- was that with no disembarking passengers, there were no cars leaving the parking lot directly across from the ship, which was full. So, we ended up having to park at a parking garage pretty far away (and then had to do the trek back to that same distant parking garage when we returned).

Edited June 7, 2016 by MMLEsq

[vwrestler171]

Lot of times Customs will do a full inspection so you might still have to wait.

[Jeffrey1950]

Going on the Sunshine out of NYC on 6/21. The ship's previous cruise ends on 6/20 in Charleston then it is traveling empty to NYC for the 6/21 cruise. Since there will be no disembarking passengers, will embarkation start earlier than normal or should I still plan for it to start at 11 at the earliest? I normally arrive at the terminal around 10:30 no matter where the cruise starts from.

 

I am on this cruise also, I usually get to the Port about 10:00 - 11:00 AM. So looking forward to it !!

Edited June 7, 2016 by Jeffrey1950

[bobsfamily]

Going on the Sunshine out of NYC on 6/21. The ship's previous cruise ends on 6/20 in Charleston then it is traveling empty to NYC for the 6/21 cruise. Since there will be no disembarking passengers, will embarkation start earlier than normal or should I still plan for it to start at 11 at the earliest? I normally arrive at the terminal around 10:30 no matter where the cruise starts from.

She came to Charleston 5/21 "empty" out of drydock... except she was not empty. There was about a 1000 "techs" as they called them that had to be screened/cleared by Customs, none of which were Americans. All had to be fingerprinted, hand-scanned (I think the same?) and checked off the ship... before any passengers could embark. Carnival asked for 20 custom officers, they got 2.... The ship got to port around 6:30 am. The first passenger boarded after 1pm and the last after 5pm. It was a mess.

[riclop]

Going on the Sunshine out of NYC on 6/21. The ship's previous cruise ends on 6/20 in Charleston then it is traveling empty to NYC for the 6/21 cruise. Since there will be no disembarking passengers, will embarkation start earlier than normal or should I still plan for it to start at 11 at the earliest? I normally arrive at the terminal around 10:30 no matter where the cruise starts from.

Yes it should be earlier.

[stargate fan]

Going on the Sunshine out of NYC on 6/21. The ship's previous cruise ends on 6/20 in Charleston then it is traveling empty to NYC for the 6/21 cruise. Since there will be no disembarking passengers, will embarkation start earlier than normal or should I still plan for it to start at 11 at the earliest? I normally arrive at the terminal around 10:30 no matter where the cruise starts from.

 

When we sailed Miracle out of Port Everglades in 2009, she arrived empty of passengers, who had all disembarked in Tampa. (The ship repositioned to PE.) She arrived at the port around 9:30, we arrived at the port around 9:30, and embarkation began before 10:00.

 

If it were me, I'd get to the port earlier.

 

Have a great cruise.

[rob111]

My wife and I will be on the cruise with you. Coming in to NYC Saturday for a few days of fun beforehand. We plan to be at the pier earlier than we normally would be in hopes of getting on the ship earlier.

 

I love this pier. About a 10 minute walk from our hotel and we are there!

[runlikeamother]

I'm also on the same cruise. If my boarding time says 1-3pm- does that matter? Or can we get there earlier- I usually get there by 11am, but have never sailed carnival, and I am beyond excited.

Thanks in advance

[bptex]

Lot of times Customs will do a full inspection so you might still have to wait.

 

And in NYC you get the port authority that'll probably want to do their own inspection.

[yankee04]

I'm also on the same cruise. If my boarding time says 1-3pm- does that matter? Or can we get there earlier- I usually get there by 11am, but have never sailed carnival, and I am beyond excited.

Thanks in advance

 

I don't think NYC enforces the staggered embarkation times. I know they did not on my last cruise last year. Their cruise terminal is very large so I don't think they need to enforce it.

 

On second thought, I don't think staggered times were a thing last year so maybe it has changed.

Edited June 17, 2016 by yankee04

[NCTribeFan]

I've sailed a couple of times when the ship had no passengers the day before. We didn't board any earlier.

 

Traffic is easier to deal with since there aren't people being picked up and parking lots don't have to begin to empty before they can let cars in.

 

But I wouldn't plan on being allowed to board any earlier than normal. If embarkation was to start early, I imagine they'd put the earlier time on your documents.

[erinmarie424]

I've sailed a couple of times when the ship had no passengers the day before. We didn't board any earlier.

 

Traffic is easier to deal with since there aren't people being picked up and parking lots don't have to begin to empty before they can let cars in.

 

But I wouldn't plan on being allowed to board any earlier than normal. If embarkation was to start early, I imagine they'd put the earlier time on your documents.

 

We were on the first sailing of the Triumph out of New Orleans and it seemed like boarding actually started later than my previous cruise out of there.... after all the protocol they had to go through they had a bunch of press and local dignitaries that were allowed in to tour the ship while we waited. Boarding actually started pretty close to the time that they told us it would (noon.) I'm guessing they don't get this excited in every port.