Embarking at Sydney OPT

[Lifesaver1984]

Hi all,

 

Cruise coming up in a little over a month's time. Yay! Looking for people's experiences in boarding at OPT. My first cruise I flew into Sydney on the day and got the train straight to Circular Quay and arrived at OPT at about 2:30pm, flew through the check-in process and was at the Pool Bar by 2:50pm.

 

However this time around it's a boys trip and we're getting into Sydney the day before.

 

I'm thinking once we check out of the pre-cruise hotel around 9:30am (a Tuesday morning) we make our way down to Circular Quay and drop our bags off with the Porters probably somewhere around 10am. I figure we can then get a late brekky somewhere and get back to the OPT around 12-12:30 for check-in.

 

* Are we likely to have a fair wait through check-in at this time, or will most of the masses be through already?

 

* I'm in a Junior Suite and the others are in a Balcony with no C&A level. I figure if we all stick together we can all jump in the line for Suites if there is a bit of a queue along the way?

 

* Or are we still too early at 12:30 to avoid the rush and should plan on getting there later? The JS is on Deck 9 and the Balcony is on Deck 10. I know cabins aren't available straight away, but we don't want to be lugging carry on luggage around the ship for hours on end.

 

As always, love the advice on these boards :)

[GUT2407]

Hi all,

 

Cruise coming up in a little over a month's time. Yay! Looking for people's experiences in boarding at OPT. My first cruise I flew into Sydney on the day and got the train straight to Circular Quay and arrived at OPT at about 2:30pm, flew through the check-in process and was at the Pool Bar by 2:50pm.

 

However this time around it's a boys trip and we're getting into Sydney the day before.

 

I'm thinking once we check out of the pre-cruise hotel around 9:30am (a Tuesday morning) we make our way down to Circular Quay and drop our bags off with the Porters probably somewhere around 10am. I figure we can then get a late brekky somewhere and get back to the OPT around 12-12:30 for check-in.

 

* Are we likely to have a fair wait through check-in at this time, or will most of the masses be through already?

 

* I'm in a Junior Suite and the others are in a Balcony with no C&A level. I figure if we all stick together we can all jump in the line for Suites if there is a bit of a queue along the way?

 

* Or are we still too early at 12:30 to avoid the rush and should plan on getting there later? The JS is on Deck 9 and the Balcony is on Deck 10. I know cabins aren't available straight away, but we don't want to be lugging carry on luggage around the ship for hours on end.

 

As always, love the advice on these boards :)

 

Sounds like a good plan to me. Save I didn't think JS got to use the suitesline. I may be wrong.

[Beanb41]

Sounds like a good plan to me. Save I didn't think JS got to use the suitesline. I may be wrong.

 

The plan is a good one. My experience of boarding at Sydney OPT is to turn up around 11.00 and get processed. It doesn't seem to make much difference which line you are in. On our last trip we had to wait until customs and immigration arrived and then we effectively all went through together. Processing prior to customs was started around 10.30. The only ones who effectively beat the queue were those in wheelchairs and even then because of their lack of mobility they were all sent to one customs officer whilst everyone else was divided amongst the remaining 7 or 8. Once through customs it was get in the queue for security irrespective what class you were

[The_Big_M]

From my experience it's busy boarding on Explorer (being the largest class here pre-Ovation) at 12:30. Not sure if recent experience is better.

 

Cabins normally open up at 1, if that helps your planning.