possibility to check in early?

[rob in cal]

We have a check in time of 2 to 230 and our plans for earlier in the day (this Saturday) fell through. We are leaving on the Splendor at Long Beach, and I'm wondering what happens if we show up early and try to check in. Will we just have to wait till 2 or is there a chance we can start boarding early? This is our first Carnival cruise so not sure how strict they are.

[Essiesmom]

They are strict. You will not be allowed inside the terminal until your check-in time, unless there is no line at all when you arrive. Go take a tour of the (Hotel) Queen Mary. EM

[Princess Ariel]

I hope someone that has sailed out of Long Beach Recently (since the dome remodel) weighs in here.

I know they were kind of lax on it before but they may be enforcing the times now.

[Cruiseman38]

Unless you have Faster To The Fun (FTTF), then you will be waiting until your checking in time.

[LongHill44]

Unless you have Faster To The Fun (FTTF), then you will be waiting until your checking in time.

 

 

So if there is no one in line or just a handful and my family and I have been standing there for two hours waiting and out time is still an hour or so away, they will not let us on?

 

that's some pretty bad customer service

[naxer]

So if there is no one in line or just a handful and my family and I have been standing there for two hours waiting and out time is still an hour or so away, they will not let us on?

 

Who knows? Carnival is not the most predictable when it comes to following their rules. Last fall in Ft. Lauderdale, I had an 11am, got there at 11am, and only 11ams were being allowed in. After I checked in and was waiting for my zone, I sat across from a couple in the terminal who had a 1pm, who they let in at 10:30am, but assigned a higher zone number than me. I wouldn't go early, but for some, it seems to pay off.

[SanFranCruzer]

buy FTTF if you can!!!! So worth every penny!

board anytime.

[Nic6318]

So if there is no one in line or just a handful and my family and I have been standing there for two hours waiting and out time is still an hour or so away, they will not let us on?

 

that's some pretty bad customer service

 

 

Hi

 

They have people scheduled to arrive throughout the morning/afternoon...that is why it is called a staggered check in. It was understood that having people arrive at their own discretion wasn't serving the clients well. It has been a few years now that they have been doing this and it works well to keep people from having unreasonable delays, mainly because they actually enforce the rules. Surprise, they actually enforce a rule that helps the flow of passengers, with everybody being well advised, and some still feel this is "bad customer service". They can't win sometimes :).

[pjcoach]

Who knows? Carnival is not the most predictable when it comes to following their rules. Last fall in Ft. Lauderdale, I had an 11am, got there at 11am, and only 11ams were being allowed in. After I checked in and was waiting for my zone, I sat across from a couple in the terminal who had a 1pm, who they let in at 10:30am, but assigned a higher zone number than me. I wouldn't go early, but for some, it seems to pay off.

 

 

 

I sailed out of Miami last Saturday, may not be the same as Long Beach, but we had 11:30 to 12 assignment and got there about 9:30. There was a line for early/late (meaning before or after your scheduled time) for us to get on. After about 30 minutes or so they started letting people into the terminal including us and other guests. We were given boarding group 1 as we entered. We then proceeded to wait in the terminal for about an hour and a half or so before getting on the ship. Diamond/platinum and FTTF got on before us but only by about 15 minutes.

 

So, based upon my experience, yes you can get into terminal early and get on ship quicker than if you showed up at your scheduled time, but you still might need to wait a little.

 

Have fun

 

 

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[cvpends]

Let us know how it goes, Rob. Many of us are wondering the same thing.

[SadieN]

As of 2/10 Staggered Check In was still a suggestion in Long Beach. If this is no longer the case, check your bags and check out the Queen Mary. Show your boarding pass as Carnival pax get some consideration over there. We arrived around noon and had minimal wait.

 

 

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[RWolver672]

So if there is no one in line or just a handful and my family and I have been standing there for two hours waiting and out time is still an hour or so away, they will not let us on?

 

that's some pretty bad customer service

 

They have it figured out how many people they can handle in a time slot. If everybody shows up in their time slot, there should never be a time when there is no one in line. If you get a doctor's or any other appointment, do you show up two hours early and expect to get waited on?

 

Our first cruise was out of Miami in 1999. When we got to the terminal, they were lined up outside the door. When we finally got inside, we still stood in line for well over an hour because all 3000 people wanted to check in at the same time. This new system alleviates that problem.

[VaTech8912]

Possible - Yes

Probable - No

 

Have a great cruise.

[banditoo]

As of 2/10 Staggered Check In was still a suggestion in Long Beach. If this is no longer the case, check your bags and check out the Queen Mary. Show your boarding pass as Carnival pax get some consideration over there. We arrived around noon and had minimal wait.

 

 

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SadieN - if we show our Carnival boarding pass at the Queen Mary in LB what might it get us? Is there some kind of discount for touring?

[Alaskan Joe]

We have a check in time of 2 to 230 and our plans for earlier in the day (this Saturday) fell through. We are leaving on the Splendor at Long Beach, and I'm wondering what happens if we show up early and try to check in. Will we just have to wait till 2 or is there a chance we can start boarding early? This is our first Carnival cruise so not sure how strict they are.

 

If you wanted to you could go to the port anyways and check the worst case scenario is they say no you cannot come in terminal at this time. Long Beach has shopping and other things to do around there, we like to visit the Rock Bottom brewery in Long Beach.

[ProgRockCruiser]

They have it figured out how many people they can handle in a time slot. If everybody shows up in their time slot, there should never be a time when there is no one in line. If you get a doctor's or any other appointment, do you show up two hours early and expect to get waited on?

While I agree that the time slots are meant to handle check-ins in a much better manner, it is possible that the OP will arrive early and there may be very few people in line for any number of reasons (a bunch are now going to be late, the first pulse of people boarded relatively quickly, they all went to the bathroom...).

 

When we arrived at our check-in time last Dec in Canaveral a bit early we strolled up, maybe one group in front of us that quickly got called to the check-in counter, then we were next, then the pre-boarding group photo thing, then we walked onto the ship. I have a photo of my wife with a drink in her hand from 12:10pm, so I suspect our check-in time was 12 noon, and IIRC we got there about 20 min early...

 

So I agree with VaTech8912: possible, yes; probable, no.

[bnorris10]

One wonders how the OP can call it bad customer service when she is clearly informed of when she is supposed to be there to get on the ship - If you choose to arrive 2 hours early how is that their fault - Come when your scheduled or pay for faster to the fun

[SadieN]

One wonders how the OP can call it bad customer service when she is clearly informed of when she is supposed to be there to get on the ship - If you choose to arrive 2 hours early how is that their fault - Come when your scheduled or pay for faster to the fun

 

 

 

Agree, at other ports you probably have to wait until your appointed time but Long Beach does things differently than other ports.

[SadieN]

SadieN - if we show our Carnival boarding pass at the Queen Mary in LB what might it get us? Is there some kind of discount for touring?

 

 

 

Not too sure what it is these days. It keeps changing.

[SadieN]

So if there is no one in line or just a handful and my family and I have been standing there for two hours waiting and out time is still an hour or so away, they will not let us on?

 

 

 

that's some pretty bad customer service

 

 

 

At most ports, yes you’d have to wait until your appointed time. Not bad service as they are telling you exactly what to expect.

Oh, your choosing a check in time, not a boarding time.

[weluvcruising9804]

When do you get your check in time?

[jkneern]

When do you get your check in time?

You pick it when you do your online check in. The sooner you do it the more options you have.

[jkneern]

i read on here a while back a large group had booked there check in at noon which was the same time there flight got in. Then they were mad that there was a line when they got to the port late.

should have made them wait for missing there check in time SMH

[rob in cal]

I'm back from the cruise and just to update this issue here is what happened with us. We got to the dome at 130, half an hour early, and there wasn't a line at all, and Carnival even had a "too early/too late" line, with an official printed sign, it was totally organized. We went through that at 130, no problem. Yesterday, before we left the area on our way home, I noticed they still had it up for the next cruise. So perhaps when it gets too busy they just don't let people who fall in that category go through? That would seem a fair compromise.