how early can we board?

[newbie280106]

We just received our cruise documents and it says boarding no earlier than 2pm.

I'm pretty sure I've read posts/reviews mentioning getting on the boat as early as 10 or 11 am. Is this right?

We're flying down a day early just to be safe and were wanting to get on as early as possible.

What have your experiences been? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

[newbie280106]

We're boarding Voyager in Miami, not sure if that matters.

[springtxbill]

Show up at the pier around 11.:)

[smolt]

Typically ships arrive in the morning, everybody from last week's sailing processes off and the new people start boarding somewhere in the vicinity of late morning or noonish. Everybody wants to get on as early as possible so lines begin to form and waits begin to grow longer and longer. If you arrive too early, you may get caught in a long line. If you arrive at the recommended time you may avoid the frustration long wait times. That's one way the cruiseline can spread out the load and make the borading process a little smoother.

 

Having said all that, I've only been on a couple of cruises and we were on board before noon without any lines at all. I'm sure more experienced people here can offer better advice, based on the ship and port.

[matt32703]

From all the posts I have ever seen on this, and my experience, I would say 11 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. is a good "early range" for the start of the boarding process.

[Cotton]

I always arrive at the pier around 11am, and am on the ship having lunch by noonish. They need time to get all the last folks off, and cabins cleaned by the stewards. Only once did I arrive at the 'suggested' time.....wow, talk about long lines! So, now I go early.

 

Also, since you're going on a Carnival ship, be sure and fill out your Fun Pass online. Once inside the terminal, you'll see two lines - one for Fun Pass and one for those who didn't fill theirs out. The Fun Pass line may LOOK longer, but it goes much, much faster, as all your info is already in the system.

[benjidog]

We toured Radiance of the Seas about a month ago. They started letting people on about 11:30, but they couldn't go to their cabins until 1.

[larasmom]

we checked in at 11am. no lines what so ever.