How early?

[tigger54]

How early do they normally start letting people on the ship. We will be on the Crown for a southern Caribbean cruise if that makes a difference. Will they assign us a boarding time or do we get to pick a time?

thank you. I keep thinking of questions

[memoak]

They will give you a time but you can show up when ever you want - they will not deny you boarding

[Tak8]

The last time I left from Fort Lauderdale, May 18, they started boarding about 11.  You can board anytime although you may get a suggested boarding time.

[famski740]

In Fort Lauderdale we always arrive at the terminal around 10:00 am.  My wife has mobility issues so we use a special service at the right side of the building.  At about 11:00 am they will start letting people into the building and screen them and get them there boarding passes/medallions.  They will normally start to allow passengers on board the ship at 12:00 noon.

 

All of this depends on having customs clear the ship from its last cruise.  The rooms now a days are not ready until 1:00 pm.

Lunch will be served at the Buffet,  International Cafe, and at one of the dining rooms usually mid-ship (be careful, the crew may not tell you about the dining room).

 

Now, this has been my experience, yours may vary.

[skynight]

27 minutes ago, tigger54 said:

How early do they normally start letting people on the ship. We will be on the Crown for a southern Caribbean cruise if that makes a difference. Will they assign us a boarding time or do we get to pick a time?

thank you. I keep thinking of questions

By next winter the Crown should be a medallion ship making boarding even quicker, especially if the ship is at pier 2. From experience arrive between 10:30 & 11:00. Priority boarding should begin around 11:30, maybe even earlier with general boarding following by groups in order of arrival.

You don't pick a boarding time. You may be assigned a time by deck, but it's just a suggestion. You do select a disembarkation time once on board.

How quickly boarding begins depends on two main factors. a) how quickly disembarking passengers are processed through immigration and b) how promptly all b2b passengers, there will be hundreds of them, arrive for immigration processing. If even one b2b passenger fails to show the entire boarding process is delayed until that passenger is located. This is not within your control. I just mention it so you understand why there can be delays.

 

[voljeep]

if there is a crowd/line waiting to board ... you will be sent to a section and board according to your priority

 

Weddings

suites / elites

platinum

ruby

all others

 

passengers needing assistance boarding will also be directed to a special area

 

no line ... well, just walk this way ...

[pms4104]

7 minutes ago, voljeep said:

if there is a crowd/line waiting to board ... you will be sent to a section and board according to your priority

 

Weddings

suites / elites

platinum

ruby

all others

 

passengers needing assistance boarding will also be directed to a special area

 

no line ... well, just walk this way ...

Was not aware that Ruby passengers made up a separate boarding group.  Thought Ruby was part of "all others".  Is this new?

 

Edited May 30, 2019 by pms4104

[voljeep]

2 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Was not aware that Ruby passengers made up a separate boarding group.  Thought Ruby was part of "all others".  Is this new?

 

no clue ... sorry ...  we were never "Ruby" ... at that level we were part of the short-lived 'Medallion' level - yep, there once was a captains circle Medallion level later renamed Ruby ...

 

sorry about the confusion ...

[pms4104]

25 minutes ago, voljeep said:

no clue ... sorry ...  we were never "Ruby" ... at that level we were part of the short-lived 'Medallion' level - yep, there once was a captains circle Medallion level later renamed Ruby ...

 

sorry about the confusion ...

No worries.

[kywildcatfanone]

They normally open the doors at about 10am to let you inside at FLL, but boarding won't start till after 11am.

[PMGS247]

3 hours ago, pms4104 said:

Was not aware that Ruby passengers made up a separate boarding group.  Thought Ruby was part of "all others".  Is this new?

 

My wife and I are Ruby, was just on the CB last week and I did get the impression we got handed a more favorable boarding group card than some others arriving at the same time.

 

FLL, arrived about 10:30, fully Ocean Ready with medallions around our neck, went through the check-in process which took maybe 5-7 minutes and was handed boarding group #4 as we walked into the waiting room.  Boarding did not actually begin until closer to 11:30, we sat in the waiting room for quite a while, but were among the first few groups to get called up.  It went b2b passengers, a group of travel agents touring the ship, then I think Elites had first crack followed shortly by boarding group #1.  The lady handing out the cards definitely seemed to dig around for a different boarding group number than the one that was on top of her pile after she seemed to make note of our ruby status.  Every blue medallion I saw had a higher number, including those that were already in the waiting room.  I certainly could be mistaken but it seemed like our ruby status bought us at least a few group #'s.

[tigger54]

Thank you

[MissP22]

Even if your room isn't ready, you can always drop off your carry on's & leave them in the room while you go to lunch.