kskelley40 Posted July 27, 2019 #1 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Let me first say that we are not new to cruising...this will be our 22nd cruise. Granted it has been a couple of years since we cruised on Carnival and I am having a serious Senior Moment. Ok, so maybe mid Senior moment as I am only in my mid 50's. Anyway, we are on the Magic in November. I read on these boards that your sail & sign key will be in your mailbox at your cabin. This is where the "senior moment" is coming in as I can't quite grasp this concept. On our previous 21 cruises, you get your room key when you check in. You do the "bong" to get on the ship and then you are good to go. So, if your card is at your cabin and the cabins are not ready for a couple of hours after your board.... 1 - how do you get on the ship? 2 - how do you order drinks? Our routine is that we get on the ship. Head to the pool. Grab a drink and relax! Our vacation starts when we get our first cocktail by the pool If you are an early boarder, whether it is your tier status, suite guest or FTTF, you could realistically be on the ship for a couple of hours until the cabins are ready. Someone please help....I know it is not a big deal and we will have a great time as always, but my brain is hurting trying to figure this out. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kskelley40 Posted July 27, 2019 Author #2 Share Posted July 27, 2019 3 minutes ago, kskelley40 said: Let me first say that we are not new to cruising...this will be our 22nd cruise. Granted it has been a couple of years since we cruised on Carnival and I am having a serious Senior Moment. Ok, so maybe mid Senior moment as I am only in my mid 50's. Anyway, we are on the Magic in November. I read on these boards that your sail & sign key will be in your mailbox at your cabin. This is where the "senior moment" is coming in as I can't quite grasp this concept. On our previous 21 cruises, you get your room key when you check in. You do the "bong" to get on the ship and then you are good to go. So, if your card is at your cabin and the cabins are not ready for a couple of hours after your board.... 1 - how do you get on the ship? 2 - how do you order drinks? Our routine is that we get on the ship. Head to the pool. Grab a drink and relax! Our vacation starts when we get our first cocktail by the pool If you are an early boarder, whether it is your tier status, suite guest or FTTF, you could realistically be on the ship for a couple of hours until the cabins are ready. Someone please help....I know it is not a big deal and we will have a great time as always, but my brain is hurting trying to figure this out. Thanks! Sorry if this has been asked before...these boards are quite different lately and it is harder to find specific answers to specific questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachbum6264 Posted July 27, 2019 #3 Share Posted July 27, 2019 You use your boarding pass to board the ship as well as buying a drink (or 6). The cards will be at your cabin whenever they are ready. Diamond, Platinum and FTTF can still head back to their cabins, their cards will be there, others will not be, so no reason to go check. No worries about someone else getting/using yours, since your photo will pop up when it's used. Smooth sailing.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keywest1 Posted July 27, 2019 #4 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Your boarding pass will act as your S&S card until you can go to your cabin. Easy peasy--I was nervous about the change, too, but it makes check in much quicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bury me at sea Posted July 27, 2019 #5 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Check in quicker. Use your boarding pass to buy drinks. Also for early access to cabin IF you are Platinum, Diamond, or have FTTF. Otherwise proceed to your cabin when the announcement is made, pick up your S&S card, and sail away. All is easy, safe, seamless. Just hold on to your boarding pass. This easy process has been in place for quite awhile with no worries or complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kskelley40 Posted July 27, 2019 Author #6 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Thanks for the info. We have a suite so I know we will board early. Never in a hurry to get to the room, just want to hang out and relax. So as long as we can get a cocktail....we are good to go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lottacruises Posted July 27, 2019 #7 Share Posted July 27, 2019 How many? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kskelley40 Posted July 27, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted July 27, 2019 8 minutes ago, Lottacruises said: How many? How many what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikenbon Posted July 28, 2019 #9 Share Posted July 28, 2019 I miss the sound when our sign & sail cards were scanned to board the ship. Now your boarding pass is scanned on an iPad, and there's no sound. Your photo and information pops up on the screen for the crew member to verify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lagienomai Posted July 28, 2019 #10 Share Posted July 28, 2019 3 hours ago, mikenbon said: I miss the sound when our sign & sail cards were scanned to board the ship. Now your boarding pass is scanned on an iPad, and there's no sound. Your photo and information pops up on the screen for the crew member to verify. Me too. Especially when you first get on board. The bongo sound was the start of my vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evandbob Posted July 28, 2019 #11 Share Posted July 28, 2019 10 hours ago, lagienomai said: Me too. Especially when you first get on board. The bongo sound was the start of my vacation. Guess a new Pavlovian trigger is needed? Might take a while for a new alert to replace the ping sound........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTLCruiseGal Posted July 28, 2019 #12 Share Posted July 28, 2019 17 hours ago, Lottacruises said: How many? If you are questioning the number of S&S cards, one per person, just like at the old check-in. Each is individualized with the name and folio number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6uqqq Posted July 28, 2019 #13 Share Posted July 28, 2019 15 hours ago, mikenbon said: I miss the sound when our sign & sail cards were scanned to board the ship. Now your boarding pass is scanned on an iPad, and there's no sound. Your photo and information pops up on the screen for the crew member to verify. Here is a handy card reader sound so you can relive the glory days 🤣. When they got their pad thingy out I added my sound effect on my phone and they laughed. cardreader.mp3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaded Lady Posted July 28, 2019 #14 Share Posted July 28, 2019 @kskelley40 You may already know this but for the benefit of others who may not be aware- staying in a suite gets you priority boarding but NOT early access to your cabin, so your plan of 1- pool, 2- drinks, 3- relax is a perfect plan! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kskelley40 Posted July 28, 2019 Author #15 Share Posted July 28, 2019 40 minutes ago, Shaded Lady said: @kskelley40 You may already know this but for the benefit of others who may not be aware- staying in a suite gets you priority boarding but NOT early access to your cabin, so your plan of 1- pool, 2- drinks, 3- relax is a perfect plan! Yes, I do know that. We are never in a hurry to get to the room. We carry the bare essentials with us on embarkation day. But thanks for the reminder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaded Lady Posted July 28, 2019 #16 Share Posted July 28, 2019 10 minutes ago, kskelley40 said: Yes, I do know that. We are never in a hurry to get to the room. We carry the bare essentials with us on embarkation day. But thanks for the reminder. I figured, as experienced as you are, you probably already knew that, but I had to argue this point with a recent poster, so I thought I'd mention it! As for the senior moment, I'm with ya!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garth2 Posted July 30, 2019 #17 Share Posted July 30, 2019 On 7/27/2019 at 4:31 PM, kskelley40 said: On our previous 21 cruises, you get your room key when you check in. You do the "bong" to get on the ship and then you are good to go. You can't use a bong on the ship : ) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhillyFan33579 Posted July 31, 2019 #18 Share Posted July 31, 2019 On 7/28/2019 at 5:01 PM, kskelley40 said: Yes, I do know that. We are never in a hurry to get to the room. We carry the bare essentials with us on embarkation day. But thanks for the reminder. I don’t understand why more people don’t do that. Every cruise we go immediately to the lobby bar for a few drinks when we get on the ship and watch people board the ship, except on Spirit class ships due to the lobby bar location. Without exception, every cruise there are countless people struggling with their luggage, bags, etc. It is so much easier to drop off your luggage with porters and let others do all the work getting your luggage to your cabin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kskelley40 Posted August 1, 2019 Author #19 Share Posted August 1, 2019 (edited) 11 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said: I don’t understand why more people don’t do that. Every cruise we go immediately to the lobby bar for a few drinks when we get on the ship and watch people board the ship, except on Spirit class ships due to the lobby bar location. Without exception, every cruise there are countless people struggling with their luggage, bags, etc. It is so much easier to drop off your luggage with porters and let others do all the work getting your luggage to your cabin. I don't understand it either. We drive or fly in the night before. Have a good breakfast at the hotel and then head to the port. We wear our bathing suits under our clothes and just carry a small bag with our papers, passports, camera and sun tan lotion. The only other bag is my laptop bag. Don't want to put that in my checked bag for many reasons. Once we get our first drink, we had to the pool. We are all set until Muster. After that we head to the cabin and if the bags are there, we unpack. I can't think of anything we need until then. Granted some people need medications and other essentials, but the people I have seen with all of their bags is amazing. To each their own, I guess. Edited August 1, 2019 by kskelley40 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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