Check In Appointment

[HillBilly Bob]

You have filled in all your paperwork for check in, chosen your arrival time and then discover that you will be late for arrival.  What happens then?  

[shof515]

nothing will happen. you can still check in at anytime

[Lottacruises]

You will go to the early late line, if they have that at your port. Not a big deal. Enjoy your cruise!

[xDisconnections]

You show up at the port and follow the instructions provided. They’ll still let you on the ship just as a hotel will let you check in if it isn’t 4pm exactly when you arrive.

[TNcruising02]

The early/late line.  One time I was five minutes late for my appointment window and they sent me to the early/late line.

[RWolver672]

FYI, if you are early or late for your appointment, be prepared to wait in a long line.  For our last cruise on the Horizon out of Miami,  Brother/SIL had FTTF.  We were Platinum.  We got in the Priority line and never stopped walking until we were on the ship. The line next to us was for "On Time" and those in that line kept moving until they were onboard.  The "Early/Late" line stretched down the side and part way across the front of the building.  

[rukkian]

2 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

FYI, if you are early or late for your appointment, be prepared to wait in a long line.  For our last cruise on the Horizon out of Miami,  Brother/SIL had FTTF.  We were Platinum.  We got in the Priority line and never stopped walking until we were on the ship. The line next to us was for "On Time" and those in that line kept moving until they were onboard.  The "Early/Late" line stretched down the side and part way across the front of the building.  

I am guessing that is for the initial people showing up early, I would guess that after the initial rush, any people being late would probably walk right on the ship.  

[Shaded Lady]

4 hours ago, rukkian said:

I am guessing that is for the initial people showing up early, I would guess that after the initial rush, any people being late would probably walk right on the ship.  

I would agree with this at most ports... the later the checkin time (or the later you arrive at the port) the fewer people are boarding, and therefore even if there is a wait, it's minimal.

[Cousin Eddie]

On 12/3/2019 at 6:11 AM, HillBilly Bob said:

You have filled in all your paperwork for check in, chosen your arrival time and then discover that you will be late for arrival.  What happens then?  

If the later slots are still available you could edit to a later time and reprint your boarding pass. When I first check in online I print one pass with each of the appointment times before settling on one. I then can present whichever one is convenient to the time I arrive at the port.

[simplelife]

On 12/4/2019 at 9:26 AM, rukkian said:

I am guessing that is for the initial people showing up early, I would guess that after the initial rush, any people being late would probably walk right on the ship.  

That has been our experience. Once(PC) our shuttle dropped us off a few minutes before our schedule time, we expected to wait for our time, but they waved us on in (as there was no line). Last cruise  (Also PC) we arrived at our scheduled time and breezed right through embarkation, waiting in our zone areas no more than 10 minutes and were on board within minutes of the time we arrived)

[Eli_6]

On 12/6/2019 at 12:49 PM, Cousin Eddie said:

If the later slots are still available you could edit to a later time and reprint your boarding pass. When I first check in online I print one pass with each of the appointment times before settling on one. I then can present whichever one is convenient to the time I arrive at the port.

They don't double check you in their system to see what your actual time is?

 

 

[LuckyStar]

4 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

They don't double check you in their system to see what your actual time is?

 

 

Didn't happen to us at Long Beach, CA.  We were an hour early due to shuttle and flights and fully expected to wait around but they waved us right on.  I would expect they prefer to keep things moving than to let it bottle up.  

[Cousin Eddie]

6 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

They don't double check you in their system to see what your actual time is?

 

 

In my experience, the check in time printed on the pass is shown to a worker outside the terminal who directs you to either to the on time line or the early/late line. I don't think it comes into play after that point.  I usually don't get there until after the early rush, so it has never really been an issue.

[Lottacruises]

7 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

They don't double check you in their system to see what your actual time is?

 

 

 

 

No. The only indication of a check in time is on the paper. 

[RWolver672]

18 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

They don't double check you in their system to see what your actual time is?

 

 

 

No, but they check your boarding pass to see what time you are scheduled to check in.  If you don't show up during your check in time, they will direct you to the early/late line.  It may be long or it may be short just depending on how many have already checked in.

[shof515]

10 minutes ago, RWolver672 said:

 

No, but they check your boarding pass to see what time you are scheduled to check in.  If you don't show up during your check in time, they will direct you to the early/late line.  It may be long or it may be short just depending on how many have already checked in.

that is if the port actually does check it in. when i sailed out of ny back in june, no one checked my boarding pass to see what time i had.

[Eli_6]

3 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

No, but they check your boarding pass to see what time you are scheduled to check in.  If you don't show up during your check in time, they will direct you to the early/late line.  It may be long or it may be short just depending on how many have already checked in.

Yeah, that's why I was asking if Carnival checked it in their system. The poster above printed multiple different boarding passes with different times.  I.e. they checked in with one time, printed a boarding pass then checked in with another, time and printed another pass, and so on so that no matter what their boarding pass would say whatever time they arrived and they would not have to wait in the longer line.

 

I suppose it is gaming the system a bit, but not the worst idea considering it isn't particularly easy to always arrive exactly at your check in time when dealing with flights, baggage, traffic, and/or kids.  I prob wouldn't do it but to each his own.   Besides, at some point, if you print all 6-8 boarding times you are spending more time doing that than you are standing in line. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 11, 2019 by Eli_6

[Elaine5715]

On 12/9/2019 at 7:41 AM, simplelife said:

That has been our experience. Once(PC) our shuttle dropped us off a few minutes before our schedule time, we expected to wait for our time, but they waved us on in (as there was no line). Last cruise  (Also PC) we arrived at our scheduled time and breezed right through embarkation, waiting in our zone areas no more than 10 minutes and were on board within minutes of the time we arrived)

If you use Carnival's shuttle, you can enter the terminal upon arrival