Arrival times

[groundloop]

I've always tried to get my vacations started as early as possible and thus have attempted to get the earliest possible arrival times.  Just for the sake of discussion I'm wondering what other folks thoughts are on this. 

 

I'm beginning to wonder if it might not be nicer to arrive a bit later, say around 1:30 or 2:00 so that we can go straight to our cabin.  I'm also wondering if the crowds normally subside by then.

[rlindholm]

I fall into the category of get vacation started as soon as possible.  But we also usually arrive the day before so there is nothing else to do besides hang out in a hotel room and I would rather be hanging out on the ship.  

 

But everyone's getting on the same ship that leaves at the same time and is going to the same place, so I can see the benefit of being laid back and strolling in a bit later and not having to sit around waiting to get on.  I think a lot of this just has to do with personality.

[Badfinger]

Since we drive to the port, I aim to arrive about 12:00 so we can still get some lunch in the Italian Restaurant.  That allows us to sleep in until about 7am and also allows more than enough time should we have a flat tire or hit some traffic.  Typically the cabins are ready about the time we finish our meal.  If not, I know a way to sneak to our cabin without going around any barricades, etc.

[Bevv]

We decided to go with a noon check in time for our next cruise.  It allows time for all the departing passengers to clear out. Should be a pretty much walk right on the ship at that time. By the time we grab a drink, go to the new muster drill, and grab a bite to eat it will be time to head to the cabins and begin the fun,

 

[Sailin_Pirate]

I pick the earliest the main reason stated above( get started as soon as possible).

 

Checked in at midnight today for 9/19 Pride and earliest was 1:00pm.

 

The departure time was changed to i think 7pm a few weeks back so maybe that is why no earlier slots .

[sammee]

3 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

I pick the earliest the main reason stated above( get started as soon as possible).

 

Checked in at midnight today for 9/19 Pride and earliest was 1:00pm.

 

The departure time was changed to i think 7pm a few weeks back so maybe that is why no earlier slots .

I think the last slot was 5pm? for Pride? It's leaving at 7 all onboard by 6. So probably the D's & Ps got a bit early access since they had a 5 day start ahead of us non D or P. I managed a 1:00, my daughter got 130. I'm an early arriver when I have the faster to the fun, but that's not happening for awhile.

[Steelers0854]

57 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

I pick the earliest the main reason stated above( get started as soon as possible).

 

Checked in at midnight today for 9/19 Pride and earliest was 1:00pm.

 

The departure time was changed to i think 7pm a few weeks back so maybe that is why no earlier slots .

Glad to hear this (kind of 🙂 ), I checked in a few minutes ago and got 2pm and was really bummed and kicked myself for not logging in earlier.  Hope to see you onboard!

[tallnthensome]

After my embarkation disaster this past week you would have been crowned the champion to have waited to be the last person on board.  The rest of us sheep stood in a hot parking lot for over 2 hours waiting to board even though the people in front of me had a check in time 2.5 hours after me in their hand ..... I used to want to be first aboard but after this last would have given me the last laugh. 

[groundloop]

23 minutes ago, tallnthensome said:

After my embarkation disaster this past week you would have been crowned the champion to have waited to be the last person on board.  The rest of us sheep stood in a hot parking lot for over 2 hours waiting to board even though the people in front of me had a check in time 2.5 hours after me in their hand ..... I used to want to be first aboard but after this last would have given me the last laugh. 

 

Out of curiosity which ship / port?

 

Have you informed Carnival of this?  The only way they'll fix this is if enough people let them know of their bad experiences.

[Sailin_Pirate]

9 minutes ago, groundloop said:

 

Out of curiosity which ship / port?

 

Have you informed Carnival of this?  The only way they'll fix this is if enough people let them know of their bad experiences.

 

Guessing Panorama/Long Beach

 

There has been many complaints about how embarkation has been run even On John Healds FB

[SeaScout]

3 hours ago, groundloop said:

I've always tried to get my vacations started as early as possible and thus have attempted to get the earliest possible arrival times.  Just for the sake of discussion I'm wondering what other folks thoughts are on this. 

 

I'm beginning to wonder if it might not be nicer to arrive a bit later, say around 1:30 or 2:00 so that we can go straight to our cabin.  I'm also wondering if the crowds normally subside by then.

We typically plan to arrive at the port shortly after whatever time our flight arrives. Whatever time that may be.  It seems like it's always a bit of a "crapshoot" as to what the port looks like when we arrive.  

[tallnthensome]

7 minutes ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

 

Guessing Panorama/Long Beach

 

There has been many complaints about how embarkation has been run even On John Healds FB

Correct

[Bostwick girl]

We drive to the port (Canaveral). We left home at 8:00 am, drove an hour to the Cracker Barrel at Daytona (every adventure has begun at Cracker Barrel for many years). Left there around 10:20, stopped at the rest area close to 528, arrived at the port right at 12:00 which was our boarding time. Waited on our friend to park the car then headed inside. Wasn’t very crowded. The agents went over all our paperwork, went to the main checking area (note, there is no Diamond/Platinum area at this time). Got checked in pretty quickly, met up with our friends and went right on board. We went to drop off our carryons and I looked at the time, it was 12:30!  Went up to our muster station and checked in. That was a breeze! Everything is pretty much the same except no paper stuff all thru the trip, everything was on the app which I must say, worked very well! The chat feature worked 200% better than in the past!  Really had a nice time, and happy to be back on a ship again!

 

 

[drafterdw]

4 hours ago, Sailin_Pirate said:

I pick the earliest the main reason stated above( get started as soon as possible).

 

Checked in at midnight today for 9/19 Pride and earliest was 1:00pm.

 

The departure time was changed to i think 7pm a few weeks back so maybe that is why no earlier slots .

I'm  on the sailing on the 12th,  we have a 10:30 but we are platinum and we're able to check in 2 days early. I did stay up and did my boarding at midnight.

[Brkintx]

3 hours ago, Bostwick girl said:

We drive to the port (Canaveral). We left home at 8:00 am, drove an hour to the Cracker Barrel at Daytona (every adventure has begun at Cracker Barrel for many years). Left there around 10:20, stopped at the rest area close to 528, arrived at the port right at 12:00 which was our boarding time. Waited on our friend to park the car then headed inside. Wasn’t very crowded. The agents went over all our paperwork, went to the main checking area (note, there is no Diamond/Platinum area at this time). Got checked in pretty quickly, met up with our friends and went right on board. We went to drop off our carryons and I looked at the time, it was 12:30!  Went up to our muster station and checked in. That was a breeze! Everything is pretty much the same except no paper stuff all thru the trip, everything was on the app which I must say, worked very well! The chat feature worked 200% better than in the past!  Really had a nice time, and happy to be back on a ship again!

 

 

Have you arrived at PC earlier than that in the past? I’m not close enough to my booking to check in, but I’m assuming I will have an early check in time (OS cabin). Shuttle we have booked from MCO leaves there at 10, so if we are not delayed en route, should be there before 11. (Considering canceling that shuttle and booking private car earlier). 

[redsox1584]

I am sailing on 9/18 and stayed up until midnight this past Friday night to pick my appointment time.  I got 10:30-11:00, I am definitely on the side of get the vacation started ASAP lol.  But we do fly in the day before, so I would rather get to the ship than hang out at the hotel. Also, I am not platinum or diamond and still got the early check in time.  

Edited September 6, 2021 by redsox1584
added information

[BoozinCroozin]

We are stuck with our transportation service. They have schedules as a private service. They are brining people back to MCO, then taking us to PC. We have a pickup time at our hotel at 8:45AM - 9:00AM. That puts us at the port around 10AM if not a little earlier. I would not want to be stuck with a 1PM arrival time if that is the case.

 

[tallnthensome]

47 minutes ago, redsox1584 said:

I am sailing on 9/18 and stayed up until midnight this past Friday night to pick my appointment time.  I got 10:30-11:00, I am definitely on the side of get the vacation started ASAP lol.  But we do fly in the day before, so I would rather get to the ship than hang out at the hotel. Also, I am not platinum or diamond and still got the early check in time.  

Won't matter when they allow the last time slots on before you. The time you pick means nothing as they allowed a free for all last week. 

[ejnsb]

I can only relate our experience with the Horizon Aug 21.  Our window was 10:30-11.  Curbside 10:25, on board 18 minutes later.  However, the people who arrived around noon said it took over an hour.

[redsox1584]

1 minute ago, ejnsb said:

I can only relate our experience with the Horizon Aug 21.  Our window was 10:30-11.  Curbside 10:25, on board 18 minutes later.  However, the people who arrived around noon said it took over an hour.

 

Glad I got that same window for the Horizon in a couple of weeks!

[Bostwick girl]

2 hours ago, Brkintx said:

Have you arrived at PC earlier than that in the past? I’m not close enough to my booking to check in, but I’m assuming I will have an early check in time (OS cabin). Shuttle we have booked from MCO leaves there at 10, so if we are not delayed en route, should be there before 11. (Considering canceling that shuttle and booking private car earlier). 

Yes, I’ve always chosen 11:30 to 12, but it didn’t matter because we had priority boarding. We hardly ever had to wait to board. This time,I was afraid we were going to take a while to check in, but it went really fast.

 

 

[Elaine5715]

8 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

After my embarkation disaster this past week you would have been crowned the champion to have waited to be the last person on board.  The rest of us sheep stood in a hot parking lot for over 2 hours waiting to board even though the people in front of me had a check in time 2.5 hours after me in their hand ..... I used to want to be first aboard but after this last would have given me the last laugh. 

 

8 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

Out of curiosity which ship / port?

 

Have you informed Carnival of this?  The only way they'll fix this is if enough people let them know of their bad experiences.

I contacted them and included it in my survey. Most everyone on front of me had a check in time after me

[tallnthensome]

5 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

 

I contacted them and included it in my survey. Most everyone on front of me had a check in time after me

I just finished my survey as well and also said something. 

[groundloop]

3 hours ago, ejnsb said:

I can only relate our experience with the Horizon Aug 21.  Our window was 10:30-11.  Curbside 10:25, on board 18 minutes later.  However, the people who arrived around noon said it took over an hour.

 

 

I'm wondering about the really late check in times, say 2:00 or 2:30 (when departure time is scheduled for 4:00).  My guess is that those folks can walk on without much wait and head straight to their cabins, but I've never boarded anywhere near that late so don't really have a clue.

[crooooze]

We got the the Galveston port a few mins before 10 for a 10:00-10:30 check-in time (Uber was quicker than anticipated)  We were shocked at the huge crowd (probably hundreds) already on the line. As we zig-zagged, we also notice several people ahead of us holding boarding passes with check in times after 11:00. It took about 50 mins to get through the security and check-in process until we got to sit down in the waiting area.

 

Apparently everyone was just as anxious to get off the ship. We headed to the P&D priority disembarkation point (dining room) at 8am per the notice left in our room. When we got there at 8, it was jammed packed full - just about every seat taken.

 

These experiences just drive the mindset that you must get there much earlier.