Arrival time for check in

[divergirl63]

Hello

Has anyone experienced arriving early to the port before your assigned time and allowed to go ahead and board the ship. Asking because of shuttle to the port.

[Cigar King]

It seems to vary.  I'd suggest you give it a whirl.  What's the worst that happens, you hang around outside waiting.  No big deal.

 

BTW - Keep looking for earlier times.  I know that on our upcoming cruises they only recently released the earliest times.

[bucfan2]

2 hours ago, divergirl63 said:

Hello

Has anyone experienced arriving early to the port before your assigned time and allowed to go ahead and board the ship. Asking because of shuttle to the port.

As Cigar King stated, it seems to vary from port to port/ship to ship.  Suggest weighing the risk/reward...here in Fl, the worst thing most likely to happen is mandatory fun in beautiful wx awaiting boarding.  And if ya get on a couple hours early, it cuts down on the cost/hr of the cruise 🙂  

Edited November 12, 2021 by bucfan2

[jcc1025]

We sailed on the first revenu cruise out of Galveston on August 18th. We had an 11am boarding and when we got there we saw a number of people outside and they were waiting for boarding because they got there early and were not allowed into the terminal until their time. Being the first crusise they were following every rule and depending on your time and the number of people who try to get in earlier than their time you might have to wait. The check in process is more time concuming that prior cruies and so they are trying to control the backups and crowds within the terminal. 

[tomahawk246]

Keep checking back, I originally got a 2 PM boarding time. When I went in seven days before the cruise there were many opening times. I ended up getting a 12 o’clock boarding time. When I originally booked it the best I could do was 2 PM.

[marktwothousand]

What do you guys think of a 12 PM boarding time? Is that good enough to be able to get on board and enjoy the first day?

 

also, I’m not concerned about arriving early, I’m more concerned about being late. Anyone ever experienced that and if so, do you get denied boarding?

[lolalow]

just returned from Indy - we had a check in time for 1:30pm  we arrived at 11:00am - nobody inquired our check in time

[BirdTravels]

We were on the Freedom and showed up about 90 minutes ahead of our boarding time and were let in. There was no one around at the time (i.e., no crowds of people), so I suppose that helped. 

[PhillyFan33579]

From our experience it has varied from cruise to cruise. When we were on Mariner in September they didn’t enforce check-in times. Last month when we were on Freedom they strictly enforced check-in times. My guess is they will start enforcing check-in times more strictly as the passenger loads increase over time. 

[Bradison]

Does being in a suite impact this question?  We are in a CLS and got a 2:30pm slot.  Not happy about that and was hoping it was not that stringent

[gumshoe958]

16 minutes ago, Bradison said:

Does being in a suite impact this question?  We are in a CLS and got a 2:30pm slot.  Not happy about that and was hoping it was not that stringent

Technically, suite guests can arrive an hour earlier than their scheduled time.

 

But as others have said, enforcement varies from port to port and even cruise to cruise. If the terminal’s relatively quiet when you arrive, you’ll probably be let in early. If it’s chaos, you’ll be asked to wait outside.

[bajathree]

5 hours ago, Bradison said:

Does being in a suite impact this question?  We are in a CLS and got a 2:30pm slot.  Not happy about that and was hoping it was not that stringent

As a suite guest you are able to check in 1 hour prior to your scheduled time or 1 hour after.

[gerig]

19 hours ago, Cigar King said:

It seems to vary.  I'd suggest you give it a whirl.  What's the worst that happens, you hang around outside waiting.  No big deal.

 

BTW - Keep looking for earlier times.  I know that on our upcoming cruises they only recently released the earliest times.

If you are waiting in cape liberty the temperature can be quite cool

 

[Boo's Mom]

On 11/12/2021 at 11:31 AM, divergirl63 said:

Hello

Has anyone experienced arriving early to the port before your assigned time and allowed to go ahead and board the ship. Asking because of shuttle to the port.

In Tampa this week:  the early birds were sitting on benches and waiting for their time slot to be called. 

No worries. 💪🏼

[bucfan2]

15 minutes ago, Boo's Mom said:

In Tampa this week:  the early birds were sitting on benches and waiting for their time slot to be called. 

No worries. 💪🏼

And out of Tampa two weeks ago, early birds were onboard awaiting the windjammer to open.

No worries.

[Tom_n_Sara]

On Mariner out of Port Canaveral last week, they weren't even looking at the times and taking people as they came. So I guess, like others have said, it varies from ship to ship.

[brillohead]

12 hours ago, Bradison said:

Does being in a suite impact this question?  We are in a CLS and got a 2:30pm slot.  Not happy about that and was hoping it was not that stringent

Keep checking every couple days -- they open up earlier timeslots over time for many sailings.