Is boarding time enforced ?

[mcatmcat]

Hi

I was wondering if right now boarding time is enforced at Port Everglades.  like if you are ahead of schedule what do they do, do you step out to the side and are the first one boarding based on your time ? 
thanks 

[die_hard]

In November, they were pretty strict on times. Asking people to wait until their times. 

[easyqueasy]

40 minutes ago, mcatmcat said:

Hi

I was wondering if right now boarding time is enforced at Port Everglades.  like if you are ahead of schedule what do they do, do you step out to the side and are the first one boarding based on your time ? 
thanks 

No, at least not this week.

[twangster]

It depends.  During busier times they will queue people and let earlier times go, until that queue is depleted then the next queue might get in before their time.  

 

If no one is there then someone two hours early might luck out.  

 

The problem with any one person's experience is that even for a frequent cruisers it's a small sample size.  just because I saw many queues filled and people waiting doesn't mean that's the way it will be every time.  Just because i see no one in any queue that doesn't mean that's the way it is every single time.  

 

Most terminals provide cover from the rain or sun so the worst case is standing around for an hour.  

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

Last week they were asking everybody when they got to the front of the line. That said, they weren't asking for verification, so I suppose I could have fibbed. 😉

[shipgeeks]

FWIW,  At Baltimore they were strictly enforcing times, even with sub-zero weather and snow.  While we were in our 12:30 line, 1:00 line forming separately, a woman with a 2:30 time was told to wait in the warming hut until 2:30.

[Janet524]

Like most things with RC, there is no consistency.  Sometimes they enforce the check in, sometimes they don't.  I think it depends on the phase of the moon.

[Joseph2017China]

2 hours ago, Janet524 said:

Like most things with RC, there is no consistency.  Sometimes they enforce the check in, sometimes they don't.  I think it depends on the phase of the moon.

It really depends on the size of the line.  If previous line is finished, they go to the next slot.  Main thing is that they don't want big lines.  So it is good to respect that, arrive when you need to, and if you arrive early, wait.  If you are arriving by air, than go to port since you have no choice.  If you need to wait, accept it.  If they let you in early, be thankful. 

[mcatmcat]

My  sailing - wonder-has a lot of influencers, Royal don’t want them to see the “ reality”. I’m planing in arriving early lol

Edited March 1, 2022 by mcatmcat

[RonPaula]

Ah yes, the “me first” rules are made for breaking, mentality. Gotta love it!

[mcatmcat]

It was me first when they were doing boarding by crown n anchors status. You need to adapt to circumstances. 

[RJ257]

I prefer to board later at the time selected by me when my room is ready rather than try to get in early dragging luggage around for a couple hours.

[psupa]

12 hours ago, shipgeeks said:

FWIW,  At Baltimore they were strictly enforcing times, even with sub-zero weather and snow.  While we were in our 12:30 line, 1:00 line forming separately, a woman with a 2:30 time was told to wait in the warming hut until 2:30.

 I wish they would put a warming hut in Bayonne

[joeyancho]

No. Never

[notmyrealnameoremail]

56 minutes ago, joeyancho said:

No. Never

 

While it may not be enforced every cruise, I've been on four Royal cruises at three different ports post-shutdown and it was enforced for every one of them.

 

YMMV

 

Tom 

[mcatmcat]

I got an email for wonder to be there by your check in time lol

[PhillyFan33579]

From my experience, if the ship capacity is on the high side, they enforce the check-in times. If the capacity is on the low side, they don’t enforce check-in times. This has been consistent sailing out of Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Port Miami. The worst I have seen was a cruise on Freedom in January where there were very long lines outside the terminal: I talked to several people during the cruise who said they waited outside for close to 3 hours. Of course these same people showed up way before their check-in time. 

[ReneeFLL]

On 3/1/2022 at 6:14 PM, mcatmcat said:

My  sailing - wonder-has a lot of influencers, Royal don’t want them to see the “ reality”. I’m planing in arriving early lol

What time is your check in time? Did you not check in as soon as check in opened up online? What reality are you talking about?

 

On 3/1/2022 at 6:51 PM, RonPaula said:

Ah yes, the “me first” rules are made for breaking, mentality. Gotta love it!

So true.

 

9 hours ago, mcatmcat said:

I got an email for wonder to be there by your check in time lol

Same here. I have a feeling they are going to be strict about the boarding times. Being a new ship there will be lots of people who want to get on early. I hope they control the times.

 

”It’s extremely important to arrive during your pre-selected arrival time on boarding day. Space in the terminal can only accommodate a specific amount of guests, it is critical that you adhere to your arrival time! Those who arrive sooner will be turned away to avoid an overcrowding of guests at the terminal and advised to return during their scheduled time. If you haven’t already selected a time yet, we kindly ask you to please visit our app and select a time.”

 

Edited March 4, 2022 by ReneeFLL

[Ofmyheart]

Boarded the Mariner on 2-22-22, I was among the herded cattle. NO TIMES, just get at the end of the 1500+ people...no masks, no social distancing, worst boarding in over 35 cruises!!!

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, Ofmyheart said:

Boarded the Mariner on 2-22-22, I was among the herded cattle. NO TIMES, just get at the end of the 1500+ people...no masks, no social distancing, worst boarding in over 35 cruises!!!

Could have been worse - the capacity could have been even higher.

[Joseph2017China]

9 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

From my experience, if the ship capacity is on the high side, they enforce the check-in times. If the capacity is on the low side, they don’t enforce check-in times. This has been consistent sailing out of Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Port Miami. The worst I have seen was a cruise on Freedom in January where there were very long lines outside the terminal: I talked to several people during the cruise who said they waited outside for close to 3 hours. Of course these same people showed up way before their check-in time. 

So they didn't wait in line.....they just had to kill time until it was time for their line.

[Joseph2017China]

4 minutes ago, Ofmyheart said:

Boarded the Mariner on 2-22-22, I was among the herded cattle. NO TIMES, just get at the end of the 1500+ people...no masks, no social distancing, worst boarding in over 35 cruises!!!

But you were getting on the ship with the same people, not wearing a mask on the ship, or socially distancing?  

[Ofmyheart]

Just now, Joseph2017China said:

So they didn't wait in line.....they just had to kill time until it was time for their line.

The ship was delayed 3 hours and Royal notified us of the 3-hour delay in boarding. We showed up at our 3-hour delay time and ask where our new time boarding slot was and then we were told just to get to the end. They made no adjustment for those people that follow the rules and show up at their new boarding time. It was a fiasco.

[Ofmyheart]

1 minute ago, Joseph2017China said:

But you were getting on the ship with the same people, not wearing a mask on the ship, or socially distancing?  

This boarding was before the NoMask rule was put into place. Tables will still reserve for social distancing, then use were also in place for vaccinated only.

[PhillyFan33579]

49 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

So they didn't wait in line.....they just had to kill time until it was time for their line.

There were 3 or 4 separate lines outside the terminal with 30 minute windows (11:30 AM - 12:00 PM, 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM, 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM, etc.) so technically they were standing in line for awhile. This was definitely an anomaly, by far the most crowded ship we have been on since last Summer.