21 Day out check-in?

[scooter6139]

Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but when did NCL change their online check-in to 21 days out?  On our last two sailings, I filled out all the Guest info right after reservations were made.

 

Or does the final payment have to be made first?

[NayRN]

I thought the same thing with the cruise I just booked! I had everything ready to go to input the information….. I’m not the type of person who waits until the last minute (and this seems last minute to my semi-OCD self 😎).

[shof515]

its a covid change when cruises restarted last year. at that time, you also had to register with the testing provider at the port

[pasto5]

Wish they would just let us put most of the information in as soon as we want and leave the last minute for whatever COVId info they need. For me 21 days is last minute 😳too.

[scooter6139]

13 minutes ago, shof515 said:

its a covid change when cruises restarted last year. at that time, you also had to register with the testing provider at the port

 

Must be post COVID then.  Our August 2021 Alaska I filled everything out when I reserved in December 2020.  I prefer to have everything setup and ready to go LONG before 21 days.  🤔

[cruiserbear55]

3 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but when did NCL change their online check-in to 21 days out?  On our last two sailings, I filled out all the Guest info right after reservations were made.

 

Or does the final payment have to be made first?

 

   For our cruise early April of this year I was able to do most of the paperwork last December, before final payment. Finished (section 7) 21 days out.

   We have another booked end of October. Now the system won't let me do anything at all until three weeks before embark.

   How things change!!

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Sorry if I missed this somewhere, but when did NCL change their online check-in to 21 days out?  On our last two sailings, I filled out all the Guest info right after reservations were made.

 

Or does the final payment have to be made first?

They changed it a few months ago to 21 days. That being said, you need to check-in exactly 21 days (midnight Miami time) to get the best check-in time (which is now sometimes enforced). 

[wil e coyote]

My guess (and it is only a guess - I have no inside info) is that they changed it to 21 days out due to the constantly shifting sands of all things COVID-related. There are the cruise line's own requirements, and then the changing requirements of every government of every port that the ship docks at, plus sailings getting canceled/rebooked/etc. NCL probably decided they would have a better handle on what was needed at 21 days out than at 60/120/180 days out.

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 5/19/2022 at 6:40 PM, BirdTravels said:

They changed it a few months ago to 21 days. That being said, you need to check-in exactly 21 days (midnight Miami time) to get the best check-in time (which is now sometimes enforced). 

Yep.  I have an upcoming cruise and we did exactly that.  Probably completed check-in within ten minutes of midnight Eastern.  It showed 100% for weeks.  We printed/downloaded the eDocs showing the earliest arrival time.  Suddenly, today, the NCL craptastic system decided that DW hadn't completed her contact information, so we're at 93% instead of 100%.  Fortunately, we have printed and electronic copies of the originals and don't expect anybody to check/care at the port.  NCL does a whole lot better job of providing a good cruise experience than they do at providing a good website experience.

[wil e coyote]

8 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

NCL does a whole lot better job of providing a good cruise experience than they do at providing a good website experience.

Agree 100%! To that point - I got a notification today that it was time for me to check in for our 6/12 sailing. I thought that was odd, as 6/12 is still 22 days away, but hey - maybe NCL put us in some previously unknown "early check-in group". So I went to the web site and sure enough, the "Start Check-in" link is in the upper right of my cruise summary page. So I clicked it...

And got an error message that says, " Important News: Online Check-In can be completed starting at 21 days and must be completed prior to 3 days before sailing."

As Homer would say, "Doh!"🤦‍♂️

Guess I have to wait til tomorrow! 🙄

[disneylover89]

On 5/19/2022 at 9:40 PM, BirdTravels said:

They changed it a few months ago to 21 days. That being said, you need to check-in exactly 21 days (midnight Miami time) to get the best check-in time (which is now sometimes enforced). 

Does all your info need to be filled in to get a check in time or can you just get a check in time at midnight and then fill in the rest later in the day?

[cruiserbear55]

54 minutes ago, disneylover89 said:

Does all your info need to be filled in to get a check in time or can you just get a check in time at midnight and then fill in the rest later in the day?

  All of it. The system won't finalize your paperwork until all sections of the e-docs are completed.

[SpacemanSpiff]

14 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

  All of it. The system won't finalize your paperwork until all sections of the e-docs are completed.

Besides the usual (name/address/Latitude number/passport data/photo), what info is needed? DW works odd hours and likely won't be able to put in info at midnight, but I can.

[WexIrl]

Apologies to temporarily hijack this tread.

On the subject of 21 day check in, I completed ours yesterday and downloaded my edocs today.
(If you have any questions just ask, il be happy to try  help)

I noticed that the two Ultimate Arcade Package that I purchased for the Kids is not referenced on it.

Is this normal? 

Thanks.

Edited May 21, 2022 by WexIrl

[ChiefMateJRK]

36 minutes ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Besides the usual (name/address/Latitude number/passport data/photo), what info is needed? DW works odd hours and likely won't be able to put in info at midnight, but I can.

It allowed me to input info for both myself and DW a month ago.  Who knows what it will do today?

[cruiserbear55]

38 minutes ago, SpacemanSpiff said:

Besides the usual (name/address/Latitude number/passport data/photo), what info is needed? DW works odd hours and likely won't be able to put in info at midnight, but I can.

   You could do it all by yourself. You do each person's e-docs separately. If you do yours first, when you get to section 7 you have to watch the muster drill video and verify that you did so. When you get to section 7 of your wife's e-docs, you'll have to watch it again and sign off that it was she who watched it. She'll have plenty of time to watch it in the weeks before your cruise. That is because NCL is going to send you e-mails with a link to the video, asking you to watch it again. And again And again!!!

We got six of these e-mails!! Good Luck!!

[disneylover89]

At which point of the check in process do you pick your check in time?

[wil e coyote]

4 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

At which point of the check in process do you pick your check in time?

It's one of the last things in the process.

[wil e coyote]

On 5/21/2022 at 7:41 AM, wil e coyote said:

Guess I have to wait til tomorrow!

Good news - we are checked in now! 🙂