Check in time for NCL

[AMWH]

For NYC what is the earliest check in time? If it is 10:00 am what time do you try to get there?  Do you have to line up outside or can you line up inside?  Trying to plan since we have a Monday departure and morning traffic could be a bear in NYC but don’t want to wait outside for hours because we got there too early (because we avoided morning rush hour).  Decisions decisions…

[BirdTravels]

The time you select at checkin (21 days prior to departure) is the time to arrive at the terminal. early times “sell out”

quickly, so log on exactly 21 days prior to departure (12 midnight NCL time - Eastern Time) for the best selection. 

 

Times normally start around 9:30. And there will always be lines. General boarding starts around 11:30, so once you get through security and check-in, you will be hanging out in the waiting area until boarding is called. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by BirdTravels

[AMWH]

So if you pick a later time (say 11:00),  will you still wait and board after the 10:00 check-in people board?  It sounds like you will have to wait 1.5 or 2 hours before first boarding time, so any reason to pick later or the wait will still be 1.5 or 2 hours because earlier check in people will go ahead of you?

[cruiserbear55]

49 minutes ago, AMWH said:

So if you pick a later time (say 11:00),  will you still wait and board after the 10:00 check-in people board?  It sounds like you will have to wait 1.5 or 2 hours before first boarding time, so any reason to pick later or the wait will still be 1.5 or 2 hours because earlier check in people will go ahead of you?

Those who arrive early will wait two hours or so simply because boarding will not have started yet. Once boarding starts, it goes very quickly. If boarding starts at eleven thirty, and you arrive at eleven, you'll probably be on board by twelve-twelve fifteen. That's assuming everything goes according to Hoyle!!

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, AMWH said:

So if you pick a later time (say 11:00),  will you still wait and board after the 10:00 check-in people board?  It sounds like you will have to wait 1.5 or 2 hours before first boarding time, so any reason to pick later or the wait will still be 1.5 or 2 hours because earlier check in people will go ahead of you?

Once general boarding starts, people board as fast as they can get up the gangway. By noon, the initial group will be onboard making show reservations, dining reservations, and having lunch (oh yeah,,,, enjoying their beverage package).
 

Once you get through the long line outside for security and check in, you can walk right onboard. 
 

Personally, we hate standing in line. To us, that is really aggravating and hard on our old knees. We rather breeze through security and checkin early, and sit in the terminal and read the morning paper. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by BirdTravels

[The Traveling Man]

13 hours ago, AMWH said:

For NYC what is the earliest check in time? If it is 10:00 am what time do you try to get there?  Do you have to line up outside or can you line up inside?  Trying to plan since we have a Monday departure and morning traffic could be a bear in NYC but don’t want to wait outside for hours because we got there too early (because we avoided morning rush hour).  Decisions decisions…

YMMV, but I always have found the boarding process at the Manhattan cruise terminal to run a bit more slowly and more chaotically than at most other ports of embarkation.  The last time we were there was in April of this year.  No port personnel ever checked the boarding time on our documents.  Everyone was ushered in to the same line to check for vaccination documentation, and that process took us more than an hour.  Once we got past that, however, it was smooth sailing through the rest of the check in, and we were on board within minutes.  Getting off the ship in NYC also can encounter delays.  After exiting the ship, we once had to stand outside the terminal building for 40 minutes before we were allowed inside to retrieve our luggage.