Embarkation process Equinox

[horseymike]

Hi All,

Like many of our fellow cruisers out there , we have not cruised in a few years, 3 I believe. We are booked on the Equinox in a few weeks.

Would someone who has recently cruised on the Equinox briefly explain the steps of check in on embarkation day that are currently in place ?

I have read a few posts suggesting things are a little different from the last time we cruised.

Thanks in advance.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Not much difference.  You have to pick a boarding/health check in time when you do the online or app check in.  There is no priority given to boarding except for suites. You watch a muster video on your phone/tablet before boarding, or on your stateroom tv, and then just show up to your muster station to be checked off. Your sea pass is outside your stateroom, no longer given to you at check in. 

[horseymike]

Thanks Mary Lou

[TXGREG]

We were on Equinox in March 2022. Easiest embarkation ever. You can check in and fill out almost everything on line. However WiFi at the terminals can be spotty so I suggest printing out anything you can as a plan b. 

[horseymike]

Thanks Greg

[jelayne]

When you board go directly to your cabin where your sea pass cards will be outside the door.  You can drop off your carry on’s and head to lunch or explore the ship until the cabins are ready.  No more dodging others with luggage and backpacks while trying to have lunch.

[horseymike]

Thanks Jelayne

[39august]

When you check in on line, there will be assigned check in times for you to choose. You need to adhere to your assigned time to avoid a long wait. 

[horseymike]

Thanks for that tip August.

[kokopelli-az]

We were on the Equinox last month.   World's fastest check in!    

[horseymike]

Thanks Kokopelli

[Tealing]

We were on Equinox, Aug. 29th. sailing. We had a check in time of 2:00pm and dropped off our luggage around 1:30. We breezed through all the check points and were in our room in around twenty minutes. Awesome.

[horseymike]

Thanks Tealing

[Floridastorm]

On 9/16/2022 at 5:17 PM, Tealing said:

We were on Equinox, Aug. 29th. sailing. We had a check in time of 2:00pm and dropped off our luggage around 1:30. We breezed through all the check points and were in our room in around twenty minutes. Awesome.

We need to drop off our luggage and then go and park the car in the terminal parking garage close to terminal 25. Can you just drive up and the porters will take your bags at the street area or is there an area inside the terminal where you have to go to affect that?

 

Thanks in advance......................Dave  👜

 

 

[C4HCG]

2 hours ago, Floridastorm said:

We need to drop off our luggage and then go and park the car in the terminal parking garage close to terminal 25. Can you just drive up and the porters will take your bags at the street area or is there an area inside the terminal where you have to go to affect that?

 

Thanks in advance......................Dave  👜

 

 

You park first then walk across with your luggage.

[Jim_Iain]

Things are pretty similar to the past.   Probably the most important difference is that they have been enforcing arrival time to the check-in time you get when you do advance checkin.

 

Possible differences are that depending on length and location of cruise you may or may not be required to have a covid test -  U.S. 9 days or longer and in the U.S. are a self test with a photo of the results (monitoring not required).

 

You will also either fill out the Health Questionnaire in the app or will be asked the same at the terminal.  Safety Drill is now done virtually so you can do it on you smart device or your TV.  Once done you go to your Muster station and have a 30 second briefing and card scanned.

 

Probably the nicest change is that when you board your key is usually in an envelope on your room slot.  You are invited to go to your cabin on boarding the ship to drop off luggage and collect your key.  You are asked to then remain in public area while the complete room prep.

[OT-Miami]

12 hours ago, Floridastorm said:

We need to drop off our luggage and then go and park the car in the terminal parking garage close to terminal 25. Can you just drive up and the porters will take your bags at the street area or is there an area inside the terminal where you have to go to affect that?

 

Thanks in advance......................Dave  👜

 

 

We have always dropped off bags with porters curbside before parking at Port Everglades.  Our last post-pandemic cruise out of PE was on Edge, but same experience on Equinox pre-pandemic.

[Floridastorm]

10 hours ago, OT-Miami said:

We have always dropped off bags with porters curbside before parking at Port Everglades.  Our last post-pandemic cruise out of PE was on Edge, but same experience on Equinox pre-pandemic.

Perfect. Thank You.

[Tudy]

10 hours ago, Floridastorm said:

 

 

21 hours ago, OT-Miami said:

We have always dropped off bags with porters curbside before parking at Port Everglades.  Our last post-pandemic cruise out of PE was on Edge, but same experience on Equinox pre-pandemic.

We were just on the Equinox last week. dropped off our bags, looped around and parked. Easy-peasy. Whole check-in process went smoothly, no more than 15 minutes from entering the terminal to being on the ship. I firmly believe that enforcing check-in times has made the process so efficient.

[Floridastorm]

22 hours ago, Tudy said:

 

We were just on the Equinox last week. dropped off our bags, looped around and parked. Easy-peasy. Whole check-in process went smoothly, no more than 15 minutes from entering the terminal to being on the ship. I firmly believe that enforcing check-in times has made the process so efficient.

Perfect. Will save my lower back from stress. 

[Floridastorm]

On 10/7/2022 at 12:21 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Things are pretty similar to the past.   Probably the most important difference is that they have been enforcing arrival time to the check-in time you get when you do advance checkin.

 

Possible differences are that depending on length and location of cruise you may or may not be required to have a covid test -  U.S. 9 days or longer and in the U.S. are a self test with a photo of the results (monitoring not required).

 

You will also either fill out the Health Questionnaire in the app or will be asked the same at the terminal.  Safety Drill is now done virtually so you can do it on you smart device or your TV.  Once done you go to your Muster station and have a 30 second briefing and card scanned.

 

Probably the nicest change is that when you board your key is usually in an envelope on your room slot.  You are invited to go to your cabin on boarding the ship to drop off luggage and collect your key.  You are asked to then remain in public area while the complete room prep.

Our trip is 9 days so no testing at all. Info is very good to have. Thanks. 

[Floridastorm]

On 10/7/2022 at 1:51 AM, C4HCG said:

You park first then walk across with your luggage.

We could do that but would rather not lug our bags across parking lots if not necessary. Getting a little older and keep the lugging to a minimum. 😄 

[C4HCG]

2 hours ago, Floridastorm said:

We could do that but would rather not lug our bags across parking lots if not necessary. Getting a little older and keep the lugging to a minimum. 😄 

We’ve done that every time but clearly have been stupid for doing so! Won’t do it next time

[breezy1200]

Thanks all for the great info.    How do they enforce check in times?   Point you to a lounge area to wait until your time?

[PTC DAWG]

10 minutes ago, breezy1200 said:

Thanks all for the great info.    How do they enforce check in times?   Point you to a lounge area to wait until your time?

They have people outside asking…