Embarkation time

[claudiaYVR]

Boarding Moon on our first SS cruise on December 5. Final documents say boarding begins at 2:00. Is this true? Just asking because on other lines they begin boarding much earlier than what’s stated in the final docs. Thanks!

[Lois R]

Ever since the re-start from Covid, back in the summer of 2021, embarkation times were changed to the 2:00 time frame. (Before Covid hit, you could definitely board much earlier). Anyway, I have cruised multiple times over the past year and all of them had 2:00.  People always arrived earlier than that anyway and just waited in the terminal. 

 

Not sure if/when SS will ever return to an earlier boarding time.

[drron29]

When we boarded the Dawn in August we arrived at ~ 1pm. Did the formalities and boarded a bit before 1.30pm. There were already a few on board then.

[ClefsDor]

The first sailing of the Muse after dry dock is on 2 December. Boarding time states 2.00pm. They have had 2 months to disinfect the boat so I am assuming if people get there earlier they should be able to board before 2.00pm since there are no disembarking passengers or turn around issues to deal with.

[ak1004]

What are the lunch options on embarkation day? I found this - https://www.theluxurycruisereview.com/dining/silver-spirit-restaurants/

 

Is the information there correct? It says that La Terrazza closes at 2pm, is this correct? So basically no buffet option on embarkation day? The only options are The Grill that is open till 3:30, and the Spaccanapoli (pizzas)?

[Nuka]

6 hours ago, ClefsDor said:

The first sailing of the Muse after dry dock is on 2 December. Boarding time states 2.00pm. They have had 2 months to disinfect the boat so I am assuming if people get there earlier they should be able to board before 2.00pm since there are no disembarking passengers or turn around issues to deal with.

But they are coming back from a 'cold start.'  Perhaps the crew will not have its 'rhythm' and I assume that the cabins will need to be prepared close to sailing, engineering systems used to load along with f&b provisioning. Will be interesting. I have been on a number of cruises after a dry dock and my experience is that its not smooth sailing the first few days. Hoping for the best for the PAX!

Edited November 23, 2022 by Nuka

[jollyjones]

8 hours ago, ak1004 said:

What are the lunch options on embarkation day? I found this - https://www.theluxurycruisereview.com/dining/silver-spirit-restaurants/

 

Is the information there correct? It says that La Terrazza closes at 2pm, is this correct? So basically no buffet option on embarkation day? The only options are The Grill that is open till 3:30, and the Spaccanapoli (pizzas)?

 

On embarkation the times are usually different.

For instance we just had an embarkation in Lisbon and the lunch options were:

Atlantide noon - 13.15hrs (aimed at transit pax)

Terrazza 13.30 - 16.00hrs

Grill 13.30 - 16.00hrs

Arts cafe 06.30 - 23.00hrs

Spaccanapoli 11.00 - 23.00hrs

(the last two are their usual hours)

 

 

[turtlemichael]

1 hour ago, jollyjones said:

 

On embarkation the times are usually different.

For instance we just had an embarkation in Lisbon and the lunch options were:

Atlantide noon - 13.15hrs (aimed at transit pax)

Terrazza 13.30 - 16.00hrs

Grill 13.30 - 16.00hrs

Arts cafe 06.30 - 23.00hrs

Spaccanapoli 11.00 - 23.00hrs

(the last two are their usual hours)

 

 

So I guess we don't need to have a big breakfast because Silversea is cutting back on lunch on embarkation day.

Edited November 23, 2022 by turtlemichael

[jollyjones]

3 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

So I guess we don't need to have a big breakfast because Silversea is cutting back on lunch on embarkation day.

Um, not quite sure what you’re saying here?

 

[turtlemichael]

7 hours ago, jollyjones said:

Um, not quite sure what you’re saying here?

 

Sorry. I was saying that people's fears about not having options for lunch on embarkation day were misplaced.

[ak1004]

Sailing on the Spirit on Dec.8, our final documents say the same - 2-4pm. Very strange and surprising. Oceania starts boarding at 11am.

[Lois R]

2 hours ago, ak1004 said:

Sailing on the Spirit on Dec.8, our final documents say the same - 2-4pm. Very strange and surprising. Oceania starts boarding at 11am.

It hasn't been 11am in years.  

[ak1004]

1 hour ago, Lois R said:

It hasn't been 11am in years.  

It was 11am at our last Oceania cruises in Dec.2021 and Sep.2022. 

[Lois R]

30 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

It was 11am at our last Oceania cruises in Dec.2021 and Sep.2022. 

I guess SS is doing things their own way. I have sailed 7 times since June 2021 and all of them had boarding at 2:00pm.  Did people get to the terminal early anyway? Yes, yes they did. I can't remember if boarding was allowed earlier or not on any of them but  I most recently cruised last month out of Quebec City and I got to the terminal about 1:15/1:30 and people were already waiting in the terminal. But it was about 2 before they let us check in.

[ak1004]

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

I guess SS is doing things their own way. I have sailed 7 times since June 2021 and all of them had boarding at 2:00pm.  Did people get to the terminal early anyway? Yes, yes they did. I can't remember if boarding was allowed earlier or not on any of them but  I most recently cruised last month out of Quebec City and I got to the terminal about 1:15/1:30 and people were already waiting in the terminal. But it was about 2 before they let us check in.

 

7 times in 16 months? Maybe it's easier for you just to stay on board.. 😊

 

Yes, every line is different.. not a big deal, just a bit surprising. I think Cunard in May was also 11am. Of course I would prefer to board SS at 2pm than Cunard at 11am, but that's a different story. 10 days till our flight to Dubai to board our first SS cruise. After waiting for the Indian e-visa for almost a month, it's really happening. 

[jollyjones]

 

Pre Covid SS boarded at noon, sometimes earlier.

 

Now they actually close off the corridors with the fire doors and fumigate all the cabins with some sort of spray so there is a delay before the attendants can start work turning them around. And they seriously clean the public areas.

This is why boarding has been pushed back till 2pm and the cabins are not available till 4pm, they don't want a shipload of pax getting in the way of a good clean.

Even the transit pax doing B2B have to vacate their cabins from 8am to noon.

 

 

[GaitherBill]

On 11/22/2022 at 4:21 PM, ClefsDor said:

The first sailing of the Muse after dry dock is on 2 December. Boarding time states 2.00pm. They have had 2 months to disinfect the boat so I am assuming if people get there earlier they should be able to board before 2.00pm since there are no disembarking passengers or turn around issues to deal with.

Disinfect the ship from what?

[cruiseej]

2 hours ago, GaitherBill said:

Disinfect the ship from what?

 

@GaitherBill They do a deep cleaning/disinfecting between each cruise segment. They've always done this to some degree, but it's part of the heightened response to Covid, and the effort to keep it from spreading on a ship. If you're boarding a ship and the person who was in your suite on the prior cruise was confined to the room because they had tested positive to Covid, or hadn't tested positive but was coughing/sneezing a lot, you'd be happy to know they are trying to disinfect and clean to the greatest practical degree!)

 

So the comment above was that since the ship will be empty of passengers for the two months before this sailing, there wouldn't seem to be the need to do the normal between-cruises cleaning poor to boarding.  

[Randyk47]

16 hours ago, GaitherBill said:

Disinfect the ship from what?

Besides Covid there is always the dreaded Norovirus.  That virus is very contagious and is easily spread by contact with unclean surfaces.