Embarkation times (Miami)

[Snowball]

I am new to VV, and have read a few comments indicating that their embarkation times are generally later than other lines; however, I haven't seen what the actual embarkation window is.  I understand that a specific time is assigned to each traveler, but I'm curious what their overall embarkation window is.  Does anyone know?

[_tacocat_]

the earliest anyone gets on the ship is 1:45 (officially 2:00, but they'll start boarding early if ready).  i think you have to be onboard by 4, but i've never boarded past 2 haha

[cantgetin]

You will be able to choose a TERMINAL ARRIVAL TIME on the app, the earliest time is 1:30 with the window every 15 minutes until 4:00.  This is correct as of October 2022, and I have a 1:30 for my next cruise.  THis is officially an arrival time, not a boarding time and you are asked to not show up more than 30 minutes before your assigned time.  If you do, you'll be asked to take their complimentary shuttle to a shopping area near the Miami terminal or to visit the plaza or coffee shop that is walking distance from the Barcelona terminal and return at the appointed time or later.  We arrived a few minutes after 1 for our previous cruise and were able to check in (get bands) immediately.  We were then seated for about 20 minutes.  There was a separate seating area for people in suites.  At 1:30, the woman in charge of our area excused herself to make a phone call, stating that she normally gets that boarding OK right at 1:30.  She came back and we were  in a rapidly moving boarding line where they scanned our bracelets, said they needed a better ID photo for me (took about 10 seconds for them to do that), and we were in our cabin by 1:40.  Our  cabin host introduced himself immediately.  We dropped our carry ons, did a quick look around, and when we opened the door to head to lunch, our luggage was outside the door!

 

This is probably more info than you wanted....but hopefully you'll get the idea of how fast it went.  There is no point in arriving earlier than 30 minutes before your time unless you have a really late time.   If you show up after 1 but more than 30 minutes before your time and you don't want to leave, there is a lovely area where you get to stand in line with all the others who have your time slot.  Obviously, once the terminal is cleared, they don't care if people are early....so a 4:00 person could show up at 3.

[Snowball]

39 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

You will be able to choose a TERMINAL ARRIVAL TIME on the app, the earliest time is 1:30 with the window every 15 minutes until 4:00. 

Thank you!  I appreciate the full explanation - it was extremely helpful.  

 

We were assigned a boarding time of 2:15 (didn't have the option to choose) but that could be because we booked about a month before the cruise date. 

[cantgetin]

27 minutes ago, Snowball said:

Thank you!  I appreciate the full explanation - it was extremely helpful.  

 

We were assigned a boarding time of 2:15 (didn't have the option to choose) but that could be because we booked about a month before the cruise date. 

Likely this was the earliest arrival time available when you booked.  You can change it to a later time if you wish. (right...no one wants a later time......)

[kwokpot]

4 hours ago, Snowball said:

Thank you!  I appreciate the full explanation - it was extremely helpful.  

 

We were assigned a boarding time of 2:15 (didn't have the option to choose) but that could be because we booked about a month before the cruise date. 

This is why I tell people on a Virgin cruise to make their first nights dinner reservations LATER than you normally eat, since you'll be eating lunch much, much later than on other cruiselines. Otherwise you won't be hungry if you make an early dinner reservation.

[jon81uk]

15 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

This is why I tell people on a Virgin cruise to make their first nights dinner reservations LATER than you normally eat, since you'll be eating lunch much, much later than on other cruiselines. Otherwise you won't be hungry if you make an early dinner reservation.

And it makes it easier to get your fill of free sparkling wine at the sail away if you have dinner after 7pm