Embarkation Day Routine

[IndyKid]

Just made our final payment for our upcoming cruise on the Caribbean Princess, so now thinking about the big day when we board. Just curious what all you more experienced cruisers do after you check-in and head up the gangway to the ship. Do you go first to your cabin to drop your stuff off? Grab some some lunch or a drink, or maybe head up to The Sanctuary? 

[memoak]

6 minutes ago, IndyKid said:

Just made our final payment for our upcoming cruise on the Caribbean Princess, so now thinking about the big day when we board. Just curious what all you more experienced cruisers do after you check-in and head up the gangway to the ship. Do you go first to your cabin to drop your stuff off? Grab some some lunch or a drink, or maybe head up to The Sanctuary? 

Grab a Prosecco while I do the safety video, have lunch, check in at muster station, then unpack. Never even think about the Sanctuary 

[Lady Arwen]

Lunch in the MDR with a cocktail and then off to our cabin.  If you want to reserve the Sanctuary, run, don’t walk!  Wait for luggage to arrive and safety video on tv.  On deck for sail-away and back to the cabin for cocktails on the balcony and get ready for dinner.  After dinner, cocktails in the casino and checkout the lounges.  Off to bed with a little nightcap, for me a wee Bailey’s.  And, that’s day one.

Edited September 2, 2023 by Lady Arwen

[Rick&Jeannie]

*IF* our cabin is ready (sometimes) we prefer to dump our carry-on stuff and then set about doing the safety video and muster station to get all that out of the way.  Then...we're usually starving, so off to find something to eat.  It almost always ends up being the buffet because we're NEVER to the port in time to get into an MDR for lunch.

[EmilyColwell]

I always grab a drink and a snack, head to my room to unpack as the muster video plays, once unpacked we check in at our muster station. Typically I’d go reserve the enclave/thermal suite right away - but I’ve noticed my last couple cruises it’s cheaper to do it online ahead of time so no need for that anymore, but we do go to check in with them, get the tour and our goodie bag. Then typically grab another drink and walk around the ship if it’s our first time on it and eat lunch when we get hungry.

[snoozecrooze]

Same as @Rick&Jeannie! Muster muster muster is a MUST! 

 

One thing I love doing on embarkation day is walking all around the top decks of the ship and just soaking in the views to really absorb and internalize the moment of being on a ship. Get all those pictures and videos to start the experience!

[Auntiejo]

We love to be among the first on board. Drop our bags if room's ready (often it's not since we board early), then straight to either MDR or Gigi's/Alfredo's for lunch. We'd rather not eat at all then eat at the buffet on embarkation day but that's just us. Then unpack/settle into the room while muster video plays, then wander to ship a bit + have Medallion scanned at muster station. After that grab cocktails to bring back to our balcony for sail away. Nothing like that feeling of the ship first pushing away from the dock! Have a great cruise.

[Sprocket]

First I stop at Good Times for a beer and Clamato and a snack from the IC, then since I already know where my Muster station is I swing by there then head to the cabin to meet my Steward and unpack while watching the video.

Head to the casino to meet the hosts then up to Sky Walkers for sail away, then Vines and dinner.

Can't wait!

 

[IndyKid]

She sails at 3 PM. What's the earliest we can expect to be able to board? We're first-timers so we have no status with Princess. We will be Green Lane, medallions and passports in hand.

[NavyVeteran]

22 minutes ago, IndyKid said:

She sails at 3 PM. What's the earliest we can expect to be able to board? We're first-timers so we have no status with Princess. We will be Green Lane, medallions and passports in hand.

Look at your Travel Summary. (You should always print a copy of your Travel Summary and take it with you.) After FLIGHTS and before ITINERARY, there will be a statement "Your ship begins boarding at [time] on [date] and sets sail at [time] on [date]. Sometimes they will start boarding before that - it depends on the port and the itinerary.

Lunch is usually served in the Main Dining Room (MDR) until 1:30 pm. That just means you need to be there and in the door before 1:30 pm - you don't need to be finished eating by then. It will usually be served in one of the midship dining rooms. Many of the crew will direct you to the buffet; ignore them. The MDR is a much calmer way to start your cruise.

As stated by others, if you want the Sanctuary, you need to go there as quickly as possible. Personally, I never go there, but to each their own.

Drop your carry-ons in your cabin as soon as it's ready. Complete the muster drill. If you're not familiar with the ship, you may want to walk around and get familiar with it.

[startedwithamouse]

34 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

Look at your Travel Summary. (You should always print a copy of your Travel Summary and take it with you.) After FLIGHTS and before ITINERARY, there will be a statement "Your ship begins boarding at [time] on [date] and sets sail at [time] on [date]. Sometimes they will start boarding before that - it depends on the port and the itinerary.

Lunch is usually served in the Main Dining Room (MDR) until 1:30 pm. That just means you need to be there and in the door before 1:30 pm - you don't need to be finished eating by then. It will usually be served in one of the midship dining rooms. Many of the crew will direct you to the buffet; ignore them. The MDR is a much calmer way to start your cruise.

As stated by others, if you want the Sanctuary, you need to go there as quickly as possible. Personally, I never go there, but to each their own.

Drop your carry-ons in your cabin as soon as it's ready. Complete the muster drill. If you're not familiar with the ship, you may want to walk around and get familiar with it.

 

Guests receive a leaflet with lunch embarkation choices and the MDR is listed. 

[avonlady6390]

I take it your leaving out of port everglades I usually get to the port about 11 am usually the lines move quickly and should be on by 11:30.  Have a fun time my next cruise isn't until January.

[MJC]

We drop our carryon at our cabin and always do MDR lunch. Then we start at the top of the ship and work our way down, taking pictures if we want to. Along the way we stop by specialty dining to make our first night dinner res (perq with our cc). Then back to our cabin to watch the safety video and enjoy our balcony and a cocktail until the bags arrive.  Even if we've been on that ship before, we always love our first day walkabout.

[Justpackingmybags]

It depends who I’m travelling with; if I’m with friends, we drop the carry on in the cabins then meet in the buffet (we like a port view to watch the comings and goings), if solo, after losing the carry on, it’s straight to the International Café for coffee and a little snack, again with plenty of people watching! 
Once the cabin is ready, freshen up, check out the balcony view, safety video & check in at the muster station. After that, unpacking and exploring time - maybe even with a little cocktail!

it never gets old, I love an embarkation day.

Enjoy your cruise 😁

[rdsqrl]

Board as soon as boarding commences

If cabins available, head there to drop off carry-on, watch safety video, and see if luggage has arrived (ha!)

Lunch - usually buffet.  If you're one of the first onboard, the buffet isn't too crowded and I wait all year for that salad bar!

Back to cabin to see if luggage delivered yet.  Curses - no sign of it!

Muster station

Head to prom deck and enjoy my favourite show:  the loading of supplies. 

Tear myself away from prom deck and check at cabin again for luggage -- WHY is mine always the last to be delivered??

Head up to sailaway party, unable to relax as we pull away from the dock and I still have no clear confirmation my suitcase is joining us.

Return to cabin after party -- hurray!  Bag in cabin.  Greet it with hugs and kisses, then unpack it and  hope not to see it again any time soon.  Vacation has now officially begun.

[IndyKid]

4 hours ago, NavyVeteran said:

Look at your Travel Summary. (You should always print a copy of your Travel Summary and take it with you.) After FLIGHTS and before ITINERARY, there will be a statement "Your ship begins boarding at [time] on [date] and sets sail at [time] on [date]. 

I'm looking right now at our travel summary. There is nothing showing between the flights and itinerary sections.

 

I've read elsewhere that Princess has quit assigning boarding times? From what I've heard it seems to be that 11 AM is the earliest?

[AZjohn]

We have the best time at embarkation 🙂 

 

It our day to get some great exercise in while exploring every floor of the ship to get a bearing on where everything is located.

 

Typicly head to our cabin a through our Cary one inside room while they are cleaning it for us instead of lugging them around. We will ask our room Stuart roughly when room will be ready and explain we are in no rush as we have an exploration trip to begin.

 

Next we heat to the IC to get some ice cold expresso drinks made and just roam around that floor to see all the shops and what not until we finish sipping them empty.

 

Next, we head for the spa area and inquire what specials the will be offereing. If they have a massage opening for the two of us within a couple hours with one of the specials we will book it right then (love starting out our cruise with a massage 🙂 ).

 

Next walk through the ship up to the pool area to see what options we might find enjoyable to hang out latter in the cruise. We will then place a couple book and towels and flip-flops on the loungers we like in prime location and mark them as ours for the whole cruise (just want to see if anyone is paying attention and know a sarcastic joke when they read it 🤣.

 

its usually at that time we hit another bar and get a round of foo-foo drinks and then walk and find where the MDR is open for lunch and have a wonderful first meal on the ship. When done with that and ready for our massage appointment (if they had an appoint available for us). If not, we would head to our cabin to slide open sliders to the balcony and start unpacking while having the fire drill that’s on TV so we can kill two birds with one stone. 
 

After unpacking, call or talk to our Stuart to change out minibar and make a couple small request like ice bucket be full of ice all the times and to bring us extra pillows (we are pillow hogs).

 

After that, more exploring of the ship and get another beverage somewhere and find the spot me must sign it saying we know the location of our life boat. And the hopefully after that it will be close to sail away time which we still get excited to watch.

 

And that is our normal routine on embarkation.

 

Cheers

 

 

[Steelers36]

55 minutes ago, AZjohn said:

we would head to our cabin to slide open sliders to the balcony

We are not supposed to do that.  It plays havoc with the HVAC system and affects nearby cabins.  This is a no-no except for brief minutes.

[Guest Snaxmuppet]

40 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

We are not supposed to do that.  It plays havoc with the HVAC system and affects nearby cabins.  This is a no-no except for brief minutes.

Leaving them open... no, not a good idea. But having them open for a short while I don't think would matter.

[jdacombe]

Once onboard try and find a seat in the Piazza and get something to eat from the IC, washed down with a cold Peroni whilst watching the Muster Drill video, then find our Muster point to get that done as soon as possible.

[worldtraveller]

7 hours ago, IndyKid said:

I'm looking right now at our travel summary. There is nothing showing between the flights and itinerary sections.

 

I've read elsewhere that Princess has quit assigning boarding times? From what I've heard it seems to be that 11 AM is the earliest?

For our upcoming cruise it is just before the flight information.

[Paula_MacFan]

3 hours ago, worldtraveller said:

For our upcoming cruise it is just before the flight information.

I just checked ours and for all 3 upcoming cruises it is the same -- listed just above the flight info section. 

[IndyKid]

Just now, Paula_MacFan said:

I just checked ours and for all 3 upcoming cruises it is the same -- listed just above the flight info section. 

Yes, I did find it. Thank You!

[wcflats]

For us cabin if available to drop off whatever luggage then to  wakewiew bar in the back or tradewinds pool deck upstairs center for beverage of choice meeting up with whomever is going with us.  Usually stop by to say hello to the captain, staff captain and matre d.   

[J13C85]

Embarkation Day is our favorite day of the cruise, so much excitement and the thought of the adventure in front of us is exhilarating. For us, the joys of embarkation day start before we board.

 

First, we stay in embarkation city 1-2 days pre cruise. When we do this, one of the bags we pack is just for the embarkation city and the other 1-2 is for the cruise (this comes into play later). 

 

On embarkation day, we start off with a light room service breakfast, enjoy it on our hotel balcony and take in the sights. After breakfast, it's time to head to the port.  We typically arrive around 10. The last few times we sailed in a suite and this actually impacts our routine. At the port, after check in and security, we are typically directed to a suite, elite waiting area. Usually there are some snacks as well as juices and iced tea. Last time we sailed on Sky (as we are doing this year), and in the waiting area they gave us tickets so we could leave our carry on at "Take 5" lounge where they were held and watched by Princess staff (this was a very nice suite perk). 

 

Once we board, our first stop is "Take 5" to drop the carry on bag and then it is off to find a spot to sit (we will use Vines this year). Once we pick a seat, I walk around the corner to Sabatini's to confirm or make our Embarkation Night dinner (suite perk). We will also sign up or get waitlisted for Chef's table. Once that is done it is back to Vines were I rejoin DW and we enjoy the first of, for me, will be many cocktails (I'll start with Dirty Banana and she will probably go with Milky Way Martini). At this point, we relax, people watch and just bask in the thought that we are on the ship.

 

During this time before lunch we like to explore the ship (but as this year we are returning to Sky that will be brief) get Muster done and we then head to Reserve Class (Club Class) for lunch. We try and get a window seat and take in the sights while we eat. After lunch,  it is back to "Take 5" to collect our carry on and head to our cabin.

 

First thing we do when we get to the cabin is take photos and video while it is pristine (I swear, the cabin never looks as good as it does on Embarkation Day). We will snack on Chocolate Covered Strawberries and cheese tray we bought while we wait for luggage to arrive and take in sights from the cabin/balcony. Once luggage arrives we take everything from the embarkation city bag, put it in a laundry bag and give to steward to get laundered (free laundry is another suite perk). I unpack luggage as soon as possible, load all my stresses and worries into the bags and slide them under the bed where they remain until the end of the cruise. Sometimes as I unpack DW will take a short nap or she will supervise me, lol.

 

For sailaway, we take it in on our balcony (how we love sailaway on the balcony). I like to sit on the balcony until dark for this. Our evening is based around dinner and whatever the spirit (or should I say spirits) direct us to do.