Choosing check in time on app.

[smokeybandit]

36 minutes ago, joepeka said:

Something I've noticed on our upcoming booking is that there is a one day discrepancy between the app and the web site as to check-in availability (the app has the earlier date). Anyone else noticed this and if so (and you did check-in already), which date was correct?

It's a time zone thing.  They're both actually correct. Just one is using GMT and one is using local timezone. Or something like that, I forget which. 

[HappyTexan44]

1 hour ago, Lakelife4me said:

As a side note, my wife belongs to a facebook group for our cruise and some were saying the earliest check in time they could get was 12. They were using the app at 12:15 so those early slots go fast!

That is wild.   I'd felt a little silly for being so stressed having to enter all our info before getting to the check-in time part.  (It took a bit longer than normal because a child not mine was in one of our rooms) then I got to the end at maybe 12:08 and still got the 10:30 time.  So, if I'd been a little later I guess I might have gotten a later time.   
Although, our fb group has commented that there are many first-timers on the cruise.  
 

[joepeka]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

It's a time zone thing.  They're both actually correct. Just one is using GMT and one is using local timezone. Or something like that, I forget which. 

Not sure I understand that, you may be correct but I'm not getting it (slow brain morning?). If, for example, the app shows check-in available on 4/1 but web site says available on 4/2, if a person logged in to the web site at 12AM departure port time on 4/2, wouldn't they be a day late since people using the app would have logged in at 12AM departure port time on 4/1 (and potentially gobbled up the early slots)? Maybe I just am not understanding. Sorry. ☹️

Edited February 5 by joepeka

[smokeybandit]

3 minutes ago, joepeka said:

Not sure I understand that, you may be correct but I'm not getting it (slow brain morning?). If, for example, the app shows check-in available on 4/1 but web site says available on 4/2, if a person logged in to the web site at 12AM departure port time on 4/2, wouldn't they be a day late since people using the app would have logged in at 12AM departure port time on 4/1 (and potentially gobbled up the early slots)? Maybe I just am not understanding. Sorry. ☹️

That helps. Follow the app one since that's the earlier date and is the time at your house you can check in, not the website which is either ship time or GMT time.

[joepeka]

20 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

That helps. Follow the app one since that's the earlier date and is the time at your house you can check in, not the website which is either ship time or GMT time.

Thank you. In the absence of any other guidance, I was going to use the app date for arrival time selection and do the rest of the check-in later on the web site.

 

It's been mentioned here several times recently that "midnight" is 12AM in the departure port time zone, not your local time zone (unless you live in the same time zone as the departure port). Is that incorrect? Currently, the app for my booking shows ship time as CST (Galveston) and I'm in MST (an hour earlier).

Edited February 5 by joepeka

[smokeybandit]

7 minutes ago, joepeka said:

Thank you. In the absence of any other guidance, I was going to use the app date for arrival time selection and do the rest of the check-in later on the web site.

 

It's been mentioned here several times recently that "midnight" is 12AM in the departure port time zone, not your local time zone (unless you live in the same time zone as the departure port). Is that incorrect? Currently, the app for my booking shows ship time as CST (Galveston) and I'm in MST (an hour earlier).

 

Right so you could check in at 11pm local time.

[joepeka]

31 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

Right so you could check in at 11pm local time.

Thanks for confirming. Fortunately for me, we (AZ, or most of AZ anyway) stay on MST year round so we'll be two hours behind CDT by the time I have to start check-in. 

[DVC4US]

So we have 8 people across 4 cabins/reservations - how do I make sure the reservations are "linked"?  We booked through a TA so they should be.  Can I confirm this in the app or online before check-in day?  It will make it so much easier if I can pick a check-in time for all of us and then they can complete the rest of the information.

 

Is it better to check-in using the app or on a computer?

[OCSC Mike]

10 hours ago, DVC4US said:

Can I confirm this in the app or online before check-in day?

 

You should see everyone's reservation in the app if they are linked. You can check right now.

 

10 hours ago, DVC4US said:

Is it better to check-in using the app or on a computer?

 

Some aspects are personal preference. It's better to check-in with the app if you're planning to grab an arrival time at midnight b/c you can just choose that and fill in everything else later (via either method). If you use the website, you have to enter all the info before choosing an arrival time.

 

I use both. I use the app to grab my arrival time and later to scan my passport and enter most info. The one thing I like using the site for (via my phone browser) is uploading a photo rather than having to take a selfie via the app.

 

Hope this helps.

[DVC4US]

12 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

You should see everyone's reservation in the app if they are linked. You can check right now.

 

 

Some aspects are personal preference. It's better to check-in with the app if you're planning to grab an arrival time at midnight b/c you can just choose that and fill in everything else later (via either method). If you use the website, you have to enter all the info before choosing an arrival time.

 

I use both. I use the app to grab my arrival time and later to scan my passport and enter most info. The one thing I like using the site for (via my phone browser) is uploading a photo rather than having to take a selfie via the app.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much for the help.

 

When I login to the App under the icon of the person at the top the only reservation it shows is mine - I do not see the other 3.  So does that mean we are not linked?  Can I do link the reservations myself or do I need to call RCI or my TA?

 

[OCSC Mike]

44 minutes ago, DVC4US said:

When I login to the App under the icon of the person at the top the only reservation it shows is mine - I do not see the other 3.  So does that mean we are not linked?  Can I do link the reservations myself or do I need to call RCI or my TA?

Try clicking on “Select a different cruise” and adding the info of the other reservations in your party.

[DVC4US]

12 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

Try clicking on “Select a different cruise” and adding the info of the other reservations in your party.

Okay so I did link one of the reservations online and now on the app when I choose "select a different cruise" it does allow me to to pick the other reservation but still only shows one at a time.  Will they all open up to check them in once our check-in day arrives?

[OCSC Mike]

9 hours ago, DVC4US said:

Will they all open up to check them in once our check-in day arrives?

I don’t remember exactly what it looks like off the top of my head but you should see each person once check-in opens & be able to just go down the list (if they are all linked).

[DVC4US]

13 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I don’t remember exactly what it looks like off the top of my head but you should see each person once check-in opens & be able to just go down the list (if they are all linked).

Awesome! Still have a couple of months before check-in but thanks for your help!

[T-2]

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with check in time if the ship is in Southampton, England. They are 8 hours ahead of PST and 5 hours ahead of EST- would check in be the same time as if the Anthem of the Seas were in FL because that is where the RCCL is or would check in line up with the time zone in England??  Would check in even open up a bit past midnight when the ship is anywhere outside of the U.S.? Just hoping someone might have experienced this. Thanks

[Harrisonkid]

Just sharing My experience this week. Logged on to check in at 12:04 am on the web site ...completed total check in at 12:08 am and the earliest check in time I received was the 11-11:30 window.  Just wondering if a 10:30 windo was even offered?

[smokeybandit]

54 minutes ago, Harrisonkid said:

Just sharing My experience this week. Logged on to check in at 12:04 am on the web site ...completed total check in at 12:08 am and the earliest check in time I received was the 11-11:30 window.  Just wondering if a 10:30 windo was even offered?

11:30 is the earliest window on some ships.

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, T-2 said:

or would check in line up with the time zone in England?? 

Would check in even open up a bit past midnight when the ship is anywhere outside of the U.S.?

Yes and yes - midnight (or a few min past) local time of the embarkation port.

Edited February 9 by Biker19

[joepeka]

7 hours ago, T-2 said:

Just wondering if anyone has had experience with check in time if the ship is in Southampton, England. They are 8 hours ahead of PST and 5 hours ahead of EST- would check in be the same time as if the Anthem of the Seas were in FL because that is where the RCCL is or would check in line up with the time zone in England??  Would check in even open up a bit past midnight when the ship is anywhere outside of the U.S.? Just hoping someone might have experienced this. Thanks

I've no personal experience in this but have read here numerous times (and asked again for verification) that check-in opens at 12AM in the departure port time zone. So in your case that would be 12AM in Southhampton - unless for some reason non-U.S. departures do not adhere to that procedure. Hopefully someone here can clarify.

ETA: See Biker19's reply. 🙂

Edited February 9 by joepeka

[T-2]

Super appreciate the help, hadn't really done a foreign departure in quite a while, and I know the 'earliest windows' even offered do vary by ship, so keeping up with our European fellow passengers is great as we're sailing from their shores. I just did an Odyssey check in, and even at 8 min past the witching hour, the Earliest offered was 12 to 12:30, so it does vary ship to ship and possibly sail away time is a factor, I'll have to recheck our ships departure time. We're just always so excited to start our time onboard, then counting down the days until we can take another RCCL cruise.

[joepeka]

Anthem will reposition to Southampton in early May and when it does, the RCI app for your cruise should show the ship's time in England (GMT) and that's what you go by.

[T-2]

Here we're turning D+ and I'm still learning things... I would have never thought about the app being on GMT for that cruise, thank you