On line check in

[oskidunker]

Does the early bird get the earlier check in time?

[shepherd really]

1 minute ago, oskidunker said:

Does the early bird get the earlier check in time?

I checked in two weeks ago for a cruise next week and got a 12:00 boarding time, which is what I wanted. 

 

Because you asked, I just went back in to see available boarding times and 12:00 is still available 8 days before embarkation.

 

In this case it would have made no difference if I dawdled. Your results may vary.

[MEFIowa]

One wonders if it makes a difference where you board...

 

When we boarded Riviera 10/30/23 in Trieste we'd taken the train from Venice to Trieste, hailed a cab, and took it the short distance to the pier for embarkation. I neither knew nor cared what "time" our check in was at. We just walked up and go on board. Hardly a line. Early. We were in an A3 cabin but that didn't seem to matter given how few people were in line. We ate lunch and we then left afterwards to spend hours in Trieste before Riviera's departure time. When we've boarded at Terminal J in Miami (Riviera 12/2021 & Sirena 11/2022), there was the large area filled with people. The high-level cabins get the "walk right up" treatment. The PHs and As had their own lines, that went next. And then came the giant slow SNAKE for the G-B cabins, as people shuffled in a huge line.

 

Both embarkation and disembarkation seem to be cluster-foxtrots where the "rules" and "times" aren't enforced and seemingly make no difference.

 

So the only thing I could say for "sure" is that the highest cabin levels can have the earliest and shortest check in times and waits.

[pinotlover]

There are ports and cruise terminals that will not allow entry until the posted time on ones boarding pass. This is controlled by the port authority, not the ship.

 

Meanwhile, for other locations it doesn’t matter. It all depends upon the port in which one is embarking. Those searching for a one size fits all answer will be lead astray. Your question on this issue should be focused on the actual port in which you are embarking, not a blanket question. Details matter.

 

One should say “ I’m embarking in Papette, or in Athens, do our reserved boarding times matter. You will get hugely different answers depending upon which port you queried.

Edited February 7 by pinotlover

[oskidunker]

Moon over Miami.

[Tranquility Base]

3 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

It all depends upon the port in which one is embarking. Those searching for a one size fits all answer will be lead astray. Your question on this issue should be focused on the actual port in which you are embarking, not a blanket question.

Correct.

Plus, just like the "first night speciality restaurant reservation query" it depends on the cruise type.

Are 20 % of total passengers embarking at the port in question or 90 %. ?

 

Big difference between Miami on a standard Caribbean turnaround; and Riviera which was basically one continuous 'Hop On / Hop Off" schedule bouncing around the Mediterranean for months.

[oskidunker]

Got 11:30 am. 2/28

Edited February 7 by oskidunker

[Iamthesea]

So is Miami one of those ports where you will not be allowed in until your assigned time?  Does check-in start at 12:01 am the night before the date listed on my reservation?  Actually, there is no date listed, so I am not sure what the date is that I can check-in.  Where/how do I find that?

Edited February 9 by Iamthesea

[MEFIowa]

17 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

So is Miami one of those ports where you will not be allowed in until your assigned time?...

O has serious problems enforcing its own rules and policies. So both embarkation and disembarkation can be quite the cluster-foxtrots.

 

Never seen anyone "check" your time. When O was doing the COVID testing in the tent next to terminal J in 12/2021 the CF was a mess of people mulling around with little connection to their "assigned time".

 

And at Terminal J, you have to keep in mind that there are SEPARATE lines for the high-level suite classes and PHs and even concierge A. THEN everyone else gets to wait in one giant snake, all the G-B cabins. Shuffling along the rope line until you hit the magic carpet and you see the other "lines" and their magic carpets.

Edited February 9 by MEFIowa
Typo

[WildWanderers]

Hi All,

 

There is a difference between "online check-in" (title of this thread) and boarding at the port (most of the discussion in this thread).  And it can be an important distinction.

 

I raise this only because of an incident in Miami when folk were boarding for Gems of the Leewards on the Insignia on December 17, 2023.  People did not get to board until late afternoon even if they had been waiting since early morning due to a major storm and the Insignia losing its place in the queue for docking.  

 

When we left the ship (as required as we were continuing on a back-to-back), and then went to re-board, we passed through the people waiting to embark.  Many of them were angry that they could not just get onto the ship because weeks ago they had done the online check-in, and they thought that should be enough, that they should be able to "bypass all of these other people", who in fact, unbeknownst to them, had also done the online check-in.

 

It is true that there was not very good communication that day, but the misunderstanding that online check-in meant that no boarding procedures were required was not something I would have foreseen as requiring communication.  What I found unfortunate was that the Insignia never let these boarding people know that the Insignia was not allowed (via local? regulation) to provide food and water to the folk waiting to board, before they boarded, that it was the responsibility of the port authority to care for the boarding folk.  Unfortunate because many of the folk who boarded that day blamed Insignia, and never got over it.

 

The value of communicating, clearly.

 

Cheers from Greg of the WildWanderers.

 

 

[nuevowavo]

50 minutes ago, WildWanderers said:

Hi All,

 

There is a difference between "online check-in" (title of this thread) and boarding at the port (most of the discussion in this thread).  And it can be an important distinction.

 

I raise this only because of an incident in Miami when folk were boarding for Gems of the Leewards on the Insignia on December 17, 2023.  People did not get to board until late afternoon even if they had been waiting since early morning due to a major storm and the Insignia losing its place in the queue for docking.  

 

When we left the ship (as required as we were continuing on a back-to-back), and then went to re-board, we passed through the people waiting to embark.  Many of them were angry that they could not just get onto the ship because weeks ago they had done the online check-in, and they thought that should be enough, that they should be able to "bypass all of these other people", who in fact, unbeknownst to them, had also done the online check-in.

 

It is true that there was not very good communication that day, but the misunderstanding that online check-in meant that no boarding procedures were required was not something I would have foreseen as requiring communication.  What I found unfortunate was that the Insignia never let these boarding people know that the Insignia was not allowed (via local? regulation) to provide food and water to the folk waiting to board, before they boarded, that it was the responsibility of the port authority to care for the boarding folk.  Unfortunate because many of the folk who boarded that day blamed Insignia, and never got over it.

 

The value of communicating, clearly.

 

Cheers from Greg of the WildWanderers.

 

 

We were on that cruise, PH1, with an assigned boarding time of 11:30 am. Received an email from Oceania that morning that asked everyone to wait until 2 pm to arrive at Terminal J, so we took our time, had some lunch, and showed up right at 2. As we walked into the completely full waiting area we were handed a card that put us in "Group 11". I believe it was around 3 that they announced that boarding would begin, with suite passengers to board first, so we got ready to go. But after a bit when they began boarding, they asked "Group 1" to get in line. Never mentioned cabin class again. We finally boarded around 5 pm.

I don't think there was any way to get food and water for all those people, especially since the delay was a last minute thing. There was a vending machine with drinks in the waiting area.

This was our first Oceania cruise, and beyond the minor inconvenience of having to wait to board (and we didn't have a seat) we enjoyed every other aspect of it thoroughly. Should we have been upset that they changed the procedure of suite passengers boarding first to first come, first served? Why let that spoil an otherwise excellent vacation?

 

 

Edited February 9 by nuevowavo