At what time does check-in open for an upcoming cruise?

[Turtles06]

It's been a couple of years since we sailed on Celebrity.  We have check-in coming up soon for our cruise in September, and I'm just wondering whether check-in (still) opens up at 12:01am ET, or at some other time.

 

And I know I'll need to have our passports and our photos for security, and the credit card to be used for our account.  Anything else?

 

Thanks in advance for the info.  (I tried a search, but the terms are too common.)

[mahdnc]

6 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

It's been a couple of years since we sailed on Celebrity.  We have check-in coming up soon for our cruise in September, and I'm just wondering whether check-in (still) opens up at 12:01am ET, or at some other time.

 

And I know I'll need to have our passports and our photos for security, and the credit card to be used for our account.  Anything else?

 

Thanks in advance for the info.  (I tried a search, but the terms are too common.)

 

30 days in advance at 12:01 am local time to the port.  There is some variation between the check-in opening first for the app vs thru Celebrity's website.

 

You don't need anything else beyond what you listed.  In fact your photos can be uploaded after you check-in.

Edited August 10 by mahdnc

[canderson]

If you choose to jump in early to check in, don't be surprised if all you see are late (e.g., 3:00pm) boarding slots.  It's not because everyone else got online 15 seconds before you - it's a standard Celebrity IT 'glitch'.  You might want to come back and modify that later.

 

[bigbenboys]

Just now, mahdnc said:

 

30 days

30 days are for document and luggage tags. I think online checking is 45 days before. Time is based on local time zone of ships port.

[mahdnc]

3 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

30 days are for document and luggage tags. I think online checking is 45 days before. Time is based on local time zone of ships port.

 Yes, you are correct..  45 days for online check in, not 30.

[Turtles06]

28 minutes ago, canderson said:

If you choose to jump in early to check in, don't be surprised if all you see are late (e.g., 3:00pm) boarding slots.  It's not because everyone else got online 15 seconds before you - it's a standard Celebrity IT 'glitch'.  You might want to come back and modify that later.

 

 

Thanks for that warning.  Would it be hard to modify if I go that route (assuming earlier boarding slots are available)? 

[canderson]

17 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks for that warning.  Would it be hard to modify if I go that route (assuming earlier boarding slots are available)? 

Not at all.  You can go back in after the fact and modify your boarding time.  Just keep watching until the closer-in times start to appear.

 

[jelayne]

IF all goes well, check-in opens 45 day out at 12:01 am in the time zone of the departure port.

Edited August 10 by jelayne
typo

[rotoal]

I recently found that it was actually about 12:03 am in the time zone of the departure port (fortunately it was 6 PM my time).

 

The earliest checkin time was 11 am when I checked in - it appeared to me that all of the checkin times were listed.   Our hotel in Barcelona has an 11 am checkout time, and I was easily able to get the 11:30 slot that I desired.  We are now at less than 30 days away from the cruise and the earliest check in time showing is 1:30.

[Athelstan]

So, what is the latest time slot available for embarkation? Our cruise has a 7:00pm departure, and we are thinking about doing a 2 or 3 hour tour in the morning before heading to the ship.

[canderson]

Just now, Athelstan said:

So, what is the latest time slot available for embarkation? Our cruise has a 7:00pm departure, and we are thinking about doing a 2 or 3 hour tour in the morning before heading to the ship.

Nominally, it's a good idea to be aboard one hour prior to departure at any port, but if all you have is a 2-3 hour morning tour, you're in great shape.  For normal turn days, the last 'slot' you will probably see is 3:00pm, but that's because by then, they figure they won't need any more 'slots' to have everyone aboard.  Just be sure you've figured out what to do with your luggage in the interim, and leave yourself plenty of time to get to the port.

 

[Athelstan]

8 minutes ago, canderson said:

Nominally, it's a good idea to be aboard one hour prior to departure at any port, but if all you have is a 2-3 hour morning tour, you're in great shape.  For normal turn days, the last 'slot' you will probably see is 3:00pm, but that's because by then, they figure they won't need any more 'slots' to have everyone aboard.  Just be sure you've figured out what to do with your luggage in the interim, and leave yourself plenty of time to get to the port.

 

Thank you for the information and advice. The tour would end around 12:00 and the port is not far away. Looks like we will be good there. I think the hotel will hold the luggage for us, but I do need to confirm. 

[mahdnc]

8 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

It's been a couple of years since we sailed on Celebrity.  We have check-in coming up soon for our cruise in September, and I'm just wondering whether check-in (still) opens up at 12:01am ET, or at some other time.

 

And I know I'll need to have our passports and our photos for security, and the credit card to be used for our account.  Anything else?

 

Thanks in advance for the info.  (I tried a search, but the terms are too common.)

 

 

Here is a Celebrity flyer on the Check-In process.  It was published this year.  Most of the information you are interested in are in the FAQs.

Edited August 11 by mahdnc

[Turtles06]

6 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

 

Here is a Celebrity flyer on the Check-In process.  It was published this year.  Most of the information you are interested in are in the FAQs.

 
Thanks for sharing that link! 

[zitsky]

8 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

 

Here is a Celebrity flyer on the Check-In process.  It was published this year.  Most of the information you are interested in are in the FAQs.

I didn’t see this answered in the FAQ but I believe passengers in the Retreat can board at any time, yes?

 

Edit:  I have also read that pax are arriving early and just being boarded before their check in time?

Edited August 11 by zitsky

[cinnamon]

Thanks very much for this thread and the link. I haven’t sailed on Celebrity since 2015 and didn’t know the score. My cruise on Millennium is 44 days out and I’ve been able to check in and choose 11.30-12.00. 😀

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

I didn’t see this answered in the FAQ but I believe passengers in the Retreat can board at any time, yes?

 

Edit:  I have also read that pax are arriving early and just being boarded before their check in time?

Yes, Retreat guests can board pretty much anytime. 
 

For the cruises that I’ve been on, I’ve not seen passengers arriving early at that terminal ahead of their appointed time being turned away.  I think it depends a bit on the port. 

[rotoal]

19 hours ago, canderson said:

Nominally, it's a good idea to be aboard one hour prior to departure at any port, but if all you have is a 2-3 hour morning tour, you're in great shape.  For normal turn days, the last 'slot' you will probably see is 3:00pm, but that's because by then, they figure they won't need any more 'slots' to have everyone aboard.  Just be sure you've figured out what to do with your luggage in the interim, and leave yourself plenty of time to get to the port.

 

Just a reminder, most ports require that all passengers are checked in and in person at the port at least 90 minutes before departure at the embarkation port.

People can be denied boarding once the official manifest is closed (or something like that).

On our upcoming cruise, the last slot is 3:30-4:00 and we are due to set sail at 5 pm, which seems as if it is cutting things close for late arrivals especially because the same document says that Celebrity will deny boarding to anyone who hasn’t completed pier checkin at least 90 minutes prior to the scheduled sailing time.

[canderson]

14 minutes ago, rotoal said:

On our upcoming cruise, the last slot is 3:30-4:00 and we are due to set sail at 5 pm, which seems as if it is cutting things close for late arrivals especially because the same document says that Celebrity will deny boarding to anyone who hasn’t completed pier checkin at least 90 minutes prior to the scheduled sailing time.

Yes, the inconsistency is noted.  Early on, before I took charge of all family travel documentation, and before we gave up any thought of same day flights, wife forgot passport and had to make the drive home to pick it up, and as a result had to catch a much later flight than the rest of us from DEN to SEA.  In the end, she also boarded with just under an hour left prior to departure. 

 

[rotoal]

1 hour ago, canderson said:

Yes, the inconsistency is noted.  Early on, before I took charge of all family travel documentation, and before we gave up any thought of same day flights, wife forgot passport and had to make the drive home to pick it up, and as a result had to catch a much later flight than the rest of us from DEN to SEA.  In the end, she also boarded with just under an hour left prior to departure. 

 

Glad that she was able to make the cruise.   Since you had checked in, they may have been a bit more generous, and if it was before 2001 when I believe security got much tighter, they probably had different guidelilnes.

 

On our very first cruise out of Pireaus, we were on a cruiseline shore excursion - a full busload on a relatively small ship, as soon as the bus got to the port, we were told to run to hurry up and get on the ship.   I didn't know at the time that boarding a ship and rushing to the muster drill as the ship was departing wasn't the norm.   This was in very early September 2001.