Boarding times for Star Breeze

[rjp50]

We are going on the Star Breeze out of Tahiti which has a scheduled boarding time of 1 PM.  The hotel we are staying at before the cruise has a check out time of 11 AM.  I was wondering if there is any leeway in the boarding time or do we have to find a way to kill the two hour difference.

[Ski Mom 2]

Typically boarding on most WS ships is the published time. In Barbados last year we arrived around 12:30 and many folks were already gathered in the holding area. But they pretty much waited until close to 1 pm to start calling numbers (first time with numbers we had that happen). In Lisbon a few years ago we arrived at 12:30 and waited in line until 1 pm. The same happened in Venice. 
 

Most of the time they ask that you be off by 8 am; they do need some time to turn the boat around. Why not ask if your hotel can hold your luggage and if you can hang out by the pool until closer to the time?

Edited September 11 by Ski Mom 2

[minidonuts85]

If you don’t want to hang at your hotel, there is a great place directly across the street for lunch and craft beer called 3 Brasseurs. We relaxed there with our luggage and walked across at boarding time. 

[AmateurGO]

Six or seven years ago when we did the SP cruise, we got to the dok a little before 12.  Guards at the gate allowed us to drop our bags there and we walked over to the ferry terminal (adjacent dock) where we had a coke at their snack-bar and relaxed for a while in their nice waiting area overlooking the docks, watching all the boats and traffic.  At 1:00 we walked back to the dock, grabbed our bags and boarded. Not at all unpleasant. 

[rjp50]

Thanks.  Lots of good options.  I just didn’t want to show up at 1:00 only to find out that half the ship had already boarded.

[Breckski]

On 9/11/2024 at 1:35 PM, rjp50 said:

Thanks.  Lots of good options.  I just didn’t want to show up at 1:00 only to find out that half the ship had already boarded.

Why would it be bad if 1/2 the ship had already boarded?  We've never cruised WS but have a couple booked for next spring/summer.  Is there a specific reason to board early on WS?

 

[ToplessPony]

3 hours ago, Breckski said:

Why would it be bad if 1/2 the ship had already boarded?  We've never cruised WS but have a couple booked for next spring/summer.  Is there a specific reason to board early on WS?

 

Speaking for just myself not RJP50 but I always prefer to be on the ship on the early side and if I was just killing time in my hotel lobby waiting to get to the ship at 1:00 and got there at 1:00 and realized they started boarding at noon and "half the ship had already boarded" I would be a little bummed that I wasted an hour at the hotel when I could have been eating lunch, having my first glass of wine, exploring the ship instead.

It would not be a big deal and is only an hour or so but still... I'd rather wait at the port instead of my hotel (or wherever) and board as soon as they open the ship.

My first Windstar cruise is in October on the Pride out of Boston and one bus gets us there at 11:30 and the other at 1:00... and you guessed it I picked the bus getting us there at 11:30. 🙂 🙂 🙂  Well, it is getting us to South Station in Boston at those times, but the port is only 1.5 miles away.

[Breckski]

22 minutes ago, ToplessPony said:

Speaking for just myself not RJP50 but I always prefer to be on the ship on the early side and if I was just killing time in my hotel lobby waiting to get to the ship at 1:00 and got there at 1:00 and realized they started boarding at noon and "half the ship had already boarded" I would be a little bummed that I wasted an hour at the hotel when I could have been eating lunch, having my first glass of wine, exploring the ship instead.

It would not be a big deal and is only an hour or so but still... I'd rather wait at the port instead of my hotel (or wherever) and board as soon as they open the ship.

My first Windstar cruise is in October on the Pride out of Boston and one bus gets us there at 11:30 and the other at 1:00... and you guessed it I picked the bus getting us there at 11:30. 🙂 🙂 🙂  Well, it is getting us to South Station in Boston at those times, but the port is only 1.5 miles away.

Thanks for the info.  So, nothing special/unique to WS.  

 

We normally arrive at the port city a day or so early and never get in a rush to board the ship as soon as available.  We can always find something to explore before the ship is ready for boarding.

[ToplessPony]

1 hour ago, Breckski said:

Thanks for the info.  So, nothing special/unique to WS.  

 

We normally arrive at the port city a day or so early and never get in a rush to board the ship as soon as available.  We can always find something to explore before the ship is ready for boarding.

 

When we cruise Princess we usually arrive by 9:45 and the last few cruises we were on the ship by 10:30.  🙂

 

No need to be on that early but when I wake up cruise day I just want to get to the ship!

 

[rjp50]

7 hours ago, Breckski said:

Why would it be bad if 1/2 the ship had already boarded?  We've never cruised WS but have a couple booked for next spring/summer.  Is there a specific reason to board early on WS?

 

Besides being able to start the cruise life early, the early bird gets the worm with respect to specialty restaurant reservations. 

 

[MargotH24]

We have been on 5 Windstar cruises and they never boarded before 1:00PM.  The dockside waiting areas were comfortable, but with nothing to do but wait. 

Edited September 13 by MargotH24

[AmateurGO]

We actually did board rather early on one WS cruise.  On our Iceland cruise, because of common flight arrival times, we arrived at the dock about 8:30 AM.  Because of bad weather in the area, the ship was at a different dock than normal and there was nothing in the area that we could utilize to pass the time.  The cruise terminal was dark and locked and there were no other facilities.  The WS staff did get us (and another couple) into a heated back room that was out of the way where we stayed until about 10:30.  At that point we were allowed on board and asked/told to stay in the lounge until released.  The crew was setting up the “check-in” equipment, so as soon as they got that ready, we helped them test their equipment by doing our check-in and getting our ID-cards.  At 12:30 we were turned loose to find our cabins and then get come lunch.  Of course, we did not have our luggage yet, but we dropped off our carry bags and such in the room and headed to the Veranda to see about lunch.  It was only 12:45 and the Veranda was not scheduled to open until 1:00, but the head chef was standing close to the entrance and apparently realized that we looked rather hungry, so he told us to go ahead and enjoy lunch.  We very much appreciated the WS staff going out of they way to accommodate us.  

But, this was a rather unique situation and under normal circumstances I would not expect to board before 1:00.