How late can we board?

[jwmcq]

I know, I know - ALWAYS fly into your departure port the day before your cruise leaves to avoid stress and headache.

 

But there were no free flights available for the day before, so we decided to risk flying in the day of. We figured worse case scenario is that we would have to fly to the first port - still much cheaper than the $1600 flights to get to Honolulu. Our flight arrives HNL at 2:00 and the ship departs at 8:00. How late would they allow us to board if our plane was detained? (There is a second flight arriving at 4:00 PM that we could switch to if our plane had problems.)

 

I had read you could board up until one hour before (or 7:00 PM), but our travel buddies TA just told her they had to board by 4:00 PM. Now I am stressing again. What's up with that?

[mncruiser66]

they will not hold the ship if you didn't do the air as part of the package, I know one friend was not able to make a connecting flight and by the time they got to the pier their ship had sailed and the ships only allow boarding at certain ports so out of her 7 day cruise she ended up getting 3 days on board the ship. In most of the paperwork you get it will tell you that you have to be on board one hour prior to sail time. I would look on NCL's website to confirm that and you can also contact NCL directly via their website. Hope that helps! happy sailing!

[jwmcq]

I looked all over NCL's site and could only find that you must board one hour prior to departure. I will try to call, but usually the information here on the boards is better than customer service info! :rolleyes:

[cpdad]

...How late would they allow us to board if our plane was detained? (There is a second flight arriving at 4:00 PM that we could switch to if our plane had problems.)...I had read you could board up until one hour before (or 7:00 PM), but our travel buddies TA just told her they had to board by 4:00 PM. Now I am stressing again. What's up with that?

I also have read here and on the NCL site that passengers must be on board one hour prior to embarkation. Many posters here like to board as early as possible, so I wonder if the verbal message from the travel agent somehow got twisted a bit and maybe the TA told your companion that you could board as early as 4 pm?? Just a thought.

 

It's nice to see you are already thinking about a back-up plan for your flight, just in case.... I don't mean to add to your stress, but just because there is a later flight to Honolulu doesn't mean there will be extra seats available for passengers rebooking from the earlier flight. If you do need to rebook onto the later flight, be sure to mention to the airline agent that you are taking a cruise. They may give you some priority in this situation. But, there really is no need to stress about major flight delays at this point. There is a very high likelihood that all will go well for you. :)

Enjoy your cruise.

[Illinitrvlr]

We are in the same boat as you (so to speak :) ) and could only get our frequent flyer tickets on the day of the cruise. I received the following in an email directly from NCL

Regarding the flight arrival…4 hours prior is fine. Boarding generally begins 4 hrs prior, with all guest on board 1 hr

Prior to sailing. The pier is about 8 miles from the airport, 15-20 mins drive depending on the traffic. Allow at least 4 hours for your departing flight, 2 hrs to clear

The ship and another 2 hrs plus for airport security, travel time etc.

 

So I think you should be fine. Hope you have a wonderful time!:D

[jwmcq]

Thank you for your encouraging response! I too don't really think there will be a problem - we should be on the ship by 3:00. And I did consider that the next flight could possibly be sold out, but it made me feel better to know that there was another flight around.

 

We found a killer deal on the Pride of Hawaii (her farewell cruise) and with free airline tickets, it was just too good of a deal not to try it. I still think worst case scenario is that we have to find an inter island flight to the first port.

 

I have read that the muster drill is at 4:30. Maybe her TA meant "be on the ship by 4:00" (so you won't miss the muster drill and have to take the "make up" drill the next day while you would rather be in port.)

[titleistmd]

We where on the NCL Pearl in May from Seattle. The ship had a departure time of 4:00 pm. Although we had flown in the night before and intended to board earlier, by the time we had walked around dowtown Seattle we didn't get to the pier until 2:30. We had no problem boarding at that time in fact we literally walked right through security and boarding lines. It probably took us 10 minutes to board. We went to our stateroom did the muster drill and changed our clothes and had a nice dinner at Le Bistro starting at 5:30

 

No one was telling us that you barely made it or anything. Seemed to be quite an easy boarding process. We did miss 3-4 hours we could have been on the ship eating or exploring but hey your got 7 days for that. We didn't feel like we missed out on anything

 

Richard

[rsinj]

(There is a second flight arriving at 4:00 PM that we could switch to if our plane had problems.)

 

Don't bank on it.

 

Howard

[garycarla]

Sounds like you should be fine. Keep an eye on flights and be ready to leave early if you have to.

[OceanLiner]

I would back up the flight to the first available before the date of departure. So if I came in two or three days early, at least I would be there, and an extra day or two in Hawaii can't be all bad!

[MrLee]

I just copied this from the edocs on my upcoming cruise:

 

BOARDING TIME:

All Guests must be on board 60 minutes prior to sailing time otherwise your cruise reservation is subject to cancellation.

 

Enjoy your cruise!