froghollow Posted August 29, 2004 #1 Share Posted August 29, 2004 We just received our cruise docs for the Oct. 3rd sailing of Legend of the Seas from San Diego. This is our first RCI cruise. The ship sails at 5 PM and we were surprised to read on the Cruise Summary page in the docs that our boarding time is 4 PM. Then on the Arrival Information page it states that guests traveling independently should check in no earler that indicated. Isn't this awfully late? Or does RCI stagger the boarding times by deck or something? Has anyone had this experience? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7nucruzers Posted August 29, 2004 #2 Share Posted August 29, 2004 probably should not be the one to advise you on this since i've only been on one cruise (Majesty of the Seas - 1997) - our next cruise is JOS 11/14/04; however, if it were me I'd be at the pier much, much earlier than 4 pm for a 5 pm sailing!!! Maybe that's a typo in your documents and you should probably call the cruiselines to verify. If you get there earlier the worst that could happen is you wait around but at least you would be there!! hope it works out for you - happy sailing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizinEllen Posted August 29, 2004 #3 Share Posted August 29, 2004 We sailed the Legend in July and were able to board at noon for our 5pm departure. Not sure why it says 4 pm. They certainly could not board the entire ship in less than an hour! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abear2 Posted August 29, 2004 #4 Share Posted August 29, 2004 That is late. I have been on 5 Royal Carribean cruises and we always boarded around noon. I don't understand that?? I think if I would be you I would give Royal Carribean a call cause that really does not sound right to me. Tyhey have a toll free number so what the heck give them a call.Good luck.........:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debscruise Posted August 29, 2004 #5 Share Posted August 29, 2004 This will be my first time cruising with a 5pm embarking. I know it states somewhere where it is a good idea to go 2 hours before the ship sails, however from reading these posts a lot of cruisers show up at noon and are able to go onboard and they avoid crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisin-Trish Posted August 29, 2004 #6 Share Posted August 29, 2004 frogshollow You should be able to board the ship around noon. There could be a misprint in your documents. FINAL boarding is usually 30 minutes before the ship sails. It is possible that on your ship they are requesting all passengers be onboard by 4pm. not to start boarding at 4pm. The earlier you board the ship the more time you have to explore it! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suziehmkr Posted August 29, 2004 #7 Share Posted August 29, 2004 We sailed on Legend in June. Our documents gave us a 2pm boarding time. We learned here on CC to show up earlier. We arrived at the port at 11:30 and were able to board at Noon. Our cabins were even ready when we arrived. They will not say anything if you are early, other than wait in the chairs until your group is called (we were assigned a letter, I think) With the muster drill at 4:15 and lunch serving in the Windjammer before that, getting there early is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pelletib Posted August 29, 2004 #8 Share Posted August 29, 2004 We were onboard the Radiance by 12:45, but the doors that led to the cabins were not opened until 1:30. No big deal. We were located on Deck 9 (Library Deck) and I sat in a comfy chair with both couples carryons and watched people come aboard, while the others went and had a smoke. By the time they got back, the doors were opened and we went to our cabins. We then headed for the Windjammer after asking our room steward for a bucket of ice and 4 champagne glasses. We came back and part of our luggage was in our cabins. We gals unpacked while the guys sat on the balconies and people watched until 20 minutes before the call to muster. Since we knew that they close the elevators, We knew we had to get down to the proper deck before they close them. (My DH cannot walk down more than 2 flights of stairs and we had to go down to deck 5.) He waited inside on a chair until the last possible minute before he joined us at our station. He had his disabled placard hung on a loop by the whistle just in case anybody had a stupid remark to make. He is 6'2" and has a very healthy outward appearance. Our muster station attendant was very understanding and let him sit until they did the head count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madforcruising Posted August 29, 2004 #9 Share Posted August 29, 2004 I don´t know about your itinerary and about the one before your cruise so this is just a guess. The late boarding time maybe a result from the Jones Act. If the previous cruise ended in Ensenada they have to bring the ship to San Diego to let you board. This can cause a major delay in ships arrival at San Diego. This happened to me when sailing out of San Diego. Even at the designated sailing time of my cruise the ship hadn´t even arrived in San Diego. So if you decide to arrive early be prepared to have a possibly long wait at the pier. But you could also be lucky and able to board the ship early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rascalious Posted August 29, 2004 #10 Share Posted August 29, 2004 I, too, received documents a couple of weeks ago that state boarding time is at 4:00PM. This really confused us, as we went on the same cruise last year - AOS out of San Juan - and we arrived at the pier about 10:30AM and were in our cabin by noon. This is not a huge problem for us, as the AOS does not sail until 10:00PM. We were planning, however, to board early and get back off for a little sight-seeing across the harbor in Old San Juan. We explored the ship last year, so that is not a concern this year. We also need to check-out of the hotel well before 4:00PM! I am going with my gut-feeling, that we can still board by noon. It seems to me they are trying to stagger the boarding times. We have a suite, so we may get the priority boarding like we did last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqusis Posted August 29, 2004 #11 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Could it maybe mean that all passengers MUST be onboard by 4:00 ? They usually require everyone be onboard about an hour before sailing as the muster drill should be at about 4:15-4:30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
froghollow Posted August 30, 2004 Author #12 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Many thanks to all who replyed and all the good advise. I called RCI this morning and the lady said the 4 PM boarding was a mistake. We could board by 12:30. She also said there would be a nice lunch waiting for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VikkiGarcia Posted August 30, 2004 #13 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Frog: We are on the same sailing!! Come chat with us on the roll call forum. Hope you have registered for M&M. Speak to you soon!! Vikki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reijo Posted August 30, 2004 #14 Share Posted August 30, 2004 Just returned from Mariner out of Port Canaveral. I know this isn't the same port you're leaving from BUT our cruise documents said to not board BEFORE 2PM. After reading this website everyone talked about board earlier which we did. We got to the port at 11:30, had to sit in a line in our car for about 45 minutes but that wasn't a problem. Once we got into the building we were thru security, thru check-in and on board ship in 30 minutes. It was good because we were walked on the ship at 1PM and were able to go straight to our room and leave our luggage before GOING TO EAT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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