Early check in at Queen Mary hotel

[ehogan]

Has anyone done the early check in at the Queen Mary for the Carnival cruise (Pride)at Long Beach? How does this work, and in your opinion is it worthwhile?

[Fancy_Goods]

We did the early check-in this past September. First, check your bags with the porters then walk over to the QM to check-in. We then went for breakfast and walked around the waterfront. We found a shady spot until they opened the doors where we went through security then onto the ship. Very easy and a nice perk if you find yourself arriving in Long Beach early in the am.

[SunnieD]

We stayed there so we got up and went and did early check in. We then went and ate breakfast, gathered our luggage and checked out of the hotel. We had to take our luggage to the porters in the parking deck across the street. It was nice to already be done.

[ehogan]

Thanks for your replies, can I get a bit more detail?

 

We are also staying at the Queen Mary. After you do early check in and then go to the ship and give your luggage to the porters, where do you go?

 

Is there a separate line or area for those who have done early check in at the Queen Mary?

[Wennfred]

Email me for a great review thats has all of the details you need. wennfred@cox.net

 

 

Fred

[SunnieD]

Well, you will be right there by the dome. You just get in line. They have Zone's set up, so you will not be lost. We had a Cat11, so we were in the VIP line. There were 3 other Zones if I remember correctly. It looks a bit crazy because all of the other passengers will still be getting off the ship. You will know them by their sad faces.:( Just wait there until they open the doors and start hearding them in. It really does not take very long to get on board. You do have to go out of the Queen Mary and walk to the back of the ship to go in for early check-in. It goes really fast down there too and there are some interesting things to see while you are in that area as well.

[OceanDreamin]

We are also staying at the Queen Mary. After you do early check in and then go to the ship and give your luggage to the porters, where do you go?

 

Is there a separate line or area for those who have done early check in at the Queen Mary?

 

The Porters are in the parking structure, not at the ship. That is very convenient for people arriving at the pier, less convenient for those of you staying on the Queen Mary, although I would think if you needed assistance with getting your luggage to the porters they would help you. My experience has been that the staff around there has always been very friendly and helpful.

 

After you do early check-in you can go and have breakfast, do the self-guided tour of the Queen Mary, wander around some of the little shops in that area, or even hop a water taxi and go over to another shopping area, or the Aquarium of the Pacific. It's entirely up to you.

 

Yes, there is a separate line for those people who have done early check-in. It's called "Zone 1," and when you do the early check-in, they will give you a piece of paper with Zone 1 on it. After doing early check-in you can just go around to the front of the dome, and steak out a good spot, and then when the form the zone lines, you will be right in front of the Zone 1 line, and one of the first people on board.

 

I have done early check-in for both the Pride and Paradise, and I definitely think it's worthwhile. When we did early check-in on the Paradise, by the time we finished wandering around Queen Mary, they had already started embarkation. There was no Zone 1 line at that point, just the long line of people who had not yet checked in. I walked up to the entrance to the dome and told one of the security people there we had already checked in, showed her my "Zone 1" piece of paper, and she let us right in to the security check-point, and except for a short wait for our embarkation photo, we walked right on.

[ehogan]

Thanks to you all!! Cruise critic rocks!

[shawilson]

Well, you will be right there by the dome. You just get in line. They have Zone's set up, so you will not be lost. We had a Cat11, so we were in the VIP line. There were 3 other Zones if I remember correctly. It looks a bit crazy because all of the other passengers will still be getting off the ship. You will know them by their sad faces.:( Just wait there until they open the doors and start hearding them in. It really does not take very long to get on board. You do have to go out of the Queen Mary and walk to the back of the ship to go in for early check-in. It goes really fast down there too and there are some interesting things to see while you are in that area as well.

 

Even though you were in the VIP line, you still did early check-in at the QM? What would the advantage be?

 

Thanks

[Falcon164016]

Not really an advantage, but right outside of the early check in doors on the Queen Mary are an assortment of nautical history displays (think Titanic, Normandie, Queen Mary, etc), if you like that sort of thing. I think they normally charge to see that stuff, but if you're just coming through to check in at the Carnival desk, they'd never know the difference.

[Wennfred]

Even though you were in the VIP line, you still did early check-in at the QM? What would the advantage be?

 

Thanks

 

Yes, thats where you get your Sail & Sign card, advantage is you go straight to the x-ray machine and on to the ship.

 

 

Fred

[skiorcruise]

One thing no one mentioned - times. I think it's 9:00 - 10:30 at the Queen. Boarding for either the Pride or Paradise normally starts around 11:30, so you do have that hour to kill. The advantage of early checkin is the shorter lines at the Queen versus the normal checkin. Plus it gives you something to do if you are early (and on cruise day, I am always early).

[OceanDreamin]

One thing no one mentioned - times. I think it's 9:00 - 10:30 at the Queen. Boarding for either the Pride or Paradise normally starts around 11:30, so you do have that hour to kill. The advantage of early checkin is the shorter lines at the Queen versus the normal checkin. Plus it gives you something to do if you are early (and on cruise day, I am always early).

 

I'm always early too. I want to get my vacation started as early as I can.

 

I think they do early check-in until 11:00. It was close to 11:00 by the time our whole party met up, the little ones got their potty break, and we made our way in to the room where they do the early check-in for Paradise in October. I know we didn't arrive at the pier until nearly 10:30 - LOVE that LA traffic!:rolleyes:

[Parrothead420]

One thing no one mentioned - times. I think it's 9:00 - 10:30 at the Queen. Boarding for either the Pride or Paradise normally starts around 11:30, so you do have that hour to kill. The advantage of early checkin is the shorter lines at the Queen versus the normal checkin. Plus it gives you something to do if you are early (and on cruise day, I am always early).

Hey Dave!

Thanks for the info.... Just noticed you are in Layton. I'm in Holladay...... Until I leave on the Paradise in 2 days!

[SunnieD]

Even though you were in the VIP line, you still did early check-in at the QM? What would the advantage be?

 

Thanks

 

There is a VIP line in there as well. I was actually the first passenger other than the wedding party on board! That was worth it to me!