Long Beach Pier check in time

[goldencruiser]

Hi,

 

I need some help in knowing what time to go to the Queen Mary for early check in. What time should we arrive and how can we avoid the long lines if at all possible - we have a 6 year old with us. I have heard about people checking in at 9:30 and not boarding until 12:30. What do you do until then?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thank you

[kajsb]

Unless you are in a wedding party, no one generally boards before 12:30. QM early check is supposed to be open until noon, but I have seen it close a little early. As long as you do the early check in at the QM, you will not have a long line (in comparison to the passengers who do not do early check in). If early check in is done, you by-pass the check in lines inside the dome and go straight to having your pictures taken and boarding the ship (after security of course).

[goldencruiser]

Thank you that makes me feel a better. After you do the early check-in at the QM do you get in line at that time or what do you do?

 

Thanks

[kajsb]

After you finish the check-in, you have a few options:

 

1) Wait in line

2) Have one person wait in line while another walks around keeping your 6 year old entertained

3) Have no one wait in line until it gets close to noon and then just go to the end of the proper line for those who checked in early

[chay]

We are planning on doing the early check in on the QM. If they don't board until 12:30, would showing up at say 11:00 be that much longer of a wait to get on ship?

[kajsb]

We are planning on doing the early check in on the QM. If they don't board until 12:30, would showing up at say 11:00 be that much longer of a wait to get on ship?

I can say that it will be faster than boarding for those who do NOT do early check-in. They take wedding parties on first, then handicapped, then they go to Skippers Club early check in and then regular check in. I board when the handicapped go so I don't see exactly how long it takes after that.

[chay]

Thanks, Kathy. I appreciate your reply.

[Teeara]

This is from my review of the Carnival Pride in October 2003 on the entire embarkation process at Long Beach. In a nutshell, my recommendation is to do the early check in at 9:30, do the QM tour then get in line (the correct line as you will see below) around 11:30:

 

If you arrive at the Long Beach Terminal BEFORE 12:00 noon, you can do early check in on the Queen Mary. I will get to this in a second. My recommendation is that if you arrive at the terminal before 11 a.m., do the early check in on the Queen Mary. If you arrive between 11 and 12 you might want to consider just standing in the line at the terminal and check in there rather than checking in at the QM. The only reason I say this is because they will start boarding passengers at noon. I cannot tell you how this works since I did early check in, but it is just an observation.

 

Early check in on the Queen Mary starts at 9 a.m. If you are getting out at the parking garage, you will go around the Dome to the left and see a long yellow fence leading to the entrance of the Queen Mary early check in. BEFORE you get there, if you want to leave your carry-ons behind, there is a small building that is connected to the parking garage where they have a baggage holding area. This is strictly for carry-ons. If you face the Queen Mary and turn around towards the parking garage you will see the signs for the baggage holding area. They will give you a stub so when you are ready to return to the Dome area for boarding the ship you can have one person stand in line while the other person grabs the carry-ons.

 

Once you have dropped off your carry-ons, you can proceed to the Queen Mary. Please have your cruise documents out and your identification with you. Follow the long fence to the left (and I will post on Webshots.com photos of the fence and the signs) down to the Queen Mary and show them your cruise docs and I.D. You will then be allowed in. Go straight across the gangway and then once you enter the ship turn to your LEFT. You will see a lit room where you will enter to do early check in. They have the line roped off, so do the snake line (just like at the airport) until you are at the front and the next Carnival representative calls you over.

 

Okay, breathe deeply because here is where the fun TRULY begins! You will give them your cruise docs, your I.D., your proof of citizenship AND your credit card to open your Sail & Sign account. Please make certain all of your docs are signed and completed before reaching the QM so you don’t hold up the line. If you have everything completed, the process will take less than five minutes. The rep will process all of your papers, have you sign a few more and then you will receive your S&S card (oh joy!!!). You can now do the S&S dance (which is just as fun as doing the doc dance!). Note: For one reason or another there might be a problem issuing you a finalized S&S card. You will finish the S&S card procedure inside the Dome. They will explain this to you once you enter the Dome. If you have any questions about this, PLEASE ASK THE CARNIVAL REPS ALONG THE WAY. They are incredibly helpful and want to make your cruise experience as smooth as possible.

 

Once the rep says you are done, you are done! Exit the check in room and to your left you will see a roped off display area of the QM along with two long display cases with cross sections of the QM and the Titanic. There will also be a QM employee there at the rope. You will pay this employee the $6.00 for the Queen Mary tour. Once you pay the fee you will receive a brochure showing the layout of the ship and where you can go. They will not throw open the Dome doors until close to noon, so enjoy the QM tour. Your admission will also allow you to do the Ghosts & Legends tour which you access from a different part of the ship. Please note that this tour starts every 30 minutes (I think--someone please verify this). It is a hoot! I highly recommend it for you, but please, no children under the age of 10 because it is very scary for children due to the darkness, the eerie lights, music and special effects. For the rest of you, it was fun along the lines of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

 

Check in at the Dome

 

For those of you who did not do early check in on the QM, I can’t give you specifics since I did not do the regular check in at the Dome, so someone else will have to fill you in on that aspect of it.

 

BEFORE YOU GET IN LINE AT THE DOME, DON’T FORGET TO RETRIEVE YOUR CARRY-ONS FROM THE SMALL BUILDING!!!

 

For everyone: When you go to the Dome (and everyone MUST go through the Dome in order to board the ship) there will be TWO lines. One line will be for those who have already done early check in and one line for those who have not checked in yet. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN THE CORRECT LINE!!! Ask the Carnival representatives which line you are supposed to be in. When we checked in, the line to the left (looking at the Dome) was for early check ins and the line to the right was for those who hadn’t checked in yet.

 

For those of you who did early check in, here are the next steps. First, please have your I.D. and S&S card available to show because they will ask you repeatedly along the way to show these items. Once you enter the Dome you will be directed to one of two lines to go through security. NOTE: They will hand check your film, but please have it out of the plastic cases and in a ziploc bag. They say the x-ray machines will not damage your film, but if you have higher speed film (800+) you might feel more comfortable with the hand checking. They will have small bowls for your change, etc. just like at the airport. Once you have gone through security you will be directed past the snaking lines to the regular check-in counters to the opposite end of the Dome. Get ready because you are about to have your first photo opportunity! This is where you will take your picture in front of the palm tree and wave arch with the Pride name, the date and the clock telling when you boarded the ship! Once you have your photo taken you will go up the escalator to the left and turn towards the right. You will enter into another room. If you have had a problem with your S&S card at early check in which I mentioned earlier, this is where they will correct the problem (sorry, I can’t recall what the problem(s) is/are). If your S&S card is okay (and the majority are okay), then you will move straight ahead to the left where you will pass through a door showing your S&S card and cross the gangway!!! Here is a great chance for a photo opportunity of your own, so savor the moment and take a picture! Once you cross the gangway you will turn to the left on deck (you are now on the Atlantic Deck--Deck 3!) and immediately turn right to enter the ship. They will hand you a copy of the Deck Map and you are now officially onboard the Carnival Pride!!! Big WOOOO HOOOO!!! You can go to your cabin to drop off your carry-ons. Please note that your cabin may not be ready for you to lounge around in quite yet and your cabin steward may pop his head in to introduce himself. Just set your carry-ons aside or in one of the closets (very spacious!) and head up to the Lido Deck (Deck 9) for lunch in the Mermaid Grill (the ribs were to die for!). Don’t forget your foo-foo drink in the souvenir cup (bright yellow, pink or clear)! The Funship was the first drink special of the day and it was VERY yummy.

 

I hope the above is helpful. - Theresa

[chay]

Thanks Theresa! Your info was very helpful. I'm sure my Mom and daughter will love touring the QM.

 

Cherri

[phroggie]

I'm someone who studied every post and picture on early check-in (thank you Kajsb!), checked out the imagery on Terraserver and obsessed over every detail. We managed to take public transportation from NoHo and arrived to be first in line.

 

There isn't too much to add except to note that after the process at the Queen Mary, position yourself in front of the newspaper vending machines to the east of the main entrance to the dome. That's the front of the line. Make sure you say "hi!" to Margarita from us.

 

The whole family was there so the time passed very quickly (YMMV depending on your family ;) ). My sister used the handicap line because her daughter needed oxygen and an oxygen concentrator, but we caught up with them at the top of the escalator (where you actually see the gangway).

 

All told, we were pigging out at the barandgrill by 1:00PM.