First Time Cruising - Help!

[SailAway08]

1st ever cruise - Norwegian Pearl - June

 

Can anyone tell me how early you should or could be at the ship before departure? We are arriving in Seattle on Saturday and the ship does not leave until 4:00pm Sunday. The itinerary says you must be there at least one hour ahead. Is it a bad idea to not get there until then? We were hoping to have a little time to look around Seattle before boarding.

 

OR... can you arrive early at the ship and have something to do while you wait?

 

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

[dpro]

1st ever cruise - Norwegian Pearl - June

 

Can anyone tell me how early you should or could be at the ship before departure? We are arriving in Seattle on Saturday and the ship does not leave until 4:00pm Sunday. The itinerary says you must be there at least one hour ahead. Is it a bad idea to not get there until then? We were hoping to have a little time to look around Seattle before boarding.

 

OR... can you arrive early at the ship and have something to do while you wait?

 

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

 

You may be able to board as early as 11 AM, depending on the situation. You should certainly be able to board by noon. IMHO, waiting until one hour before the stated time is not a good idea. We like to board as early as possible to get lunch at the Lido, and explore the ship to get familiar with the decks, etc. Leave as much luggage with the porters as you can as you may not be allowed to your cabins until they are ready.

 

We have never found anything to do at the terminals if we get there too early. If the lines have not gotten too long, you can breeze through security and check-in, then maybe have to wait in the terminal to board.

 

We have never sailed on NCL, but this has been our experience on other lines.

 

RC

[thegotogirl]

1st ever cruise - Norwegian Pearl - June

 

Can anyone tell me how early you should or could be at the ship before departure? We are arriving in Seattle on Saturday and the ship does not leave until 4:00pm Sunday. The itinerary says you must be there at least one hour ahead. Is it a bad idea to not get there until then? We were hoping to have a little time to look around Seattle before boarding.

 

OR... can you arrive early at the ship and have something to do while you wait?

 

Any suggestions would be most welcome.[/quot

 

Seattle is a great city with lots to see and do. So, pick one or two things, check into your hotel and hit the town on Sat. On Sunday, choose one more thing to do, and head to the ship. We also like to get on board as soon as possible, because once you get on the ship your vacation REALLY begins. We love to "scout-out" the ship, have lunch and begin to settle in. Have a great time!

[3boyzmom]

We sailed on the Pearl last Summer. I think we got there about 11am- it was actually a little earlier than when they said you could board (the boarding time should be on your documents you got from NCL). The lines were short, and we had no problems boarding.

 

Do be prepared that once you get on the ship there may not be anything open yet, but we really enjoyed just finding our way around the ship, seeing where the food was, checking out the menus for the evening, etc. Then we hung out on one of the deck areas and watched people boarding- we were amazed how long the lines were then!

 

Just a note, we really enjoyed Mambo's for food, as well as the steak house (Cagneys??) We never did get into the italian place- couldn't get reservations. So, book early. Also, pay attention to which eateries are open at which times when you get back on the ship. I think it was in ketchikan that we got on board about 45 minutes earlier than we had planned, went to eat lunch in the main dining room, and then realized while we were eating that ALL the dining rooms/buffets were CLOSED at EXACTLY the time everyone was boarding the ship again. There were A LOT of unhappy people! You would think they would adjust their eating times to their port times, but they don't, so keep that in mind.

 

You'll have a great time. Just remember- you're there to relax. Try not to let every little thing get to you.