Boarding Ship

[lfite]

We have a 5:30 p.m. Departure time. I was wondering how soon anyone thinks we would be able to dock the ship or check in. We would like to get there as early as we can - this way we can get familer with the ship and where things are at. We also plan on taking the tour. This way we can take all the pictures of the ship early on.

 

[tbrat]

THis is from Carnivals website:


Embarkation Hours:
Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Mobile, Galveston, Tampa, Port Canaveral, New Orleans and San Diego - 12:30 P.M.

Vancouver, Rome (Civitavechia) and Whittier – 12:30 P.M.

New York - 1:00 P.M.

Los Angeles (Long Beach) - 1:30 P.M.

Baltimore - 2:00 P.M.

San Juan - 2:30 P.M.

London (Dover) - Noon

Honolulu - 1:00 P.M.

Ensenada - 6:00 P.M.

You must check in at least one hour prior to departure.

 

[Gayle V]

Hello Ifite,

I guess your real question is what time should you arrive at the pier. Well there are lots of people who have no problem with waiting in line for a hours. They will show up at 9 am, and happily wait on the off chance that they will be the first aboard, and short of that, just get on early. Sometimes that pays off. Sometimes it just means a very, very long wait.

Tbrat is giving you the official times that boarding is supposed to begin. The actual time that boarding starts is always dependent on lots of factors. Like how early or late customs clears the ship, how quickly the previous passengers leave, and any number of other variables and possible delays.

It is not unusual at all, for boarding to start earlier. Eleven am is not at all strange. On the other hand, just as often it can be delayed till 2 pm or later. Occasionally, much later. Just ask all the 260 CruiseAddict's who had to wait till nearly 3 or 4 pm to board the Mariner for the MOSAIC group cruise. I don't remember the reason, but that time, boarding started then stopped for several hours.

For a better answer, why not ask other what time the other posters like to arrive at the pier, if boarding is supposed to start at one.

My answer would be "usually noon." But I'm dealing with a hubby that really hates lines. If I had my druthers, I'd show up at 11., or maybe earlier. As it is, I can only talk hubby into to heading over to the pier right after "check out time" at our pre-cruise hotel That is usually 11 am. So we check out, grab a taxi and head to the ship. That gets us there sometime between 11:30 and noon. Usually we end up waiting a little while, even then.

 

[Cruizer]

Boarding typically begins around noon. By arriving at 10:30am I have twice been the first on the ship. However, I had to wait an hour (boarded around 11:30am both times).

 

[joebat1]

[large]We just cruised on the Holiday last week, and we arrived at the port around 10:30. We were through check in and in out cabins by 11:15. Paula put her coat in the closet and we went up to the buffet. It was not set up, and when we returned to our cabin after lunch the cabin Stewart thought the previous cruisers had left it and turned it into the lost & found.... By 12:30 both buffet lines stretched past the pool...[/large]

 

[Dan40]

We have a 5:30 p.m. Departure time. I was wondering how soon anyone thinks we would be able to dock the ship or check in. We would like to get there as early as we can - this way we can get familer with the ship and where things are at. We also plan on taking the tour. This way we can take all the pictures of the ship early on.

Remember the ship has not been docked there for weeks waiting for your arrival. It docked at 7 or 8AM filled with overstuffed human cargo. Each of which MUST clear Customs and Immigration, and settle up their S&S account before ANY of them may debark. Most times this is a smooth procedure. SOMETIMES it takes a long while. Then the room stewards must clean the cabins and the dock gang must replace all the vittles the 'cargo' consumed.
As others have said, 11 to noon is probably the earliest to get on board.