New York City Pier question

[Mjasp]

At the New York City pier in Manhattan, what is the earliest you are allowed in the port area and what time do they start letting you board the ship?

We will be on the Gem for a Bahamas/Florida cruise

[njhorseman]

Typically the cruise starts boarding around 11:30-11:45 am, but I've seen it start an hour or more later if the ship was late arriving at the pier or customs and immigration held up the start of disembarkation for some reason.

We usually arrive around 10:30 or 11. By the time we've checked in, embarkation is usually about ready to start. I don't like to get there any earlier because we try to avoid the crush of disembarking passengers, but I'm reasonably certain they'll let you inside the terminal at 8:30 or 9. If you do arrive that early you're going end up killing a lot of time at the pier.

[Mjasp]

Thanks, now to plan a time to leave.