What time did you get to the pier?

we are taking Radiance of the Seas and I believe the book says boarding begins at 2 p.m. I have read other people say go early.

What time has worked for you?

we are taking Radiance of the Seas and I believe the book says boarding begins at 2 p.m. I have read other people say go early.

 

What time has worked for you?

living in Vancouver i have cruised many times from canada place and ballantyne.

The Radiance leaves from Ballantyne, and with there only being 1 ship there things tend to move a lot faster then they would at canada place with 2 or 3 ships in.

I cruised out of Ballantyne last September, we arrived around 1pm or so.

The reason boarding doesnt start until 2pm is because US Customs takes their lunch break and resumes their work around 2pm.

There are a couple ways you can do it, arrive around noon or so, but you may have to sit in the holding area to wait for customs, or, you could arrive around 130 or 2, go through security, check in, then go into the holding room for customs.

Only downfall with arriving at 130 or 2 is there may be a longer line for security and check in as there would be earlier.

Personally if i was doing it again, i would arrive earlier, get through security, get checked in and wait for customs, they will give you a group number for customs and when your number is called you can go through the line up, proceed through customs and be on the ship.

Hopefully that helps

Cheers!!

We left on the Radiance on July 2, 2005. It was WONDERFUL!

We stayed at the Hyatt for 2 days before the cruise. We had a limo pick us up at 1045 from the Hyatt. I think it was either 30-35 cad and we were 4 with luggage. If you e mail Limo Jet Gold they will tell you in advance the rate. It was much nicer and easier than a cab. By the time we loaded the luggage and such we arrived at the pier at about 11:15-20. We walked right in and checked in with no waiting. There were very few people there. They met us at the limo and took our bags. We then were directed up an escalator to the waiting area. Very large room with refreshments. At 12 noon the customs people arrived and by this time there were starting to be quite a few people waiting. BUT they gave out slips with group numbers on them according to when you checked in with RCCL. We were in the 1st group. So when they called our group we waited about 2 minutes for customs and were directed to the ship. I think we were the 2nd people on by just a few minutes after 12. We went to the windjamer and had lunch and looked around the ship and then went to our cabin at 1:00. You couldn't go to your room before then.

It was a very pleasant and enjoyable experience. They also had an area where you can go outside to look at the ship while waiting.

I hope you have a great time. We sure did!

Incredibly helpful posts, friends. Thanks so much!!

Summit July 15th said Boarding begins at 2pm sailing at 5:45pm. They started boarding at about 11:30am. We were on at noon which is when they started serving the buffet lunch. We had a great time beating the crowds and exploring the ship alone. We had our luggage around 2pm and were able to put it away after lunch.

We left on the Radiance on July 2, 2005. It was WONDERFUL!

 

We stayed at the Hyatt for 2 days before the cruise. We had a limo pick us up at 1045 from the Hyatt. I think it was either 30-35 cad and we were 4 with luggage. If you e mail Limo Jet Gold they will tell you in advance the rate. It was much nicer and easier than a cab. By the time we loaded the luggage and such we arrived at the pier at about 11:15-20. We walked right in and checked in with no waiting. There were very few people there. They met us at the limo and took our bags. We then were directed up an escalator to the waiting area. Very large room with refreshments. At 12 noon the customs people arrived and by this time there were starting to be quite a few people waiting. BUT they gave out slips with group numbers on them according to when you checked in with RCCL. We were in the 1st group. So when they called our group we waited about 2 minutes for customs and were directed to the ship. I think we were the 2nd people on by just a few minutes after 12. We went to the windjamer and had lunch and looked around the ship and then went to our cabin at 1:00. You couldn't go to your room before then.

 

It was a very pleasant and enjoyable experience. They also had an area where you can go outside to look at the ship while waiting.

 

I hope you have a great time. We sure did!

Thanks for the heads up on the limo service! Will email them now!

M.

Due to some flight delays, I ended up arriving at Ballentyne on July 3rd at 2:15pm for my Serenade cruise out of Ballentyne. We were checked in and through customs in about 15 minutes!

We enjoyed boarding early because we get that much more time on the boat. And there aren't that many people on board early on, so you can eat & go exploring. But yeah, if you get there when it FIRST opens, you have to contend with a line.

We sailed 7/16 on the Radiance. We had limos pick us up at the Comfort Inn near the airport at 9:30 am. When we got to the ship, we only had to wait in the car line for 3 minutes to unload luggage. We went right on in, didn't even have to wait in a line for checkin, went right up the escalator and down the corridor. We were handed a colored card and were told to find a seat and wait until our color & number were called. They started calling straight up noon. Took 5 minutes in line to show our passport and went right on ship. It was great and the best boarding I've seen yet.