When do you like to board?

I will be on a small cruise ship, the Windstar Legend, only a few hundred passengers. We are set to disembark at 6:00, have to be on board by 4:00 but the ship info says that we can board at 1:00. We are leaving from Dublin on a Friday. We are getting in on Wednesday morning and will have Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday to wander around Dublin.

So the question: What are the pros and cons of getting on the ship early? The only other time I went on a cruise, we left out of Venice on a much larger ship, thousands of passengers, so we boarded early to try to beat the rush, or at least not have to spend as much time in line.

I'd like to hear what more experienced cruisers do.

Thanks.

ASAP! Boarding day IS day 1 of the cruise you paid for!

we board early too

Early

We are always at the port by 10:30am....we want to take advantage of the whole day. So, my answer would be ASAP!

I like getting to the port early before 11am because after that, everyone wants to arrive at 11am for the 12pm boarding. When its 500 -700 on a ship that not really a problem, when its in the thousands - Oh Heck, NO!! :eek:

We like to be among the first ones on the ship.

we like to be there before boarding starts, even if by just a few minutes. we take the time to wander around the ship to learn the lay of the land, yes, even the very small ones.

So, can we arrive at 10:00am for a ship that's scheduled to leave at 4:00? RCI Freedom of the Seas. If not, what time do you recommend?

Hi,

It depends on what time you come out of the Guinness brewery tour!

Pete :)

With Windstar (max 148 passengers) the boarding process is totally different and the only real incentive to early boarding is to unpack and get the stateroom ready. The on board activities are very slight; a buffet style lunch on the upper deck and possibly a staffed bar (local restrictions permitting0. but nothing really happens until just before you sail.

We, as you, were excited about our first Windstar cruise (out of Rome in 1995) and used Windstar's transfer to get to Civitivecchia. They had us meet in a Rome hotel and provided noshes and non-alcoholic beverages as we waited to board the buses. We were scheduled to sail at 4:00pm and, as I recall, we had a few already on board when we arrived with most others arriving after we were checked in.

Our experience then, and since, is that there's no real reason to try to board early because there's nothing to do once on board.

I will be on a small cruise ship, the Windstar Legend, only a few hundred passengers.

It's nice to board early enough to get lunch in the Lido/Buffet but I don't feel the need to be one of the first to board. One exception is when we've stayed in a hotel close to the ship, then the hotel generally wants you out by about 11 AM so that tends to drive the time we arrive at the ship.

I will be on a small cruise ship, the Windstar Legend, only a few hundred passengers. We are set to disembark at 6:00, have to be on board by 4:00 but the ship info says that we can board at 1:00. We are leaving from Dublin on a Friday. We are getting in on Wednesday morning and will have Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday to wander around Dublin.

 

So the question: What are the pros and cons of getting on the ship early? The only other time I went on a cruise, we left out of Venice on a much larger ship, thousands of passengers, so we boarded early to try to beat the rush, or at least not have to spend as much time in line.

 

I'd like to hear what more experienced cruisers do.

 

Thanks.

I like to be one of the first to board so that I can check out the ship.

Host Walt in #11 made some very good points regarding the size of the ship.

We haven't sailed on Windstar but we have sailed on all three of the small Seabourn ships that now sail under Windstar's banner. As the ships are small, and Windstar's original ships even smaller, we wouldn't actually board until around 2pm after a nice lunch somewhere. You could leave the bags at the hotel in the morning and explore a little more of Dublin. Maybe on Thursday as you have a whole day to explore use it to see places further outside of Dublin?

It is not like when you get on a big ship and there is a lot to explore on the ship. There is not a lot to explore on these little ships.......which is one of their pluses as it is much easier to get around. Also you are not likely to be able to get to your room to unpack until around 2pm anyway.

Just my opinion and I hope this helps :).

Julie

Thanks everyone for your responses. So it seems as if everyone gets on the larger ships as early as possible but not the smaller ships because there is less to explore and do. I think we will aim to board later and take advantage of Dublin sightseeing. Happy sailing everyone.

Earlier the better for us. We like to get our lunch before the masses hit the dining rooms.