Early Check In for the Carnival Pride at the RMS Queen Mary

I am sailing on the Carnival Pride in late September 2007. :D My Mom and I are staying onboard the Queen Mary the night before the cruise. I have heard of the early check in but don't really understand how it works. Could someone who has done it explain it to me?

Thanks in Advance!! :D

I have not done this. But we toured the Queen Mary, and saw the Check in Area for Carnival. It is a large room off of the lower Museum area.

Have you asked on the Carnival Boards how it works?

Have you asked on the Carnival Boards how it works?

I did. :D Someone suggested I post it here as well as I might get more answers.

Funny you should ask that, I posted a thread on the Carnival board and it was moved to here. I was asking about the same thing. My parent's are staying there and wanted to know if the QM takes care of transporting you luggage to the ship. One person answered and said you have to take them w/ you and drop them off w/ a porter. This sounded kind of strange though, if you are staying there it seems that they would handle that for you so you don't have to tote all your luggage out of there in search of a porter.:confused:

I'll explain as best as I can.

I didn't stay at the QM, so I don't know about what to do with your luggage, although I think I read on a post months ago, that if you take it to the hotel desk, they will take care of it for you, but I'm not positive about that part.

At the BACK end of the Queen Mary - very well sign posted - is the early check-in area for the Pride. You show your cruise paperwork to the lady standing there and you are then directed in to a room where, after a short wait in line, they do all the necessary paperwork, set up your S&S account, and process everything you need in order to board. They will give you instructions and a piece of paper that says "ZONE 1" on it. At that point you are free to roam around, have breakfast, tour the museum, take a bus over to Shoreline Village - whatever you want to do.

When I sailed in late April, I think they started forming the "Zone" lines outside the dome about 11:45, although I heard that there was a "surprise Coast Guard Inspection" that morning, and so the passengers disembarked late, so maybe the zone lines sometimes form earlier than that.

Anyway, the zone 1 line is for people who already have their S&S cards in hand, and just need to go through security and have their pictures taken. They will check to make sure you have that slip of paper with Zone 1 on it, so make sure you don't lose it.

The zone 2 and 3 lines are for people who did not do early check-in. They have to go through security, and then go to the desks and do all the paperwork, get their S&S cards, etc., and then have their pictures taken. When we sailed the zone 2 and 3 lines were REALLY long.

Early check-in is definitely the way to go if you can do it, and since you will be staying there, it will be very easy.

Have a GREAT trip.

We were on the Pride in May. Thought about doing early check in but couldn't really see the point. We got in line at about 1:30 and were on the ship by 2:00. LOTS of staff, the line moved quickly...no big deal at all.

We were on the Pride in May. Thought about doing early check in but couldn't really see the point. We got in line at about 1:30 and were on the ship by 2:00. LOTS of staff, the line moved quickly...no big deal at all.

Because then your vacation starts just that much earlier! Last two times checking in in Long Beach for Paradise and Pride, we did early check-in about 10:30 and were on board before noon having our first DOD!

We are going to be on Pride on Sept.9th sailing out of Long Beach. It's our first cruise so I've been gathering all of the info I can off of the Net....we are staying on the Queen Mary on the 8th so plan to get all of our paperwork together there and hope to get onboard early!

Have fun on your cruise !!

We are sailing on the Pride Thanksgiving week. We will NOT be staying at the Queen Mary the night before (we will be in Los Angeles at a wedding) but would like to do the early check in there. What do we do with our luggage? Do we take it with us to the Pride after we get our S & S cards?

I appreciate all the information that I get on these boards!

We are sailing on the Pride Thanksgiving week. We will NOT be staying at the Queen Mary the night before (we will be in Los Angeles at a wedding) but would like to do the early check in there. What do we do with our luggage? Do we take it with us to the Pride after we get our S & S cards?

I appreciate all the information that I get on these boards!

If you're not staying on the Queen Mary, then it's easy, the porters in the parking garage will take your luggage from you and you won't see it again until it's delivered to your cabin later in the day.

I think a visual would be helpful. When people say the Queen Mary is next to the Carnival dock, they don't mean it is "near by", they mean it is NEXT TO the Carnival dock. See ...

So forget about arranging transportation. Before the Queen Mary doorman stops laughing, you could walk between the two ships.

As to the Queen Mary early check in, it is just like checking in for any other cruise except it is done at the Queen Mary. Then, once the Carnival ship is cleared for boarding, you board. You don't have to spend time checking in. I don't know if the security photo is taken at the Queen Mary (I doubt it). The embarkation photo (if you want one) is not taken at the Queen Mary.

If you don't check in early at the Queen Mary, you check in inside that big white dome (where the Spruce Goose used to be). If you did check in at the Queen Mary, you still have to go through the security inside the dome (just like the airport security) ...

During the winter time security at the dome is stepped up a bit ...

Do we still go through the "igloo" (cute pic, BTW) for VIP boarding/security or is that done through the QM?

Do we still go through the "igloo" (cute pic, BTW) for VIP boarding/security or is that done through the QM?

All boarding/security is done in the 'dome' regardless of where you have checked in (Queen Mary or dome).

Is early check in necessary with VIP boarding? Looks like I'll stay one night pre-cruise at the Queen Mary and I was wondering since I already have VIP boarding would it be a good idea to still do the early check in.

Is early check in necessary with VIP boarding? Looks like I'll stay one night pre-cruise at the Queen Mary and I was wondering since I already have VIP boarding would it be a good idea to still do the early check in.

Well, I did VIP boarding on the Pride in May 2004 and as soon as we arrived we checked in. However, there was no platinum card holders then, so only suites got VIP check in.

I did VIP check in on the Glory in April 2006. The VIP line was as long as the regular check in line because of all the platinum card holders. So, now I might suggest that if the early check in line is short, take advantage. If it is long, wait until regular check in starts.

I might suggest that if the early check in line is short, take advantage. If it is long, wait until regular check in starts.

Thanks for your response. This sounds like a good idea.

Great info in this thread....everything but the actual early check-in times! Does anyone know the hours for QM Early Check-in then for Carnival Early Check-in? We'll be arriving early am (approximately 9:00 am via LGB and the LB Greyhound station).

Much obliged!

The QM early check-in starts about 9:30 and runs to about 11:00 at which time those Carnival check-in employees move over to the dome and check-in starts in the dome about 11:30 after the folks who have done the QM early check-in have gone thru security (as well as handicapped, VIP, Platinum, wedding parties, etc).

Fabulous news! Thanks for your reply!

So just to be clear when you do your checkin at the QM, they checkin your luggage, or do you still take it with you to the Dome?

Go to the QM for early checkin with your bags.

Give your bags to the porter at the cruise terminal (about 2 min walk between the cruise terminal & the QM.)

Then go inside the QM for early check-in, there will be signs, it is at the back of the ship.

You will do all the processings as mentioned previously and get your zone 1 paper.

You are now free to tour, eat , shop until 1 or 130pm when the zone 1 line is started at the cruise port terminal.

Does this help?

Go to the QM for early checkin with your bags.

Give your bags to the porter at the cruise terminal (about 2 min walk between the cruise terminal & the QM.)

Then go inside the QM for early check-in, there will be signs, it is at the back of the ship.

You will do all the processings as mentioned previously and get your zone 1 paper.

You are now free to tour, eat , shop until 1 or 130pm when the zone 1 line is started at the cruise port terminal.

Does this help?

So just to be clear when you do your checkin at the QM, they checkin your luggage, or do you still take it with you to the Dome?

Go to the QM for early checkin with your bags. (What I mean is follow the signs if you are driving to the "Queen Mary or Carnival Cruise Port", as they are at the SAME place literally next to one another).

Give your bags to the porter at the cruise terminal (about 2 min walk between the cruise terminal & the QM.) (Yes don't give him your carry on or any docs you need to check in such as funpass, passports, etc, keep these with you).

Then go inside the QM for early check-in, there will be signs, it is at the back of the ship. (Early Checkin was only until 1030 this last weekend when I went, so be careful about waiting to 11am...maybe they vary this....)

You will do all the processings as mentioned previously and get your zone 1 paper.

You are now free to tour, eat , shop until 1 or 130pm when the zone 1 line is started at the cruise port terminal.

(Sometimes the ship clears customs early, and the weddings are done and they let you on as early as 1115 or so... anyway, you can wait there and hope to get on early, or go do something else, such as tour the QM, or etc. If you tour the QM, the QM bell hop will hold your carry on bags for you while you do the tour, or eat at the restaurant, so you don't have to lug these around...).

Does this help?

Let me know if you need any help, I've done this many times for both the paradise and pride. I will say don't wait until 1:30 to checkin as the lines are usually LONG, but they still move very quickly. Also for the Friday sailing of the Paradise, their is an influx of people later 130-230 and lines will move a little slower.

Your cabin will NOT be ready until 1:30, but if you are brave you can go check it out, and ask your room steward to leave your carryon bags in your room. They don't encourage this, as they have alot of work to do to get your cabin ready, so if you can avoid this unless you have someone that has trouble lugging around a carryon.

We've done the early check-in on the QM three times (twice for Paradise and once for Pride) and have been on board before noon all 3 times, you shouldn't wait until 1:00 to get in line, you'll miss an hour or more on board. In our experience, the Zone 1 line has formed before 11:00 and starts into the dome before 11:30.