Carnival Pride Arrival Time at Port

[RedRoadKing02]

When doing online check in 

How is arrival time determined?

Does the type of State room make any difference?

I will be in an Aft Balcony and my daughter is in Ocean view and we are arriving to port in same car.

 

[purplephenom]

Are you talking about check in time?  If you dont purchase Faster to the fun, or you're not diamond/platinum, your check in time is determined by what you select.  It is part of online check in, but it's not available until a certain date.  The room time doesn't change anything for you.  

[RedRoadKing02]

I am asking about arrival time at port.

When doing online check in ,  your does having a better state room have any priority over a lesser state room ?

I know it will not let everyone arrive at port at same time.

 

[purplephenom]

34 minutes ago, RedRoadKing02 said:

I am asking about arrival time at port.

When doing online check in ,  your does having a better state room have any priority over a lesser state room ?

I know it will not let everyone arrive at port at same time.

 

 

Gotcha. Arrival time at port is what Carnival calls check in time.  Your stateroom won't make a difference, you just pick your time (they're in  half hour increments). I think some, if not all, ports have an early/late check in line, if you happen to get there before your check in time. 

[maryred]

At 90 days prior to your cruise you will be able to do your online check-in. As part of your online check-in you will be asked to pick an Arrival Appointment for your booking (and any booking linked to yours). Cabin category has nothing to do with what times are available, it's all first come first choice, even those with priority privileges need to pick an arrival appointment. Passengers in suites, have earned Platinum or higher status,  that purchase FttF,  special invitees of embarkation day weddings, the cruise line, or casino do get priority processing but that is handled by separate lines and waiting areas within the terminal. These privileges also allow priority passengers to ignore their check-in appointment and arrive earlier.

 

Here's some info specific to the Port of Baltimore at Locust Point...

First off docking of ships here tends to be scheduled later, at 8, 9, or 10am, than most other cruise ports. This is tide dependant as the ship must pass under 3 bridges on it's journey along the Chesapeake and the schedule can change abruptly at the discretion of the Harbor Pilot. It is not unusual to get embarkation day delay notices via text or email. Because of being later than other ports for docking most often the earliest arrival appointment is noon or 12:30pm.

Debarkation of the previous passengers usually finishes 2-2.5 hours after docking, as long as there is no medical or legal issues to be taken care of. Embarkation of new passengers will start about 45 minutes later. Because this port is small the parking lot will not open to new passengers until emptied of about 2/3rds of the previous cruise's cars, or about 1.5 hours after the ship docks. Again because of location and size there is usually a backup of traffic causing Baltimore police to start to direct. In many cases earlier in the day the police will have cars circling around on the service road only allowing shuttles, taxis/limos, and hotel van services in to the port for drop offs until all passengers from the previous cruise are in the terminal for repatriation. There is no priority vehicle entrance for passengers with priority processing or boarding privileges.

Until 2 hours prior the ship's departure the port personnel here are strict about enforcing arrival appoint times, there is no early/late line. Anyone one that arrives too early for their appointment will wait outside until the arrival appointments prior to theirs have been processed and may be allowed to process in early if there is room within the terminal. Those that arrive after their arrival appointment will be allowed to line up with the most current appointment time. 

Passengers with an arrival appointment before embarkation begins will be directed to seats to wait for general embarkation to begin, no zone numbers are issued. Once general boarding begins groups will be formed from rows of seats. By 1:30/2pm the terminal is usually caught up with getting the waiting passengers on board that those finishing the check-in process can  head immediately to the gangplank. An advantage here is by 1:30pm all cabins are ready for occupation and you can head directly to yours to drop off any carry-ons.

[JMAE]

As stated the Pride's return is dependent upon the conditions.  We have been on her 9 times and only had two or three late embarkation.  Sign up for notifications while doing the online check-in.  We drive from NE PA and have a 3 hour drive to Baltimore so when I wake up I check the location of the ship with one of the tracking website or apps to determine when we should leave.  We are Platinum so we can check-in at any time so if the ship is on time we shot for a 11:30 arrival at the parking lot.  This give us time to drop off our suitcases and pay for parking (the cash line is faster).  We are on the ship and in our stateroom within 15 minutes.  I see you are from Maryland so assuming you are parking, I would arrive an hour before the check-in time you select.  Not sure which itinerary your sailing, but if you are going to HMC (water shuttle port) I would look into FTTF.  FTTF gives you priority embarkation, debarkation and tendering.  This option costs $89.95 for the stateroom NOT per person.     

 

Enjoy your cruise. 

[MD VBMom]

We just booked Pride departing on August 4.  (We haven't been on Carnival in 10-12 years.)  A question about this scheduled arrival time:  I assume since we booked so late, this is the reason we were assigned a 2:30-3pm check in time.  What time is a good time to arrive to the port--should we plan to arrive at 2:30? Or is there a chance (if there is not a line) that we could board before 2:30pm? Also, would it make sense to carry on our bags rather than checking them with a porter since we should be able to access our cabin when we get on the ship?  Thanks for any input!

[young_k92]

2 hours ago, MD VBMom said:

We just booked Pride departing on August 4.  (We haven't been on Carnival in 10-12 years.)  A question about this scheduled arrival time:  I assume since we booked so late, this is the reason we were assigned a 2:30-3pm check in time.  What time is a good time to arrive to the port--should we plan to arrive at 2:30? Or is there a chance (if there is not a line) that we could board before 2:30pm? Also, would it make sense to carry on our bags rather than checking them with a porter since we should be able to access our cabin when we get on the ship?  Thanks for any input!

I asked about this on another thread. The general consensus was that taking on all your luggage would be just fine in Baltimore after 2:30. My husband and I plan to do so. Enjoy your cruise!

[MD VBMom]

Thank you young_k92!

[RandomUser123]

Is FTTF worth it on Carnival Pride if I already have a 12:30 check in time. Seems like at best I get on the ship 30 mins earlier with it. I do not really care when I disembark when the cruise ends. 

[young_k92]

10 hours ago, RandomUser123 said:

Is FTTF worth it on Carnival Pride if I already have a 12:30 check in time. Seems like at best I get on the ship 30 mins earlier with it. I do not really care when I disembark when the cruise ends. 

I'm not the best person to answer you, but since no one else is, I'll try my best. I've not sailed the Pride or out of Baltimore or had FTTF, but I think, from answers to questions I've asked and answers I've seen given, the point would be about your room being ready early. Apparently, Pride rooms aren't usually released for occupancy until 2:30 or after. So, without FTTF, you'll be roaming around ship with your carry-on until at least 2:30. With FTTF, you'd be paying extra for your room to be ready as soon as you board. So check-in time is not related to room ready time. FTTF (or suite or Platinum/Diamond) speeds up your room being ready and, supposedly, your luggage delivery. Among other things, but again, I'm not an expert. Hope that helps.

[BND]

We're on Pride this Sunday.  We didn't even book the cruise until 3 weeks ago so we got a 230-3 check in time and FTTF was sold out.  I kept watching it and it came up last weekend so I grabbed it.  We plan to arrive around 1115.  We've cruised out of Baltimore 7 or 8 times, the last time in April, on Royal every time and usually arrive between 1045 and 11 so we're used to getting onboard early.  Between arrival time, being able to go straight to our cabin and priority tendering at HMC, it was worth it to us.  I've read Pride rooms are available at 2, but since we hope to be on by noon, we'd prefer being able to drop our carryons off before we grab lunch. 

Edited July 26, 2019 by BND