Best time to board on departure day

[gold]

Leaving for Alaska on Serenade with a departure time of 6pm. What time do you recommend we board?

 

 

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[Merion_Mom]

11 a.m.

[emory2001]

I usually board as early as they will let me, but when we were in Alaska, departing out of Seward, we spent part of the day walking around the town, having a good seafood lunch, and I think we boarded by 3:00. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

We try to be at the port about 10.30am and are normally on board by 11.00am

[keishashadow]

For our Harmony saiing out of PC, upon checking in were assigned a 1:30 pm boarding time.  Plan on arriving to terminal by 11 am.  First time on that ship, hope we won’t have to wait 

[gliles]

The royal app tells us our cabin will be available at 11am which doesn't seem right for a 3pm departure. 

[cb at sea]

Boarding day IS the 1st day of your cruise, even tho the ship doesn't sail until later.  I'm all for getting use of the ship as early as possible.  We always try to arrive by 11am.

[Desert Cruizers]

As others have said, board by 11 yet keep in mind, final boarding is 90 min before sail time so everyone needs to be checked in & on board by 4:30. Let your vacation start early and enjoy the ship.

[awestover89]

We used to always board around 10:30/11, but honestly last few times we've shot for later boarding and actually really prefer it. Usually we get lunch off the ship and board at around 1 PM now. The reasons for this are:

 

• Lines for check-in and boarding seem crazy; everybody wants to be on as quick as possible. At 1 we just breeze right through
• Lunch on the ship on boarding day has become completely obnoxious. Way more relaxing to eat off ship and not have to deal with that.
• Rooms are usually available at 1, so before then you have thousands of people with their book bags and carry-ons, all in the same few open public areas of the ship. 
  • Also, having to drag around our book bags and carry ons. 

So by boarding a little later we get a relaxing lunch, breeze through the check-in and boarding process, and can immediately drop off our stuff. 

[sellwingri]

We always arrive between 10:30 and 11.  It’s actually day one of the cruise and we want to spend as much time as possible on board. 

[dani negreanu]

27 minutes ago, sellwingri said:

We always arrive between 10:30 and 11.  It’s actually day one of the cruise and we want to spend as much time as possible on board. 

 

Same here. We travel far to cruise, want to make the most of our time on ship.

[DISFANS3]

You pay for the first day, arrive early...

[ZiggaZagga17]

15 hours ago, Norwich Cruiser said:

We try to be at the port about 10.30am and are normally on board by 11.00am

Ditto!

 

[gold]

Thanks very much


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[biomedbob]

We usually try to board before they sail!

[zonacruiser25]

16 hours ago, awestover89 said:

We used to always board around 10:30/11, but honestly last few times we've shot for later boarding and actually really prefer it. Usually we get lunch off the ship and board at around 1 PM now. The reasons for this are:

 

• Lines for check-in and boarding seem crazy; everybody wants to be on as quick as possible. At 1 we just breeze right through
• Lunch on the ship on boarding day has become completely obnoxious. Way more relaxing to eat off ship and not have to deal with that.
• Rooms are usually available at 1, so before then you have thousands of people with their book bags and carry-ons, all in the same few open public areas of the ship. 
  • Also, having to drag around our book bags and carry ons. 

So by boarding a little later we get a relaxing lunch, breeze through the check-in and boarding process, and can immediately drop off our stuff. 

This is what we have started to do.  I would rather enjoy a half day in the departure port then board later.  Since we always arrive the day before a cruise, we are already enjoying our vacation!