Check in time vs. boarding time

[IntrepidFromDC]

We're on the first Pride sailing, 9/12.  We're platinum so our check in opened 2 days early, but we selected 12pm instead of 10am because this cruise is leaving at 7pm, unlike previous Baltimore Pride cruises that left at 5pm.  First time away from the dog and ferrets in almost 2 years, gonna be tough.  I'll bet a Fun Ship drink will help me get over it.  We did get A01 - I guess that means we're among the first group to be allowed to board at 12pm.

Edited September 8, 2021 by IntrepidFromDC

[Bostwick girl]

10 hours ago, bsp said:

Great to know Port Canaveral was that quick. Leaving from there Oct 7 & so looking forward to it!! Happy cruising all.🚢 🏖️

Maybe we will see you on board! We are also leaving on Magic October 7th! When we get to choose our checkin time, we will choose 12-12:30 again. Hope you enjoy your cruise! I see you’re from Virginia, our son and his friend will be going with us, he lives in North Carolina.

 

[dbrucern]

23 hours ago, groundloop said:

 

Which port was this at?

 

Carnival needs to get an earful from a lot of unhappy people about this, especially considering that we're still in the middle of a Covid pandemic.

 

AND all of these horror stories keep adding to my conviction that the latest time slots may be the most desirable..... no lines and no lugging around your carry-ons and a couple of 12 packs of soda until your room is ready.

 

 

 

Miracle out of Seattle

[kleibo]

22 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

We're on the first Pride sailing, 9/12.  We're platinum so our check in opened 2 days early, but we selected 12pm instead of 10am because this cruise is leaving at 7pm, unlike previous Baltimore Pride cruises that left at 5pm.  First time away from the dog and ferrets in almost 2 years, gonna be tough.  I'll bet a Fun Ship drink will help me get over it.  We did get A01 - I guess that means we're among the first group to be allowed to board at 12pm.

 

Intrepid - can you post your experiences on this first Pride sailing.  I am sure alot of us that are sailing Pride in the coming weeks would appreciate it.  thanks.

[IntrepidFromDC]

10 minutes ago, kleibo said:

 

Intrepid - can you post your experiences on this first Pride sailing.  I am sure alot of us that are sailing Pride in the coming weeks would appreciate it.  thanks.

Happily, I will, though I don't usually post until I get home from the trip.  On another note, there have been alot of posts of people saying their CVS testing experience was bad (e.g., no antigen tests available, appts. being canceled by CVS, no results received, etc.)... We just got back from testing at CVS in NW DC.  All three of us got to swab our own noses and we got our NEGATIVE results by email in 15-20 minutes.  There was no wait.  And the RN who proctored was funny.  It could not have been a better experience.

[destiny217]

On 9/7/2021 at 11:28 PM, nina_930 said:

If I was to get the first check in time slot, what is the normal wait time to actually board?  Lets say for example, the check in was 10-10:30, when would we be called to board if we have a suite?  Leaving from Baltimore if that makes a difference.  TIA

 

Carnival Cruise Line Rolls Out Digital Muster Drills (cruisecritic.com)

[NeighborGeek]

Wow, I didn't realize this was a problem.  I've only been on one cruise previously, and I don't remember particularly long lines to check in, but we may have had a later timeslot.  I signed up for the earliest available, 10:30am,  on my cruise this weekend, now I'm wondering if I should have that changed?

[nina_930]

So I checked in for Baltimore at midnight with my 2 day advance selection and got boarding zone B01.  I am in a suite and thought suites get priority boarding.  I selected the earliest available time, so I'm curious why I would be in B01? 

 

 

 

[snowballs mom]

11 minutes ago, nina_930 said:

So I checked in for Baltimore at midnight with my 2 day advance selection and got boarding zone B01.  I am in a suite and thought suites get priority boarding.  I selected the earliest available time, so I'm curious why I would be in B01? 

 

 

 

I am on the Panorama and got the earliest check in time (12:00-12:30). My zone is D01 - I am not in a suite, just platinum status and I also checked in at midnight.

 

[BoozinCroozin]

I hope they start boarding with group B01. That is kind of ridiculous to not have the first boarding group being able to get on 2 days earlier. 

Edited September 10, 2021 by BoozinCroozin

[GlobalSurfer]

If it helps...  

There is no priority check in...  

 

When you check in (after your vax confirmation - less than a minute Checked name, dob negative 🙂  ) you will see a general check-in. Metal detector etc...  Go through the screening process (takes less than a minute) and you are good.  

Edited September 10, 2021 by GlobalSurfer

[phoneman69]

On 9/8/2021 at 7:18 AM, V_V said:

I dont know why its so hard for people to follow instructions and show up at their designated time slot. 

Because no one is held accountable for anything anymore and no one wants to enforce the rules for fear of reprisal.

[Earthworm Jim]

On 9/8/2021 at 7:40 AM, Gran1 said:

i AM GOING TO JUST SAY:

Your boarding time is 1:30, mine is 1:00..excuse me as I take my place in front of you.  Thank you".

And I will keep going down the line.  As long as I am on time!

 

How are you going to know their boarding time is 1:30? What if they refuse to answer? What happens the first time you come to a person who's boarding time is the same or earlier than yours? You can't go in front of them, regardless of how many later people are in front of them.

 

On the bright side, being a granny it seems unlikely someone will clock you for going in front of them. If there's any staff around they'll probably yell for them to make you go to the back of the line.

 

If you're looking for an ugly confrontation, your approach seems like a good way to do it. For me that would foul the start of my vacation even more than standing in line unjustly.

[bucfan2]

On 9/8/2021 at 7:40 AM, Gran1 said:

i AM GOING TO JUST SAY:

Your boarding time is 1:30, mine is 1:00..excuse me as I take my place in front of you.  Thank you".

And I will keep going down the line.  As long as I am on time!

Unreal...then again, maybe not.

[Elaine5715]

7 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

I hope they start boarding with group B01. That is kind of ridiculous to not have the first boarding group being able to get on 2 days earlier. 

Once they started boarding, there was no groups (Seattle).  Everyone walked straight on.  

[BoozinCroozin]

Because of our private transportation our pickup time cannot be changed. We are getting picked up near MCO at 8:45am and dropped off at Port Canaveral about an hour later. I guess whatever we get for boarding won't matter. Just get in line and go. 

[snowballs mom]

I'm going with the attitude that I will be at the end of a long line no matter what time I get there. That way either Carnival meets my expectation or I have the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised. I just have to get my husband to buy in to my mindset😆.

[cruisinR]

On 9/8/2021 at 9:43 AM, V_V said:

I hope people are responding to this on their end of cruise survey. Maybe Carnival will eventually do something about it. 🤷‍♀️

We are Diamond and this happened to my DH and I. Carnival worked on it for over a year and never found the answer.  We created a new email and guess what we now get all correspondence from Carnival.  Hope this may help you.

[Roscoe13]

6 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Once they started boarding, there was no groups (Seattle).  Everyone walked straight on.  

I thought in Seattle the "Chop Zone" boarded first whilst singing something about the summer of love...

[Bostwick girl]

I just don’t understand why everyone has to be first on the ship! If you choose the 10-10:30 time slot, you’re going to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for the ship to clear all the previous passengers, some of whom aren’t in any rush to get off. As I said earlier in this thread, we arrived at our check in time of 12 and were on the ship, done with muster and checked out the casinos and were back in our cabins by around 12:40. This was no worse than the usual Platinum/Diamond boarding we usually do. Guess I just don’t get it, but to each his own.

Just happy to be cruising again!

 

[nina_930]

2 hours ago, Bostwick girl said:

I just don’t understand why everyone has to be first on the ship! If you choose the 10-10:30 time slot, you’re going to be sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for the ship to clear all the previous passengers, some of whom aren’t in any rush to get off. As I said earlier in this thread, we arrived at our check in time of 12 and were on the ship, done with muster and checked out the casinos and were back in our cabins by around 12:40. This was no worse than the usual Platinum/Diamond boarding we usually do. Guess I just don’t get it, but to each his own.

Just happy to be cruising again!

 

I normally wouldn't mind not being first on, but this time around we have no excursions posted to book for one port and only 2 for another.  I would like to get to the excursion desk early.  Everyone has their reasons.  Some may have been staying in a hotel the night before and have to check out or come from the airport.  They'd rather be sitting on a ship twiddling their thumbs with a drink and food than in the lobby of the terminal/hotel/airport staring at a wall.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

Really seems like every week, every ship is different.  Panorama had been having all kinds of issues the last couple of weeks.  We showed up at 10:45, checked in and they begun boarding just before 11am.  Almost no line as all the check-in times were 1pm or later.   

[IntrepidFromDC]

On 9/10/2021 at 1:09 AM, nina_930 said:

So I checked in for Baltimore at midnight with my 2 day advance selection and got boarding zone B01.  I am in a suite and thought suites get priority boarding.  I selected the earliest available time, so I'm curious why I would be in B01? 

 

 

 

Good question.  We are on the same cruise tomorrow and got A01 with an extended balcony.  We're platinum so we got to choose 2 days early, but I picked noon anyway (more time with the pets).  Sounds like you'll be the second group called, or maybe they'll say something special about suites.  I think you'll be called early enough to get in the excursions line before it gets long.