MSC Cruise If you've been on one departing from FL in 2022 please Help with this question about boarding

[kendrap108]

Hi a friend of mine wants to join us on an upcoming MSC Cruise. She asked:
How long does the boarding take and how soon can you board for a departure at 6? Does the boarding take longer now b/c they have to look up everyone's vaccine info in a database or do you just show your card and go through? And do you have to get a covid swab test boarding the ship or during the ship?    How long does it take to disembark? Thank you so much for your answers.  

[thinfool]

From the MSC website

 

MSC Cruises has announced the easing of boarding requirements from 1 October 2022, provided for in the health and safety protocol.

For all those embarking on the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Red Sea, Caribbean and Antilles, the obligation of vaccination against Covid-19 will no longer be needed, even if it remains strongly recommended. In the same geographic regions citizens who are fully vaccinated (two doses of the vaccine or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) will no longer be required to submit a negative swab result, but it is still recommended.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

There is no covid database to look up your vaccination status. Boarding doesn't take any longer or shorter than it ever did. When you get your cruise docs, it will show a 1-hour window for check-in. Try to arrive within that window.

[Stockjock]

I've had great luck with boarding speed on MSC.  But I know not everyone can say that.

On our upcoming European cruise, our boarding time is 11:00 am.  But I'm pretty sure we can't easily get from Paris to Le Havre that early, especially considering that the ship doesn't leave until 9 pm.  MSC basically told me that as long as I'm there at least 2 hours early, I should be fine, and I'm sure we'll get there well before evening.

I've also found that disembarking is pretty painless.  On our recent cruise on Grandiosa, we hung out in the room for a bit, spent most of the rest of the time in the aft part of the buffet eating breakfast (it's usually very quiet and uncrowded in the aft), then showed up at the last moment in the designated departure lounge.  An MSC employee came to get us when it was our turn, and disembarkation was quick and easy.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Stockjock

[kendrap108]

Hi my friend asks "So I bring my passport, vaccination cards for the family and cruise paperwork and they look at it and we board?" If you can provide a detailed description of what happens during embarkation I'd appreciate it."   

[JT1962]

I was on MSC Divina last month on the repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral to Miami. Boarding from dropping off my bag at the curb until I was at the buffet was less than 15 min. I went quickly through security, waited in a short line for the next available agent at check in, showed my printed boarding pass with barcode, Passport & vaccine card, was given my key card and walked directly to the ship. 
 

The debarkation  in Miami was not as pleasant. The ship was not cleared until 90 min after originally scheduled. I was in the first group called for those not taking there own luggage and it took over an hour to get through Customs & Immigration. There were only 3 immigration officials working and no facial recognition screens. I was told later that the delays were a combination of the ship repositioning to a new home port, a large number of International passengers (around 75%) and a shortage of employees due to many attending the funeral of an agent that was killed in a training accident. Hopefully those were anomalies and not the norm since I will be on Divina from Miami again in January.
 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by JT1962

[GA Dave]

Boarding times are all over the place right now.  Many of the longer 4- and 7-night cruises are reporting 15 - 30 minutes from curb to ship.  But the weekend three-night cruises are anywhere from an hour to four hours.  Pack your patience and your Covid vaccination card.  They have not had mandatory testing at the port since back in the early Spring.

[SirWolf]

Embarking may vary slightly by port .. it’s a multi-step process :

• Waiting in line

• Brief screening of papers & drop-off luggage

• Waiting in line

• Security check inside cruise terminal (similar to airport security screening)

• Waiting in line

• Check-in at MSC counter with extensive check of documents and taking photo for cruise card.

• Walking onto the ship with cruise card check when stepping onto the ship.

 

Embarking in Yacht Club is less waiting and more butler assisted.

[dwc13]

We boarded MSC Seashore in Miami on October 15th for a 7-day closed loop Caribbean cruise, *not* Yacht Club.

 

1.  The day before sailing, we received a text and email from MSC that provided boarding instructions. The text gave a 30 minute window while the e-mail indicated a 60 minute window. At least both messages had the same start time for boarding. However, neither mentioned the terminal where MSC Seashore would be docked. The email indicated there was a separate Diamond line for boarding so we thought it would be uneventful. Oops, not even close. 

 

2. We arrived about 10 minutes before the beginning of boarding time MSC assigned us. It was easy to spot MSC Seashore as our taxi arrived at the cruise port. There were already lots of people in line outside (and many more inside the building -- think lines at Disney), with more arriving by the minute. Word on the street (unconfirmed) was MSC was late clearing the ship so boarding for our cruise had been delayed. 

 

3. My wife is Diamond so we should have been able to access the Diamond line for boarding per the email from MSC. Unfortunately, a MSC rep at the Yacht Club tent incorrectly told us there was no separate Diamond line for boarding and directed us to the back of a long line. We knew he was wrong and probably should have ignored him, and then proceeded to ask another MSC employee. Live and learn. Yup, that MSC rep was 100% wrong. There is a separate Diamond line for boarding. If you're Diamond, don't let any MSC rep tell you otherwise!! 

 

4. So we walked to the end of the line for the masses. It stretched outside way past the covered building entrance area and moved slowly. Did I mention it was sunny, hot & humid? Yeah, typical Miami weather so consider bringing a small bottle of water just in case.

 

5. There was a person directing pedestrian traffic about midway to the covered building entrance area. Not sure if he was an MSC employee, port authority, or a private security guard. Periodically, he would stop the line and allow those ahead to move closer to the covered building entrance area. The problem is he allowed people who had just been dropped off to walk past and jump the line while those who had been patiently waiting in line remained stopped by him. It wasn't just a few people, either, and it kept happening. So the long wait was made even longer by the line cutters and the safety patrol enabler. *****. Just ridiculous. And maddening. Station another person further up to prevent line cutting. Problem solved.

 

6. When we finally got back near the covered building entrance area, we spotted a MSC rep in a shirt & tie. My wife asked him about the Diamond line for boarding and he said there was definitely one and pointed us in the direction of another door. Once we walked through that door, even more confusion. Two different MSC reps directed us to two different security lines and they had a little argument. One line we definitely didn't want, as it led back to the regular line. Took the two a little time to figure things out but at least they got it right in the end. 

 

7. After clearing security, we made it upstairs and waited in a short line for an available MSC rep at the check in counter. Lots of people were waiting for a spot at the counter in the regular line and even more waiting downstairs. Once we got to the counter, an MSC rep checked our passports, vaccination cards, collected the completed health questionnaires, and then took our pictures. Shortly afterwards, we received our cruise cards and we were on our way, free to experience elevator hell and MDR chaos on MSC Day 1.

 

8. All told, boarding took about an hour. I understand boarding thousands of people takes time, but MSC really needs up its game for boarding. At the very least, its employees need to have correct information to provide its passengers. 

 

9. After reading this, I don't want to leave you with the impression everything went wrong on our MSC Seashore cruise. Far from it, actually. MSC did a lot of things right/well on our cruise. Once we got in the Diamond line for boarding, things moved fairly quickly. So if you can Diamond tier match, you should do so before your MSC cruise. But overall embarkation was...disorganized. Okay, it was a cl*sterf*ck. I'm sure a others had to wait much longer than we did before they were able to board.

[dwc13]

A few photos from boarding MSC Seashore on October 15, 2022 at Miami, Florida. See post #9 for additional information about our boarding experience. Hopefully this was an outlier for MSC.

 

Photo #1 -- This picture was taken near the covered building entrance area shortly after we had been erroneously told by an MSC rep there was no Diamond line for boarding. So it was off to the end of the line for us. After finally making it back here in line, we found a MSC rep wearing a shirt & tie who pointed us in the direction of the Diamond line for boarding. Note the large tree in the background, which you'll see again.

 

 

 

Photo #2 -- This picture was taken a few minutes after we had reached the end of the line. By the time I remembered to take this photo, the line had moved a bit and we had already received promotions (my euphemism for no longer being last in line). The large tree is the same one seen in the first photo. With all due respect and credit to Jerry Reed, "We've got a long way to go, and a short time to get there, I'm burning up standing in the sun". Hey, it's an oasis ahead. Yup, heat & humidity can play tricks on one's mind.

 

 

 

Photo #3 -- This picture was taken @5 minutes after Photo #2. For a few minutes we were able escape the sun and enjoy shade from the same big tree seen in the previous 2 photos. Seashore is tantalizingly close but it will be a while before we're onboard. 

 

 

 

Photo #4 -- This picture was taken from the 2nd floor of the terminal while we waited for a spot to open up at the counter. There were a lot of people on the 2nd floor at the counter or waiting for a spot to open up (not pictured). The people below have already cleared security and are awaiting their turn to walk up to the 2nd floor. For obvious reasons I didn't take any pictures of the security area, but there were lines there, too.

 

Edited November 6, 2022 by dwc13

[bac513]

Where does the Diamond line start for boarding. Inside or outside? Hopefully away from the conga line

 

Thanks.

Edited November 17, 2022 by bac513
Add text

[dwc13]

23 hours ago, bac513 said:

Where does the Diamond line start for boarding. Inside or outside? Hopefully away from the conga line

 

Thanks.

 

Hard to say if the end of the Diamond line will be inside or outside the cruise terminal. The number of Diamond passengers waiting to go through the boarding process at a given time is an unknown, so YMMV. Also note there were no posted signs directing passengers to the Diamond line. That being said, look at the Picture #1 in Post #10 above. Once we finally got back to that point, we found a MSC rep who was able to point us to where Diamond passengers should go (through a different door straight to security, which is inside the side entrance of that terminal). That helpful individual was standing close to the doors we ended up walking through to reach security so he was somewhat difficult to see. If you're Diamond, make sure you're in the correct security line so you don't get routed back to the regular one. 

 

My advice is to find the Yacht Club tent near the cruise terminal entrance and ask an MSC rep where the Diamond Line is for that boarding. If they claim ignorance or tell you there isn't a Diamond line, keep asking other MSC reps until you find one that can lead you/point you in the right direction. 

[mmbcater]

I think that once they have their own building this will streamline. Right now the port have them in three different terminals based on port schedule. You will most likely enter on terminal and they will disembark in a different terminal....