CHECK-IN AND EDITING CAUSES YOU TO LOSE YOUR APPOINTMENT TIME

[DntlGal]

I stayed up so I could check-in right when they opened the check-in process. I filled out all the sections except for our photos. We got the 9:00-9:30 check-in time.

We got our notification everything was accepted, and our check-in time was 9-9:30. A few days later, I go and put our photos in and it showed the check-in time was highlighted and it said 12:00-12:30 and later was the only option to pick. EVERYTHING I HAD BOOKED WHEN IT OPENED FOR CHECK-IN WAS GONE. I called NCL and they told me, yes, anytime you edit the check-in it goes back to checking in all over again. We just returned from a cruise on Royal Caribbean and I checked in our information just like I did with NCL and put our photos in later. Royal saved all the information and I could edit the photos with no problems and NOT losing our check-in time. Needless-to-say, I AM PRETTY UPSET this happened....especially since I stayed up after 12:00 AM so I could check-in for the early time. Hope no one else has this same problem. We have been cruising for many years (55+ cruises) and this one will be our 5th one this year. Booking check-in times are since COVID but this is the first time I've had these issues. NCL needs to revamp their check-in process in my option. 

[DCGuy64]

Are you really that upset because you might have to wait a few hours to get on the ship? (9 am vs 12 pm?). It's not a big deal and you're likely to be able to board whenever you want, anyway. Case in point: a similar thing happened to me and my wife, I did my online check-in and got 11 am and my wife got 1 pm. We both showed up at the port around 12:30 and had no issues, no one even asked our boarding time. Have a great cruise, that's what matters most!

[shof515]

check in time is never enforced, no one checks it at the terminal 

[FLcruisergrl]

I’m interested to know how you completed everything and picked a check in time without uploading pictures. I had to drag my family out of bed to take their pictures.

[dbrown84]

Don't worry about that check in time.  Show up whenever you want.  Even if you get there at 9, you'll be sitting in the terminal for a few hours anyway 

[zqvol]

No need to worry about check in time, NCL never looks at them. 

[Purple_Pig]

Yep, happens everytime you have to change anything.

 

It just isn't that big of a deal though. 

[MCMC100]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

Are you really that upset because you might have to wait a few hours to get on the ship? (9 am vs 12 pm?). It's not a big deal and you're likely to be able to board whenever you want, anyway. Case in point: a similar thing happened to me and my wife, I did my online check-in and got 11 am and my wife got 1 pm. We both showed up at the port around 12:30 and had no issues, no one even asked our boarding time. Have a great cruise, that's what matters most!

Check in time is NOT boarding time.  No one gets on the ship until all the previous passengers have disembarked and various administrative matters with the USG and onboard have been addressed. Once they begin boarding (11-1130 ish) everyone is onboard in about 30 minutes.  
Check in times are merely suggestions designed to prevent a rush of passengers at terminal security showing their eDocs and clamoring for cabin keys at 9am (aka the check in process).  No one at the port will check- they’re employed by the port not NCL. Tomorrow they are putting people on a Carnival or Disney ship.
If you encounter the only port employee enforcing the obscure “check in time”, tell them your flight landed early and it took less time to get to the terminal than Google Maps said it would. They won’t make you stand outside with your luggage.  Show up whenever. 

[MCMC100]

1 hour ago, FLcruisergrl said:

I’m interested to know how you completed everything and picked a check in time without uploading pictures. I had to drag my family out of bed to take their pictures.

You can get a check in time without completing the on-line check-in process. Picking a check-in time is  a question in one of the fields, but it doesn’t require 100% field completion to pick a time. I did four people earlier today for a cruise 21 days out- I still need photos for 2. We all have check in times of 930-10.  The system just doesn’t show a green “complete” arrow for Section 7 - Health and Safety. 
I usually just take a picture of their passport photos. That’s worked in the past but today I only had a 50% success rate.  If I printed the passport on 8x11 paper and snapped a photo from that it would probably work, I’ve done it before but it wastes a ton of ink. At some point I need to take their picture or just wait until embarkation day and let NCL take a picture. 

[sprint180]

On 12/30/2022 at 3:26 PM, FLcruisergrl said:

I’m interested to know how you completed everything and picked a check in time without uploading pictures. I had to drag my family out of bed to take their pictures.

I woke my sister up at midnight so she would send me her pic.  She wasn't happy.

[vacation65]

On 12/30/2022 at 4:15 PM, DntlGal said:

I stayed up so I could check-in right when they opened the check-in process. I filled out all the sections except for our photos. We got the 9:00-9:30 check-in time.

We got our notification everything was accepted, and our check-in time was 9-9:30. A few days later, I go and put our photos in and it showed the check-in time was highlighted and it said 12:00-12:30 and later was the only option to pick. EVERYTHING I HAD BOOKED WHEN IT OPENED FOR CHECK-IN WAS GONE. I called NCL and they told me, yes, anytime you edit the check-in it goes back to checking in all over again. We just returned from a cruise on Royal Caribbean and I checked in our information just like I did with NCL and put our photos in later. Royal saved all the information and I could edit the photos with no problems and NOT losing our check-in time. Needless-to-say, I AM PRETTY UPSET this happened....especially since I stayed up after 12:00 AM so I could check-in for the early time. Hope no one else has this same problem. We have been cruising for many years (55+ cruises) and this one will be our 5th one this year. Booking check-in times are since COVID but this is the first time I've had these issues. NCL needs to revamp their check-in process in my option. 

I know what you mean. I also did my booking went in to edit the picture and same thing happened to me.  Royal Caribbean is much better, I also have edit things on their site and never had to pick a different check in time.  Overall, so far I prefer the Royal Caribbean app.

[Nova Scotia Cruisers]

On 12/30/2022 at 5:15 PM, DntlGal said:

I stayed up so I could check-in right when they opened the check-in process. I filled out all the sections except for our photos. We got the 9:00-9:30 check-in time.

We got our notification everything was accepted, and our check-in time was 9-9:30. A few days later, I go and put our photos in and it showed the check-in time was highlighted and it said 12:00-12:30 and later was the only option to pick. EVERYTHING I HAD BOOKED WHEN IT OPENED FOR CHECK-IN WAS GONE. I called NCL and they told me, yes, anytime you edit the check-in it goes back to checking in all over again. We just returned from a cruise on Royal Caribbean and I checked in our information just like I did with NCL and put our photos in later. Royal saved all the information and I could edit the photos with no problems and NOT losing our check-in time. Needless-to-say, I AM PRETTY UPSET this happened....especially since I stayed up after 12:00 AM so I could check-in for the early time. Hope no one else has this same problem. We have been cruising for many years (55+ cruises) and this one will be our 5th one this year. Booking check-in times are since COVID but this is the first time I've had these issues. NCL needs to revamp their check-in process in my option. 

Hi, We are new to NCL, can you advise what the pictures were for?

[MagnoliaBlossom]

37 minutes ago, Nova Scotia Cruisers said:

Hi, We are new to NCL, can you advise what the pictures were for?

They are part of the biometric devices used in some ports.  As you exit or enter the ship in some ports (I don’t know why it’s not all ports) you don’t need to present your keycard, just look into a device and it recognizes you and you’re on your way.

in years past they took your photo at check in.

Edited January 4, 2023 by MagnoliaBlossom

[PapaGoose]

I’ll be checking my DW and myself in in about a week and a half for our Feb Panama Canal cruise. She hates having her photo taken for things like this and I want to make sure I do it right the first time so I won’t be in the doghouse for the month or so before we head out on our adventure. 
 

I hear glasses should be removed and it should be a headshot. Any other tips on how the photo should look? Size, format, etc? I’m counting on all of you to keep me out of the penalty box with the missus… 

[JesseB]

No glasses, make it look like a passport photo...

[PapaGoose]

8 minutes ago, JesseB said:

No glasses, make it look like a passport photo...

No smiling? That should be easy since she won’t be happy with the whole thing….

[JesseB]

Not sure if you can smile or not, I know you can now for passports.

[MCMC100]

I have taken a photo of passport photos and uploaded them. It works as long as no glasses in passport photo. I’ve done it 8 times over various cruises (for myself and family) and the system has accepted the “photo of a photo” on 6 occasions. Give it a try. 

[schmoopie17]

The picture thing is a pain. We were just on an NCL cruise in November and we submitted our picture. (Which was a waste of time, since they took our pictures again at the port in Rome).

 

You would think they would be able to store pictures of Latitudes mambers.

[uneamie]

I would think your passport picture would be enough...I mean how many pictures do they need? I am going to take a pic of my passport and be done with it. I don't look any different now then I did when that was taken. 

[Hannodcruise]

I tried 3 different pics. They accepted them all. Even the one that I added some filters to look younger 🤷‍♀️

[moonjelly]

On 12/30/2022 at 1:15 PM, DntlGal said:

I stayed up so I could check-in right when they opened the check-in process. I filled out all the sections except for our photos. We got the 9:00-9:30 check-in time.

We got our notification everything was accepted, and our check-in time was 9-9:30. A few days later, I go and put our photos in and it showed the check-in time was highlighted and it said 12:00-12:30 and later was the only option to pick. EVERYTHING I HAD BOOKED WHEN IT OPENED FOR CHECK-IN WAS GONE. I called NCL and they told me, yes, anytime you edit the check-in it goes back to checking in all over again. We just returned from a cruise on Royal Caribbean and I checked in our information just like I did with NCL and put our photos in later. Royal saved all the information and I could edit the photos with no problems and NOT losing our check-in time. Needless-to-say, I AM PRETTY UPSET this happened....especially since I stayed up after 12:00 AM so I could check-in for the early time. Hope no one else has this same problem. We have been cruising for many years (55+ cruises) and this one will be our 5th one this year. Booking check-in times are since COVID but this is the first time I've had these issues. NCL needs to revamp their check-in process in my option. 

Thank you for sharing this information. For some people, especially those traveling in groups with rule-stickler/worrying members, having one of the group's check in times that they got up early to get be changed could be stressful. 

 

Now I can try to avoid it or manage expectations. 

[moonjelly]

Hi all,

I have a question on this. People are talking about check-in right at 12:00 on the day it opens. Is this 12:00 eastern?

Thanks.

[New2cruise2022]

On 1/4/2023 at 10:54 AM, PapaGoose said:

I’ll be checking my DW and myself in in about a week and a half for our Feb Panama Canal cruise. She hates having her photo taken for things like this and I want to make sure I do it right the first time so I won’t be in the doghouse for the month or so before we head out on our adventure. 
 

I hear glasses should be removed and it should be a headshot. Any other tips on how the photo should look? Size, format, etc? I’m counting on all of you to keep me out of the penalty box with the missus… 

Find a white wall or plain background in the house. Don’t smile. No hat. No glasses. Take a series of pictures. Frame it up like a passport photo (mugshot?). Should work great. 
 

Three of us for the online checkin. Took the pics the week before. All three were accepted on first try. (We all don’t like our photo we used. We all don’t care.)

[zqvol]

1 hour ago, moonjelly said:

Hi all,

I have a question on this. People are talking about check-in right at 12:00 on the day it opens. Is this 12:00 eastern?

Thanks.

Yes it is Eastern time.  The only reason to check in that early is to get an early arrival time at the pier, though in reality it doesn’t matter what time you get because they don’t check them.