PLease settle this debate, when can we board

[K1226M]

I thought you could board around 11:30am but we got our cruise docs and it said 2pm. I have a toddler and we were planning on being able to board early. Can you guys please advise when we can really board?

 

Thanks

[SeattleJ]

Our cruise docs for the Feb 3rd Radiance sailing said 2:00 pm as well. We were on board before noon.

[petel]

That's what the documents always say. The real honest answer is whenever the ship tells the port director they are ready for boarding. It just depends. It could be as early as 10:30am or as late as 5:00 pm. I've seen both!!!!

 

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and be happy with whatever happens; after all, it is a cruise.

[CaribbeanCrush]

One of the factors that determine when they start board the ship is customs clearance. We cruised on Navigator in January and board didn't start 'til about 2:00.

[RoofingPrincess]

Even if you are able to board early, you may not have access to your room until after 1 or 2. You may want to consider how much stuff you want to haul around with your toddler in tow - and that you will have to carry on board everything that you will need for you and your toddler until the baggage arrives at the cabin, which can take quite a while (could even be after dinner).

[One Morlock]

I thought you could board around 11:30am but we got our cruise docs and it said 2pm. I have a toddler and we were planning on being able to board early. Can you guys please advise when we can really board?

 

Thanks

 

We sailed 2/4 on FOS and were in the Windjammer by 11:45. Room was ready at 1. Bring a small carryon for things you might need before the room is ready, because luggage doesn't usually arrive until 4:30ish.

[MLS1227]

We sailed on the Grandeur of the Seas out of New Orleans on 2/10/07. Our Doc's said 2:00pm. However, we arrived at 11:15am and were on board by 11:30. It was super quick. Couldn't get into room until 1:00pm so ate lunch in the Windjammer then went to room. Disembarking was another story. Total nighmare, due to Port Authority, not RCCL.

 

Mike S.

[2ladies]

Radiance - New Year cruise. Boarded at about 1.30pm. The place was jam packed with waiting pax!! We were the first allowed through. Depends on how quickly they can clear the ship, immigration etc. There were only two immigration officers and many international pax when we debarked - this obviously causes hold-ups and means the next boarding is later.

 

We now go later - makes it easier. Lunch is still being served - you don't miss out:D. Baggage doesn't seem to arrive any differently!!

[elleluv]

9 times out of 10 you'll be able to board by noon... There's always that one time though that they have problems with disembarking the previous sailing and it's 1:00 or 2:00 before they are able to start embarking the new pax.

 

Our one time was on Navigator in Feb 2005... It was around 1:45 before they were able to start boarding. Let me tell you... there were several people around us who were EXTREMELY cranky! One lady actually said... quite loudly (and remember, we hadn't even gotten on the ship) "I am never cruising RCCL again!!"

 

We found out later that customs had apparently found drugs on one of the pax who was disembarking. They actually ran their dogs through the ship and the cabin of the allegedly :rolleyes: guilty pax. Hardly RCCL's fault.

 

I did feel bad for some of the elderly passengers as there isn't any place to sit. So they were standing, in the heat, for a couple of hours.

 

Since that experience I have always told people to go early only if they are ready, willing and able to wait.

 

The docs do say 2:00... no b*$%#ing allowed if you get there early and have to wait until then. :p

 

Have a great cruise! :D

[Tigergenesis]

If you arrive early in the hopes of getting on early, and for some reason they are not ready - are you just left standing outside with your luggage until they are ready??=

[RoofingPrincess]

Depends on how early you get there (and where "there" happens to be). In Bayonne and Ft Lauderdale, there were waiting areas with chairs, but I would imagine that if the waiting area fills up you might end up waiting outside.

[negc]

If you arrive around 11 or 11:30, most, if not all, of the previous week's passengers should have gotten off and left the terminal area, so there will be porters available to take care of your luggage. Unless there has been an unusual delay in clearing the ship, you can go into the check in area where there is seating and wait for the check-in process to begin. There was a delay involving the previous week's passengers and crew being cleared by ICE when we were sailing on Freedom last October. We arrived early enough to get into the terminal, check-in and find seats while waiting for boarding to begin, but many who arrived later were lined up outside. Even with the delays we were still able to have lunch in the Windjammer before 1pm and our rooms were ready when we finished eating.:)

[OliverTheCat]

I thought you could board around 11:30am but we got our cruise docs and it said 2pm. I have a toddler and we were planning on being able to board early. Can you guys please advise when we can really board?

 

Thanks

 

I was on Navigator before noon if I recall. Was waiting to enter Windjammer before they even opened doors. Then again though, Navigator was dry docked the full week before our sailing if I recall, so no exiting passangers before us boarding. They were still taking plastic off some of the chairs when we walked around pool.

[lj4543]

We have been on 4 cruises with Royal Caribbean and have only been delayed getting on one time and it was because they needed to thoroughly clean the ship because of a flu outbreak. Other than that it has been smooth sailing.

[01821]

I thought you could board around 11:30am but we got our cruise docs and it said 2pm. I have a toddler and we were planning on being able to board early. Can you guys please advise when we can really board?

 

Thanks

 

 

We boarded Explorer Jan 21 by 11 :30:)

[DCPIV]

I've had similar experiences to the other posters. Typically, you walk right on the ship (or into a moving line) if you arrive after 11am. However, the documents say 2pm, because that is when the line is confident they can let you on.

 

We had to wait for boarding to begin at the Miami terminal about 11 years ago, but that was the last time we had to wait. Like the others, though, we are always prepared to wait.

 

 

D

[Crockett Man]

I picked up my documents from my TA this past weekend and there was a fluorescent orange card enclosed advising that boarding will not begin until 2:00 due to increased security at the Miami cruise terminal. It also states that we should not arrive until 1:00 and that if we do arrive earlier that we may be denied entry to the terminal. My TA said that this was the first time she had seen this card in any document package from RCI. Has anyone else received this card with their docs? Has anyone who has received it been on their sailing yet and if so what time did you actually board?

[Reijo]

Have been on Mariner twice. First time we were on board ship by 12:30, we caught the early shuttle the last time (11:30 AM) and were on board by NOON..........can't beat that. Our documents said 2PM but there were people on board before us. You just can't get into your room until 1 or 1:30......can't remember. The doors were shut to the hallways.

[MGoBlue2]

I thought you could board around 11:30am but we got our cruise docs and it said 2pm. I have a toddler and we were planning on being able to board early. Can you guys please advise when we can really board?

 

Thanks

Sure, I'll settle it - there is no set time. You can board as soon as the ship has cleared out the prior cruise passengers and taken care of anything else they may need to do prior to letting new passengers on board.

 

This is rarely before 11:30 or after 2:00.

[sept10dsm]

We arrived at the Port of Baltimore at about 10:15, handed over our luggage, parked, checked in and were on the GOS by about 11:15-11:30. We had our carry on and couldn't get into the cabin until 1pm, but we ate lunch at the Windjammer and investigated the ship.