boarding time?

[jjeffjb]

The cruise docs say 3:00 PM. Any chance of boarding earler?

[LHT28]

What port?

 

In U.S. port you are suppose to be on board 90 minutes prior to sailing this year they were boarding at 1 pm last year we boarded around 2-2:30pm in MIAMI

[jjeffjb]

on June 23 at 6:00 PM

[Rickey 88]

The cruise docs say 3:00 PM. Any chance of boarding earler?

 

You didn't say what your room category was - so this is a guess on my part.

 

All passengers in Concierge level staterooms or above may begin boarding at approx. 11:30 am, and all passengers in Verandas and lower may begin boarding at 3 pm. These times may be adjusted by the ship depending on how well the cleaning and changeover is going.

 

You will find this out when you arrive at the Barcelona pier - and if the changeover is going well, you will be allowed to board earlier, if at all possible.

 

Hope this answers your question.

 

First, most cruises state boarding begins at 3 pm (but

[Acrusa]

We are on the July 7th Natica cruise.We are taking there pre package hotel and transfers. Was told we would board at an early time. Is this usually the case?

[Mura]

When we boarded in Auckland last January we were in a PH and had a boarding time as I recall of 11am. Non-concierge passengers had a boarding time of 3pm.

 

However, when you actually got up to the registration desks there were about 6 stations for the non-concierge passengers and 2 for the concierge passengers. This was around noon, I think.

 

So it is my personal impression that the "rules" are not enforced all that rigidly. We'd thought we'd have short lines when we arrived to board and that was far from the truth.

 

Acrusa, if you have a package with transfers, I'm sure they'll let you board when they bring you to the ship!

[StanandJim]

Acrusa, if you have a package with transfers, I'm sure they'll let you board when they bring you to the ship!

 

Mura-

 

I think that you're wrong there. If buying the O transfers got you early boarding, believe me, there would be a rush on Oceania transfers.

 

It's easy to be lulled into a false sense of democracy when you've been looking at it from the suite perspective.

Don't forget that one of the supposed perqs of Concierge class is early boarding (which is how they arrange for another of their perqs, priority restaurant reservations).

 

Now, Acrusa might be in an Owners Suite (what do we know?), but if he is not suite or concierge, and the transfer gets him there early, he will probably have to wait.

 

That being said, it is true that in the more exotic ports they worry less about this nonsense, and relaxe the regulations.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

What does it have to do with being in an exotic port?

[cathi]

Don't know about exotic or not but when we boarded in Hong Kong, everyone was allowed to board after 11 AM. The Terrace was open but you couldn't go to your stateroom until an announcement was made. They first opened up the suites and conceirge level and about an hour later all staterooms were available. We were in our room by 1 PM

[Acrusa]

Mura-

 

I think that you're wrong there. If buying the O transfers got you early boarding, believe me, there would be a rush on Oceania transfers.

 

It's easy to be lulled into a false sense of democracy when you've been looking at it from the suite perspective.

Don't forget that one of the supposed perqs of Concierge class is early boarding (which is how they arrange for another of their perqs, priority restaurant reservations).

 

Now, Acrusa might be in an Owners Suite (what do we know?), but if he is not suite or concierge, and the transfer gets him there early, he will probably have to wait.

 

That being said, it is true that in the more exotic ports they worry less about this nonsense, and relaxe the regulations.

 

I am only guessing,but, We are on the pre cruise hotel package, for 3 nites.I assume we will be driven with other passingers who also took the pre hotel package.We are in a B1 cat stateroom, if there are other passingers who are suite or concierge,with us,Will they board first and I am made to wait for 3 hours on the bus? I don't think so , but you never know.

[LHT28]

I am only guessing,but, We are on the pre cruise hotel package, for 3 nites.I assume we will be driven with other passingers who also took the pre hotel package.We are in a B1 cat stateroom, if there are other passingers who are suite or concierge,with us,Will they board first and I am made to wait for 3 hours on the bus? I don't think so , but you never know.

 

They may take you on a city tour just to kill time before boarding.

Depends on how far the dock is from the hotel.

[StanandJim]

Acrusa-

 

You're right that they will transfer you to the pier with the other passengers who had Oceania pre cruise hotel stays.

 

There are a lot of variables after that. How many O pax are staying in your hotel?; are they using more than one hotel?; how big are the busses that they are using?, How far is the hotel from the pier? etc.

 

It must also be considered that they time the Oceania Hotel Transfer, so that it does not arrive at the pier when the "fly in on Sailing Day" transfer is getting there. So, don't count on getting to the ship all that early.

 

Regarding the boarding procedure, I quote Bruin Steve:

 

July 2006: We arrived at the ship early in the day (before noon) in Istanbul. At noon, they started checking in and boarding those passengers with balcony cabins and above...and specifically told the rest of us we were NOT welcome to board until 3:00 pm...By about 12:30 or 12:45, EVERY single passenger with a balcony or above had boarded the ship...there was absolutely no one left to board except for us "steerage" passengers...The check-in agents were doing absolutely nothing, yet they refused to allow us to board--telling us that it was Oceania POLICY that "early boarding" was a perk of the higher category cabins...Finally, around 2:00 pm, they finally reneged on the 3:00 fiat and allowed us to board..

 

We don't repeat this to be unpleasant, but it is best to know what you can actually expect.

 

The simple fact is that Oceania SELLS the right to board the ship early. You may disagree with that process, but as others have paid good money for the privilege, it is a fact to be reckoned with.

 

As we were saying to Mura, if you're departing from a Hong Kong, or a Tahiti or somesuch, and the majority of passengers have been flying for 12 hours, or so, then the regulations may not be enforced (Mostly because everyone gets onboard and collapses into bed).

[Acrusa]

They may take you on a city tour just to kill time before boarding.

Depends on how far the dock is from the hotel.

 

They are offering a free city tour on Sunday.We board the ship on Monday.So I have a felling we will go directly to the pier.The port is Istanbul and the hotel is not far from the pier.Check out time is 10:00 AM.

[cathi]

You will more than likely be allowed to board but may not be able to go to your cabin.

I had read Bruin Steve's message before we left on our first Oceania cruise and as much as I respect his experience (have used some of his on your own tips several times) it was not what we found when we boarded.

[Acrusa]

You will more than likely be allowed to board but may not be able to go to your cabin.

I had read Bruin Steve's message before we left on our first Oceania cruise and as much as I respect his experience (have used some of his on your own tips several times) it was not what we found when we boarded.

 

Makes sense to me.Takes awhile for luggage to arrive antway.

[potterhill]

On both of our cruises we boarded when we got there. The first in May 05 was around noon and in Nov 06 it was around 11am. We were not concierge.

 

Mo

[Mura]

Mura-

 

I think that you're wrong there. If buying the O transfers got you early boarding, believe me, there would be a rush on Oceania transfers.

 

It's easy to be lulled into a false sense of democracy when you've been looking at it from the suite perspective.

Don't forget that one of the supposed perqs of Concierge class is early boarding (which is how they arrange for another of their perqs, priority restaurant reservations).

 

Now, Acrusa might be in an Owners Suite (what do we know?), but if he is not suite or concierge, and the transfer gets him there early, he will probably have to wait.

 

That being said, it is true that in the more exotic ports they worry less about this nonsense, and relaxe the regulations.

 

 

I haven't been here for a while so forgive my tardiness.

 

I didn't say anything about buying transfers! Because we didn't.

 

My point was that while we were boarding "early" in Auckland -- at the suite time -- there were also plenty of people in non-suite categories who were also boarding at the same time, and O had more stations open for them than for "us". I didn't mind, it just surprised me since my understanding was that non-concierge passengers had an afternoon boarding time. I'm not so elitist that I resent other people being there. In fact, I resent the elitist early boarding times for suite passengers even when I'm one of them.

 

That is something that has always bothered me about Cunard, and I really don't like Oceania doing the same.

 

However, that is somewhat irrelevant. The original question, I believe, was can we board early ... and my limited experience has been, yes you can. There may be embarkation ports where the rules are strictly enforced -- but if so, we haven't been there.