How strict is this....we usually try to get on at noonish for lunch with our carry on

Check in as soon as you arrive, and you will get a group number. They are "just kidding" about that schedule.

They send that out in the hope that people will evenly space themselves out for the check-in.

As the above post says, you can ignore it and arrive when you want to.

Please adhere to check in time, to reduce congestion. :halo: What if 2000 pax wanted lunch @ 12 noon.

You "earned" the privilege of priority check in with your Platinum Status. You will not have to wait for your appointed time. BUT, you are underestimating your time from the airport to the terminal.

11 ish...is touch down wheels to tarmac. Add 15 minutes to the gate, 15 minutes to deplane, (will you need to go through customs/immigration?), 30 minutes to pick up your luggage, then there is the ride to the port (anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes). Are you using a shuttle service or Princess transfer?

Good luck. I wouldn't have planned arrival on the same day of a cruise. MDR closes promptly at 1:30.

We just got off the Ruby and had no problem getting through the platinum line and on board by lunch at noon.

They simply gave us a card that said we could drop off our carry on bags in our room but the room might not be ready until one. It was ready for us so there was no concern.

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You "earned" the privilege of priority check in with your Platinum Status. You will not have to wait for your appointed time. BUT, you are underestimating your time from the airport to the terminal.

 

11 ish...is touch down wheels to tarmac. Add 15 minutes to the gate, 15 minutes to deplane, (will you need to go through customs/immigration?), 30 minutes to pick up your luggage, then there is the ride to the port (anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes). Are you using a shuttle service or Princess transfer?

 

Good luck. I wouldn't have planned arrival on the same day of a cruise. MDR closes promptly at 1:30.

Thanks for the information....just as I thought....just to clarifly....we always arrive the night before....just prudent planning.....just used the 11am time as that is when we booked the super shuttle from lax.....will take the free shuttle back to the airport from the hotel....

thanks for the tip anyways.....

oh...Canadians from the west coast are pre cleared for US customs before we leave so do not have that hassle in the airport when we arrive

Platinum and Elite passengers should have priority boarding and do not need to worry about the times.

Please adhere to check in time, to reduce congestion. :halo: What if 2000 pax wanted lunch @ 12 noon.

Some people do follow their suggestions which is great for those that don't since they get on as early as possible eat lunch in the DR, unpack & begin to enjoy the ship.;)

Instead of worrying about getting a free lunch on the ship, try checking out of your hotel late and heading down to the Port O' Call Waterfront Dining and enjoy a nice lunch. Then move on down the street to the pier for embarkation.

Please adhere to check in time, to reduce congestion. :halo: What if 2000 pax wanted lunch @ 12 noon.

I am thinking that the OP wants to do the MDR Lunch which is normally only from 12-1:30. Its a great way to start a cruise and much more relaxing than the Buffet. The form letter they send to everyone is "mostly a suggestion" and not a rule.

Instead of worrying about getting a free lunch on the ship, try checking out of your hotel late and heading down to the Port O' Call Waterfront Dining and enjoy a nice lunch. Then move on down the street to the pier for embarkation.

I would wait for this suggestion until the new construction is done. Ports O Call has seen better days. https://www.bisnow.com/los-angeles/news/mixed-use/ports-o-call-revitalization-project-unveiled-56823

Instead of worrying about getting a free lunch on the ship, try checking out of your hotel late and heading down to the Port O' Call Waterfront Dining and enjoy a nice lunch. Then move on down the street to the pier for embarkation.

Does Port O' Call Waterfront Dining bill Princess for your lunch?

I sort of doubt it. :confused:

11 ish...is touch down wheels to tarmac. Add 15 minutes to the gate...

For all airlines, published arrival time is time at the gate, not landing time. I'm retired from an airline and a big part of my job determining scheduled length of flights which had to break down to taxi-out time (gate departure to take-off), flight time, and tax-in time (landing to gate arrival). No airline I know of publishes to the public planned takeoff and landing times.

The advertised airline times are gate to gate but sometimes they miss that time. LAX is a very busy airport so plan ahead. The Ruby arrives/leaves on a Saturday for most cruises so anyone arriving on a Saturday into LAX would get to appreciate the Saturday morning traffic in LA. If you arrive on Friday it can be even more exciting depending on the time one is on the "freeway" (sometimes known as a very long parking lot). We are going to have the opportunity to experience this in a few weeks when we arrive on Friday morning and depart on a Saturday morning back to LAX.

Some people do follow their suggestions which is great for those that don't since they get on as early as possible eat lunch in the DR, unpack & begin to enjoy the ship.;)

Yep. :):):):)

We enjoy arriving around 3 pm. That way when it comes time to finding our embarkation picture, it is easy to find!!!! The last time we cruised it was out of Singapore and we arrived at 3 and there was no one at all in line at the Preferred Check in but there were hundreds in line at the regular check in spot. There were ropes and ropes keeping people in line. We arrived thinking our cruise was a 12 day cruise, and here we are with two bags each and we look over at the hundreds of people in line beside us and we spy people with small carry ons and back packs and mostly foreigners from Malaysia and beyond. It looked very odd. When we approached the sign that said Preferred, the Princess people scurried us on wards at lightening speed and we were left looking back. Only did we find out later that this cruise had been split into two pieces. One four day and one 8 day. The myriads of people attempting to check in behind us were four day people who had been waiting in line for hours and there we were at 3 pm basically sailing on through because it was 3 pm and we were Elite. I can still see my husband looking back and saying "something here ain't right" The muster drill was delayed and the ship did not leave on time.

Your a Platinum member so you have Priority Boarding and will be with the first group to board. But the line of Priority Boarding sometimes is very long. Good luck.

Tony