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How Late Do You Board


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For years we would always follow the same routine, arrive at pier around 10:45, get inside the terminal and wait until time to board. Then we would board and wait for our cabin to be available (1:30). Last time we changed it up, arriving at 1:30. We breezed through, boarded with no crowds, and immediately went to our cabin, which was ready. It was nice to be able to drop our carryon bags and get our passports in the safe before going to eat. From our experience last time it seems we are in the minority but that was just the one time we did it that way. On our upcoming Allure cruise we plan to arrive at 1:30 as well. How many people are late boarders? And if so what time do you like to arrive at pier?

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Done a bit of both.

 

We have arrived later and whilst it's nice to go straight to the cabin to freshen up I always feel a little cheated and missing out on something.

 

 

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We've been arriving to step on board ~1pm for many years now. Really nice- so that we can drop our stuff off, and really wander around the ship.

 

Lines for checking in tend to be much shorter at that time, too. Much less stress.

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We like to be among the first on the ship (after suites, weddings, etc.) so we arrive around 10:30 and Diamond has given us enough priority that we usually don't wait very long at all. I can really only speak to Port Canaveral in the summer though.

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I'm a late boarder too! With young kids it works really well because they can get naps in before you board. I also like going directly to our room to drop things off which you can't do if you show up early. I understand people are excited to get on the ship but you have the whole week, no reason to fight through crowds just to get on a couple hours early (IMHO of course!).

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. It was nice to be able to drop our carryon bags and get our passports in the safe before going to eat. From our experience last time it seems we are in the minorit

 

 

We will remain early borders, but we always arrive at the port the day before, so we have minimum carry on as we put everything in our checked bags and only the bare minimum in our carry ons so there is no requirement to rush to a room as soon as it opens, and we manage to find something to do, people to find, or things to see. Now if I lived 5 minutes from a port and have sailed a ship 30 times, I'd board later. Coming up on Enchantment next fall, we will get to the hotel the day before and be some of the first on.

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I arrived late for the 1st time in March 2017. There were 10 of us so it worked out great arriving at 1ish. I must admit I enjoyed no lines and walking straight on and dropping off my bags before eating lunch.

 

I'll still arrive early but I'm not going to stress about early arrival like I use to. Arriving after 1 is ok with me.

 

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We like to arrive at the port between 12:30 and 1:30. I like to be able to drop off luggage in the cabin. We unpack the carry-on and head to the Windjammer for lunch. Much easier for us because DH uses a cane.

On our next cruise we will be driving to the port so we may get there earlier as check out from the hotel is 11am.

Either way the sound of the first ping is great at any time.

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The earlier the better for me. I want to be among the first onboard the ship so I can eat and then get out to take photos while the ship is still relatively empty (since everyone else is still boarding and eating). Then when the cabins open up we head up to unload and take some pix there before heading out for more exploring. Back to the cabin at 3 to start unpacking our luggage (it is usually waiting for us when we first arrive) so we will be done by the muster drill. Then off to muster drill and then to our sailaway spot. What we like most is unpacking earlier in the day so we aren't up late unpacking. My first cruise we were up until 1 a.m. Never again.

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We usually arrive the day before so we get to the port around 10:30 a.m., we check all bags except 1 small rolling carry on with our 2 bottles of wine and meds. Now that we are Platinum, we get checked in quickly. However, we are cruising this July with 3 other couples (2 couples are Newbies) that are only Gold & Pre-Gold.

 

We like to roam around the ship and see where everything is, grab a drink, then eat some lunch. Usually by then, our room is ready.

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As early as humanly possible. I paid for that first day, lets get it started.

 

This ^^^^^

 

Have a very light breakfast at home. Bigger lunch on board. A couple of drinks before the room is open.

 

Then either explore, or we may "nap" a bit. :D

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It depends on the cruise line. With Carnival, we do the faster to the fun program and board early. With RCCL, we wait until last minute. We are going out of San Juan on our next one and since it doesn't leave until late, not sure what we will do between hotel check out and boarding.

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Day 1, I get there when people are still getting off the boat, partially because we take an early flight in the morning. No worries about bags since we leave them at the dock to be delivered. Just pack a small carry-on with sunblock and a bathing suit.

 

In my opinion, day 1 is day 1. The earlier you're there, the earlier you start your vacation and start mingling with your fellow (earlybird) cruisers in the terminal.

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Day 1, I get there when people are still getting off the boat, partially because we take an early flight in the morning. No worries about bags since we leave them at the dock to be delivered. Just pack a small carry-on with sunblock and a bathing suit.

 

In my opinion, day 1 is day 1. The earlier you're there, the earlier you start your vacation and start mingling with your fellow (earlybird) cruisers in the terminal.

 

I agree totally, unless you are on the ship for b2b's or more, then there is no rush.

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We now prefer arriving around 12:30. Boarding is a breeze, we have our first drink of the cruise & by then the cabins are open. Drop off the carry on and then explore the ship and enjoy sail away. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, because I am in vacation mode as soon as I leave the house!

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