Princess Check-in @ The Pier (what’s your MO?)

Another tip. Depending on where your cruising from, I sometimes cruise from San Francisco where I live & have friends sign up for the BVE & we’re one of the first to board as I would rather spend more time on the ship & with friends. And I always enjoy lunch in the MDR where they assume we’re all doing the BVE so we get a free drink.

Tom😎

brooklyn was pretty easy last month. got there a bit after 10 and got boarding number 2. yippee. we were on ship at 1227 and eating the pizza at alfredos 1255.

as a first timer to princess i cannot fathom not trying to be as early as possible to soak up all the vacation rays! one thing that sucks bout brooklyn is there is no intercom system so the poor staff has to yell to 3000 people. yea..not fun

I like to get on the ship as early as possible. We try to arrive around 10:30am. It's no big deal sitting in the terminal for a bit. That's part of the excitement. When they start calling out boarding numbers I feel that the cruise has really begun.

I do so agree with you there! I really enjoy that air of anticipation and excitement during the time that everyone is waiting to board..most people are in a great mood..I've learned so many little tidbits just by chatting with other cruisers too..so..as long as it's not an exaggerated wait time - I don't mind at all...one thing about coming early is that people are still disembarking from the previous cruise and..I confess.. it always makes me smile..knowing that it's all over for them but just beginning for me!! However..I don't feel too guilty for my glee since I know that I'll be feeling the way they are feeling in a week's time and someone will be smiling at ME..lol!..I think next time I disembark from a cruise I'll surprise them and smile right back and wish them Bon Voyage!!

I try to get my butt on the ship as early as possible. But it depends on area. In place like Ft Lauderdale, I don't even bother with a hotel. Airport to port, and get on. When I was boarding in Barcelona or Athens, we got hotel, got to the ship later than usual. Instead of mad dash to the port, in Athens we got breakfast, went to Acropolis, bought some souvenirs, etc.

I guess it's also about the way ports handle boarding. In St Pedro, we were all crammed in a small building, with way-overloaded cellular towers so I couldn't even browse the web on my phone, and it was hot and humid. Waiting for my group seemed like eternity, and even after being called, it took forever to get on. And we were there around noon.

But either way, we try to be onboard early. First thing to do would probably be head straight to MDR and put our name for Chef's Table. Then drop bags off, do our best Braveheart impression and storm the buffet.

Last year we were at Red Hook terminal by 10:30am for our Cunard transatlantic and the terminal was a ghost town! It was lovely walking on board, getting a drink and relaxing!

A few weeks later we waited till nearly last minute to board our Southampton cruise and it was stressful. We felt like we almost missed a full day. We had to go pretty much straight to the muster station. The kids got hungry and cranky waiting for the safety briefing - they wanted to explore not be cooped up in the theatre without the ability to order anything.

In a month we board Sapphire Princess in Singapore. I don’t know what the terminal is like but we will are eagerly anticipating boarding and won’t be leaving it till late afternoon again!

Always early, sometimes we have been among the first to board, lol....

Getting on ship Sunday received a message from Princess they are now boarding by deck and an assigned time. Should be interesting

Getting on ship Sunday received a message from Princess they are now boarding by deck and an assigned time. Should be interesting

Nothing new about that notice. You can follow it or do what you normally do.

I will be at the terminal for check-in before 99+% of the passengers.

Getting on ship Sunday received a message from Princess they are now boarding by deck and an assigned time. Should be interesting

You got the same "Progressive Cruise Check-In Information" in your Booking Summary when you first booked your cruise. It is always and forever only a suggestion.

...unless the message specifically stated that boarding will start later than the time previously indicated (again, check your Booking Summary) due to an emergency deep clean or an expected Coast Guard and/or Immigration and/or Sanitation Inspection. If the "assigned" (sic) times are different than the ones you were first given, then you may want to consider arriving later than usual at the port. Otherwise, don't worry.

We LOVE to get to the terminal and on the ship as early as possible! The terminals (primarily SF and Ft. Laud) are usually comfortable and a short wait in comfy chairs along with all the other excited passengers is no problem at all. And we want to get our cruise started as EARLY as possible!

We like to arrive just a few minutes before the beginning of check in. You may wait a little bit but the lines move fast, the energy is high and exciting, you meet your co passengers for the first time, and you get on board to start the vacation! What could be better then that?

On our last cruise, the power went out in Port Everglades. Sitting with no power, in the dark for three hours was not fun.

Unless we have a run-of-the-mill domestic embarkation port like Miami, we definitely like to get on as LATE as possible.

Doing international cruises, we're leaving from very interesting/exotic locations like Rome, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, etc. It makes no sense to me, to get onboard and sit all day on the same ship that I'll be on for the next 1-3 weeks, when I have a unique opportunity to spend the better part of a day in a fascinating location, learning about and seeing that country. And yes, we do usually arrive a few days early to see the area as well. If you're going to be in a place like Rome, to me it's a much better experience to squeeze in at least one more sight (Pantheon, Colosseum, St. Peter's, Vatican, Piazza Navona, or whatever) on top of what you've already seen, instead of sitting on board the ship. I get PLENTY of ship time during the 1-3 week cruise.

To each their own. Very interesting the diverse preferences here.

brooklyn was pretty easy last month. got there a bit after 10 and got boarding number 2. yippee. we were on ship at 1227 and eating the pizza at alfredos 1255.

 

as a first timer to princess i cannot fathom not trying to be as early as possible to soak up all the vacation rays! one thing that sucks bout brooklyn is there is no intercom system so the poor staff has to yell to 3000 people. yea..not fun

We stayed at The One Hotel Brooklyn Bridge which has a noon check out time, slept in, had brunch at the hotel, then checked out just before noon. The hotel car was busy at that moment, but free in 30 minutes and they brought us to the pier - it took us maybe 10 minutes to get there by 12:45. At that point most of the crowd had cleared out of the terminal and boarded the ship. There was only a small line we had to wait in for security and another small line to get our cruise cards and although we are not yet preferred on Princess (just need one more cruise), we were on the ship by 1 not having to experience long lines and big crowds at all. Ship elevators were fairly uncrowded for boarding day. Our cabin was ready, so we dropped off our carryons and had a snack in the buffet. When we got back to our cabin our luggage arrived immediately, so we were easily able to unpack prior to sail away. It was a very relaxing start to what turned out to be a great and relaxing cruise!

We mostly only sale out of San Pedro. Unless we receive a notice of late boarding, we have a car pick us up in LA at 11, arrive at San Pedro around 11:30. There have been a couple of times that the wait was really long (like Christmas one year - but that was before we had preferred boarding), but even when it is we still get on board well before muster drill. Then to the pool area for pizza and a bucket of beer. I like to get my vacation started!!!

What could be better then that?

Well........how about sleeping in, no rush in the morning, having a quiet lunch or brunch before leaving for the port, no lines (just to name a few).

We have to fly to cruise, maybe one day we will be lucky enough to live driving distance to a port. But that said, I have to get to the port early, otherwise I go stir crazy in my hotel room as I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve. Can’t sleep, can’t think, can’t do anything! So we get to the port around 10:30 or 11 and I could care less if I’m waiting in lines etc, I can see the ship and all is well with the world!

Well........how about sleeping in, no rush in the morning, having a quiet lunch or brunch before leaving for the port, no lines (just to name a few).

My days of sleeping in are over. I will be awake before the ship stops moving. I will have my leisurely coffee, quiet breakfast at home, then 20 minutes to the Pier 27 (San Francisco) and still be there for the exciting pandemonium. Like I said, What could be better:cool:

My days of sleeping in are over. I will be awake before the ship stops moving. I will have my leisurely coffee, quiet breakfast at home, then 20 minutes to the Pier 27 (San Francisco) and still be there for the exciting pandemonium. Like I said, What could be better:cool:

And my days of wanting to be in the "exciting pandemonium" are long since over, so (IMHO) just about anything could be better! Good thing we're not all alike, or we would all show up at the same time and have real pandemonium. :D :halo:

And my days of wanting to be in the "exciting pandemonium" are long since over, so (IMHO) just about anything could be better! Good thing we're not all alike, or we would all show up at the same time and have real pandemonium. :D :halo:

I totally get it. I have been cruising over 30 years and still get a kick out of departure day.

I totally get it. I have been cruising over 30 years and still get a kick out of departure day.

Understand........it still gets my adrenaline flowing a little too, but would just rather avoid the lines. Once on the ship with luggage stowed I'm ready for a sailaway party!

Understand........it still gets my adrenaline flowing a little too, but would just rather avoid the lines. Once on the ship with luggage stowed I'm ready for a sailaway party!

See you there!:cool:

Just curious, do you check in early to beat the crowds and enjoy an early lunch or leisurely stroll on as the deadline time nears and saunter to Crooners for a welcome aboard cocktail?

 

 

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I try to go early to have lunch in the MDR ...

We board, unpack our carry on luggage quickly and head to the dining room if at all possible. We usually just order a bottle of wine to accompany our meal ... it's the best of both worlds and my favorite way to begin a cruise.

I try to go early to have lunch in the MDR ...

We board, unpack our carry on luggage quickly and head to the dining room if at all possible. We usually just order a bottle of wine to accompany our meal ... it's the best of both worlds and my favorite way to begin a cruise.

We have never done lunch in the MDR on departure day. I think we will try it on our Alaskan trip in June.