what time do you have to board by

we are on a 5 day cruise on the Sunshine out of Charleston,does any one know what time you have to board by & what time ship leaver Port

One hour before sail away, so in New Orleans you have to be on board by 3 for a sail away at 4.

we are on a 5 day cruise on the Sunshine out of Charleston,does any one know what time you have to board by & what time ship leaver Port

Go to Carnival's home page and select "Manage My Booking". On the page that says "My Cruise Manager", click on "Cruise Details". When the page comes up, click on "My Itinerary". At the top of the list, you'll see your home port (Charleston) listed first, and to the right of that you'll see the departure time. That is the time that the ship leaves. You will have to be on board by no later than one hour before that time.

You need to be physically on the ship in time for the mandatory safety briefing (muster) this usually happens 45 minutes prior to the scheduled sail away time. But trust me you do not want to attend this with your carry-ons in tow. In fact if your muster is outside on the Promenade just under the lifeboats, the crew may make you place your bags in an adjacent passageway for you to retrieve once muster is dismissed, and that passageway might be very crowded afterwards.

As for the port terminal itself some will stop allowing people inside to process 90 minutes - 2 hours prior to departure. Many port also stop the curbside checked luggage collections by 2/2:30pm. If arriving after a particular port stops porter service, you will need to carry-on all your luggage and if any of the bags are too big to fit the scanner those bags will go through a hand search. Contact the port authority directly to confirm the latest processing and porter times.