later embarkation times?

via travel agent, we received an embarkation time slot from hal of 2 p.m. for what i had anticipated was a 4 p.m. sail time ... this seems late?

4-5 star mariners and neptune suite guests are at 12:30 p.m.; other decks are 1, 1:30, and 2:30 ... does this mean no one will board before 12:30? (it is the eurodam to alaska via seattle on 6.17.17) also, will the muster drill still happen before sailing?

just wondering as most threads had talked about the process starting around 11-11:30 ... also curious if we should even attempt lunch on board ...

Boarding usually commences a few minutes passed when there are zero passengers on board from the previous cruise and all b2b are accounted for. Late arrival, special sanitation,training meetings can cause a delay in embarking time.staggered check in is an attempt to prevent thousands of passengers from showing up between 11 and 12 .we always board after 130 pm on most all ships and never go hungry.

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There was another thread recently, where passenger received notice from HAL on when to arrive.Perhaps, this is a new trend to better organize check-in and boarding. Even after you go through the check-in process, you are assigned a number or color, that determines when you actually board. Believe that many will arrive 11 to 12 range, despite the notification. Hope you advise us how this worked.

This is something new that is being tried on the Eurodam in Alaska.

I would not be happy to have to sit in a hotel waiting to go to the ship at a later time and missing lunch on the ship.

Lifeboat drill will still be held in the afternoon before you sail.

Carnival has this staggered check-in time thing. I agree that it's really quite unfair to say the least to say that some guests are welcome for lunch and other guests are not simply based on when they got around to arranging for a staggered check-in time. I've been checking everyday to see when Carnival would open that up for my upcoming cruise and caught it on the first day and got the 11 a.m. check-in time so I'm okay but I'd feel poorly treated if I was told to arrive at 2:30.

It's just not a fair system. If they want to have it based on how much you paid for the cruise that would make it fair. If they want to charge extra for arriving earlier and make the cost such that the certain number of people the number of people that they want to arrive at each time choose that particular time that would make it fair as well. But this arbitrary system is not right. It makes cruising far too dependent upon having special knowledge and luck and that's counter to the idea of being welcoming to guests.

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I think Holland American is testing this out.

Don't get me wrong. The underlying concept makes a lot of sense. The ship is going to be available for check in for let's say three or four or five hours whatever it is. It is wasteful to staff check in for the time highest concentration of people arriving on their own accord. So that invariably leads to long lines which serves no one well. Spreading arrival times evenly across the three or four or five hours makes the most sense. And now that some cruise lines are doing it all the cruise lines need to do it or they will be rightfully viewed as insensitive to what's best for passengers and wasteful of their own resources.

I just think it can be done a bit more fairly.

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This concept is not foreign to other cruise lines as has been pointed out.

Oceania also uses this system for boarding. Rooms are also ready under staggered times and not right when you arrive on board.

So far on HAL these appear to be "suggested" times, not mandatory --- an attempt to spread out the initial crush. Last I heard, people are still being given boarding numbers in the order that they check-in, and boarding still starts around 11:30 for priority people. Muster will happen around 3:15 for a 4:00 sailing.

Rooms are also ready under staggered times and not right when you arrive on board.

Carnival has this staggered check-in time thing. I agree that it's really quite unfair to say the least to say that some guests are welcome for lunch and other guests are not simply based on when they got around to arranging for a staggered check-in time. I've been checking everyday to see when Carnival would open that up for my upcoming cruise and caught it on the first day and got the 11 a.m. check-in time so I'm okay but I'd feel poorly treated if I was told to arrive at 2:30.

 

It's just not a fair system. If they want to have it based on how much you paid for the cruise that would make it fair. If they want to charge extra for arriving earlier and make the cost such that the certain number of people the number of people that they want to arrive at each time choose that particular time that would make it fair as well. But this arbitrary system is not right. It makes cruising far too dependent upon having special knowledge and luck and that's counter to the idea of being welcoming to guests.

 

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(bold is mine) I thought Carnival already had a way to purchase early boarding. Aren't they the ones who sell "First to the Fun" or am I thinking of another line?

This is something new that is being tried on the Eurodam in Alaska.

I would not be happy to have to sit in a hotel waiting to go to the ship at a later time and missing lunch on the ship.

Lifeboat drill will still be held in the afternoon before you sail.

This is also news to me! I agree I would not be happy about it either!!

Hope this is not the new trend.

Denise:)

(bold is mine) I thought Carnival already had a way to purchase early boarding. Aren't they the ones who sell "First to the Fun" or am I thinking of another line?

I've posted this before: We got the same form email from HAL prior to our Eurodam departure from Seattle on May 20th. As someone mentioned above, it says "suggested" boarding times. We showed up at the terminal at pier 91 at 11am, at which time there were already a few hundred people in the process of checking in. Boarding began at 11:30am, and we were in the main dining room having lunch by noon. The ship and crew are already prepared to welcome the new passengers onboard by 11:30, and our cabin was ready for us.

The humongous Ruby Princess shares the same pier and departure time with Eurodam in Seattle. When Oosterdam leaves pier 91 on Sunday, it shares the pier with the Emerald Princess, sister ship to Ruby, I believe. Even though the two cruise lines have separate check-in facilities, the combined number of passengers boarding is close to 5,000. HAL is simply trying to space out arrivals in order to reduce the congestion. I suppose scoff-laws like me mess up their planned procedure, but the check-in process was already up and running smoothly for us when we arrived at 11am.

Passengers are given numbers for boarding when they check in, but the wait is not long. If you are a suite passenger, 4 or 5 star Mariner, or have impaired mobility, you will be the first to board if you are already in the terminal. But the subsequent number groups are announced quite soon after the announcement for priority boarding, and the whole process is quite efficient.

PS Edited to add that I believe that Amsterdam , departing alone at pier 91 on Monday, will not have the same congestion as Eurodam and Oosterdam.

Faster to the Fun is definitely Carnival. However, that's optional, and capacity-limited (based on how many top-level elites are projected to be aboard), but that doesn't secure early check-in, but rather exempts you from the staggered check-in.

So if you're exempt from the staggered check-in, do you arrive when you want to, but don't board in the very first group?

Just received notice from HAL to arrive at the Vancouver cruise terminal tomorrow at 9:30 AM because two ships In port.

What happens when three ships are in port?

Just received notice from HAL to arrive at the Vancouver cruise terminal tomorrow at 9:30 AM because two ships In port.

 

What happens when three ships are in port?

All hell breaks loose?!?!? :eek:

I guess they want to start moving people through security early, and then I suppose there will be seating somewhere. They will have to hold early arrivals separate from the disembarking passengers. Make sure you have something to read.

Just received notice from HAL to arrive at the Vancouver cruise terminal tomorrow at 9:30 AM because two ships In port.

 

What happens when three ships are in port?

All HAL breaks loose. I never want to be in Vancouver on a three ship day again.

Looking forward to your cruise travelogue.:D I do love your website.

All HAL breaks loose. I never want to be in Vancouver on a three ship day again.

 

Looking forward to your cruise travelogue.:D I do love your website.

(bold is mine) Funny!!! Wish I'd thought of that!

We were in Vancouver on a 3-ship day a while back, but it was a HAL Vista and something only a little bigger from Celeb or RC, plus something even smaller than that. It wasn't bad, but we were in the hotel above the terminal, so we went down to check-in early (11-ish), and lines were short. It was our first time in a NS, and we really appreciated the priority boarding. We sat for less than a half hour and were among the first 10 people to board.

Ever since I can remember there was a recommended check-in time for my HAL cruises. I'm confused as to why it's only being commented on recently. :confused:

Ooops, sorry Kathy. We were posting about the same time, and I didn't see your response:D I would tell anyone leaving Vancouver on a 3 ship day to wear the most comfortable pair of shoes they own, because they are going to be spending a lot of time on their feet. Maybe this year Vancouver will speed up their act, but with everyone having to clear U.S. CBP prior to checking in for their cruise, I kind of doubt it.

Ever since I can remember there was a recommended check-in time for my HAL cruises. I'm confused as to why it's only being commented on recently. :confused:

Because for the first time, passengers are receiving emails, distinct from their online documents, which emphasize the staggered boarding times, prior to their cruises.

Ever since I can remember there was a recommended check-in time for my HAL cruises. I'm confused as to why it's only being commented on recently. :confused:

Probably because people will ignore the time suggested to them and join the herd at the first opportunity.

I was in Vancouver once on a three ship day. It was the beginning of the season, so they were still figuring things out, new agents, etc. It was a nightmare. The sitting area was very crowded, passengers were restless, rude, anxious...

A woman who was in some official capacity of the port actually got on a bullhorn and said that if people didn't sit down and shut up, she was going to call the police and have everybody thrown out. I think she was having a bad day.

Princess has been doing this for years... long time Princess cruisers just ignore it... does not seem to make any difference... "monkey see, monkey do", since cruise lines all owned by Carnival... they copy one another these days.

So if you're exempt from the staggered check-in, do you arrive when you want to, but don't board in the very first group?

Remarkably even if you have Faster to the Fun you still pick a staggered check-in time but you can just ignore it. My understanding is that you arrive when you want to and you get cycled into the boarding with the other folks who arrive at the same time as you.

Princess has been doing this for years... long time Princess cruisers just ignore it...