Board Early or Late on Embarkation Day?

[bepsf]

I'm as excited about boarding and getting settled as the next guy - but I see no reason to show up at the cruise terminal before Noon. I'd rather laze around the hotel, have a nice long brunch and get to the pier between Noon and 1 and walk on board than stand in lines and sit in a waiting room.

As far as disembarcation, I'm of the same mind: Wake up late, have a nice leisurely breakfast and wander off among the last group. As a bonus: I never have to search for my luggage, there are plenty of porters to haul my pile of gear out of the terminal, and there are always plenty of taxis waiting at the curb to take me away.

[Nasmas]

I like early embarkation, and late debarkation. We like to sit on the balcony of our room and watch the people. It is relaxing and I don't feel so rushed. Plus, if the luggage arrives early enough, I can get everything put away.

[Cruisedreamer1]

We will be taking our 1st HA cruise and wondered what was the earliest one could board in San Diego?

[Infi]

We always board as early as possible. If we're leaving from FLL, waiting at the cruise terminal is far preferable to waiting around at home. When we leave from ports abroad or in other parts of the US, we still try to board as early as we can. Embarkation day usually comes after about a week of touring the embarkation city, so by that time we're usually ready to be on the cruise. :)

[KSCnCA]

We will be taking our 1st HA cruise and wondered what was the earliest one could board in San Diego?

 

Typical is about 11:30 - usually our San Diego departures have gone smoothly, but occasionally you read about a ship needing deep cleaning or some incident to prevent the usual boarding time. Our last cruise (on the Zaandam in January 2011) there were 3 ships in port and it as a zoo at the B Street (regular) pier because there was some sort of incident with emergency personnel called in. The Celebrity passengers were lined up down the boardwalk! Good thing we were able to drive right past it and onto the new Broadway pier, San Diego’s rarely used newer cruise terminal which many think is an eyesore on the waterfront. So sad, we have very few cruise ships sailing from San Diego these days.

[Typhoon1]

We try to board as early as possible, usually around 11:30. It makes the cruise seem just that much longer.

[iflyrc5]

With the new process of having the cabins available by around 1130 we usually get to the terminal about 1130 - normally only a short line - last time there was no line - then drop off the carryons in the cabin then off to the MDR for a nice lunch then tour the ship. Since we normally sail on the smaller ships the lines are shorter too.:)

[Rinderoo]

Early on... early off and a walk-off with all of our luggage.

Usually I'm getting a rental car and want to beat the rush, so we'll taxi to the rental agency or in the case of FLL, take the taxi to the airport.

 

When boarding I want my trip to start ASAP. When leaving I want to get the heck out of there before everyone else on the other ships going into port that day. If its the Oasis or Allure, you betcha that I'm in that taxi line waiting to get out of there! :D

[silverado44]

We don't arrive early. Why walk around the ship with carry ons in tow? We usually leave our home at 2:30 for a 5pm sail away. Trip to the port takes about 10 minutes.

[tcook052]

We like to board early. We will have a light lunch and then spend hours walking around the ship. If we have to change our dining time, we'll get there when they open. If our luggage comes early, we have some time to unpack before the muster drill and sail away.

 

Me too. I like being able to unwind a bit after boarding and exploring the ship, especially if it's not one I've sailed on before.

[airlink diva]

Since I mainly cruise solo and hate taking everything around the ship. As a rule, I like to arrive at the port a little after 1 p.m. This way there is no line when checking in and the average time from taxi to ship is around 15 to 20 minutes. That way I can go right to the cabin, drop off my stuff and then head to a very empty Lido for a nice leisure lunch.

From time to time I will arrive early to book certain tours.

To me it's all about what works best for you. Some people like to be early on the ship.

[erewhon]

We like to board early, on our last cruise I believe we were the first

passengers to board at 11.30 am.

We went directly to our cabin, which was ready, and left our carryons.

On our next cruise we will probably be among the last to leave the ship as we have a later flight.

[RuthC]

We don't arrive early. Why walk around the ship with carry ons in tow?

 

Since I mainly cruise solo and hate taking everything around the ship.

There's no need to delay boarding for the sole reason of being hampered by luggage. The cabins are ready when boarding starts. it's been this way for some time now.

Of course, if you prefer later boarding for other reasons, that's nother matter, but the luggage reason is not longer valid.

[luvcruisn']

No matter what, I always seem to do late boarding. If we leave the port at 9:00, I am on by 7:00, if we leave at 5:00, I am on by 3:30pm. I am usually doing extra shopping for items I couldn't find before I left home, or doing more sightseeing. On disembarkation morning, I usually leave as late as I can, as I always book later flights or am staying over a day or two in the port city.

[cccole]

We are apparently among the minority that arrive at 1:00 or after to the port. We are usually at a nice resort at the departure point, enjoy a nice day and evening before the cruise, and enjoy a leisurely morning and pool time before heading for the port. There is always food available on a cruise so we do not worry about arriving for lunch. I'm not one for crowds and pushing so arriving late eliminates most of this. If the ship was leaving 1-5 hours early I assume the hotel would advise us and we would eliminate our leisurely morning. JMO Cherie

[protocrone]

We're like the inventory term: FIFO = first in/first out

 

I'd rather be: FISH = first in/still here.

 

Nothing sweeter than going thru that gangway at the beginning of a cruise or sadder than leaving thru that same gangway after a wonderful adventure.

[mskaufman]

We generally like to board early. I like to watch them load all the "stuff" on the boat. There was this one time when we boarded around 11:30 for a 5pm departure. Had our lunch and were hanging out when the police came on board with dogs. About twenty minutes later a guest was being led off in handcuffs. You never know what you will see.

[CowPrincess]

I simply cannot relax until I am actually on the ship. Not near the ship, not watching the ship from my hotel, not waiting to board the ship, ON THE SHIP :D Then I can relax and vacation begins. We board early.

[dheianevans]

Just curious what's the earliest embarkation that happens at Canada Place in Vancouver.

 

Thanks.

[pxn748]

I can't relax until we are onboard either. We both like to get on as early as we can. Even the waiting in line is part of the fun for us. Then we like to have a nice lunch in the MDR. And there is plenty of time for a nap before the lifeboat drill. We have an 8 hour drive and are always tired that afternoon. We like to leave as early as we can to get on the road.

[albingirl]

This is an old thread, from 2011, but I suppose it's still relevant. We board when we get to Lauderdale, anytime between noon and 2. No rush. I like to get there in time to grab a bit to eat at Lido. The MDR doesn't interest us anymore on embarkation day. We wish they would change the menu. Otherwise, happy to be on board!

[Nanner]

We also prefer to arrive around 1 PM, and I'm glad we aren't alone. We normally eat breakfast at the hotel, so are far from starving when we arrive at the terminal. I'm not a fan of the brunch in the MDR, it takes too long. Around 1 PM we can stroll aboard without lines, drop our luggage, and still have plenty of time to get our dining and spa reservations in before they close the salad bar.

 

Since we dine early, a salad is plenty of lunch on embarkation day for us. There's even time (except one cruise) to unpack a fair portion of our luggage before dinner.

 

The exception to this is if we stay at a hotel that only offers early shuttles to the pier. We always try to book the shuttle for after at least 11 AM, if we can.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Just curious what's the earliest embarkation that happens at Canada Place in Vancouver.

 

Thanks.

 

We have checked in at Canada Place at 11AM and boarding began at noon.

Neptune Suites and wheelchairs board first. After check in, they sit you by sections and then go section by section in order of check in.

[RetiredMustang]

This is an old thread, from 2011, but I suppose it's still relevant. ...

 

OK, I usually catch that, but didn't tumble on this thread until your post. :D

 

But, I agree, it is still relevant. Although things have changed over the years. Here is a synopsis of our experiences/preferences.

 

Non-U.S. embarkation ports: We have always booked the cruise line hotel and transfer (Costa from Venice, HAL from Rome, Copenhagen, Dover and Amsterdam.) We got on the bus when we were told to ;) and checked in when we got to the terminal. As four-star and/or suite passengers in Dover and Amsterdam, it was somewhat faster, but still, the bus arrived when it did. Most times, we were on before or at lunch time.

 

U.S. ports:

 

Seattle twice: Seattle is basically home, and we had spent days ahead visiting our sons, so we boarded before noon, to enjoy the ship as much as we could.

 

Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa: Many times since 1996.

 

Early on, we took HAL flights (from Seattle) and booked HAL hotels (Hyatt Regency Pier 66, although once a Marriott at Miami airport; Marriots in Tampa), and did the "get on the bus now" thing, and waited in a large room in the terminal until our number (usually about 254, IIRC) for our "M" class guarantee was called and we joined the line to get our photo taken with the woman in Dutch traditional clothing ... usually about 2 p.m. We then would rush madly about, doing "chores" such as registering our credit card at the front office (this was before Internet was ubiquitous), sign up for the laundry package, get the shore excursion list and fill it out, usually in the Ocean Bar with a celebratory drink, and put in in the box (the shorex order, not the drink) by the shore excursion desk so we hopefully would get the ones we wanted, and try to breathe before boat drill. Somewhere in there, we would check to see if our rooms were ready and our bags had arrived.

 

Then, HAL started boarding early if you went to the Lido, and then, more recently, had the rooms ready pretty early. Coupled with that, Internet ordering of excursions, specialty dining options, etc. and the fact that we moved to the D.C. area and prefer to drive to Ft. Lauderdale/Tampa to arrive at least the day before, means we tend to arrive at the port just after 11:00 a.m. That's when inbound passengers are allowed to enter, the debarking passengers have mostly driven away from the parking garage and we have our choice of parking spots, and now that we are 4-star Mariners we get priority boarding, we find an arrival at about 11:30 in the terminal works fine for pretty much immediate boarding. Now that we have few or no "chores" to do (and free laundry, yes!), we just drop our bags in the cabin, get a quick snack and introduce ourselves to the bar staff(s).

 

(Much) shorter answer: We like to board early.

 

For debarkation, we usually get off early as well, using the drag your own bags option when available. In Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, it's so we get to our car and get on the road before traffic gets too, or at least more, crazy.

 

We debarked in New York several times, as well, and debarked there early as well, so we could get a cab to Penn Station to get an Amtrak train to D.C.

 

YMMV,

Dave

Edited May 15, 2015 by RetiredMustang

[serendipity1499]

We normally cruise with another couple & rent a car to drive to the port... We leave home around 8:30 to 9: a.m...Arrive at the port by 10:30 to 11..The men usually drop the ladies off with the luggage & then take the car to the airport.. Usually they are back between 11:30 & 12 to check in & board.. We drop off the hand luggage in our cabins & then go to the Lido for a bite to eat..

 

After lunch it's back to our cabins to un-pack the luggage which normally has been delivered.. Hopefully we're unpacked before Muster..

Edited May 15, 2015 by serendipity1499