Does HAL deny boarding

[April29]

Does HAL really deny boarding if you show up at the pier & you haven't done your online check-in ?

[catl331]

Not if you are there in time to do it all at the pier and you have a valid passport and credit card with enough credit for the $60/p/d hold. (Or cash!) HAL has to turn in the manifest 60 minutes prior to sailing so they want you to be checked-in 90 minutes prior. Show up at least 2 hours before sailing to be safe.

Edited June 13, 2015 by catl331

[Crazy For Cats]

My guess would be that they will let you board. HAL computers lost my check in information and they took it all at check in. They said I didn't fill it out even though I had my boarding docs printed in hand.

[sppunk]

No, but of you don't have proper ID and documents yes.

 

We've had to redo the online component at the pier due to computer crashes before.

[aqua]

My daughter accidentally packed her online check-in documents and could not reprint them at the hotel because our Alaska cruise tour had started. When we checked in at Seward, the HAL told her that she was okay to check in without them. However, she added that if the HAL computers had failed, then my daughter would have been denied boarding unless someone could retrieve the documents from her luggage.

[POA1]

We've already been checking in for a cruise out of Port Everglades when the data link between the terminal building and the main computers went down. They just checked us in the old way. It really didn't matter whether we had a print out or not. They entered our information from scratch, collected our credit card and passport information. There's almost always a plan for computers being down, data links being down, power loss, etc. I also assume that they have to have a way to accommodate people who don't have computers - or who couldn't check in from home. I have to imagine that it would be awkward to tell someone who booked on the phone but who didn’t have email or a computer that they couldn't sail, even though they have a passport and a credit card. How would that go exactly? "I'm sorry Mr. & Mrs. Jones. It's 2015, and you no longer meet the minimum technical requirements to cruise with us." Awkward.

[Ineke]

If that happened - see previous post- you can always go to a travel agency somewhere - I can't imagine someone refusing to be of assistance to someone who doesn't have the technology needed to do on-line check-in.

[serendipity1499]

Not if you are there in time to do it all at the pier and you have a valid passport and credit card with enough credit for the $60/p/d hold. (Or cash!) HAL has to turn in the manifest 60 minutes prior to sailing so they want you to be checked-in 90 minutes prior. Show up at least 2 hours before sailing to be safe.

Agree with this! but as POA mentions if the computers go down they have to check you in manually & that can take extra time..

 

We've already been checking in for a cruise out of Port Everglades when the data link between the terminal building and the main computers went down. They just checked us in the old way. It really didn't matter whether we had a print out or not. They entered our information from scratch, collected our credit card and passport information. There's almost always a plan for computers being down, data links being down, power loss, etc. I also assume that they have to have a way to accommodate people who don't have computers - or who couldn't check in from home. I have to imagine that it would be awkward to tell someone who booked on the phone but who didn’t have email or a computer that they couldn't sail, even though they have a passport and a credit card. How would that go exactly? "I'm sorry Mr. & Mrs. Jones. It's 2015, and you no longer meet the minimum technical requirements to cruise with us." Awkward.

 

POA IMO you are correct but I wouldn't want to be one of those late check-in's.. It was bad enough when we had car trouble & didn't arrive until early afternoon.. If our ship was leaving within the hour & we were not checked in I would be a nervous wreck.. I had so many years of literally being thrown on a plane as the ramp was being pulled, but in my old age my heart could not take it any more.. LOL :eek:

[cb at sea]

No..there are still folks with no computer access or knowledge! It will take about 3 mins. longer to check in without the online thing. No worries.

[POA1]

Agree with this! but as POA mentions if the computers go down they have to check you in manually & that can take extra time..

 

 

 

POA IMO you are correct but I wouldn't want to be one of those late check-in's.. It was bad enough when we had car trouble & didn't arrive until early afternoon.. If our ship was leaving within the hour & we were not checked in I would be a nervous wreck.. I had so many years of literally being thrown on a plane as the ramp was being pulled, but in my old age my heart could not take it any more.. LOL :eek:

We were checking in to Port Everglades when the computer thing happened. We're typically there pretty early because we're close to the port. I don't think that the computers were down all day.

No..there are still folks with no computer access or knowledge! It will take about 3 mins. longer to check in without the online thing. No worries.

As long as people had their identification documents and credit cards ready, it went pretty quickly. There was a woman at the entrance to the terminal building who was alerting everyone to have their IDs and credit cards ready. There was another person at the ropes telling everyone. Finally, the person collecting the CDC form (Tell us about your poop!) was telling us to have our IDs and credit cards ready. Most people did, but there were some folks who were completely surprised. It was as if they awoke from a dream-like state to find themselves getting ready to go on a cruise ship.

 

Those lovely people did slow things down. Not realizing that they were heading onto the Noordam, they weren't sure where their identification was. Some were arguing about which credit card they should use.

 

In short, very entertaining.

 

I think it added a few minutes so that the check in clerks could manually key in people's data, which definitely adds up over the course of time. But it's the utterly unprepared folks who threw a wrench into the works. But I guess it's par for the course. Those people were going to spend the next 2 weeks trying to figure out where the dining room was, and which deck had the Lido.

Edited June 14, 2015 by POA1

[Krazy Kruizers]

Computer glitches do happen. It happened to us a couple of years ago.

They had only 1/2 of our information. Have no idea what happened to the other half.

[whogo]

Great description of what I see far too often, POA1.

 

I love to be in line behind the person who discovers after her cart full of groceries is rung up that she has to pay for them. Where is my checkbook? And pen? How much was that again? How much?

[DaveOKC]

Great description of what I see far too often, POA1.

 

I love to be in line behind the person who discovers after her cart full of groceries is rung up that she has to pay for them. Where is my checkbook? And pen? How much was that again? How much?

 

Being a former supermarket manager, I can attest to how common this is. The customer stands in line behind several other orders, then watches all their items being rung up and when the cashier informs them of the amount, they finally start looking for their checkbook/credit card/etc. It sure is frustrating for those behind in line, as well as the store employees who want to keep the line moving as quickly as possible (to reduce customer complaints).

[Hlitner]

A simply question and answer. As long as you arrive at the embarkation port in sufficient time (at least 1 1/2 hours prior to embarkation time is wise) and have proper documentation (i.e. Passport and credit card) you will be fine. We would also advise having a copy of your booking info. We always e-mail a copy of our own booking info to ourselves at my back-up hotmail e-mail address. This means that if I lose or forget my reservation info I can access it anywhere in the world.

 

Hank

Edited June 14, 2015 by Hlitner

[POA1]

A simply question and answer. As long as you arrive at the embarkation port in sufficient time (at least 1 1/2 hours prior to embarkation time is wise) and have proper documentation (i.e. Passport and credit card) you will be fine. We would also advise having a copy of your booking info. We always e-mail a copy of our own booking info to ourselves at my back-up hotmail e-mail address. This means that if I lose or forget my reservation info I can access it anywhere in the world.

 

Hank

Exactly. Online check-in saves both you and the cruise line time. It's not a requirement, certainly at least not yet. If you show up without your ID, it doesn't matter if you have a printout of your online check-in. There are plenty of cases where people don't have computers, or printers, or email. No cruise line in their right minds is going to tell you that, "We'd love to take your money for the cruise, but only if you have a valid email address, a computer, and access to a printer."

 

We've seen people change their payment method at the pier, bring alternate valid ID, or not have their print copy of online check-in. They all got to sail. Sure, check in took a little longer. That's why Hank's advice to allow at least 90 minutes makes sense.

[jagsfan]

I take screenshots on my iPhone of any important info. That's accessible without wifi.

[Hlitner]

I take screenshots on my iPhone of any important info. That's accessible without wifi.

 

And if you lose of have your iPhone stolen? Of course there is always the "cloud." But when we take trips (ours are usually about 2 months long) we archive all key documents, reservations, etc. on a server other then in our personal belongings. Even if everything we own is stolen we can still access key stuff.

 

Hank

[hrhdhd]

I love to be in line behind the person who discovers after her cart full of groceries is rung up that she has to pay for them. Where is my checkbook? And pen? How much was that again? How much?

 

Well, now, she can't be expected to put her cell phone away long enough to join the real world. Those "where R U at?" texts are important, dontcha know.