Arriving at the Cruiseport

[Headhoncho]

I would like to board the ship (Carnival Liberty - January 29th) as early as possible with my group of 10. We are scheduled to sail at 4:00. My questions are as follows:

• When is the earliest time we can start going through customs, etc. to get all the paperwork done?
  
• What is the earliest ships usually allow on-coming passengers to embark?
  
• Generally, I guess I need to know what is the best time to leave our hotel (10 minutes away) to avoid the longest lines and board the ship at the earliest possible time.
  

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

[serene56]

Security usually opens about 11. In the past we have headed to the cruiseports about 10:30 and get in line. ALways onboard by noon. Arriving any earlier you encounter mass confusion-with all the past cruisers getting off. By 10:30 majority of those people are gone.

 

1pm I would say it the worst possible time. Documents state 1-2 pm checkin. thats when the majority of cruisers arrive.

[BaumD]

Boarding time is dependant on how fast they clear the ship from the previous cruise which is becoming more dependant on how fast US customs & immigration clears the ship, which can take longer than it used to. Also, once you are on board, most cruise lines will not allow you to go to your cabin until 1 or 2 pm as they are still being cleaned from the previous trip.

[trish1c]

Generally, I guess I need to know what is the best time to leave our hotel (10 minutes away) to avoid the longest lines and board the ship at the earliest possible time.

 

These two concepts are mutually exclusive. Everyone wants to be the 1st ones on board. They rarely start boarding before noon. Just expect lines.

 

First cruise we arrived at 11:00 a.m. (there was nothing else to do coming straight from the AP). There weren't many people there. Have your paperwork done in advance; thats' the biggest time saver. We waited around & were amoung the 1st people on the ship.

 

Next cruise, we arrived at 1ish for a 10 pm sail & breezed on with no lines.

[KalenaD]

I find it also depends on the cruise line. We went on a Carnival ship out of New Orleans and it was a total mess, pulling people out of line, no organization, people who had paid for priorty embarkation were being told, tough just wait your turn, we ended up waiting 3 hours and were exhausted by the time we got on the ship. One year later we went on a Royal Caribbean out of NO, and it couldn't have been more different. We arrived at the port at about the same time as the year before, we were escorted to the line, asked if we needed anything, they checked our documents before we even got to the desk, and we were on the boat in less than 30 minutes. Both ships carried about the same amount of passengers so that wasn't the issue. I would say plan on arriving around 11 and be prepared for it to go either way. Good Luck!!!

[serene56]

people who had paid for priorty embarkation were being told, tough just wait your turn,

 

I didnt know you can pay for a priorty checkin- I think its only for people who book suites ONLY. and its for check in only--not boarding so those people still have to wait. jsut not as long

[KalenaD]

All I can tell you is a gentleman who was sitting next to us was furious, because he had paid 150$ for priority, and he was told it didn't matter, to sit down with the rest of us, this was for check in and boarding. Security wasn't really long as this was in april before 9/11.