Embarkation on a Carnival Cruise Ship

[caligirl1960]

Do all guests in a room need to embark at the same time? I'm arriving the night before my cruise and the other two guests will be arriving the day of our cruise and I'm hoping I can embark even if my guests haven't arrived.

[easyboy]

You can embark by yourself first

 

 

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[caligirl1960]

Perfect, thanks!

[beerman2]

All guests have their own boarding passes, you are good to go!

 

 

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[caligirl1960]

Great--this is my first ever cruise so I want to get on early as possible.

[riclop]

Do all guests in a room need to embark at the same time? I'm arriving the night before my cruise and the other two guests will be arriving the day of our cruise and I'm hoping I can embark even if my guests haven't arrived.

You can go ahead.

[BalzacBill]

Just a reminder, don't arrive too much earlier than your pre-scheduled boarding time, or you may be waiting a while outside the check in area.

[Keith1010]

Wishing you a great cruise.

 

Keith

[gmblr]

In my experience, carnival doesn’t seem to care about the embarkation appointment times. Get there a couple hours late or a couple hours early they’ll take you as you go through the line.

[mdsgu]

In my experience, carnival doesn’t seem to care about the embarkation appointment times. Get there a couple hours late or a couple hours early they’ll take you as you go through the line.

 

At SOME ports. Other ports are very strict about the arrival times and will tell guests who are too early to wait outside.

[supernanny]

Sorry about intruding, but I am curious about selecting a check-in time? I have never had to do this before. We always just went through no problem. Is this something new or only certain ports? Are they very strict about it? What if you are early or late?

[gmblr]

Let me clarify. I’ve only been on three carnival cruises in the last 10 months. The cruises left from Miami, Jacksonville, and New Orleans. None of those ports had any issues with my family arriving outside of the time slot, early/late. I people watch, and I never saw anyone being turned away because they arrived to early/late.

I’m going on another carnival cruise in March departing from Tampa. I’ll let you know what there feelings are After I return. However, I’d bet they don’t care either.

[kingston13]

Here was my experience in Baltimore. I met a couple outside who said they had to go sit on a bench for 2 hours because they arrived much earlier than their time. they weren't happy but everyone has a different experience I guess.

Edited January 9, 2018 by kingston13

[EllaDuChien]

My two port experiences...Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale) they were strict about it. Charleston, they didn't even look.

[grumpyjr88]

Baltimore and Galveston were enforcing each time I sailed from those ports. Tampa didn't but it's been several years since sailing from there.

[kingston13]

That's one of the reasons I posted this. The couple said everybody was telling them to come whenever they wanted and they were not happy. People may get lucky and they let them in but I sure wouldn't count on it

[Sea and Me]

This will be our first time sailing on Carnival. We have 12 family members traveling together(8 adults, 4 teens) How do you get notified of your boarding time?

 

Thanks for your responses. Have a great day.

[nlktx49]

Sorry about intruding, but I am curious about selecting a check-in time? I have never had to do this before. We always just went through no problem. Is this something new or only certain ports? Are they very strict about it? What if you are early or late?

It's a fairly recent thing, started last year I think. When you are doing your online check in, they will ask what time you would like to get into the boarding building and you choose starting at 10:30 then in 30 minute increments. It's a good idea to do this as soon as you book your cruise as the earlier slots fill up quickly. It doesn't matter if you show up later than your time, but if you're earlier they won't let you in. We cruise out of Galveston and they are strict about it.

[bethshebas]

This will be our first time sailing on Carnival. We have 12 family members traveling together(8 adults, 4 teens) How do you get notified of your boarding time?

 

Thanks for your responses. Have a great day.

 

 

You will choose your boarding time when you do your online check in.

 

I always sail out of Galveston and they are strict about boarding time. You can board later but they will not let you in earlier.

 

My preferred boarding time is 1:30 to 2. It's less crowded and the rooms are ready by then. So when I get on I can go straight to my cabin and change.

[stargate fan]

In my experience, carnival doesn’t seem to care about the embarkation appointment times. Get there a couple hours late or a couple hours early they’ll take you as you go through the line.

We cruised from Miami in February and November and Long Beach in April.

In February, being Platinum, we arrived at the port at 10:00. People in line front of us had 12:00-12:30 printed on their Boarding Passes. When the doors opened, the port employee checked everyone's times. She told the family in front of us to leave the line and come back at 12:00.

There were separate lines for Priority, FTTF, and Arrival Times, with each time slot having its own line in Long Beach.

In November, there was a separate line for Priority and one line for all Arrival Times.

 

People can arrive later than their Arrival Times, but should not arrive earlier.

[caligirl1960]

Wishing you a great cruise.

 

Keith

 

Thanks Keith, I'm really starting to get excited for our trip.

[caligirl1960]

We cruised from Miami in February and November and Long Beach in April.

In February, being Platinum, we arrived at the port at 10:00. People in line front of us had 12:00-12:30 printed on their Boarding Passes. When the doors opened, the port employee checked everyone's times. She told the family in front of us to leave the line and come back at 12:00.

There were separate lines for Priority, FTTF, and Arrival Times, with each time slot having its own line in Long Beach.

In November, there was a separate line for Priority and one line for all Arrival Times.

 

People can arrive later than their Arrival Times, but should not arrive earlier.

 

Good to know about Long Beach as that's the port we're using. We have 11 of us going and we'll be arriving in three different groups. I'm picking the 12:30 time for all of us and then if some come later they're still covered.

 

Thanks everyone for the wise advice, it helps set my mind at ease since I'm one of those super planners and I'm trying to relax that for this trip.

Edited January 10, 2018 by caligirl1960
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