Boarding time

[dreslercarie]

First of all thanks for all the info this far. We are first time cruisers and have lots of questions. What's the earliest we will be able to board the ship? We've purchased FTTF. 

[RWolver672]

No one can give you a definite answer.  It could be anywhere from 10:00 to Noon or even later.  First off, it depends on if the ship gets back on time.  Galveston and Tampa are notorious for having fog delaying the ships from returning on time.

 

Then customs has to clear the ship.  Then they start offloading the passengers.  If only a few customs agents show up for work that day, it takes longer for everyone to clear customs.  For our cruise out of Tampa, only one showed up so it took forever for everyone to get off the ship.  That delayed the boarding of the next passengers.

 

Then there's the stragglers that don't want to get off the ship.  No one can board for the next cruise until everyone from the last cruise has gotten off.

 

If there has been a Noro virus on the previous cruise, like they just had on the Oasis of the Seas, they will disinfect the ship before allowing new passengers to board.  

 

If everything goes to plan, they usually start boarding around 10:30-10:45.  Wedding parties, Platinum/Diamond, suites, then FTTF board in that order.  

[dreslercarie]

Thank you for all this info. Been trying to find out as much as I can. So glad I found this site. 

[PhillyFan33579]

The previous poster addressed boarding really well. The only thing I would add is for ports in Florida, which is where we always cruise from, boarding usually starts closer to 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM. The only port I have experienced recently that started boarding as early as 10:30 AM is Port Canaveral. 

[dreslercarie]

We will be cruising out of Baltimore