Carnival check in at New Orleans

[WeBeCruisinMon]

Just checked in today for my upcoming cruise out of New Orleans. The earliest check in time available was 1-1:30pm.

 

Anyone recently sail out of this port and can explain how the check in process was? How strict is this port with checking in early? Is there a time period that is normally slower that we can try/ask to check in prior to the 1pm time we have? If we try to check in early, do we get put in a early/late check in line or do we have to sit and wait for our time before even joining a line?

 

This will be the first time we cruise out of this port - any cruisers recently sail out of New Orelans that can share their check in process? Unfortunately we are only gold and do not have FTTF. Thanks!

[brcruiser]

We cruise out of New Orleans yearly and they have a line for cruisers who are there before their scheduled time. If the line of people going in on schedule dwindles they do let the early arrivals in, but it all depends on the lines. If you want to get on before your time make sure to find the line for early guests. They usually load earlier than your assigned time.

[cruisewithwife]

33 minutes ago, brcruiser said:

We cruise out of New Orleans yearly and they have a line for cruisers who are there before their scheduled time. If the line of people going in on schedule dwindles they do let the early arrivals in, but it all depends on the lines. If you want to get on before your time make sure to find the line for early guests. They usually load earlier than your assigned time.

 

Good to know we have FTTF and sailing out of NO this fall for 1st time.  Any advice on parking or hotels?

[brcruiser]

We live about 90 miles from the port so we drive in the day of. When flying from NO we stay at the Hilton across the street from the airport, but if you want to see the French Quarter it is quite a distance from the airport. As far as parking goes we park at the port in the Fulton garage. It connects to the cruise terminal and they unload your luggage for you where other garages require riding a shuttle carrying luggage or dropping off the luggage prior to parking. 

If you let me know the area of town you want to stay I can possibly recommend a hotel. 

[mama_2_boys]

8 hours ago, WeBeCruisinMon said:

Just checked in today for my upcoming cruise out of New Orleans. The earliest check in time available was 1-1:30pm.

 

Anyone recently sail out of this port and can explain how the check in process was? How strict is this port with checking in early? Is there a time period that is normally slower that we can try/ask to check in prior to the 1pm time we have? If we try to check in early, do we get put in a early/late check in line or do we have to sit and wait for our time before even joining a line?

 

This will be the first time we cruise out of this port - any cruisers recently sail out of New Orelans that can share their check in process? Unfortunately we are only gold and do not have FTTF. Thanks!

Did you pick your check in time as soon as they opened up? We are cruising out of NOLA in October and I've been trying to find out the earliest we can board without FTTF. Our boarding times haven't opened yet.

[jayscore]

We're sailing out of NOLA this April. The earliest check in time seems to be 11:30 AM. I assume this goes for FTTF,  Platinum, and above...........

[mdsgu]

If you have FTTF or you are Plat/Dia, you can show up when you wish.  Your boarding passes and luggage tags will all say priority and you can cut in line.

[cruisegus]

12 hours ago, brcruiser said:

As far as parking goes we park at the port in the Fulton garage. It connects to the cruise terminal and they unload your luggage for you where other garages require riding a shuttle carrying luggage or dropping off the luggage prior to parking.

is there a difference between "Fulton Garage" and "Fulton Place Garage" ??