Online Check-in Questions

[Eli_6]

I know you can check in 90 days out, but what time does it start? (Midnight Eastern Time zone?  Departure time in Port of call?). I am wanting to do it asap to ensure everyone has the same time since we will be in four cabins.

 

Also, I know I may not have a choice since no fttf available and no one is in a suite or platinum, but what is the best check in time in Galveston if I do have a choice? Or does it not matter since it is staggered?

 

I think before we checked in at 12:30 or 1, but someone had a hear attack on the gang plank and they had to shut down check in completely so I didn't get a sense of what check in was like.

[shof515]

midnight eastern time

[RWolver672]

Since they  started the assigned check in times, some of the ports have moved the earliest times to later.  Without being priority, and you have a time anywhere after noon, you should be able to check in and walk right on the ship.  If you get there before boarding starts, you will have to sit in a waiting area until it does begin which is usually somewhere between 10:30-11:30 depending on how soon the ship clears from the previous cruise.

[TNcruising02]

On my last couple of cruises, the boarding zone has been assigned when I did my online check-in instead of at the port.  So, it really helps to do the online check-in as soon as possible.  You should be able to get the earliest appointment time and earliest boarding zone.  Like shof515 said, it's eastern time.  If you can check in just after midnight eastern time, you should have the best options.

On my last cruise, I checked in right after midnight and got an appointment time of 11:30 to 12:00 and a boarding zone of A1.  I arrived at the port at 10:45, so had to go through the early/late line.  Thankfully, there were only a couple of people in it.  I got lucky.  Anyway, they called zone A1 at 11:05 so I was on the ship before my appointment time.  If my boarding zone was higher, I would have had to have waited a bit.  Early/late lines are hit and miss.  In New Orleans, it was very long.  That entire process was a mess.  I haven't cruised out of Galveston for awhile, so I'm not sure what their boarding is like now.

[shof515]

24 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

On my last cruise, I checked in right after midnight and got an appointment time of 11:30 to 12:00 and a boarding zone of A1.  I arrived at the port at 10:45, so had to go through the early/late line.  Thankfully, there were only a couple of people in it.  I got lucky.  Anyway, they called zone A1 at 11:05 so I was on the ship before my appointment time.

when i cruised on the sunrise a few months ago out of new york, my boarding docs also had A1 but then the port ignore that and they were still giving out and using the old boarding zone card system. slightly annoyed that the card they gave me was a different number. lucky i still got on the ship within a reasonable time.

[Organized Chaos]

16 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I know you can check in 90 days out, but what time does it start? (Midnight Eastern Time zone?  Departure time in Port of call?). I am wanting to do it asap to ensure everyone has the same time since we will be in four cabins.

 

Also, I know I may not have a choice since no fttf available and no one is in a suite or platinum, but what is the best check in time in Galveston if I do have a choice? Or does it not matter since it is staggered?

 

If online check-in doesn't appear right away, give it a few minutes. I did our a few weeks ago. I didn't think it was going to show up, but I kept refreshing the page and it finally came up around 12:05 eastern.

 

If you're still interested in FTTF, keep checking, especially around your final payment date. When people cancel, they tend to do it shortly before final payment date to avoid penalties, so it's a good time to catch their FTTF. Our final payment date is in a couple weeks and we finally got a FTTF a few days ago (around 4:30 am). It helps to check late at night/early in the morning before someone else grabs it.

[Eli_6]

We got a 12-12:30 check in so I don't even know if there is a point of doing fftf now.  

[Eli_6]

I don't think Galveston starts boarding at all until 11 a.m.  

 

Noon was the earliest time.  We are zone A01.

[summersigh]

I just checked in last week at 12:01 am on the day it became available.

It seemed to make the check-in changes right at midnight.

[Organized Chaos]

44 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

We got a 12-12:30 check in so I don't even know if there is a point of doing fftf now.  

 

If you got FTTF, your cabin would be ready when you got on board instead of waiting till 1-1:30. That's a big one for me because it's nice if you have carry-on bags. And I like the priority line at Guest Services. If you have a tender port, it gives you priority tender, and priority debarkation at the end. So just keep in mind there's some other perks to consider.

[Eli_6]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

If you got FTTF, your cabin would be ready when you got on board instead of waiting till 1-1:30. That's a big one for me because it's nice if you have carry-on bags. And I like the priority line at Guest Services. If you have a tender port, it gives you priority tender, and priority debarkation at the end. So just keep in mind there's some other perks to consider.

We are paying for 4 rooms so probably not worth it for this cruise.  I got it for our next one.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Eli_6

[Lottacruises]

Midnight?

[summersigh]

13 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

Midnight?

Online check-in ... including the option to choose a terminal arrival appointment ... becomes available right after midnight the date your Cruise Manager says Online Checking will open.  For our 5 day out of Charleston it was 80 days ahead of sailing.

Edited September 23, 2019 by summersigh

[Gallivanting Souls]

Sweating the details here.

I am on Pacific time. Do I have to wait until mn here? Does my computer need to say mn, or am I ok checking in 9pm here since it will be midnight there?

I can check in Oct 20th.

[shof515]

5 hours ago, familyoutdoors said:

Sweating the details here.

I am on Pacific time. Do I have to wait until mn here? Does my computer need to say mn, or am I ok checking in 9pm here since it will be midnight there?

I can check in Oct 20th.

 Midnight eastern time is 9pm pacific time so you will only need to wait till 9pm

[KattyPoo]

My sister and I are platinum so we getting to board early but the other couple going with us are not and we both have connecting rooms.  Will Carnival let us board together or is that something that I should expect Carnival not to allow>

 

[RWolver672]

16 hours ago, KattyPoo said:

My sister and I are platinum so we getting to board early but the other couple going with us are not and we both have connecting rooms.  Will Carnival let us board together or is that something that I should expect Carnival not to allow>

 

 

Unfortunately, no.  The only way you will be able to board together is to wait and board with the other couple.  

 

[PhillyFan33579]

16 hours ago, KattyPoo said:

My sister and I are platinum so we getting to board early but the other couple going with us are not and we both have connecting rooms.  Will Carnival let us board together or is that something that I should expect Carnival not to allow>

 

 

I can only address Florida ports, but they can’t join you in the priority lounge. You literally have to show your boarding pass with the priority chevron on it to 4-5 people  before being allowed into the priority waiting area.

 

On the other hand, as the last poster mentioned, you can always wait with the other couple in the regular area and board with them. Or do what I would recommend if you want to board together, show up during the other couple’s check-in window. If it is 12 PM or later, odds are good you both will walk non-stop from the time you enter the terminal until you are on the ship. 

[Eli_6]

On 9/24/2019 at 12:11 AM, familyoutdoors said:

Sweating the details here.

I am on Pacific time. Do I have to wait until mn here? Does my computer need to say mn, or am I ok checking in 9pm here since it will be midnight there?

I can check in Oct 20th.

I was able to check in at 11 pm Houston, Texas (central) time which was midnight Eastern time. My computer read 11 pm.  I typed in name and then skipped forward to the check in time and selected the earliest.

[Gallivanting Souls]

On 9/28/2019 at 5:48 PM, Eli_6 said:

I was able to check in at 11 pm Houston, Texas (central) time which was midnight Eastern time. My computer read 11 pm.  I typed in name and then skipped forward to the check in time and selected the earliest.

Great. Cheers to the OCD planners (me included). Thanks for chiming in!

[pacruise804]

On 9/22/2019 at 10:22 AM, shof515 said:

when i cruised on the sunrise a few months ago out of new york, my boarding docs also had A1 but then the port ignore that and they were still giving out and using the old boarding zone card system. slightly annoyed that the card they gave me was a different number. lucky i still got on the ship within a reasonable time.

When we sailed Sunrise from Brooklyn they observed the documents for calling numbers, maybe that was an unexpected bonus from switching from Manhattan.

[xDisconnections]

On 9/28/2019 at 8:29 AM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I can only address Florida ports, but they can’t join you in the priority lounge. You literally have to show your boarding pass with the priority chevron on it to 4-5 people  before being allowed into the priority waiting area.

 

On the other hand, as the last poster mentioned, you can always wait with the other couple in the regular area and board with them. Or do what I would recommend if you want to board together, show up during the other couple’s check-in window. If it is 12 PM or later, odds are good you both will walk non-stop from the time you enter the terminal until you are on the ship. 

Good stuff.

[Cruzenplatinum]

I have an assigned arrival appointment of 1:30pm to 2:00pm on an upcoming cruise out of San Pedro CA. I am platinum. Is an assigned arrival time the time I need to arrive or because I am platinum doe that over ride the arrival time?

[Organized Chaos]

46 minutes ago, Cruzenplatinum said:

I have an assigned arrival appointment of 1:30pm to 2:00pm on an upcoming cruise out of San Pedro CA. I am platinum. Is an assigned arrival time the time I need to arrive or because I am platinum doe that over ride the arrival time?

 

Everyone has to initially choose an arrival appointment during online check-in, but if you have priority status (such as Platinum, Diamond, FTTF) you can ignore that arrival time and get to the terminal whenever you want.

[ABQrobin]

Galveston check in --- we were just on the Vista Sept 14th-21st, 2 weeks ago.  Our check in time was 11:30, got there right after that, maybe 11:45ish... and our son who is not Platinum, was in the regular line at same time.  We arrived at same time.  He beat us on the ship!  We basically walked right in, got photos taken, went thru Security scans, right up the ramp to ship.. and there he stood in the lobby laughing at us.  No kidding.  He was in regular check in line for his room, and beat us.  

So...what I am saying is that Galveston check in with the new staggered times, works like a charm.  

Edited October 5, 2019 by ABQrobin