Lunch on first day

[DarF]

Our ship leaves Ft. Lauderdale on the first day.  Can someone give me an idea of what that day will be like?

What time can we get onthe ship?  What time should we get on the ship?  When will we get to our room and our luggage? Will lunch be available on that first day?

My thought (first timer though) is to get on early (11 ish?) and eat lunch, enjoy the pool until departure or until we can go to our room.  Does this make sense?

Thanks!

Darcy

PS it is the Celebrity Edge if that matters...

[wishIweretravelling]

It indeed matters what cruise line you are on--each one has its own policies.

 

That being said, there's some universals, or at least near-universals. One is that another cruise on that ship has just ended the morning that you are boarding. Which means those passengers all need to leave before you can board.  And there's a certain amount of work that needs to be done to get the ship ready for the next set of guests, work that needs to be unimpeded by the presence of arriving guests.

 

So, very few ships allow new passengers to board before noon. And often it is after noon. There are some that will charge you for the privilege of early boarding; others do not. I don't know whether Celebrity does, but if they do I'm sure you'll get something making you the offer.

 

And if you do board noon-ish, it is unlikely that your cabin will be ready then.  You'll likely be invited to have lunch at the buffet and to hang out somewhere until your room is ready. The pool is always a nice place for that if the weather cooperates.

 

Once you get into your cabin, you luggage might be waiting for you, or it might be a while before it arrives. It always seems rather random to me. I guess it's like waiting at the baggage carousel in an airport---you never know if your bag will be among the first, among the last, or in the middle. But at least I've never met anyone who, once their bags got to the cruiseline, did not eventually get their bags.

 

Hope this helps.

[Host Kat]

Howdy Darf!

 

Thank you for your post on the Ask a Cruise Question forum and welcome to Cruise Critic! 👍 

 

However, since your inquiry concerns one particular ship with one particular cruise line, I have moved your thread to the Celebrity Cruises forum where it will be on topic. Also, the majority of your fellow Cruise Critic members that have sailed or will be sailing Celebrity frequent this forum.

 

Cruise Critic is a great resource and we are so glad you found us!   Please feel free to browse the Categories list. Read a few threads in various forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads on the top of the first page of threads in a forum. You will find very important instructions or information there.

 

Please remember the following stated in the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our free memberships:

 

Browse Before You Post
Browse a topic first to see if your question has already been asked or answered by someone else. Also, many of the major cruise lines forums have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) topic that has been created by our members. Give that a try first. Browsing is your #1 best resource! Please post your messages in an appropriate topic so that you'll receive the best possible response. It is very time consuming to move misplaced messages that are in the wrong topics.

 

Anytime you want to start a new thread on any forum, make sure you are on the correct forum for your topic. Word your new thread title in a way to help the members know exactly the information you seek. This will help the members that know the information and they will reply to you. It is best to limit each inquiry to only one topic or concerning one cruise line, ship, port of call, etc. and of course, on the correct forum.   You will get more replies that way. Be sure to mention your cruise line, ship, port or sail date in your inquiry if it will help the members with their answers.

 

For finding fellow Cruise Critic members sailing with you on your cruise, please read What is a Roll Call? Everything you Need to Know and How To: Create A New Roll Call . Please note tour/transportation share requests may only be posted on the Roll Call thread for your cruise sail date and in no other forum.

 

And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to go to our Member Cruise Reviews section and submit your review for publication!

 

I sincerely hope this will be helpful and glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic!

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by Host Kat
Typo due to fat fingers & skinny keys!

[davekathy]

24 minutes ago, DarF said:

Our ship leaves Ft. Lauderdale on the first day.  Can someone give me an idea of what that day will be like?

What time can we get onthe ship?  What time should we get on the ship?  When will we get to our room and our luggage? Will lunch be available on that first day?

My thought (first timer though) is to get on early (11 ish?) and eat lunch, enjoy the pool until departure or until we can go to our room.  Does this make sense?

Thanks!

Darcy

PS it is the Celebrity Edge if that matters...

Welcome to CC. If you are on the ship before 1:00 PM you are allowed to go to your stateroom to drop off any carry on luggage but not allowed to hang out in your stateroom. There will be an announcement when the staterooms are ready. Usually 1 or 1:30. Also your Sea Pass cards will be in a sealed envelope on your stateroom door. Once you leave the stateroom take your Sea Pass cards with you. What stateroom category are you staying in? If you're not in a Concierge Class stateroom you won't have access to the MDR for lunch the first day. Your options are the Ovenview cafe' (buffet) is open and so will the Mast Grill. Hot dogs, hamburger and fries.  

Edited November 12, 2019 by davekathy

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Also, you cannot be in the pool or stateroom until departure as there is a mandatory muster drill (and PLEASE if you have been in the pool give yourself enough time to change into something dry as many stations are indoors and you sit...nothing worse than later that evening sitting in a chair someone’s wet butt had been in because they went to muster soaking wet) before the ship can depart.

[39august]

You can check in as early as 10:15 usually. Boarding probably will not start until 11. The Oceanview Buffet usually opens by 11:30 for lunch.Be sure you first go to your cabin and get you cards before doing anything else.

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Also, you cannot be in the pool or stateroom until departure as there is a mandatory muster drill (and PLEASE if you have been in the pool give yourself enough time to change into something dry as many stations are indoors and you sit...nothing worse than later that evening sitting in a chair someone’s wet butt had been in because they went to muster soaking wet) before the ship can depart.

That has never been our experiences. We have always been in our stateroom as soon as they make the announcement, before departure and usually unpacked before the muster drill. Then when the muster drill announcement is made we leave our stateroom and head down to our assigned muster station meeting place. You can't be in your stateroom during the muster drill and until the muster drill is complete. 

Edited November 13, 2019 by davekathy

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

5 minutes ago, davekathy said:

That has never been our experiences. We have always been in our stateroom as soon as they make the announcement, before departure and usually unpacked before the muster drill. Then when the muster drill announcement is made we leave our stateroom and head down to our assigned muster station meeting place. You can't be in your stateroom during the muster drill and until the muster drill is complete. 

Which is what I was saying. The poster I quoted said they would be in the pool or their stateroom until departure. You can get to your stateroom before departure but you cannot stay there until departure as you must attend muster drill. Just as they can be in the pool after boarding but still must attend muster so they cannot be in the pool until departure because of muster drill.

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Which is what I was saying. The poster I quoted said they would be in the pool or their stateroom until departure. You can get to your stateroom before departure but you cannot stay there until departure as you must attend muster drill. Just as they can be in the pool after boarding but still must attend muster so they cannot be in the pool until departure because of muster drill.

I guess your post didn't read as you intended, at least to me as there wasn't a quote in your post. No biggie. We both are on the same page.