When is the best time to board?

[VeryCuriousCruiser]

When are the lines the shortest to board the ship? We are traveling with our parents and want to give them the least stress possible before boarding. :)

 

Any helpful hints to avoid long lines and unnecessary waiting? Any suggestions for them when it's time to leave the ship?

[RuthC]

Lines tend to be long first thing when the doors open---lots of folks want to get every single minute of the cruise (me, too:D ). If you plan to arrive in the afternoon---maybe 1:00-ish---there should be minimal wait.

When it's time to disembark you may stay in your cabin until the very end, but it's not required. You may also go to a comfortable spot in a lounge, or on deck. I find that heading up to the Lido pool area gives me a nice view, fresh air, and an easy shot at the elevator;)

If your parents have any mobility problem with standing or walking you can have your TA inquire about getting them wheelchairs for (dis)/embarkation.

As far a reducing stress goes---my advice is take a deep breath, relax, and have patience. Everyone wants to get on first; seems everyone wants to get off first, too. Somebody's gotta be last.

[knowla1]

We just got off the Oosterdam last week and got to the pier around 11:30 am (SanDiego) We did not have to wait in line, but did have to wait about 1/2 hour on benches until they called our group to enter. Had a nice lunch on the lido deck.Just had to lug our carry on's with us.

 

Tip, we printed up the immigration form ahead of time and that seemed to speed up the check in process. You might also do the credit card form ahead of time so that you can just hand it to the clerk..less standing that way.

[senator6]

Lines can be long anytime, for example if a few buses came in at 12:30 that would create a long line. Since you normaly have to wait for your room until after 1PM that might be a good time to avoid stress.

[VeryCuriousCruiser]

Great advice! Thank you!

On the last cruise I took (with NCL) we had a 2 hour line before boarding. Yikes!

 

Any other helpful advice for older travelers?

[kryos]

I personally prefer to board later. My feeling has always been that a cruise doesn't really start until sailaway ... so getting on the boat early doesn't really matter. In my case, I'm not worried about booking spa appointments or specialty dining reservations, so there's no real benefit in getting on the boat early.

 

So, I usually board at around 2:00 or so if my schedule works out, and as a result I've rarely encountered any lines at all. During my last four cruises, from the time I entered the terminal to when I was walking onboard ... usually less than half an hour. My most recent cruise on the Amsterdam was my personal best, though ... ten minutes. Can't beat that.

 

As long as I am in the embarkation city early ... and thus assured I won't miss the boat ... I see no reason to rush to get to the terminal.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Aussie Gal]

I am feel the opposite to Rita. We always board early, around 11.30am as we want to enjoy the ship as long as possible.

 

We have never had to wait more than 15 minutes to board and once we are on the ship we always go straight to the Lido and have a bite to eat as on HAL the cabins are usually not ready until 1pm.

 

On our last cruise which was the Regal Princess, our cabin was ready as soon as we boarded, which was around noon, and we were taken straight there.

 

Jennie

[noblepa]

One thing you can do to speed up the process, no matter what time you arrive at the pier, is to have all your paperwork filled out ahead of time. You can enter information into the immigration form online and print it off. Otherwise, you will have to fill it out at the embarkation desk, which can be time consuming, especially if there are four or more of you.

 

I believe that there is paperwork in your cruise documents on which you provide credit card information to fund you onboard account. If you wish to fund it with cash, you might consider contacting HAL and sending the money in ahead of time.

 

Make sure you have the necessary identification readily available. Until the end of this year, a certified birth certificate and government-issued photo id, such as a driver license is still legally acceptable. After Dec. 31, 2006, a passport will be required. If you do not have the necessary identification, you will be denied boarding, with no refund. If you don't already have them, I recommend getting passports immediately. More and more cruise lines are gearing up for the deadline when the US government will require them, and it just makes things a little easier. The passport office recommends allowing eight weeks to get a passport. We got ours in about four weeks, but that was before Katrina destroyed the New Orleans passport center.

 

Bon voyage.

 

Paul Noble