Suite Guest boarding process now

[RSLeesburg]

We are scheduled to take our first cruise since 2019, and wondered about how they are handling suite guests now.  In the past, we just showed up whenever we wanted and boarded when we arrived.  But has that changed?  Will be assigned a boarding time that is enforced?  Curious to know what others have experienced as I booked a car service for that morning and want to know when I should arrange for pickup.  We are traveling on Harmony out of PC if that makes a difference.  

[DCPIV]

II don't know how it is at the moment, and I don't know how things have been at PC, but the fleetwide policy was somewhat limited earlier this year.  You still had to schedule an arrival time, but suite guests could arrive and be checked in up to an hour before that arrival time.  Of course, that also was limited to when the terminal opened for arrivals (i.e., if they opened at 11 AM, then that's the earliest you could get in).

[xxHadleyxx]

We have a suite for our cruise on Sunday....the email from the concierge says we can board up to one hour before or after our arrival time, so log as the terminal is open.  That's out of Copenhagen though, not sure if it is across the board.

Edited June 2, 2022 by xxHadleyxx

[DCPIV]

I'll add that you may or may not have dedicated suite security and check-in lines.  You may have one, both, or neither.  That depends entirely on the port, though.

[orville99]

We have sailed out of Port Canaveral 10 times since the restart, and all have been in suites. We usually arrive between 10:30 and 11:00, and as long as they are letting passengers in to the terminal, we just walk up to the person managing the queue and identify ourselves as sailing in a suite, and they direct us to a separate (shorter) Suite/Pinnacle line to board ahead of the queue. We typically are through the check in process and ready to board within 10-15 minutes of entering the terminal.

[dcgrumpy]

We sailed on Harmony 2 weeks ago. They had a separate short line for suites/pinnacles/the Key. 

 

The rest of us were in one very, very, long line with no enforcement of check in times. what a **** show. So be very happy that you are in a suite. LOL

Edited June 2, 2022 by dcgrumpy

[RSLeesburg]

Thanks.  Our checkin time has not been assigned, but we’re planning to get there earlier.  We will see what time we get assigned, and then what concierge tells us.  

[orville99]

25 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

The rest of us were in one very, very, long line with no enforcement of check in times

That is probably because no one pays any attention to the post restart boarding time process and just assumes that everything is back to normal and arrival times no longer matter. There actually are staff trying to manage the queues (and yes the queues are segmented by arrival time), but they get overwhelmed by people who just don't care.

[RSLeesburg]

29 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

We sailed on Harmony 2 weeks ago. They had a separate short line for suites/pinnacles/the Key. 

 

The rest of us were in one very, very, long line with no enforcement of check in times. what a **** show. So be very happy that you are in a suite. LOL

How was Harmony?  We have not been on her in a long time.  Were supposed to sail on Anthem this summer, but something came up and cannot spend two weeks in Europe like we planned so switched over to Harmony at the last minute.  

[dcgrumpy]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

That is probably because no one pays any attention to the post restart boarding time process and just assumes that everything is back to normal and arrival times no longer matter. There actually are staff trying to manage the queues (and yes the queues are segmented by arrival time), but they get overwhelmed by people who just don't care.

It wasn't like that 2 weeks ago. There were no separate queues. It was one long zigzag line like we were waiting to ride Space Mountain. We even asked when we arrived if there were separate lines and we were told no. We arrived at 11:25 for an 11:30 check in time. We waited outside for over an hour. 

[orville99]

4 minutes ago, RSLeesburg said:

Thanks.  Our checkin time has not been assigned, but we’re planning to get there earlier.  We will see what time we get assigned, and then what concierge tells us.  

They don't "assign" check in times, you need to go out to your C&A account or the app and select the check in time you want (based on availability). Check in time selection availability opens up ~30 days out from your cruise.

[dcgrumpy]

6 minutes ago, RSLeesburg said:

How was Harmony?  We have not been on her in a long time.  Were supposed to sail on Anthem this summer, but something came up and cannot spend two weeks in Europe like we planned so switched over to Harmony at the last minute.  

 

We had a good time. I wouldn't say it was my favorite cruise but I would sail on her again. Service was great, ship was in great shape. Except the stupid mister thing in the Solarium didn't work. LOL. I didn't think I would miss a pool in the Solarium, but it was so hot. A couple of times I just ran the shower over myself so I could cool off.

 

One of my biggest complaints is holding events in venues that are too small. They had so many things in On Air, if you didn't get there an hour early you can forget getting a seat. And the activities team seemed a bit new and didn't know how a lot of the games that they were hosting even worked. But those are all very minor issues. 

 

And some dining venues like dinner in the Solarium Bistro haven't reopened. Some people in my FB group said that they were able to make a reservation beforehand and only found out when they boarded that it's still closed. 

 

But all in all we had a great time. 

[orville99]

7 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

It wasn't like that 2 weeks ago. There were no separate queues. It was one long zigzag line like we were waiting to ride Space Mountain. We even asked when we arrived if there were separate lines and we were told no. We arrived at 11:25 for an 11:30 check in time. We waited outside for over an hour. 

It is quite possible that they have simply given up trying to manage what has over time become a herd of cats, so thank the herd who came before you for the disaster that they created and you endured.

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

Except the stupid mister thing in the Solarium didn't work.

That thing hasn't worked in years.

[molly361]

16 minutes ago, dcgrumpy said:

It wasn't like that 2 weeks ago. There were no separate queues. It was one long zigzag line like we were waiting to ride Space Mountain. We even asked when we arrived if there were separate lines and we were told no. We arrived at 11:25 for an 11:30 check in time. We waited outside for over an hour. 

If that was the May 8th Harmony sailing there was a surprise Coast Guard inspection and that caused the delay.  And if it was that date there WAS a separate suite line, same place it always is on the right facing the terminal entrance

[dcgrumpy]

7 minutes ago, molly361 said:

If that was the May 8th Harmony sailing there was a surprise Coast Guard inspection and that caused the delay.  And if it was that date there WAS a separate suite line, same place it always is on the right facing the terminal entrance

No May 15th. There was a separate suite line. Everyone else waited in one long line.

Edited June 2, 2022 by dcgrumpy