How late can you show up for embarkation and still be allowed to board?

[Sigyn]

Curious how late you can show up for a cruise and still be allowed to board. 

[CruiserBruce]

Typically 60 minutes, but that may vary by cruise line to as much as 2 hours prior.

[navybankerteacher]

If you are lucky and three bus loads of passengers who had booked transfers through the line were four hours late arriving, you would probably be fine coming three and a half hours late.  On the other hand, if all other passengers had boarded, the pilot had other ships to take out, a storm was threatening, or the falling tide might make the channel impassible - being 30 seconds late could mean you would be standing on the pier watching the ship sail.

 

Like so much else in life - it kind of just depends...

[John Bull]

Any answers are going to be full of if's and but's and it-depends.

 

Main consideration is the need to provide to the embarkation port's immigration officers the ship's manifest of who's aboard. That depends on which embarkation country and possibly other considerations like nationality or luggage. I reckon either 1 hour or 90 minutes - but I won't argue with Bruce's up-to-two-hours, and I reckon there'll be countries which aren't too fussy.

I used to drive ships' transfer coaches in the UK, and one time when we were severely delayed by traffic I received a call from the shore agent in Southampton asking for the names of the passengers on my coach - a passenger kindly fielded the call and provided the names, on the basis that all would be aboard when it sailed. Whether that was technically legal .............. hmmmm 😏

 

If a large number of passengers are late (fogged-in airport or whatever), the ship can make-up lost time, and a departure slot and pilot are available then they're likely to be OK, and you may be too.

If you're pretty-well the only party to show up late, your luck will probably be out.

 

JB 🙂

[cruisemom42]

The best thing to do is find out from the cruise line what is the latest time you can board on your particular cruise. Then plan accordingly.

[LHT28]

Embarkations   day  if  a US port you usually need to be ONBOARD  90 mins prior   so plane on 2 hrs  or you will be waving bye bye  to the ship

Port stop  I would plan on 45 mins being onboard  

[Essiesmom]

It used to be you had to be checked in and onboard 30 min before sailing if you had done online checkin.  If you hadn’t done the online thing, it was 60 min.  But I think that has stretched to at least one hour.  That’s checked in and onboard, not walking in the door of the terminal.  EM

[navybankerteacher]

8 hours ago, njsmom said:

Curious how late you can show up for a cruise and still be allowed to board. 

Two possible meanings of question:

a) How little time before sail away can one board a cruise ship?
b) How many minutes after posted deadline for boarding will they still let you board?
 

Either way, the answer remains: It depends.

[weltek]

I see your upcoming cruise is on NCL.  https://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/prepare-for-your-cruise/departure-day  See below in bold. Now, if you are in a delayed flight situation, you may have some leniency. If you are worried about this, make sure your check in is completed very thoroughly ahead of time on ncl.com, and carry the cruise line phone number with you and keep them apprised of your situation. My sister had this happen on Christmas Day and there was a cruise rep waiting for them at the airport and the gangway literally closed up behind them when they boarded. Not sure if they'll be so kind and helpful on other days of the year.

 

Final Boarding Time:
In order to facilitate the embarkation process, the processing of your eDocs, and to comply with new government regulations governing departure manifest, all guests are required to complete check-in at the cruise terminal and be onboard the ship no later than one hour prior to the departure time noted on their cruise documents or they will not be permitted to sail. Please note that guests who have not filled out their Online Check-In must arrive at the port two (2) hours prior to sailing.

Joining or debarking the ship at any time outside of the published embark/debark port is not permitted for the following reasons:

• Itineraries are subject to change without notice.
• Violation of the Passenger Vessel Act (Jones Act), if applicable.

Approval to embark or disembark mid-cruise may be allowed only in cases of emergencies. Please note that embarking or disembarking mid-cruise may result in a violation of the Passenger Vessel Act (Jones Act), resulting in a fine starting at $798 per person.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I would say it varies depending on the port and the cruise line.  For example, during the 2022 at Pier 91 in Seattle terminal doors closed at 3 PM for Royal and Celebrity.  Carnival had a 'hard close' at 3:20 PM.  All were for a 4 PM sailing.  Each season it's a little different.  Do keep in mind that once the gangway is pulled, no one gets on the ship. 

 

So, we had instances of passengers arriving late to the pier, the ship was still at the dock, but these poor passengers were denied entry to the terminal because they arrived after the 'hard close'.  It's not a comfortable situation for shoreside staff, nor for the late arriving passengers.  There was one incident where a couple of late arriving passengers rushed the locked terminal doors when the doors were cracked open to talk to them.  The passengers rushed in past staff and made a beeline for the elevator.  Security literally forced the elevator doors open, preventing the elevator from going up.  Security had to remove and hold on to (at this point) the transgressing passengers' luggage to prevent them from getting to the already closed check-in area.  While it makes for an interesting story, it wasn't fun to witness.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

I would say it varies depending on the port and the cruise line.  For example, during the 2022 at Pier 91 in Seattle terminal doors closed at 3 PM for Royal and Celebrity.  Carnival had a 'hard close' at 3:20 PM.  All were for a 4 PM sailing.  Each season it's a little different.  Do keep in mind that once the gangway is pulled, no one gets on the ship. 

 

So, we had instances of passengers arriving late to the pier, the ship was still at the dock, but these poor passengers were denied entry to the terminal because they arrived after the 'hard close'.  It's not a comfortable situation for shoreside staff, nor for the late arriving passengers.  There was one incident where a couple of late arriving passengers rushed the locked terminal doors when the doors were cracked open to talk to them.  The passengers rushed in past staff and made a beeline for the elevator.  Security literally forced the elevator doors open, preventing the elevator from going up.  Security had to remove and hold on to (at this point) the transgressing passengers' luggage to prevent them from getting to the already closed check-in area.  While it makes for an interesting story, it wasn't fun to witness.

And I am sure it was even less fun for the passengers and security. 😢

[Ferry_Watcher]

18 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

And I am sure it was even less fun for the passengers and security. 😢

 

Yes.  The two security officers each had their back on either side of the front of the elevator to keep the doors from closing, while at the same time rolling out of the elevator the luggage of the door rushers.  The goal was to prevent these two from getting any where near the ship.  It was an interesting interaction to witness.

[Sigyn]

3 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

I would say it varies depending on the port and the cruise line.  For example, during the 2022 at Pier 91 in Seattle terminal doors closed at 3 PM for Royal and Celebrity.  Carnival had a 'hard close' at 3:20 PM.  All were for a 4 PM sailing.  Each season it's a little different.  Do keep in mind that once the gangway is pulled, no one gets on the ship. 

 

So, we had instances of passengers arriving late to the pier, the ship was still at the dock, but these poor passengers were denied entry to the terminal because they arrived after the 'hard close'.  It's not a comfortable situation for shoreside staff, nor for the late arriving passengers.  There was one incident where a couple of late arriving passengers rushed the locked terminal doors when the doors were cracked open to talk to them.  The passengers rushed in past staff and made a beeline for the elevator.  Security literally forced the elevator doors open, preventing the elevator from going up.  Security had to remove and hold on to (at this point) the transgressing passengers' luggage to prevent them from getting to the already closed check-in area.  While it makes for an interesting story, it wasn't fun to witness.

Yikes, that's awful. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, njsmom said:

Yikes, that's awful. 

 

All in a day's work!

 

Another story was a party of 4 who when arriving at the check-in counter didn't have their negative Covid tests results.  Apparently they took the test at Walgreens, but Walgreen's had not yet sent them the results.  (There were significant problems with Walgreen's getting tests results out in a timely manner during the 2022 cruise season).  These passengers were told that they couldn't be checked-in until we had a copy of their negative test result.  They were also told that Walgreen's had been problematic, but that there was testing available on site, but they would have to pay out-of-pocket - about $100 each.  These folks dug-in their heels and declared that they had taken the test at Walgreen's, and it wasn't their fault that the test results hadn't come thru yet, and that they were not going to spend $100 each to retake the test.  Doors for this cruise line closed at 3 PM, and about 2:45 pm they decided that maybe they should take advantage of the on site testing.  Unfortunately, at that point it was too late to get them to the testing area, get the results and have them back in time to board the ship.  They were told that the window for doing all this was closed and that even though they had been in the terminal for hours awaiting their Walgreen's results, that they waited too long and they were being denied boarding.  Well the phones came out recording staff and security, unpleasant things were said to security, a sit-down protest in the middle of check-in ensued, and it finally ended with the arrival of 2 Port of Seattle Police officers.  Once they saw they the officers they left.

 

I had never seen anything like that, especially the sitting down on the floor with the phones out recording.  It was crazy!  And to add insult to injury, they probably didn't get a refund since they couldn't produce a negative Covid test result.  I still shake my head at that one.

[Sigyn]

13 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

All in a day's work!

 

Another story was a party of 4 who when arriving at the check-in counter didn't have their negative Covid tests results.  Apparently they took the test at Walgreens, but Walgreen's had not yet sent them the results.  (There were significant problems with Walgreen's getting tests results out in a timely manner during the 2022 cruise season).  These passengers were told that they couldn't be checked-in until we had a copy of their negative test result.  They were also told that Walgreen's had been problematic, but that there was testing available on site, but they would have to pay out-of-pocket - about $100 each.  These folks dug-in their heels and declared that they had taken the test at Walgreen's, and it wasn't their fault that the test results hadn't come thru yet, and that they were not going to spend $100 each to retake the test.  Doors for this cruise line closed at 3 PM, and about 2:45 pm they decided that maybe they should take advantage of the on site testing.  Unfortunately, at that point it was too late to get them to the testing area, get the results and have them back in time to board the ship.  They were told that the window for doing all this was closed and that even though they had been in the terminal for hours awaiting their Walgreen's results, that they waited too long and they were being denied boarding.  Well the phones came out recording staff and security, unpleasant things were said to security, a sit-down protest in the middle of check-in ensued, and it finally ended with the arrival of 2 Port of Seattle Police officers.  Once they saw they the officers they left.

 

I had never seen anything like that, especially the sitting down on the floor with the phones out recording.  It was crazy!  And to add insult to injury, they probably didn't get a refund since they couldn't produce a negative Covid test result.  I still shake my head at that one.

I wonder if they flew to meet the ship at the first port? 

[Ferry_Watcher]

26 minutes ago, njsmom said:

I wonder if they flew to meet the ship at the first port? 

 

I doubt it, because at that point they didn't seem to want any interaction with pier staff.  They were still in the disbelief/anger stage - not the 'how do we make this work' stage.  

[Sigyn]

11 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

I doubt it, because at that point they didn't seem to want any interaction with pier staff.  They were still in the disbelief/anger stage - not the 'how do we make this work' stage.  

That's sad. People like that approach everything in life with that same attitude. 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by njsmom

[ontheweb]

11 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

All in a day's work!

 

Another story was a party of 4 who when arriving at the check-in counter didn't have their negative Covid tests results.  Apparently they took the test at Walgreens, but Walgreen's had not yet sent them the results.  (There were significant problems with Walgreen's getting tests results out in a timely manner during the 2022 cruise season).  These passengers were told that they couldn't be checked-in until we had a copy of their negative test result.  They were also told that Walgreen's had been problematic, but that there was testing available on site, but they would have to pay out-of-pocket - about $100 each.  These folks dug-in their heels and declared that they had taken the test at Walgreen's, and it wasn't their fault that the test results hadn't come thru yet, and that they were not going to spend $100 each to retake the test.  Doors for this cruise line closed at 3 PM, and about 2:45 pm they decided that maybe they should take advantage of the on site testing.  Unfortunately, at that point it was too late to get them to the testing area, get the results and have them back in time to board the ship.  They were told that the window for doing all this was closed and that even though they had been in the terminal for hours awaiting their Walgreen's results, that they waited too long and they were being denied boarding.  Well the phones came out recording staff and security, unpleasant things were said to security, a sit-down protest in the middle of check-in ensued, and it finally ended with the arrival of 2 Port of Seattle Police officers.  Once they saw they the officers they left.

 

I had never seen anything like that, especially the sitting down on the floor with the phones out recording.  It was crazy!  And to add insult to injury, they probably didn't get a refund since they couldn't produce a negative Covid test result.  I still shake my head at that one.

And the follow up was probably them suing Walgreens!

[John Bull]

12 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

All in a day's work!

 

Another story was a party of 4 who when arriving at the check-in counter didn't have their negative Covid tests results.  Apparently they took the test at Walgreens, but Walgreen's had not yet sent them the results.  (There were significant problems with Walgreen's getting tests results out in a timely manner during the 2022 cruise season).  These passengers were told that they couldn't be checked-in until we had a copy of their negative test result.  They were also told that Walgreen's had been problematic, but that there was testing available on site, but they would have to pay out-of-pocket - about $100 each.  These folks dug-in their heels and declared that they had taken the test at Walgreen's, and it wasn't their fault that the test results hadn't come thru yet, and that they were not going to spend $100 each to retake the test.  Doors for this cruise line closed at 3 PM, and about 2:45 pm they decided that maybe they should take advantage of the on site testing.  Unfortunately, at that point it was too late to get them to the testing area, get the results and have them back in time to board the ship.  They were told that the window for doing all this was closed and that even though they had been in the terminal for hours awaiting their Walgreen's results, that they waited too long and they were being denied boarding.  Well the phones came out recording staff and security, unpleasant things were said to security, a sit-down protest in the middle of check-in ensued, and it finally ended with the arrival of 2 Port of Seattle Police officers.  Once they saw they the officers they left.

 

I had never seen anything like that, especially the sitting down on the floor with the phones out recording.  It was crazy!  And to add insult to injury, they probably didn't get a refund since they couldn't produce a negative Covid test result.  I still shake my head at that one.

 

I can't help thinking that the simplest solution would have been to take the test offered at the terminal, get a receipt, and seek the $100 test fee from Walgreens.

 

JB 🙂

Edited November 11, 2022 by John Bull

[Essiesmom]

11 hours ago, njsmom said:

I wonder if they flew to meet the ship at the first port? 

 Not a legal option on a r/t Seattle cruise to Alaska due to PVSA, and I’m sure there would not have been any sympathy from cruise line.  And they would have had to pay $700+pp fine.  EM

[ontheweb]

15 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

All in a day's work!

 

Another story was a party of 4 who when arriving at the check-in counter didn't have their negative Covid tests results.  Apparently they took the test at Walgreens, but Walgreen's had not yet sent them the results.  (There were significant problems with Walgreen's getting tests results out in a timely manner during the 2022 cruise season).  These passengers were told that they couldn't be checked-in until we had a copy of their negative test result.  They were also told that Walgreen's had been problematic, but that there was testing available on site, but they would have to pay out-of-pocket - about $100 each.  These folks dug-in their heels and declared that they had taken the test at Walgreen's, and it wasn't their fault that the test results hadn't come thru yet, and that they were not going to spend $100 each to retake the test.  Doors for this cruise line closed at 3 PM, and about 2:45 pm they decided that maybe they should take advantage of the on site testing.  Unfortunately, at that point it was too late to get them to the testing area, get the results and have them back in time to board the ship.  They were told that the window for doing all this was closed and that even though they had been in the terminal for hours awaiting their Walgreen's results, that they waited too long and they were being denied boarding.  Well the phones came out recording staff and security, unpleasant things were said to security, a sit-down protest in the middle of check-in ensued, and it finally ended with the arrival of 2 Port of Seattle Police officers.  Once they saw they the officers they left.

 

I had never seen anything like that, especially the sitting down on the floor with the phones out recording.  It was crazy!  And to add insult to injury, they probably didn't get a refund since they couldn't produce a negative Covid test result.  I still shake my head at that one.

Have you ever thought of writing a book? You seem to have a boatload (pun intended) of these kinds of stories.

[Ferry_Watcher]

@ontheweb, LOL, I imagine that everyone in these type of positions (cruise terminal, airports, etc) have all sorts of stories about passengers and their actions.  Laughing about the antics helps keep us employees sane, and entertained my family during dinner with my stories from my work day.  The Covid protocols amped up the passengers' stress, along with all the airline schedules changes and cancellations.  While these factors don't excuse bad behavior, it does help to explain some of it. 

Really hoping that the 2023 season returns to the old normal

[donaldsc]

I am totally hard nosed with regard to deadlines except possibly when there are significant transportation problems regarding significant numbers of people.  In my opinion if the embarkation instructions say that you MUST be on board 1 hour before departure time and you get there 59 minutes before or you are running down the pier at that time you should not be allowed to board.  There are way too many instances where ships are held for late passengers.  This just encourages the late people to assume that they can get away w it.

 

We had a friend who we joked would be late for her own funeral.  The and her husband were doing a trip to Hawaii and she did her usual last minute arrival at the airport.  The plane had not departed yet but the 10 minute period before departure time had been reached.  She was not allowed to board.  This meant that they missed their connection for their Hawaii flight.

 

She never pulled that stunt again.

 

DON

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

@ontheweb, LOL, I imagine that everyone in these type of positions (cruise terminal, airports, etc) have all sorts of stories about passengers and their actions.  Laughing about the antics helps keep us employees sane, and entertained my family during dinner with my stories from my work day.  The Covid protocols amped up the passengers' stress, along with all the airline schedules changes and cancellations.  While these factors don't excuse bad behavior, it does help to explain some of it. 

Really hoping that the 2023 season returns to the old normal

I truly enjoy your stories.

 

Our one cruise out of Seattle was in 2010 on Princess. Is it possible we met?

[Ferry_Watcher]

17 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Our one cruise out of Seattle was in 2010 on Princess. Is it possible we met?

 

 

My Pier 91 experience began after 2010, and I almost always worked the HAL side of the terminal.  The nice thing about Pier 91 is the availability to work HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Carnival.  It use to be that if you were doing check-in that you would have to learn 5 different operating check-in systems.  During the 2021 season, Celebrity and Royal introduced a single check-in program that both lines use.  IMHO, it's been a dream to use.  The most challenging is Carnival, mostly due it's many pathways of securing a passengers' financial responsibility for onboard expenses, i.e., credit card, cash deposits, third party credit guarantor, gift cards etc.