Do I Really Need to Print Set Sail Pass?

[orville99]

13 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

3) If I get on the ship early, can I get off to meet my daughter whose arriving later than me? I have her passport, but would rather not wait for her to arrive to check-in

If you get off, you will not only have to go through the entry process again, but you will be at the end of the line when you do. Same as consecutive cruisers who decide to leave the ship and go outside of security for whatever. I presume your daughter has some form of identification since she is flying in to meet the ship. Whatever gets her through the TSA checkpoint at the airport should also get her through the entry process at the terminal.

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, poocher said:

me standing behind the extended family of ten while the planner in the group scrolls left right left again to find the correct seapass to show for each person and;

 

As someone who checks in cruise passengers, I can saw that this is just annoying to terminal staff as well - everyone should have their own, or at least their own family unit.

1 hour ago, poocher said:

me standing in line to get a drink behind the guy who left his phone with his wife and starts screaming “honey, what’s our cabin number?!!!”

True story: I do check-in and one busy day we had Celebrity and Royal ships in.  A lone man (around retirement age) is ready to be checked-in.  He has his passport, but no boarding pass, printed or on his phone - no information about his cruise.  The passport doesn't bring up his name on my computer, and I begin searching the system for him.  He tells me his wife has already checked-in, but doesn't have his boarding pass, stateroom number, nothing. 

 

While I am trying to figure out what is going on, he calls his wife and gets the stateroom number, but the number he gives me doesn't fit with the Celebrity ship he believes he is boarding.  At this point I am thinking he is actually suppose to be on the Royal ship, and I walk over to the Royal side and I pull up his name on their system.   He still has his wife on the phone and asks her if they are sailing on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.  She says Royal, and for whatever reason (shorter line maybe), this guy has been waiting in the Celebrity line.  The lines are all well marked, and their are staff along the way making sure everyone is headed in the correct side of the terminal.  This guy was just completely clueless.

[neverbeenhere]

We print the set sail passes, it always is easier for them to scan.

 

also print the entire cruise contract, because you want to squeeze every potential benefit out of a cruise. (See article 3, paragraph 4, line 13,  it says…)

[Merion_Mom]

I have not sailed from Miami in YEARS, so I am not able to speak to that specific port.

 

I mostly sail out of Cape Liberty, and have not been asked to show ANYTHING to walk into the terminal.  I then go through the security line - also not asked to show anything.  When I then go to the check-in counter, I hand over my passport and show my SetSail Pass on my phone, in my Apple Wallet.  (which does not require internet).  

 

Now that we don't show vaccination cards or test results, the setsail pass would be the ONLY piece of paper, so I have opted to have NO paper.  It only made sense to me to print it out when I was holding three pieces of paper together in one wad.

[DD]

I thought I'd love using my phone to show my Set Sail pass. I do as much as I can digitally, but honestly I found it a pain to juggle the phone during the check-in process. I just did this process in Baltimore.  I had to show it no fewer than 6 times to embark, and each time involved simultaneously juggling my luggage, the phone, swiping to show that we each had a Set Sail pass, keeping my passport open to the photo page, and not dropping anything. So much easier to just show the printed one. #firstworldproblems

Edited November 19, 2022 by DD

[ARandomTraveler]

Reporting back with some updates: 

 

1) I didn't need the printed set sail pass. No issues with wifi or LTE outside the ship, and I had the set sail pass in my apple wallet and that worked fine.

 

2) They ARE checking boarding times. They also have the "gates" up and are making people get into their proper lines, however, once everyone from the previous line has boarded, they'll start letting people on with later times. I got in my "11:00-11:30" line at 10:44, was on the ship by 10:53 (9 minutes).
 

It was much more difficult to make show reservations that I expected. The app was giving everyone problems. Even once we connected to ships wifi, closed the app, refreshed the app etc. Then, to top it off, Hiro wasn't showing up on anyone's calendar, including the employees who were helping us. They had to search for it in order to add it for us. 
 

Got all my shows booked and went upstairs to one of the many booths they had set up for making dining reservations. Lines were not long at all, but I'm very glad I pre-booked (and paid extra for) Izumi hibachi because it was already completely sold out for the entire week by 11:30.

Some of the other restaurants were already booked at prime dining times on certain days (150 Central Park, Chops, Hooked, Wonderland and Izumi), but I was able to get 5:30pm reservations for each place (except wonderland) as long as I was open to which day I booked. 

 

Very stressful hunger-games type situation booking shows and dining.

 

3) You guys were right. Major pain in the ass to get off the ship to find my daughter (but worth it because I wouldn't have been able to get the show and dining times I wanted had I waited for her).
 

I had to go to guest services to have them print me a physical set sail pass first. Then I had to explain at every exit point why I wanted to leave, at which point some people had to get additional permission to let me off. There is no separate exit route off the ship, so I had to squeeze between the windows and the security lines,  thank goodness I'm thin because no way a larger person could have gotten out. 
 

I had to go back through security on the way back in (which was a lot busier at 12:15) but it went fairly quickly, and we were on the ship at 12:33 (18 min, not including the time it took my daughter to get through the initial line outside, which took her 21 minutes). 
 

So me getting to the port at 10:44 got me on the ship in 9 minutes. Her getting there around noon got her on the ship in 39 minutes. Not bad. But good luck getting your shows and dining if you get there at noon on a busy sailing. 

Edited November 19, 2022 by ARandomTraveler

[GTO-Girl]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

Please Google "Murphy's Law".  😉 

 

I always print out the Set Sail pass as a back up.  Actually faster than pulling out my phone, finding the page, juggling the thing with my carry on stuff....

 

Passport pack folder:  Passport, Covid vax card, Set Sail pass (trimmed to a 1/3rd page).  Hand pack over to agent, done in seconds...easy peasy.  

 

Exactly what we do!!  Last cruise we were behind a family of six where only the Dad had the documents on his phone.  They were still scrolling and scrolling when we were allowed to go around them.

[island lady]

32 minutes ago, GTO-Girl said:

Exactly what we do!!  Last cruise we were behind a family of six where only the Dad had the documents on his phone.  They were still scrolling and scrolling when we were allowed to go around them.

 

Yup, happened to us too many times as well.  😕

[tinkr2]

22 hours ago, John Reid said:

Because nothing ever goes wrong with cell phones.

I fly a few times a month. I have always use my phone for my boarding pass, for many years.Thats the beauty of apple wallet, no internet needed. And while yes I could lose my phone, I could lose a random paper just as easily.

8 hours ago, DD said:

I thought I'd love using my phone to show my Set Sail pass. I do as much as I can digitally, but honestly I found it a pain to juggle the phone during the check-in process. I just did this process in Baltimore.  I had to show it no fewer than 6 times to embark, and each time involved simultaneously juggling my luggage, the phone, swiping to show that we each had a Set Sail pass, keeping my passport open to the photo page, and not dropping anything. So much easier to just show the printed one. #firstworldproblems

I do get this as I don't love a digital room key on my phone either.But Baltimore was the longest slowest check in I have ever done. We definitely showed it a million times.😆

[Merion_Mom]

9 hours ago, DD said:

I thought I'd love using my phone to show my Set Sail pass. I do as much as I can digitally, but honestly I found it a pain to juggle the phone during the check-in process. I just did this process in Baltimore.  I had to show it no fewer than 6 times to embark, and each time involved simultaneously juggling my luggage, the phone, swiping to show that we each had a Set Sail pass, keeping my passport open to the photo page, and not dropping anything. So much easier to just show the printed one. #firstworldproblems

 

1 hour ago, tinkr2 said:

I fly a few times a month. I have always use my phone for my boarding pass, for many years.Thats the beauty of apple wallet, no internet needed. And while yes I could lose my phone, I could lose a random paper just as easily.

I do get this as I don't love a digital room key on my phone either.But Baltimore was the longest slowest check in I have ever done. We definitely showed it a million times.😆

 

Thanks for that warning, as I'll be sailing out of Baltimore in January.

[tinkr2]

1 hour ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

Thanks for that warning, as I'll be sailing out of Baltimore in January.

They were very kind but they were having a lot of problems with the covid tests and the Bermuda forms. I was with my granddaughter and she must have been asked 10 times how old she was. They had under 12 and under in separate line bc of something covid. She is 13 and we kept saying," she's 13, double vaxxed and boosted". 5 minutes later, they'd ask again.😆 But the line was slow, over 2 hours and thats a tiny ship. 

[soremekun]

19 hours ago, PWP-001 said:

August 2022 at the Port of Miami to The Key line because the app wouldn't load, as there wasn't a cell signal from T-Mobil.  There was no budging of the gatekeeper's part nor offer to get someone to check a list.  Not until someone else helped me connect to WiFi at the port was I able to get in the app to produce my sea pass.

 

Since then, prior to leaving home, I take a screenshot to ensure I have something to show.  And given RCI's shaky website and app... where cruises won't load... I usually take an immediate screenshot when I complete online check-in just to make sure I have something.

Similar to an issue I had there.  They need to get some micro cells to improve cell signal in the terminal.  I was so frustrated.

[jean87510]

20 hours ago, PWP-001 said:

August 2022 at the Port of Miami to The Key line because the app wouldn't load, as there wasn't a cell signal from T-Mobil.  There was no budging of the gatekeeper's part nor offer to get someone to check a list.  Not until someone else helped me connect to WiFi at the port was I able to get in the app to produce my sea pass.

 

Since then, prior to leaving home, I take a screenshot to ensure I have something to show.  And given RCI's shaky website and app... where cruises won't load... I usually take an immediate screenshot when I complete online check-in just to make sure I have something.

exactly.  I'm used to making screenshots of boarding passes for planes and now for cruises.  Have it ready to go in the window for easy retrieval.  Im an app person so I use google pay and Sams club app shopping.  I get any receipts emailed to me if possible.  

[jean87510]

5 hours ago, tinkr2 said:

They were very kind but they were having a lot of problems with the covid tests and the Bermuda forms. I was with my granddaughter and she must have been asked 10 times how old she was. They had under 12 and under in separate line bc of something covid. She is 13 and we kept saying," she's 13, double vaxxed and boosted". 5 minutes later, they'd ask again.😆 But the line was slow, over 2 hours and thats a tiny ship. 

We had the same issue sailing on Carnival out of NYC for Bermuda.  Normally checkin was easy.  This was a PIA as although we checked in online and had our passes on our phones, we still had to pull everything out (credit card, paper passes, test results) which we don't normally.  Luckily my 20 year old printed everything and we had the sail passes in a folder in her backpack.  Not sure if this is a Carnival, Bermuda, or NYC thing.  We expected to show the Bermuda info plus test results.  We were surprised at the credit card and passes.  They examined that info very carefully (credit card and sail passes).  But hey it was a 5 day cruise out of NYC on Carnival so what can you do.

[jean87510]

16 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Reporting back with some updates: 

 

1) I didn't need the printed set sail pass. No issues with wifi or LTE outside the ship, and I had the set sail pass in my apple wallet and that worked fine.

 

2) They ARE checking boarding times. They also have the "gates" up and are making people get into their proper lines, however, once everyone from the previous line has boarded, they'll start letting people on with later times. I got in my "11:00-11:30" line at 10:44, was on the ship by 10:53 (9 minutes).
 

It was much more difficult to make show reservations that I expected. The app was giving everyone problems. Even once we connected to ships wifi, closed the app, refreshed the app etc. Then, to top it off, Hiro wasn't showing up on anyone's calendar, including the employees who were helping us. They had to search for it in order to add it for us. 
 

Got all my shows booked and went upstairs to one of the many booths they had set up for making dining reservations. Lines were not long at all, but I'm very glad I pre-booked (and paid extra for) Izumi hibachi because it was already completely sold out for the entire week by 11:30.

Some of the other restaurants were already booked at prime dining times on certain days (150 Central Park, Chops, Hooked, Wonderland and Izumi), but I was able to get 5:30pm reservations for each place (except wonderland) as long as I was open to which day I booked. 

 

Very stressful hunger-games type situation booking shows and dining.

 

3) You guys were right. Major pain in the ass to get off the ship to find my daughter (but worth it because I wouldn't have been able to get the show and dining times I wanted had I waited for her).
 

I had to go to guest services to have them print me a physical set sail pass first. Then I had to explain at every exit point why I wanted to leave, at which point some people had to get additional permission to let me off. There is no separate exit route off the ship, so I had to squeeze between the windows and the security lines,  thank goodness I'm thin because no way a larger person could have gotten out. 
 

I had to go back through security on the way back in (which was a lot busier at 12:15) but it went fairly quickly, and we were on the ship at 12:33 (18 min, not including the time it took my daughter to get through the initial line outside, which took her 21 minutes). 
 

So me getting to the port at 10:44 got me on the ship in 9 minutes. Her getting there around noon got her on the ship in 39 minutes. Not bad. But good luck getting your shows and dining if you get there at noon on a busy sailing. 

thanks for sharing.  This is making me think next month in San Juan our plans to check in then go back out which we used to do all the time pre pandemic.

[Biker19]

7 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

 

 

Thanks for that warning, as I'll be sailing out of Baltimore in January.

Get there about 10:30 and you might walk right on. BTW, Starlink works fine.

[Jasukkie]

20 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

As someone who checks in cruise passengers, I can saw that this is just annoying to terminal staff as well - everyone should have their own, or at least their own family unit.

True story: I do check-in and one busy day we had Celebrity and Royal ships in.  A lone man (around retirement age) is ready to be checked-in.  He has his passport, but no boarding pass, printed or on his phone - no information about his cruise.  The passport doesn't bring up his name on my computer, and I begin searching the system for him.  He tells me his wife has already checked-in, but doesn't have his boarding pass, stateroom number, nothing. 

 

While I am trying to figure out what is going on, he calls his wife and gets the stateroom number, but the number he gives me doesn't fit with the Celebrity ship he believes he is boarding.  At this point I am thinking he is actually suppose to be on the Royal ship, and I walk over to the Royal side and I pull up his name on their system.   He still has his wife on the phone and asks her if they are sailing on Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.  She says Royal, and for whatever reason (shorter line maybe), this guy has been waiting in the Celebrity line.  The lines are all well marked, and their are staff along the way making sure everyone is headed in the correct side of the terminal.  This guy was just completely clueless.

My husband would totally do this lol. Unless it's an unusual itinerary he would probably guess wrong about where we are going. Bermuda? Bahamas? Let's just say I do ALL the planning.

 

I'm team no-paper. I've never had any trouble with the app and when covid tests and vax requirements were a thing I had those saved so they could be shown even if my phone weren't able to connect. 

[livingonthebeach]

Just sailed out of Miami last Sunday and NADA was enforced. I mean zilch, zippo, naught, nil, nix, nothing, null, zero, zip. We showed our Sea Pass cards from the IPhone wallet and that was about it. Disembarkation was the smoothest ever - just had to show our faces on the screen and that was it. Never mind all the Hemingway rum we bought in Key West! 😉😇