Boarding time - is later less congested and less wait time in lines?

[lx200gps]

Question re Celebrity and assigned boarding times: We'll be on the Equinox in May for only our second Celebrity trip, we usually sail Princess and their assigned boarding times are only suggestions but passengers are free to show up whenever they want. We always show up at the pier as early as possible, there is never any line when we check in, which takes less than 2 minutes, and then we have to sit in a lounge for a while until boarding starts. That guarantees we are among the very first to board and have a head start to book restaurants, start drinking martinis,  etc.  Does Celebrity enforce the boarding times, or are they like Princess and boarding times are only a suggestion?  Our boarding times are not yet available for selection, I believe they will only come open in April a few weeks before sailing but obviously I will be trying to snag as early a time as possible..

[davekathy]

39 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

Question re Celebrity and assigned boarding times: We'll be on the Equinox in May for only our second Celebrity trip, we usually sail Princess and their assigned boarding times are only suggestions but passengers are free to show up whenever they want. We always show up at the pier as early as possible, there is never any line when we check in, which takes less than 2 minutes, and then we have to sit in a lounge for a while until boarding starts. That guarantees we are among the very first to board and have a head start to book restaurants, start drinking martinis,  etc.  Does Celebrity enforce the boarding times, or are they like Princess and boarding times are only a suggestion?  Our boarding times are not yet available for selection, I believe they will only come open in April a few weeks before sailing but obviously I will be trying to snag as early a time as possible..

Celebrity doesn't assign boarding times. Only check in times. 

[Mrs_Tiki]

My most recent experience on the November 12 Apex sailing was that X was very stringent in enforcing boarding times. As reference, ours was 11:00-11:30, and pier staff was very aggressive in corralling people arriving at Terminal 25 into time- specific lines. (And I use the term “corralling” intentionally - was not my favorite boarding experience!)

[twentyknots]

25 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Celebrity doesn't assign boarding times. Only check in times. 

How is the check in time enforced? 

 

[kearney]

1 hour ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well since this is Celebrity threads I hear ya.

But for the big ships on RCI or some on NCL, the shows do book up.

However, good news is they are starting to let us reserve on line ahead of time too.

Sorry, I assumed you talking Celebrity..

[lx200gps]

51 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Celebrity doesn't assign boarding times. Only check in times. 

Apologies for my loose wording, I was referring to arrival times for check-in. I fully understand boarding times are not assigned. It seems from the responses here that X DOES in fact enforce check-in times which is disappointing. I'll have to make sure we get one of the very first available slots when they open up.  Hypothetically, if someone shows up early for check-in, before their assigned time, I assume they are not allowed into the terminal and have to wait outside?