Set my alarm for midnight to check in

[Haljo1935]

On 6/16/2023 at 5:12 PM, Thad409 said:

Yepper🥱, I realized my mistake after the fact

Hey @Thad409 now that you've got it down and you'll be back from your vaca, what will it cost for you to check me in when it's turn in Sept? I need my sleep, but I need to be first on...🤭

[JonV]

Thanks for the reminder.  I just checked in for my Alaska cruise in two weeks as I’m on the west coast. 

[mz-s]

I've never had trouble getting whatever port arrival appointment I want with Carnival. Even before I had priority I could check in on mid-morning day 14 and be fine. The only time I had limited choice was when I booked a last minute cruise 5 days out, but I wasn't planning on getting to the port until closer to 1PM for that cruise anyway so it wasn't a big deal.

[disneyfan551]

Can someone remind me when we are able to check in? 

[wemjam]

4 minutes ago, disneyfan551 said:

Can someone remind me when we are able to check in? 

If you are not Diamond/Platinum/Suite you can check in 14 days before departure.

[wemjam]

On 6/16/2023 at 3:36 PM, Thad409 said:

I'm sure I'm not the only one that has done this, but I set my alarm to midnight so I could wake up and check in last night on CCL. now we have along 15 days until we sail on the Glory on our short 7-day cruise. Can't wait!!!!

Yep I am crazy too, I do this too, even though we are Diamond I still get up at midnight 16 days before.

 

PS:  In case you didn't know.  You don't have to do the entire check in process at 12 midnight.  Just go in and select your boarding time, and the system will save that.  Then you can go back at a reasonable time when you want and do the entire "check in" process. 😉

[Thad409]

Yep I learned something when this was posted 😃

[Thad409]

Just now, wemjam said:

Yep I am crazy too, I do this too, even though we are Diamond I still get up at midnight 16 days before.

 

PS:  In case you didn't know.  You don't have to do the entire check in process at 12 midnight.  Just go in and select your boarding time, and the system will save that.  Then you can go back at a reasonable time when you want and do the entire "check in" process. 😉

Good to know, 👍

[disneyfan551]

14 minutes ago, wemjam said:

If you are not Diamond/Platinum/Suite you can check in 14 days before departure.

So, if I'm cruising out on a Saturday, I can check in at midnight (EC) on Friday night, 14 days before?  Just want to make sure... Thanks!

[slavigne5577]

We live an hour from Port Nola. We drive into New Orleans and like to check in/ board ship at the 12:30-1:00. No waiting around and hardly any time in line. By the time we get on board and do muster and grab first drink, our room is ready and we can drop off bags and pick up SS cards. 

[wemjam]

8 minutes ago, disneyfan551 said:

So, if I'm cruising out on a Saturday, I can check in at midnight (EC) on Friday night, 14 days before?  Just want to make sure... Thanks!

Yes, because 12am really isn't Friday anymore... it is Saturday morning. 😄

[iria64]

My last cruise I stayed up until midnight which was not a problem as I usually don't fall asleep before then... go to checkin... Carnival had their site down for maintenance.  I did not get to check in until around 7am or so.  I still go a 10:30 port arrival time and low-mid B for boarding group.  Boarding started shortly after 11 and we were on the ship well before noon.  Basically, once they get through the Suite and priority passengers, the boarding groups get called fairly quickly.  I don't remember exactly but it was problably 3-5 minutes on average between calling groups.

[mdepsmom]

Taking my first Carnival cruise in many years next year.  I'm used to Royal Caribbean's check-in process, where you can just show up anytime regardless of the time they give you, since they don't pay attention to it.  It sounds like Carnival doesn't work this way - correct?

[momof3cruisers]

45 minutes ago, mdepsmom said:

Taking my first Carnival cruise in many years next year.  I'm used to Royal Caribbean's check-in process, where you can just show up anytime regardless of the time they give you, since they don't pay attention to it.  It sounds like Carnival doesn't work this way - correct?

Carnival enforces it pretty strongly. They make you wait off to the side or in a separate line if you show up early. Most ports have lines labeled “priority “ “on-time” and “early/late”. Tampa has lines set up outside by checking time for about 4 half an hour increments.

[wemjam]

2 hours ago, mdepsmom said:

Taking my first Carnival cruise in many years next year.  I'm used to Royal Caribbean's check-in process, where you can just show up anytime regardless of the time they give you, since they don't pay attention to it.  It sounds like Carnival doesn't work this way - correct?

Correct, you should set up your arrival time and do your check in on line, then arrive during that window (it is a 30 minute arrival).

 

SOMETIMES you may be able to enter the terminal earlier, but you can't count on it.  You can arrive later if something comes up.  Either of these though you need to go to the early/late line.

[drolltroll]

I checked in at midnight one time and still got a 1pm check in time. Must have been a bunch of diamonds and platinums on that sailing.

[mdepsmom]

19 hours ago, wemjam said:

Correct, you should set up your arrival time and do your check in on line, then arrive during that window (it is a 30 minute arrival).

 

SOMETIMES you may be able to enter the terminal earlier, but you can't count on it.  You can arrive later if something comes up.  Either of these though you need to go to the early/late line.

 

21 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

Carnival enforces it pretty strongly. They make you wait off to the side or in a separate line if you show up early. Most ports have lines labeled “priority “ “on-time” and “early/late”. Tampa has lines set up outside by checking time for about 4 half an hour increments.

Thank you both - I had no idea, so this is super helpful!

[steveknj]

For my recent cruise checkin was on a Tuesday and I have work the next day so staying up past midnight is not an option.   We will check in at 11:30 which is fine by me.   Means we don't have to get up early on cruise day, fight NY Traffic to get to the terminal early.  We'll get in after rush hour and not worry about it.   Still early enough to have a decent lunch that's not too close to dinner.