Is NCL different than the others?

[ERNLYN]

We have cruised over 20 times with Carnival, Royal Carribean most recently one year ago, and twice with NCL (many years ago).  We have always dropped our luggage with the porters, tipped them and parked our car, or went sightseeing till our boarding time. We are cruising the POA in a month and planned to drop our luggage at pier #2 in Honolulu and then do the Arizonia Memorial prior to boarding the ship.  NCL is telling us we have to check-in before we can drop our luggage.  Can a few of you comment on the correct info? or is NCL just quoting Protocol?

[zqvol]

I've never seen NCL require check in before dropping luggage, in fact you always drop luggage before you check in.

[graphicguy]

2 minutes ago, zqvol said:

I've never seen NCL require check in before dropping luggage, in fact you always drop luggage before you check in.

Same.  OP…is it NCL telling you to check in before dropping off luggage or another source (like a TA)?  I might see where you try to get to the pier to drop off luggage too early, where the disembarking passengers are still getting off the ship.  Might be an issue trying to get your luggage to the porters in that scenario.  But, if you’re remotely close to the check in time they gave you, you should be fine.

[ERNLYN]

It is the NCL customer service advising us we have to check-in before we can leave our luggage with the porters.  Her exact words were " we are directed to tell you, you must check-in before leaving you luggage with the porters." the word "directed" in her reply seem to indicate we could leave our luggage, but she could not confirm it.
 

[www3traveler]

5 minutes ago, ERNLYN said:

It is the NCL customer service advising us we have to check-in before we can leave our luggage with the porters.  Her exact words were " we are directed to tell you, you must check-in before leaving you luggage with the porters." the word "directed" in her reply seem to indicate we could leave our luggage, but she could not confirm it.
 

Keep in mind that The POA is an American- flagged ship not a Bahamas flagged ship-- rules may be different in Hawaii than in other Embarkation ports.

 

I have been advised to book an Arizona Memorial tour for after my cruise in November.  According to him, reservations need to be made in advance.  He says to allow 3 to 4 hours for the tour.  I am going to stay an extra day to allow proper time for the tour.

[The Traveling Man]

1 hour ago, ERNLYN said:

We have cruised over 20 times with Carnival, Royal Carribean most recently one year ago, and twice with NCL (many years ago).  We have always dropped our luggage with the porters, tipped them and parked our car, or went sightseeing till our boarding time. We are cruising the POA in a month and planned to drop our luggage at pier #2 in Honolulu and then do the Arizonia Memorial prior to boarding the ship.  NCL is telling us we have to check-in before we can drop our luggage.  Can a few of you comment on the correct info? or is NCL just quoting Protocol?

It has been over six years since we sailed on the PoA, so terms and conditions may have changed.  As I recall, though, things were handled the same in Hawai'i as they are on any other NCL ship at any other port of embarkation.  You will be assigned an arrival time if you did not choose one at the time you made your reservation.  In over 30 NCL cruises, however, no one has ever examined our documents to verify that we arrived at the cruise terminal at the appointed hour.  If you arrive too early, you may find that the porters have not yet come on duty and there will be no one to accept your luggage.  If the porters are present, though, you simply get in line to hand off your bags, making sure that you have a bag tag on each to indicate your stateroom number.  Your room number should appear on the cruise documents which you can download from the NCL website beginning about three weeks before your cruise departure date.  Thus you should know your stateroom number, and that's all the porters have ever asked me for when giving them my bags.  The porters don't care what you do after that point.

 

You will enter the cruise terminal, where someone will examine your documents, paying particular attention to your passport or other identity papers.  This is not the check-in desk, but merely an identification check.  Next comes the security check, usually with an X-ray machine similar to those used at an airport.  You then will enter a line for the actual check-in process.  There usually  will be several lines, one for general boarding, one or more for Latitudes priority members, one for passengers traveling in a Suite or the Haven, etc.  Choose the appropriate line, proceed to the desk, have your photo verified or a new photo taken, get your key card, and board the ship.  If you complete the check-in process before the ship is ready to accept new passengers, you will be directed to a waiting area and may board when your group has been called for boarding.

 

NCL asks that all passengers report to the cruise terminal to begin the check-in process not less than two hours before the ship's scheduled departure time.  We have never encountered any restrictions, however, about what passengers may do after dropping off their luggage but before they entered the terminal to begin the boarding process.  The overwhelming majority of passengers immediately enter the terminal after dropping off their bags.  Generally, most passengers seem eager to get on board as soon as possible so they can settle into their life on board, get started taking advantage of their beverage package, have lunch, or sign up for dining reservations or show times.  If you find that you have a few hours to fill between your arrival at the port and last call for check in, there should be no restrictions to prevent you from spending that time on your own.  Just be sure to return to the port in time to complete the check-in process.  In most ports, though, the distance from the port to a point of interest, the relatively short amount of available time, and the lack of readily available tours that will fit the time and distance constraints, means that it usually is not practical to drop your bags then take a tour.  YMMV.

[omahabob]

We never even had contact with the porters. They took our bags directly off the parking shuttle bus. Of course, that wasn't in Hawaii.

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, ERNLYN said:

We have cruised over 20 times with Carnival, Royal Carribean most recently one year ago, and twice with NCL (many years ago).  We have always dropped our luggage with the porters, tipped them and parked our car, or went sightseeing till our boarding time. We are cruising the POA in a month and planned to drop our luggage at pier #2 in Honolulu and then do the Arizonia Memorial prior to boarding the ship.  NCL is telling us we have to check-in before we can drop our luggage.  Can a few of you comment on the correct info? or is NCL just quoting Protocol?

You should be fine. But,,, make sure you have Arizona reservations. You can’t just stop and go out to the memorial. 
 

Also, you are in Hawaii. Make sure that you never have anything visible in your car and don’t let anyone see you stashing things in the trunk. Thieves target tourists who normally leave expensive stuff in their cars. 

Edited August 7, 2023 by BirdTravels

[ERNLYN]

Thanks to all my cruise pals who her helped clarify my concerns,