Boarding early?

[LabMom57]

Next week will be our first cruise on HAL. We are leaving for Alaska from the Seattle pier. We were assigned a 1 pm check in time, which seems rather late given the ship sails at 3 pm. My question is this: If we arrive before our check in time, will we have to wait until that group boards or can we get checked in and board earlier?

 

Thanks for any light you can shed. We would like to board and have lunch.

[CruiserBruce]

They haven't been paying attention to the assigned times. Discussed here frequently.

 

But 1pm is not late.

[LabMom57]

20 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

They haven't been paying attention to the assigned times. Discussed here frequently.

 

But 1pm is not late.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure if the early boarding folks had high Mariner status or were in suites. Good to know we can board earlier!

[c-cruise]

We cruised out of Seattle a couple weeks ago. Nobody was checking or asking for the assigned check-in times. We had a 12:40 assigned time. Got there around 11:30 and were onboard by noon. I would definitely arrive earlier than 1:00.

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, LabMom57 said:

Next week will be our first cruise on HAL. We are leaving for Alaska from the Seattle pier. We were assigned a 1 pm check in time, which seems rather late given the ship sails at 3 pm. My question is this: If we arrive before our check in time, will we have to wait until that group boards or can we get checked in and board earlier?

 

Thanks for any light you can shed. We would like to board and have lunch.

it is a little kept secret that most cruiselines do not keep to a schedule.

I think all the emails about arriving early is a bit of a joke.  Get there early from whatever hotel in case of traffic and know that most of the time you will get on in a timely manner.  Enjoy.

Most taxi from center of Seattle will take 20-30 minutes.

[LabMom57]

@Oceansaway17 Thanks for posting the local information. I'm a local but I know most people can use that very information!

 

[Oceansaway17]

1 minute ago, LabMom57 said:

@Oceansaway17 Thanks for posting the local information. I'm a local but I know most people can use that very information!

 

well.   And in spite of negative comments about the city, I found a lot of areas quite safe and fun.

[Haljo1935]

We've left out of Seattle several times, as recently as April 29 this year. Post-Covid, we've not had to wait until the time on our boarding pass. It won't be announced as they prefer people follow the schedules, but they will allow you to check-in and board outside of your designated time. Just know they won't let anyone on until the debarking passengers have been cleared, so if you're too early, you will have to wait for that reason.

1 pm is not at all too late for a 3 pm sail away - HAL Seattle is very efficient at the boarding process.

You may find your cabin is not ready, but you can still drop your bags off then go explore and enjoy lunch.

Welcome! Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

[LabMom57]

Thanks all. We prefer to board prior to lunch so we can eat onboard. It's good to know we can do that on HAL!

[talavera_7]

We will be departing out of Vancouver in September. Does anyone have recent experience with early boarding in Vancouver?

 

[scooter6139]

We were just assigend a noon time ourselves (group D), but likely will be there earlier.  We are in a Neptune, so wasn't that worried about it.  When do they usually start letting folks on the ship?  11AM?

[kazu]

8 minutes ago, scooter6139 said:

We were just assigend a noon time ourselves (group D), but likely will be there earlier.  We are in a Neptune, so wasn't that worried about it.  When do they usually start letting folks on the ship?  11AM?

 

If all is well in North America it’s usually around 11:30 AM unless there is a deep cleaning or CDC inspection.

[auntmeg]

5 hours ago, talavera_7 said:

We will be departing out of Vancouver in September. Does anyone have recent experience with early boarding in Vancouver?

 

I boarded Nieuw Amsterdam on July 2 in Vancouver. There were two other ships embarking that day, as well.

 

Nieuw Amsterdam arrived at the port right at 7am which, I believe, is a little bit late.

 

I was assigned a check in time of 11:40am, but no one asked or checked my assigned time at any point in the process.

 

I entered the process at about 9:45am and was checked in by the HAL staff with no wait.

 

I then proceeded to the security screening and US Customs which probably took about 45 minutes of winding through the lines of both.

 

Then we went to a seating area because the ship wasn't ready yet for us to board (which I'm thinking was due to it arriving late) and we had to sit there for a little while. They then directed us to another seating area where we waited a little bit longer.

 

I was on board ship at 11:32am.

Edited August 8, 2023 by auntmeg

[Haljo1935]

On 8/8/2023 at 10:47 AM, LabMom57 said:

Thanks all. We prefer to board prior to lunch so we can eat onboard. It's good to know we can do that on HAL!

If you're able, eat in the MDR - it's a nice, calm treat on embarkation day.

 

[LabMom57]

@Haljo1935 Thanks for the tip and the menu!

 

I think I remember reading the MDR is open for a limited time on embarkation day. Do you recall if that is correct?

Edited August 10, 2023 by LabMom57

[CruiserBruce]

25 minutes ago, LabMom57 said:

@Haljo1935 Thanks for the tip and the menu!

 

I think I remember reading the MDR is open for a limited time on embarkation day. Do you recall if that is correct?

Usually 12-1, or 12-1:30.

[terrydtx]

On 8/8/2023 at 10:47 AM, LabMom57 said:

Thanks all. We prefer to board prior to lunch so we can eat onboard. It's good to know we can do that on HAL!

With HAL the MDR will be open for lunch if you do not want to fight for a seat in the Lido.

[MonikaJ42]

Quick question, when does HAL assign check in times? We are sailing out of Vancouver 9/2 and our boarding passes do not have a time.    

[CruiserBruce]

21 minutes ago, MonikaJ42 said:

Quick question, when does HAL assign check in times? We are sailing out of Vancouver 9/2 and our boarding passes do not have a time.    

They start assigning them around 30 days out...but frequently change them. The final time comes a couple days in advance, when the bar code appears on your boarding pass.

[terrydtx]

26 minutes ago, MonikaJ42 said:

Quick question, when does HAL assign check in times? We are sailing out of Vancouver 9/2 and our boarding passes do not have a time.    

Did you check in online and choose a boarding time? Check in starts 45 days out from sailing.

[MonikaJ42]

4 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Did you check in online and choose a boarding time? Check in starts 45 days out from sailing.

I was not asked to choose a boarding time? I’m all checked in as I could print our boarding passes so did I miss a step? Can I still choose one? 

[terrydtx]

10 minutes ago, MonikaJ42 said:

I was not asked to choose a boarding time? I’m all checked in as I could print our boarding passes so did I miss a step? Can I still choose one? 

I am sorry I was making my previous response based on Celebrity forgot I was on the HAL forum and I have cruises coming up on both lines. Maybe others can comment on HAL

Edited August 11, 2023 by terrydtx

[gregma60]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Yes you must have missed the step, you can go back and choose the time.

I was also not asked, and I have been through the entire process many times from the first day I could checkin until I saw I was assigned and saw nowhere I could select a boarding time.  Of course being 10 days out one was automatically assigned.

 

-gregma

[CruiserBruce]

HAL doesn't allow you to pick your time.