Check In Time Question

[Oakman]

Have not cruised since the end of the Pandemic (been RVing instead). Just checked in for our upcoming Equinox cruise in October, and noticed you must pick a pier check in time. How strict are they with the time? We love getting on the ship early (since we live close by in Florida), and the earliest we could get was 1PM. We are in a Verandah cabin (not a Suite) and are Elite Celebrity cruisers. Can you just show up early, or will they make you wait until your designated time? 

Any updated information would be greatly appreciated.

[LiveToCruise99]

Celebrity tries to spread out the check in time to help avoid long waits.  If everyone ignored their check in time it would/could result in bottlenecks and long waits.  In all honesty, I suspect there would not be an issue however if they chose to, they could have you wait until the earlier check-ins where completed.

[cruisestitch]

Often you can walk right in but then sometimes there’s already a queue and they make you wait for your assigned time.  There’s really no predicting…

[doghog]

16 minutes ago, Oakman said:

Have not cruised since the end of the Pandemic (been RVing instead). Just checked in for our upcoming Equinox cruise in October, and noticed you must pick a pier check in time. How strict are they with the time? We love getting on the ship early (since we live close by in Florida), and the earliest we could get was 1PM. We are in a Verandah cabin (not a Suite) and are Elite Celebrity cruisers. Can you just show up early, or will they make you wait until your designated time? 

Any updated information would be greatly appreciated.

Our March cruise on the Apex out of Fort Lauderdale we had a 11:00 AM check in time. We arrived at 10:30 and were checked in immediately and was on the ship by 10:55. YMMV. If you elect to show up earlier just be prepared to wait in case they are holding to the scheduled check in times. Your tier level and stateroom category won't help. 

Edited September 7, 2023 by doghog

[Cruise till you drop]

9 minutes ago, doghog said:

Our March cruise on the Apex out of Fort Lauderdale we had a 11:00 AM check in time. We arrived at 10:30 and were checked in immediately and was on the ship by 10:55. YMMV. If you elect to show up earlier just be prepared to wait in case they are holding to the scheduled check in times. Your tier level and stateroom category won't help. 

We had the exact same experience.  And I agree with the comment that the intent is to spread out check in to avoid those long lines but likely not enforced if you show up earlier or later

[ElmaLee]

At departure points with large numbers of check in desks it should not be an issue.

[doghog]

5 hours ago, ElmaLee said:

At departure points with large numbers of check in desks it should not be an issue.

My Magic 8 Ball trumps your WAG. Don't count on it. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Been on her four times since the pandemic, no enforcement

[the penguins]

On 9/7/2023 at 3:08 PM, Oakman said:

Have not cruised since the end of the Pandemic (been RVing instead). Just checked in for our upcoming Equinox cruise in October, and noticed you must pick a pier check in time. How strict are they with the time? We love getting on the ship early (since we live close by in Florida), and the earliest we could get was 1PM. We are in a Verandah cabin (not a Suite) and are Elite Celebrity cruisers. Can you just show up early, or will they make you wait until your designated time? 

Any updated information would be greatly appreciated.

Stick to the time - anything else is a gamble.

Always remember the staff at the Ports are not necessarily cruise line employees and they just follow the "instructions".

With the new system check in is very fast. Once onboard go straight to your cabin and pick up your Room/Cruise Card.

[GottaKnowWhen]

Best strategy is to sign in at 12:01am 45 days before departure (or within a few hours after that) and you will have pretty much a free choice of whatever time you prefer. The early time slots fill up fast. 
An alternate strategy is to book a 2-2:30 check in time, and at that point the lines are very short since so many people just go early.

Stan

[DaisyFire]

On 9/9/2023 at 9:10 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

Best strategy is to sign in at 12:01am 45 days before departure (or within a few hours after that) and you will have pretty much a free choice of whatever time you prefer. The early time slots fill up fast. 
An alternate strategy is to book a 2-2:30 check in time, and at that point the lines are very short since so many people just go early.

Stan

12:01am in what time zone? 

[GottaKnowWhen]

7 hours ago, DaisyFire said:

12:01am in what time zone? 

the ship's time. If it is embarking from Lauderdale, then EDT.

[marco491]

I’m a bit annoyed that even though we are Concierge, the earliest check-in time offered is after the CC lunch has finished. True I didn’t leap on the check-in email immediately, but you’d think they’d run some kind of algorithm to ensure this doesn’t happen. CS advice was just to turn up earlier and explain…

[cruisestitch]

You’re asking a lot from the IT team that can’t get the app to run correctly and can’t figure out that Blu and Luminae are open seating and don’t take reservations, and suite passengers don’t need to choose a check-in time at all and so on and do be do be do be…….  

[Mark_K]

On 9/9/2023 at 9:10 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

Best strategy is to sign in at 12:01am 45 days before departure (or within a few hours after that) and you will have pretty much a free choice of whatever time you prefer. The early time slots fill up fast. 
An alternate strategy is to book a 2-2:30 check in time, and at that point the lines are very short since so many people just go early.

Stan

Good strategy but of no help to the OP who is already beyond that.

[CruisinShips]

Why not just show up when you're ready to show up...worst case you wait for a little while.  Better than sitting in a hotel room twiddling your thumbs and wishing you could get there already!  Chances are they will let you check in early anyway!

[GottaKnowWhen]

14 minutes ago, Mark_K said:

Good strategy but of no help to the OP who is already beyond that.

But possibly of help to others who could learn from their experience.

If more people would plan ahead, and if fewer people would just show up whenever they feel like it, then the whole check-in/boarding process would be less of a zoo.

[cruisestitch]

If only Celebrity IT could figure out a way that Suite passengers wouldn’t need to choose a time at all then more early times would open up for those who want them. 
 

but we all know that ain’t gonna happen.

[Cap_D]

1 hour ago, marco491 said:

I’m a bit annoyed that even though we are Concierge, the earliest check-in time offered is after the CC lunch has finished. True I didn’t leap on the check-in email immediately, but you’d think they’d run some kind of algorithm to ensure this doesn’t happen. CS advice was just to turn up earlier and explain…

If that happens, and you miss the lunch then put that back on the company.  It's an abusive practice to charge for something that actually is not available.  They also should extend the hours to a reasonable time, but that is the lameness with the price and bullet points listed.   

[marco491]

2 minutes ago, Cap_D said:

If that happens, and you miss the lunch then put that back on the company.  It's an abusive practice to charge for something that actually is not available.  They also should extend the hours to a reasonable time, but that is the lameness with the price and bullet points listed.   

Yes, they’d probably give OBC if I made a fuss, but we wanted the lunch because we’ll have to skip breakfast on account of our travel, and it was supposed to be a nice start to the cruise (after a long period without a vacation, an “at last” moment). 

 

Anyway, not a *huge* deal but I’m mostly annoyed that they can’t understand the scenario and simply override the check-in IT system using good old human beings. 
 

 

[The Fun Researcher]

On 9/9/2023 at 9:10 PM, GottaKnowWhen said:

Best strategy is to sign in at 12:01am 45 days before departure (or within a few hours after that) and you will have pretty much a free choice of whatever time you prefer. The early time slots fill up fast. 
An alternate strategy is to book a 2-2:30 check in time, and at that point the lines are very short since so many people just go early.

Stan

 

Thank you!  I'm used to checking in with Royal and wasn't sure what the timing was for Celebrity

 

On 9/14/2023 at 10:52 AM, Mark_K said:

Good strategy but of no help to the OP who is already beyond that.

Well, it helped me out since I did a search on the site for this very information and this thread popped up.  

[kywildcatfanone]

Is boarding time enforced?  We boarded Equinox on Saturday. We has 11:30, got to the terminal at 11:30, through security and were motioned back to the next available waiting section.  No looking at our boarding times assigned.

 

They did come get our group a few minutes later, but no one was checking assigned boarding times.

[cruisestitch]

Sometimes it is enforced, sometimes the boarding Goes so smoothly that they don’t need to look at your boarding times because people are moving on board quickly.  

[Tudy]

Relevant to Port Everglades, before they enforced the check in times, the security checkpoints at the entrance to the port would get completely backed up and wait times just to get through security would take close to a half hour. Since they have spread out the arrival times, we have not experienced a back up.

 

I like the spread in boarding times, But it does mean, that if you are sailing in Concierge, you need to be on your toes for the ship check-in. I also think Celebrity needs to keep the concierge luncheon open longer.

[D. B.]

On 9/14/2023 at 4:56 PM, CruisinShips said:

Why not just show up when you're ready to show up...worst case you wait for a little while.  Better than sitting in a hotel room twiddling your thumbs and wishing you could get there already!  Chances are they will let you check in early anyway!

That’s what I do!

 I usually get to the terminal about 10:30am and have always been Onboard by 11:30-12pm.

I am not a Suite guest or Zenith level.