Carnival Venezia MCT departure arrival question...Large Party Best Time.. ?

[Lyn1Lyn]

We are a party of 11. We live about 1.5 - 2 hours away in PA. We will be driving into Manhattan that day and parking at the Terminal. 

We have 4children 7-17 yrs old going with us. 7 adults 19yrs -75yrs old.

 

I want to make our transition from car to ship as easy and smooth as possible. We are cruising with Carnival Venezia in December, so don't have my check in time yet. But definitely don't want to wait outside to get into the terminal in a long line. I am going to attempt to get us an early boarding time, but would it be wise to arrive later in the day? We will be carrying on all luggage, so really don't want to board til 1:30pm or after, but I know the process of checking in can take time.

I am also worried about getting parking at the terminal if we arrive too late. Any advice? 

[1025cruise]

If you are planning to carry on all luggage, just note it has to fit through the scanners. 

[Riles34]

This is easy. You can reserve a spot on pier 88 or 90 (100 yards apart from each other and function as one). You can walk from your car to the ship and wait inside the pier building. They will start allowing people into the buildings around 9am. And if you have too, you can wait in your cars. If you show up for a later check in, reserve a spot! 

 

https://widget.arrive.com/index.html?ui-components=event-list,location-list,checkout,purchase-confirmation&capture-plate=always&coordinates-marker=false&destination-location-id=51217&destination-venue-id=517845&enable-google-pay=true&enable-apple-pay=true&parkwhiz-opens-in-new-tab=false&pricing-access-code-exclusive=true&pricing-access-codes=f8107238&t-and-c-override=true&title-override-text=Manhattan Cruise Terminal Official Parking&utm-source=https%3A%2F%2Fnycruise.com%2Fmanhattan-terminal%2Fparking%2F

[Riles34]

That’s the link for reservations btw. And it looks like the Venezia will be the only ship in port so there will be plenty of parking. I parked on pier 90 which you can see is right next door. 

[mar214]

People have posted that they select the 1:30 check in window so that they can go right to their cabin to drop off their bags at 1:30. Since you have a big group, this may be the way to go for you. Something to consider!