Boarding time in Singapore

[sambamama]

Our cruise boards in Singapore on 1/20/2024.  The ship is scheduled to dock at 7am.  Our roll call is fairly active. There is a preceding cruise, and a number of people are staying on the cruise to continue with ours.  The ship is scheduled to sail at 5pm.  We are getting our scheduled boarding times, and they seem insanely late.  The earliest is 1pm, and there are even people scheduled to check in at 4pm.  There are a good number of people scheduled to check in at 3pm.  I've sailed 240 nights with HAL, including 2 TAs and a 20 night South Pacific cruise from Auckland, NZ.  I've never seen such late boarding times.  Is this the new norm?  If so, I hate this. One, I want lunch on the ship in the dining room.  Two, hotels usually have a checkout time of 11am to 12pm.  No one wants to sit around the lobby.  Three) Big cities like Singapore start getting bad traffic starting around 3pm.  Four) Who in their right mind schedules people to check in an hour before the ship sails?  I a think there is a huge risk of the luggage not making it onboard. Five) What's the point of priority boarding if you get on way past lunch?  I hate having to battle the hoards in the buffet the first day.  I like a nice quiet lunch in the dining room.  It may be the only time I have lunch in the dining room. 

[OlsSalt]

HarbourFront Cruise Terminal website claims  they have a "Left Luggage" facility - so you can drop off your bags early there, if they are not collecting them for the ship itself.

 

 Then enjoy your free time in Vivo City next door,  or the very accessible metro system into the downtown area a short distance away.  Always love exploring Singapore  and visiting their always interesting food courts.  Even if just for a few "extra"  hours. The ship will not leave without processing their last boarding group. 

 

https://singaporecruise.com.sg/terminal/harbourfront-passenger-terminal/

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, sambamama said:

Our cruise boards in Singapore on 1/20/2024.  The ship is scheduled to dock at 7am.  Our roll call is fairly active. There is a preceding cruise, and a number of people are staying on the cruise to continue with ours.  The ship is scheduled to sail at 5pm.  We are getting our scheduled boarding times, and they seem insanely late.  The earliest is 1pm, and there are even people scheduled to check in at 4pm.  There are a good number of people scheduled to check in at 3pm.  I've sailed 240 nights with HAL, including 2 TAs and a 20 night South Pacific cruise from Auckland, NZ.  I've never seen such late boarding times.  Is this the new norm?  If so, I hate this. One, I want lunch on the ship in the dining room.  Two, hotels usually have a checkout time of 11am to 12pm.  No one wants to sit around the lobby.  Three) Big cities like Singapore start getting bad traffic starting around 3pm.  Four) Who in their right mind schedules people to check in an hour before the ship sails?  I a think there is a huge risk of the luggage not making it onboard. Five) What's the point of priority boarding if you get on way past lunch?  I hate having to battle the hoards in the buffet the first day.  I like a nice quiet lunch in the dining room.  It may be the only time I have lunch in the dining room. 

First, this has been discussed extensively. Generally,  the check in times are ignored. 

 

Second, your status has nothing to do with your check in time. We are 5 star Mariners that always book Neptune Suites. We have never had a check in time before 1pm. Yet, we have never boarded later than noon in 4 cruises since resumption after Covid. Priority board conquers all. Again, discussed here frequently. 

 

You can check in luggage far before you can board.

 

Curious how you would know nobody else got earlier times.

 

Lastly,  it is possible that some local issue is causing boarding to start later.

[sambamama]

I was given Group A. Its possible people were given times earlier than that, but I made an assumption no one was earlier than earlier than Group A. I left that out. You are correct that other people may be boarding earlier. No one on the roll call reported anything earlier than 1pm. The 1pm is not that concerning to me, and I am planning to come earlier. However, the 5pm boarding time when the ship is scheduled to sail at 5pm is disconcerting. Perhaps the sailing will be delayed and that hasn't been announced. I was really trying to see if anyone has had these times on other boardings. 

[CruiserBruce]

6 hours ago, sambamama said:

I was given Group A. Its possible people were given times earlier than that, but I made an assumption no one was earlier than earlier than Group A. I left that out. You are correct that other people may be boarding earlier. No one on the roll call reported anything earlier than 1pm. The 1pm is not that concerning to me, and I am planning to come earlier. However, the 5pm boarding time when the ship is scheduled to sail at 5pm is disconcerting. Perhaps the sailing will be delayed and that hasn't been announced. I was really trying to see if anyone has had these times on other boardings. 

The Group A info is important. I suspect for some reason boarding is being delayed.

[Sir PMP]

Just be there no later than 11:30am and you'll be boarding, make sure you are boarding at Harbourfront mall and not Marina Sands.