Saturday is 21 days out, want to get early embark

[debenson0723]

8 hours ago, Asawi said:

It's probably first come first serve. It has been on the ships I have been on. (The "small/medium" ones). No problem at all getting seats!

Never been on Joy though.

Any ship larger than the Jewel class typically has reservations for their main shows. There was talk that they may do first come, first serve on the larger ships but I have not seen that in normal practice yet. 

[debenson0723]

10 hours ago, love4god said:

Were you able to book elements?  I checked in then went to book elements and it said "not available to book".  I supposed in the time it took to check in the pre-cruise slots may have gotten filled?  But I was checking by maybe 12:20-12:25.  Weird.

You should look again...I seriously doubt it was filled up already. Or try the chat feature on the website. Last option if it doesn't allow you online is to use the kiosk or box office once you board. 

[schmoopie17]

3 hours ago, graphicguy said:

Well...I can say that's simply not true.  Every cruise I've been on, priority boarding was offered first to those who were mobility limited and Haven guests, followed by the upper levels of Latitudes members, then the lower levels of Platinum followed by general boarding based on the numbers provided during the pier check in.

Yeah, it seemed like a goofy response. In any case, do you know if you have to be there at a specific “mobility boarding time” or do they let you board later with a wheelchair after the other mobility passengers have boarded? We probably won’t arrive until around 1:00pm.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, schmoopie17 said:

Yeah, it seemed like a goofy response. In any case, do you know if you have to be there at a specific “mobility boarding time” or do they let you board later with a wheelchair after the other mobility passengers have boarded? We probably won’t arrive until around 1:00pm.

If you are in a wheelchair, crutches, using a walker, you can either be first called to board, or to. board whenever you want.  

 

If you get there at 1:00, there will be no wait and you'll walk right on.

 

If you get there at 9: or 9:30, regardless of your mobility issues, your check in time or your status, you're going to have to wait around.

[kitkat343]

On 2/23/2024 at 3:34 PM, schmoopie17 said:

Are you sure about passengers needing assistance getting priority boarding? We board the Jade on Sunday and months ago contacted NCL’s Access Department regarding getting a wheelchair for Mrs. Schmoopie for boarding. (She had a severe leg fracture a few months ago and is still mobility challenged).

 

The response from NCL said they will provide a wheelchair for boarding, but they also said the following: 

 

“Please be advised we do not provide priority boarding for any guests. However, we can provide guests with wheelchair assistance at embarkation and debarkation. This has been requested, please seek assistance once inside the terminal.”

 

 

Maybe they just don't want to guarantee that you won't have to wait in case the ship is delayed or embarkation is a real mess (I've never seen that yet but have read about extremely rare times when there are long ship inspections or weather delays in the ship returning and there are hours and hours of delays upon embarking)?  Under normal boarding conditions, I've seen cruise lines help people with disabilities through the lines.  But I usually travel with small children so it's easier for us not to wait.  We choose late arrival times and get there late and have never had to wait late.  That's probably your best bet if you are trying to minimize waiting times.  

 

And to the OP, as soon as you can access the ships wifi, make the last reservation you need.  We boarded late, needed only one dining reservation and got it immediately upon boarding.  The only people who had trouble didn't know they had to make reservations and they were stuck using their dining packages at lunch because they didn't realize until day 2 they needed reservations for dinner (standby might also work but no guarantee).

 

Edited February 24 by kitkat343