Star boarding time

[Ibis]

For Monday’s departure we were planning to arrive in the port around 12:15 to 12:30 but just noticed our confirmation mentions 1:00 PM. How firm is that? Should we delay our arrival in Port Everglades to avoid a long wait in the terminal or will boarding actually start earlier? Thanks for any information. 

[Ibis]

That should read Star! 

[Peregrina651]

1 pm is the latest time your cabin will be ready for occupancy. Nominal boarding time is 11am but Viking does not like to keep people sitting around the terminal. They will start check in as early as they can and start boarding arrivals as soon as the ship is cleared for boarding. By 12:15 the morning rush (early morning arrivals coming from the airport) should be over and unless your arrival coincides with the the arrival of a bus load of guests, you will be checked in and on board in no time.

 

At that point, they will be serving lunch in the World Cafe and the Pool Grill with light fare being served in the Living Room Bar and Mamsens.

Edited March 16 by Peregrina651

[CCWineLover]

As noted, the time you refer to (1 PM) is NOT the time you can "board" the ship, but is the latest time your cabin will be available.  It may even be available sooner!

We always try to arrive early like 10 - 11 AM and never have many people ahead of us boarding.  Then we have time to do the safety briefing, get connected to wi-fi, get any restaurant reservations, check on which Chef's Table menus are which days, make any excursion modifications,etc  before heading to World Cafe or Pool Grill for a nice lunch!  No Stress!

 

We also always arrive in the port or main city a day or two or more early - both to do sightseeing and as insurance for any issues that might arise in travel.  Less stress than arriving by air on the day of departure.

 

Specifically regarding Ft Lauderdale - we've done that several times.  For this particular port (unlike some of the European ones we've done), the mad rush is a bit later - like afternoon.  So many passengers fly in from the East Coast leaving in the morning and arriving at the ship in the afternoon.  When we would show up at 10:30 - 11:00, there was virtually no one in the check-in lines at all.  We did hear from folks that arrive in busloads around 3 that it was a madhouse however - hour long lines (not Viking's fault, but not enough FLL port people).  So keep that in mind.  I would board as absolutely soon as you can.

Edited March 16 by CCWineLover

[FetaCheese]

6 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

As noted, the time you refer to (1 PM) is NOT the time you can "board" the ship, but is the latest time your cabin will be available.  It may even be available sooner!

We always try to arrive early like 10 - 11 AM and never have many people ahead of us boarding.  Then we have time to do the safety briefing, get connected to wi-fi, get any restaurant reservations, check on which Chef's Table menus are which days, make any excursion modifications,etc  before heading to World Cafe or Pool Grill for a nice lunch!  No Stress!

 

We also always arrive in the port or main city a day or two or more early - both to do sightseeing and as insurance for any issues that might arise in travel.  Less stress than arriving by air on the day of departure.

 

Specifically regarding Ft Lauderdale - we've done that several times.  For this particular port (unlike some of the European ones we've done), the mad rush is a bit later - like afternoon.  So many passengers fly in from the East Coast leaving in the morning and arriving at the ship in the afternoon.  When we would show up at 10:30 - 11:00, there was virtually no one in the check-in lines at all.  We did hear from folks that arrive in busloads around 3 that it was a madhouse however - hour long lines (not Viking's fault, but not enough FLL port people).  So keep that in mind.  I would board as absolutely soon as you can.

We're 2 of said East Coast -- Philly pax -- with an 11am same day flight.  Arr. 2pm.  Hope all goes well ! And Pool Grill stays open.

Edited March 16 by FetaCheese

[shipboy]

We are already on board, I’ll try and keep a burger from the pool grill for you 😁

[Ibis]

 Many thanks for the helpful responses. As we are local, we can keep our plan to arrive around 12:15 without worries of flight delays. Does any one know if this cruise is fully booked? Thanks again!

[LissaKay]

On 3/16/2024 at 11:58 PM, Ibis said:

 Many thanks for the helpful responses. As we are local, we can keep our plan to arrive around 12:15 without worries of flight delays. Does any one know if this cruise is fully booked? Thanks again!

The last time I looked,  there was one cabin available. 

[Baron Barracuda]

We arrived at LA pier last November at 10am.  Star didn't begin boarding until 11am.  At that point there were probably 50 passengers queued up.

[CCWineLover]

6 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

We arrived at LA pier last November at 10am.  Star didn't begin boarding until 11am.  At that point there were probably 50 passengers queued up.

Probably due to all the midwest and East coast passengers who had flown in early that morning!  And got transferred to the ship - just to wait.  Doesn't seem to happen like that at FLL.  We boarded between 10 and 10:30 at FLL all 3 times embarking there.