New York Cruise Check In - Fail

[kilkoyne]

So I get an arrival time of 1:00-1:30. I get in line at 1:15. I then have to wait in line to go through their security check. I get past the security check and it's 1:45. They direct me to the line that says "late check-in" which looks to be 10x longer than the "on-time" line.

 

So, to be "on-time" you have to arrive at least 30 minutes (better yet an hour) before your scheduled time. What a fail by Carnival. ☹️

Edited April 5 by kilkoyne

[Stick93]

Never seen that happen on any cruise even out of NY

[shof515]

NY is my homeport. on all of the cruise lines i sailed out of the terminal, no one checked or enforce the check in time 

 

what i do see most of the times is for better or worse, they just put everyone in one big long line and ignore whatever signs they put on. 

 

most likely that on time line was closed somewhere so they directed everyone to the other line

[jsglow]

Hey, we have REAL problems today having just disembarked!

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[mjkacmom]

Those are not cruise ship employees, I’ve had good and bad experiences at the MCT.

[MadManOfBethesda]

12 hours ago, shof515 said:

NY is my homeport. on all of the cruise lines i sailed out of the terminal, no one checked or enforce the check in time 

Interesting because I've only sailed out of NY one time (12/23) and my experience was similar to that of the OP's.  I was in two exceedingly-long lines before reaching CCL's check-in area. (The first was out on the sidewalk just to hand over our luggage, and the second was the security line.) Once I got to the Venezia check-in line, I was directed to the exceedingly-long late check-in line since we were now outside of our 30-minute window. 

 

And no, contrary to your alternative theory, the regular check-in line had not closed as people were still being directed to enter that line if they were within their window.

[Ferry_Watcher]

I work at the pier in Seattle.  Usually when there are reports of really long lines it is due to two different situations.  Either the ship isn't ready to start boarding passengers (and the waiting area inside the terminal is past capacity).  Or, that the non-updated equipment that Carnival uses, has broken down and the check-in tablets/computers are not linking to the ship.  

 

Sometimes when there are very long lines, passengers that are "priority", i.e. it is printed on their boarding pass, those folks may be pulled out of line and there will be an effort to check them in asap.  But, if the WiFi between the ship and the check-in equipment is down, then it is still 'hurry up and wait" for everyone.

 

Edited April 6 by Ferry_Watcher

[ontheweb]

54 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

I work at the pier in Seattle.  Usually when there are reports of really long lines it is due to two different situations.  Either the ship isn't ready to start boarding passengers (and the waiting area inside the terminal is past capacity).  Or, that the non-updated equipment that Carnival uses, has broken down and the check-in tablets/computers are not linking to the ship.  

 

Sometimes when there are very long lines, passengers that are "priority", i.e. it is printed on their boarding pass, those folks may be pulled out of line and there will be an effort to check them in asap.  But, if the WiFi between the ship and the check-in equipment is down, then it is still 'hurry up and wait" for everyone.

 

Would it be safe to assume when you write "the non-updated equipment that Carnival uses" that this breakdown happens often? That is how I read it. Other lines sail out of Seattle including Princess and HAL that are part of the same corporation as Carnival. do they have better more up to date equipment?

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

I work at the pier in Seattle.  Usually when there are reports of really long lines it is due to two different situations.  Either the ship isn't ready to start boarding passengers (and the waiting area inside the terminal is past capacity).  Or, that the non-updated equipment that Carnival uses, has broken down and the check-in tablets/computers are not linking to the ship.  

 

Sometimes when there are very long lines, passengers that are "priority", i.e. it is printed on their boarding pass, those folks may be pulled out of line and there will be an effort to check them in asap.  But, if the WiFi between the ship and the check-in equipment is down, then it is still 'hurry up and wait" for everyone.

 

Never sailed out of seattle.  I have no reference to your comment on out dated equipment, can you expound upon that?  

[Ferry_Watcher]

This is my personal opinion: Carnival, in order to keep their cruise fares low, has not in invested in the infrastructure needed.  Their equipment tends to be heavy and clunky.  Compared to other cruise lines, their internet connection from ship to shore equipment is more likely to break down.  They are less likely to have on-site support staff inside the terminal to assist immediately when the ship to shore WiFi goes down, which IMO, causes unnecessary delays, (and this is when the long lines begin to form).   We almost never have problems with equipment breakdowns with the other cruise lines.

 

(Note - Each ship has it's own check-in equipment.  Every morning the ship's IT personnel unloads and sets up their equipment for the terminal staff to use.  Each afternoon, the equipment is packed up and returned to the ship. 

 

To their credit, Carnival was one of the first cruise lines to introduce the hand-held check-i devices, that really changed the speed of the check-in process.  But, if there are ship to shore equipment communication problems, then everything comes to a standstill.

 

There are other ways that Carnival has cut costs.  For example, passengers arriving after 2 PM will need to carry their own luggage on board, because Carnival sends the Longshore porters home exactly at 2 PM.  The terminal doors stay open until 3:20 PM, but starting at 2 PM there are no porters.  

[Davechipp74]

In N.Y. you don't deal with the cruise line form curb to post security, that's when your check in time Starts.  

Edited April 6 by Davechipp74

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

This is my personal opinion: Carnival, in order to keep their cruise fares low, has not in invested in the infrastructure needed.  Their equipment tends to be heavy and clunky.  Compared to other cruise lines, their internet connection from ship to shore equipment is more likely to break down.  They are less likely to have on-site support staff inside the terminal to assist immediately when the ship to shore WiFi goes down, which IMO, causes unnecessary delays, (and this is when the long lines begin to form).   We almost never have problems with equipment breakdowns with the other cruise lines.

 

(Note - Each ship has it's own check-in equipment.  Every morning the ship's IT personnel unloads and sets up their equipment for the terminal staff to use.  Each afternoon, the equipment is packed up and returned to the ship. 

 

To their credit, Carnival was one of the first cruise lines to introduce the hand-held check-i devices, that really changed the speed of the check-in process.  But, if there are ship to shore equipment communication problems, then everything comes to a standstill.

 

There are other ways that Carnival has cut costs.  For example, passengers arriving after 2 PM will need to carry their own luggage on board, because Carnival sends the Longshore porters home exactly at 2 PM.  The terminal doors stay open until 3:20 PM, but starting at 2 PM there are no porters.  

So let me make sure I am reading this correctly. The Carnival Corporation has made the more modern investment in equipment for Princess and HAL, but not Carnival.

 

Somehow, that does not seem to make sense.

[Ferry_Watcher]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

So let me make sure I am reading this correctly. The Carnival Corporation has made the more modern investment in equipment for Princess and HAL, but not Carnival.

 

Somehow, that does not seem to make sense.

 

Carnival markets itself to more of the mass market, and needs to keep it's prices down.  Unfortunately, budgets need to get cut somewhere to make this happen.  (This is my own opinion).

[ontheweb]

50 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Carnival markets itself to more of the mass market, and needs to keep it's prices down.  Unfortunately, budgets need to get cut somewhere to make this happen.  (This is my own opinion).

I understand that, but if the corporation has the equipment, it really does not make sense not to use it for all its lines. JMHO. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

12 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

I understand that, but if the corporation has the equipment, it really does not make sense not to use it for all its lines. JMHO. 

 

You would think that, but for whatever reason, they don't.

 

FYI, Royal and Celebrity use the same check-in system and basically the same equipment.  And there are virtually no system wide problems during embarkation.  And if something does happen, their IT people are right there working on it.

[jimbo5544]

6 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

This is my personal opinion: Carnival, in order to keep their cruise fares low, has not in invested in the infrastructure needed.  Their equipment tends to be heavy and clunky.  Compared to other cruise lines, their internet connection from ship to shore equipment is more likely to break down.  They are less likely to have on-site support staff inside the terminal to assist immediately when the ship to shore WiFi goes down, which IMO, causes unnecessary delays, (and this is when the long lines begin to form).   We almost never have problems with equipment breakdowns with the other cruise lines.

 

(Note - Each ship has it's own check-in equipment.  Every morning the ship's IT personnel unloads and sets up their equipment for the terminal staff to use.  Each afternoon, the equipment is packed up and returned to the ship. 

 

To their credit, Carnival was one of the first cruise lines to introduce the hand-held check-i devices, that really changed the speed of the check-in process.  But, if there are ship to shore equipment communication problems, then everything comes to a standstill.

 

There are other ways that Carnival has cut costs.  For example, passengers arriving after 2 PM will need to carry their own luggage on board, because Carnival sends the Longshore porters home exactly at 2 PM.  The terminal doors stay open until 3:20 PM, but starting at 2 PM there are no porters.  

Thanks for the reply

[navybankerteacher]

On 4/5/2024 at 2:55 PM, Stick93 said:

Never seen that happen on any cruise even out of NY

I have never seen any attempt to adhere to scheduled check in times - in several NY sailings.

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

You would think that, but for whatever reason, they don't.

 

FYI, Royal and Celebrity use the same check-in system and basically the same equipment.  And there are virtually no system wide problems during embarkation.  And if something does happen, their IT people are right there working on it.

I agree that what Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do makes sense. I don't see any reason for Carnival not to use better equipment when they obviously have it for Princess and HAL. 

 

First impressions always make a large impact, and not efficiently getting your passengers onboard cannot be a good first impression.

[davy jones]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:59 AM, ontheweb said:

Would it be safe to assume when you write "the non-updated equipment that Carnival uses" that this breakdown happens often? That is how I read it. Other lines sail out of Seattle including Princess and HAL that are part of the same corporation as Carnival. do they have better more up to date equipment?

There is some truth to that.  Princess is using the medallion system to expedite check ins.