Assigned boarding times?

[psxer989]

I noticed on my boarding pass for my upcoming cruise in May that it no longer says that boarding times will be assigned 14-10 days from embarkation.  The Faq doesn't mention it anymore either.  Sorry if this has already been brought up, but did they eliminate assigned boarding times?

 

Thanks,

Larry

[CruiserBruce]

They have been eliminated. A month or so ago.

[SeaMatesNYC]

With our recent cruise on Koningsdam from San Diego for 6 night Pacific Coast, we received an "Important Update" notice about a week out with the boarding times by deck (this was never reflected on our boarding pass).  This may or may not have been unique to this port/this ship (it was also true the cruise prior).   We arrived prior to our assigned time by maybe 45 minutes, and there was no delay.  But we were late in the schedule to begin with.

[CruiserBruce]

1 hour ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

With our recent cruise on Koningsdam from San Diego for 6 night Pacific Coast, we received an "Important Update" notice about a week out with the boarding times by deck (this was never reflected on our boarding pass).  This may or may not have been unique to this port/this ship (it was also true the cruise prior).   We arrived prior to our assigned time by maybe 45 minutes, and there was no delay.  But we were late in the schedule to begin with.

This was a special problem with 3 ships in port at San Diego, not related to the OP's question. It was redacted, and not enforced. I know because I was on the Zaandam that day sitting next to you.  The combo of weather, 3 ships in port, fueling delays and a couple of other things made it a total cluster...but the cruise was fantastic. 

[ellieanne]

2 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

They have been eliminated. A month or so ago.

I am a bit sorry about this. My cruise in September had assigned boarding times and I think it was the best and easiest boarding process I have had since my first cruise in 1998. It was easy and controlled the number of people in line at any time, which meant minimal waiting tp check in or board. And it was easy to find a table in the Lido for a quick lunch once we got on board. I wish they would have kept the timed boarding. It was even easy to get all our boarding party together, all I did was call HAL and have them move one cabin to a later time so we could all board together and my parents could have both mine and my brother's assistance.
(The 1998 cruise ranks as best boarding because they did all the processing in a ballroom at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal with drinks and snack provided and bussed groups to the ship on a schedule -- we had about 90 minutes to check in and wait, and explore the hotel and the Gare Centrale. That was best system, but I can see why they might not do that anymore.)

[psxer989]

Thanks everyone!  I was used to the assigned times but we'll see how it goes.  Hopefully the Lido Buffet doesn't get slammed too early.