Is boarding time fixed at online check-in?

[Silverspringcruiser]

We'll be on the 6/21 QE Alaska cruise. I've done the online check-in. The boarding pass says please arrive no earlier that 13:00 but the webpage says arrival time will be allocated close to sailing day.  Does that mean my arrival time will change? And what happens if I show up earlier? Will I have to just wander around Canada Place until the right time? 

[Host Hattie]

Yes, that's your Arrival time. It's unlikely to change once you've checked in.

[Pushpit]

By Cunard's standards, 13:00 hrs is fairly early. You could try arriving slightly before that but the chances are that you won't get on board much sooner.

[david,Mississauga]

My experience on three Cunard embarkations in Vancouver is that the arrival time is not strictly enforced.  The check-in starts at various times.  Boarding is strict however, with the usual order of QG, PG, Club, Britannia.  CWC status did not matter for boarding. There are plenty of seats, which are welcome after dealing with check-in, security and US border control.

 

Our pre-pandemic experience in 2019 is not relevant so I will skip that.  In 2022 our arrival time was 13:15.  Check-in started shortly after 11:00. We request a wheelchair for my wife at terminals as large as Vancouver and are Diamond level in the CWC so were checked in early.   We were in PG so boarded just a few minutes after QG, approximately12:00. 

 

In 2013 our arrival time was 12:45 because we were in QG.  The shore staff told us when I chatted with them the day before that we could arrive as early as 10:30 to get a wheelchair.  We did so and were told that check-in wouldn't open until 11:30. Then we were told it was changed to 12:00.  Later we were told it might be 12:30, but it was actually closer to noon.  Boarding started about 12:45.

 

We are boarding again in July and it is too early for us to receive our documents.