nm951 Posted July 18 #1 Share Posted July 18 Please refresh my mind as it's been a while that I've cruised with NCL. What is the earliest we can board? my friend is a first-time cruiser who is flying in the morning of the cruise (local 50 min flight) she isn't paying any type of priority boarding or anything like that. Just need an estimate of normal boarding time so she knows what time to book her flight for that morning . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggTexasGal Posted July 18 #2 Share Posted July 18 3 minutes ago, nm951 said: Please refresh my mind as it's been a while that I've cruised with NCL. What is the earliest we can board? my friend is a first-time cruiser who is flying in the morning of the cruise (local 50 min flight) she isn't paying any type of priority boarding or anything like that. Just need an estimate of normal boarding time so she knows what time to book her flight for that morning. Without any "priority status," your friend probably does not need to be at the port before 11 am. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 18 #3 Share Posted July 18 She needs to book the earliest flight of the day just in case there are any issues. It is much better to wait at the destination than worrying about getting there. The pier will normally open for checkin around 10 a.m. and boarding will begin around 11:30 a.m. assuming everything runs normally. Times are estimates and may be off by 30 minutes or so. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallux Posted July 18 #4 Share Posted July 18 Boarding begins some amount of time (10-60 minutes?) after the last passenger of the previous cruise has scanned their card to walk off the ship. Because of many factors there is no hard-defined time for it but it's probably generally around 11 or shortly after if all goes smoothly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngrJones Posted July 18 #5 Share Posted July 18 2 hours ago, ggTexasGal said: Without any "priority status," your friend probably does not need to be at the port before 11 am. Back when I was a Latitudes "nobody," I would arrive early so as to be awarded one of those coveted "Group 1" paddles. I think it worked every time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted July 18 #6 Share Posted July 18 She needs to know what time the ship is scheduled to depart. She HAS TO be on board 2 hours prior to departure. Since she is booking her own flight, if something happens and she is not on board before the 2 hour mark, the ship could and probably will leave without her. I am a ONE hour flight from Seattle, but I fly over the day before to make sure I am in Seattle ready to sail. If I missed my flight from my home airport, it would 24 hours or more I could get another flight. Not worth the chance of missing the ship. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare debenson0723 Posted July 19 #7 Share Posted July 19 6 hours ago, zqvol said: She needs to book the earliest flight of the day just in case there are any issues. It is much better to wait at the destination than worrying about getting there. If she can't/won't fly in the night before (even with a 50 minute flight) then she needs to book the earliest flight in the morning (as in 6am), as mentioned above. With the number of flight delays I have experienced this summer (no crew, mechanical issues, etc) the earlier you can go, the better. And I have been in an airport where the destination airport had to close due to fires in the area (this was LA) and many, many people were going to miss their cruise due to flight delays (and it was a 50 minute flight). 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted July 19 #8 Share Posted July 19 Look at the headlines in this morning's news---lots of flights being grounded because of a Global IT issue-- anything can happen to delay flights. Not worth the risk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted July 19 #9 Share Posted July 19 16 hours ago, nm951 said: Please refresh my mind as it's been a while that I've cruised with NCL. What is the earliest we can board? my friend is a first-time cruiser who is flying in the morning of the cruise (local 50 min flight) she isn't paying any type of priority boarding or anything like that. Just need an estimate of normal boarding time so she knows what time to book her flight for that morning . Boarding will start around 11:30. prior to boarding, she will have to go through the scrutiny line and checkin line. If she insists to fly in on day of departure, have her book the first available flight. We always fly in a day early (even to a close port). On our cruise in May 2024, our flight was delayed 7 hours. There was no seats on later flights. And there was a potential the flight would cancel. We were investigating Amtrak or even driving all night to get to our cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Laszlo Posted July 19 #10 Share Posted July 19 16 hours ago, nm951 said: Please refresh my mind as it's been a while that I've cruised with NCL. What is the earliest we can board? my friend is a first-time cruiser who is flying in the morning of the cruise (local 50 min flight) she isn't paying any type of priority boarding or anything like that. Just need an estimate of normal boarding time so she knows what time to book her flight for that morning . It can really depend on the ship and the port. My wife and I sailed the Gem out of Boston a few weeks ago. The doors to the terminal opened at 10:00, we were checked in and sitting in the Heaven / Suite area at 10:15, we boarded at 10:40. Our friends who were in a regular balcony checked in the a few minutes after us and were onboard on 11:00am. Boston was the most efficient terminal I've been even ever. Its smaller than NYC has has three elevators compared to one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare graphicguy Posted July 19 #11 Share Posted July 19 It does indeed depend on the terminal and what time the last guest has checked out from the previous cruise. My rule of thumb, all for non-Haven embarkation day... -get there as early as possible with the understanding you'll be waiting around a while in a crowded pier area. And, you'll be navigating the crowds who just disembarked as well as those, like you, are trying to check in and embark. Personally, that's my LEAST favorite thing to do as the guests getting off are testy, and the guests getting on are pushy. -get there somewhere around noon-ish (for a 4-6 p.m. sail away). Keep in mind what it says on your ticket what "all aboard" time is. I've experienced both 1 hour and 2 hour all aboard times on my tickets. By noon-ish, the initial mad rush has dissipated somewhat. -if you really just want to walk into the pier, check in and immediately walk on board, get to the pier 3 hours before all aboard. I've done all 3. I prefer to get to the pier around noon-ish. I miss ALL the embarkation drama with ALL the other guests for the most part. Flying in the day of...have done it, several times. Have never remotely been close to "missing the ship". That includes a bomb scare one time when they closed down LaGuardia. Still made it in plenty of time to get on board. That said, it's always preferable to come in the day before to minimize cruise embarkation disasters. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 19 #12 Share Posted July 19 The real question asked in the OP’s Post is what time should op’s friend book a flight, for same day arrival. The answer to that question is always the same. Book the first flight of the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 19 #13 Share Posted July 19 22 hours ago, nm951 said: Please refresh my mind as it's been a while that I've cruised with NCL. What is the earliest we can board? my friend is a first-time cruiser who is flying in the morning of the cruise (local 50 min flight) she isn't paying any type of priority boarding or anything like that. Just need an estimate of normal boarding time so she knows what time to book her flight for that morning . Using today’s computer mess illustrates why it is better to come early instead of last minute. I hope your friend doesn’t run into flight issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PartyPlannerLady Posted July 21 #14 Share Posted July 21 On 7/18/2024 at 3:34 PM, nm951 said: Please refresh my mind as it's been a while that I've cruised with NCL. What is the earliest we can board? my friend is a first-time cruiser who is flying in the morning of the cruise (local 50 min flight) she isn't paying any type of priority boarding or anything like that. Just need an estimate of normal boarding time so she knows what time to book her flight for that morning . There is no set boarding time. Once the ship has been cleared from the previous cruisem boarding will begin with B2B, Haven, abs ADA guests then bpntinue by boarding group numbers. You group is assigned when you get to the port and check in. At some point in the process open boarding will commence and all remaining passengers can board at will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrown84 Posted July 21 #15 Share Posted July 21 I'm a huge fan of the 12:30 or later arrival time. The crowds are gone and you're able to walk right onto the ship. The one time I did a same day arrival, I arrived by train. I did take the first train up (DC to NY), and arrived at the terminal much earlier than I normally would. They were still calling boarding numbers, but since I'm platinum I didn't have to wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olemissreb Posted July 21 #16 Share Posted July 21 I'm with the ones that say get to the pier about noonish and walk right on. Added advantage to getting there later is rooms may be ready if you get there late enough and you'd be able to drop off your carryons. I'm planning on doing (or as close as I can) this when we cruise from San Juan in March. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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