Boarding Time Selection

[mhlcanada]

Just did the online check in for my cruise in late Sept on Discovery Princess.  I noticed there is no option to select your boarding time.  Is boarding time assigned to you closer to sail date or do you just go in the morning and boarding is first come first served? We usually like to board ship early to get familiar with the ship before the crowds.

[arizonaperson]

@mhlcanada

no more boarding window of time any longer that I know of.

Your “check in” window, they call it now, will show up on your App, anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 days before the sailing.

After you have completed the check in on the App, you should get a BP/QR code and it will show your check in window.  

 

Should show up about 7 days before up to 2 days before cruise.

Show up when you wish,once ship is cleared from previous passengers they will start suites,elites,platinum,etc. Not in that order,but you get the idea.

Some say you get a boarding QR code a few days prior,but not many have experienced port or cruise staff looking at it for boarding time.

If you are green lane & have medallion,you show that and blue lane quick pick up for that.

 

So yes,you may go early.

Edited August 13 by arizonaperson

[wallyj]

@mhlcanada, this was experience for my Emerald Princess 8/11-28 sailing. A few days before sailing, APP had boarding pass. You need to scroll left to see it. In the boarding pass, it will list your ‘check in’ window. Mine showed 12-3. In the APP, when I opened JouneyView for Day1, it said arrival time 1pm.

 

I decided to go to the Boston port early, my first time. Arrived about 9:30. There was a pretty long line already. They opened the terminal at 10:15 to start the check in process. We were held in a holding area till the ship was cleared for boarding just after 11.

 

For my Enchanted sailings last May and June at FLL, I had read they open Terminal2 around 10am, so I knew to arrive before then.

 

YMMV.

[skynight]

The are no assigned or selected boarding times. I searched all 4 Discovery September sailings. You indicate you are sailing on a late September cruise. If it is the 21st then the ship will be cleared of disembarking passengers by around 9:30/10:00am. Boarding should begin around 11am. If you are sailing on the 28th, that is a different story. In that case the ship arrives in Vancouver at 9:45am. Boarding will probably begin around 1:00pm or so. The ship sails in the late evening.

In all cases you arrive according to your own preference up to 90 minutes before the scheduled sailing. The earlier you arrive the chances to encounter more crowds increase. If you have your medallion you are green lane and go directly to the boarding area after clearing security. If you don not have your medallion you are blue lane and have to make a short detour to pick up the medallion. 

[Cruisemeister2002]

Our ship sails at around 4 p.m. I will be arranging a taxi to get us to the port about 10.30 a.m. and am hoping to board by 11 a.m. From what I understand boarding passes arrive between 11 and 1 day prior to the cruise. We have been informed that from next year medallions will be available for delivery in the UK and that as such we will need our documents and access the blue lane to obtain our medallions. No mention of boarding times, so it's turn up and hopefully not thousands in front of us although through previous experience many come to the port (pier) by coach and don't arrive until 2.30 to 3 p.m. I know on one occasion we arrived so late via coach that we got onboard and were called to our muster station immediately that was obviously pre- Covid.

[Momma Rene]

How are handicapped handled for boarding time?

[ldubs]

16 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@mhlcanada

no more boarding window of time any longer that I know of.

Your “check in” window, they call it now, will show up on your App, anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 days before the sailing.

After you have completed the check in on the App, you should get a BP/QR code and it will show your check in window.  

 

Should show up about 7 days before up to 2 days before cruise.

Show up when you wish,once ship is cleared from previous passengers they will start suites,elites,platinum,etc. Not in that order,but you get the idea.

Some say you get a boarding QR code a few days prior,but not many have experienced port or cruise staff looking at it for boarding time.

If you are green lane & have medallion,you show that and blue lane quick pick up for that.

 

So yes,you may go early.

 

I always thought of a boarding window and a check-in window as when I should arrive at the terminal.  I agree with comments that people can now pretty much arrive any time they want.  

 

I get that some want to get on board as early as possible.  Some even knowingly show up before the doors are open.   I understand some want to get on to secure various reservations.  Others are anxious to start their holiday.   I strongly recommend everyone show up as early as possible.   That makes it easier for us to show up after the early morning rush and pretty much walk on.  😄 

 

 

[ldubs]

22 minutes ago, Momma Rene said:

How are handicapped handled for boarding time?

 

I do not think boarding or check-in times are handled any differently than discussed here.   There is a disabled lane that will bypass the line(s).  For what are hopefully obvious reasons, those traveling with the disabled person should accompany them in the disabled lane/check-in.     

[arizonaperson]

35 minutes ago, Momma Rene said:

How are handicapped handled for boarding time?

I would go over to the disabled forum on Cruise critic and there are probably lots of questions and answers that might apply to your situation. There are a lot of variables to your question.

[arizonaperson]

Just to add to the boarding window/boarding time.

Everyone’s situation is different. Therefore everyone is not going to show up at the same time. Some people are staying in a hotel and they need to check out by 11 AM, some people live locally and they don’t know how much traffic there is going to be driving to the port, so they get there early or later. Some might have a flight that lands at 7 AM so therefore they’ll probably get there early. Some people have a flight that lands at noon so they’re going to be a little bit later arriving, etc. etc. The boarding/ check in  time window that Princess gives you , I don’t believe has been enforced because of the above situations. I have not recently heard of anyone being denied access to the building / terminal based upon what time is on their boarding window/check-in time.  You will board the ship once the previous passengers are all cleared. Yes you may have to wait once in the terminal after you check in, go through security, etc.. or You may not have to wait ,but it usually has nothing to do with your boarding window time.
They usually just make sure you have the proper documents that you show. i.e. that You’re in the right place -that you’re taking a cruise and you’re not just wandering around the building aimlessly or trying to be a stowaway.

[Cruisemeister2002]

P&O in their infinite wisdom one year decided to have boarding windows (No I don't mean windows you climb through to board) I mean a certain time you had to arrive and you had so long to get on the ship. We were on a coach which where we were picked up from was many miles and stops from the port (pier) due to driving rules the driver had to have a 45-60 minute break at South Mimms service station. From there we picked up at various locations but were still well ahead of the allotted time. We therefore had to stop again on the outskirts of Southampton for another 40 minutes or so before making our way to the port (pier). Suffice to say that was the last time they tried that method of embarkation.

[6986]

10 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

How are handicapped handled for boarding time?

I travel with my blind partner. For our May cruise on Emerald in Fort Lauderdale there was a booth near where we dropped off our luggage in the port that seemed to be for disabled passengers.  We were promptly told that it was for wheelchair disabled persons only. We got in the regular blue line and shortly thereafter were spotted by a Princess employee who pulled us out of the line and took us through a lane that was geared for those who need extra time or assistance. They had a separate gangway that was less steep than the main one that we used to get on the ship. We never used to take advantage of these services but now that we are getting older, we do and it really makes our lives easier. We never asked staff on board for any extra assistance but I’m quite sure it would have been readily provided if we asked. A server in the Crown Grill did ask my partner if he would like him to cut up his steak. My partner took him up on that and he said it was great. Other servers have offered to read him the menu. Emerald has single bathroom handicapped accessible bathrooms scattered around the ship which are really helpful for a blind person as well.

[Momma Rene]

Thanks for your honest response. I’m worried about handicapped for heart conditions. There are handicapped that are not visible. Usually you are never questioned when you are disabled