When to Board???

[CruisingLAN]

I'm scheduled to board the Royal Princess ship tomorrow in Vancouver which is due to depart for Alaska at 4pm local time.  What time would you suggest we be at the dock so we don't have a long wait to board? We already have our medallion's. 

 

I'd prefer to be on the earlier side but my travel mates don't want to be there too early.

 

Please advise.

[1025cruise]

Keep in mind that Vancouver can be a pain with multiple ships, plus you need to clear US immigration before boarding. I would think you need to be on the ship by 2:30. 

[CruisingLAN]

51 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Keep in mind that Vancouver can be a pain with multiple ships, plus you need to clear US immigration before boarding. I would think you need to be on the ship by 2:30. 

 

I was thinking more like 11 am, does anyone know if we can get on that early? 

[trbarton]

3 hours ago, CruisingLAN said:

 

I was thinking more like 11 am, does anyone know if we can get on that early? 

I Cruise a lot from San Francisco & will get to the terminal around 9:30 am. At that time their may be a few people already in line but around 10 am they open the terminal & we can go inside. Around 11 am we’re allowed to board the ship. It’s great, for me, to be able to board the ship early & avoid any long lines. If I need to do any business once I’m on the ship, it’s real easy with only a few people onboard. 
 

If I was in your situation I would arrive by 9:30 am just like I do in San Francisco. 
 

Let us know what you decide & how it went. 
 

Tom😀👍

[CruisingLAN]

Thanks, I'll let you know what we decide to do.

I think it will be around 11am, but I have to clear it with the rest of the people going on the cruise.

 

[johnkylie]

We departed Vancouver in June on the Ruby princess for a 7 day cruise to Alaska. We got to Canada place around 10.30am. We were on board within 50 minutes.! Very pleasantly surprised.  And that included picking up our medallions as we are Australian we couldn't have them sent to us.

[Mud_Shark]

Vancouver is our home port.  We usually target an 1100 arrival.  There will be line ups, but usually the lines move quite quickly.  There can always be glitches, but usually we are onboard within 45 min to one hour.

[memoak]

We rarely board prior to 1:00 by then the rush to be the first on is over and we can just stroll through. We like to have a late breakfast/early lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and avoid all the crowds 

[LACruiser88]

59 minutes ago, memoak said:

We rarely board prior to 1:00 by then the rush to be the first on is over and we can just stroll through. We like to have a late breakfast/early lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and avoid all the crowds 

Ditto for us.  Regardless of where in the world we are boarding, we never arrive to the terminal before 1 pm.  

[Treasure Hunter]

10:30 is a great time. With the medallion you will be on board by 11:00

[memoak]

5 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

10:30 is a great time. With the medallion you will be on board by 11:00

Of course you cabin will probably not be ready 

[LynnSD]

I agree 10-10:30.  We also cruised in June and it worked perfectly.  They had everyone seated in a waiting area for 15 minutes, and then we boarded row by row.   

[voljeep]

what is the breakeven number of cruises when you start to not care about getting on the ship as early as possible to start enjoying the experience.  We haven't experienced that yet at 15+ - but also over 17 years ...🥂

[LACruiser88]

26 minutes ago, voljeep said:

what is the breakeven number of cruises when you start to not care about getting on the ship as early as possible to start enjoying the experience.  We haven't experienced that yet at 15+ - but also over 17 years ...🥂

For us it was around 30!  Also, our cruises now tend to be in the 30+ days in length.  No need to rush onboard.  🥂

 

 

 

 

Edited August 24 by LACruiser88

[pppatpc2]

We side with the 10:30-11am group.  We have taken almost 30 cruises, but it is part of our Princess ritual.  We stop at Bellini’s or Good Spirits and get a Prosecco to toast our journey and then we have lunch in the dining room at 12:30.  I always get the chicken cacciatore.  Our last cruise in July, we were on board in 15 minutes.  Just my two cents.

[memoak]

57 minutes ago, voljeep said:

what is the breakeven number of cruises when you start to not care about getting on the ship as early as possible to start enjoying the experience.  We haven't experienced that yet at 15+ - but also over 17 years ...🥂

We have 63 cruises we probably stopped going early after 40 or so.  Waiting on the cold up chairs leaves a lot

 to be desired   We cruise about 60-70 days a year on 11-21 day cruises. Lots of time for MDR lunches 

 

 

 

[Treasure Hunter]

We always ( in 35 Princess cruises) have been able to drop our carry on in the stateroom and make a pit stop before seeing the concierge for info about dinners and help with WiFi. So the time works perfectly for us!