Pride early boarding (VIP?) plus excursions selling out??

[prideofpride]

Hi!

 

We leave on the Pride on July 16th!! I am seeing posts on this board specifically about checking in early on the Queen Mary but is this a highly kept secret? I've asked 8 different Carnival reps and they have never heard of such a thing. Is this a completely different animal than having VIP check-in?

 

Could an experienced Pride cruiser please tell me the real scoop of what is the best way to check-in as early as possible if I have the VIP check in listed on my docs? We're just the kind of people that don't mind getting there early if we can get on the boat earlier and start enjoying ourselves.

 

Second issue. How likely is it that some of the Mexican riviera resort tours (like the one that takes you to Paradise Resort in P.V.) will sell out if I don't book online??

 

Thanks if you can help!

Stephanie

[Astronomer]

Very experienced? No

I have only taken one Cruise ever, but it was on the Carnival Pride, and it was last week sailing 6/25/06.

You can check in early on the Queen Mary, we did so about 10:20 am but I believe it is open as early as 9:30, there will be signs and I assure you all the Carnival employees at the terminal know all about the early check in at the Queen Mary.

If you do early check in on the Queen, then you get in the shorter and faster line of people that already have S&S cards.

As far as excursions filling up, I am not sure as I booked mine over 6 months in advance.

[GE Mom]

We did early check in on the Queen Mary, but I didn't get the sense that it got you on the ship all that much earlier. After we did early check in, we waited got about 1 1/2 hours in a line, marked "Zone 1", that had about a million people in it. (Well, ok, half a million). The Carnival staff boarded the VIP's, then the Disabled passengers, then Zone 1 folks, while everyone else did check in inside the dome and then boarded. So the folks who didn't do early check in would have been delayed until the Zone 1 folks boarded, but presumably they didn't have to get to the ship area as early.

[LHP]

In March we did the Early Check In (VIP - yes!) . It is at the rear of the Queen Mary. We literally walked up to a Carnival rep who gave us our Sail and Sign cards. Absolutely no waiting at all. This was around 10am.

 

Then you walk around the Dome to the little sign that says (you guessed it) VIP Check In. There are no chairs to speak of ( a bench or two). And no cover from sun ( rain, hail or snow LOL) since you literally wait outdoors.

 

The Carnival Rep will come up to the line (when the Dome opens) and put all her "Skippies" that did Early Check In (which was us) in one line and all her "Skippies" that did not in another.

 

There were no weddings that day...so we were first in.

 

We walked in, went through Security and Xray, had our Embarkation picture taken, had our "mug shot for the Sail and Sign" taken...and walked on the ship. Just that quickly. This process however, did not start until after 12 noon...so be prepared that it could take that long or longer...depending on how quickly they clear the ship.

 

There are kiosks all over the place that sell everything from ice cream to "day dreams". We had a fun time visiting with other VIPs as we waited.