Past Conquest Cruisers - Embarking

[2Okies]

Would like to hear from recent Conquest cruisers regarding an embarking question below.....

 

Since our ship itenerary says our ship will return to Galveston on Sunday 8AM, I assume the cruise before ours will also do the same. Our tickets say way we can embark by 1PM on Sunday (sail at 4PM).

 

However, I've read some that say they ignore the 1PM rule get to the dock by 10ish to start getting on the ship.

 

Is that going to be a problem for those getting off the ship at 8AM, and those wanting to get on the ship 10AM or so? When do they have time to clean it??

 

Just wondering. I would love to get on the ship early, but have just wondered about this......

 

Do you advise getting to the dock around 10, or is it advised to wait until 1 as the tickets say?

[ballarinamom]

You will not be allowed in your room until it is cleaned. The rest of the ship stays clean. Most cruise lines will have the entire ship empty by 10:30- 11:00. As soon as customs allows the turn over, they can start allowing guests on. There are times when the crew has to physically clear customs and that can take a while. Some crew who have ended their contract will also get off. But just know that getting on early means you have to carry your carry ons until your room is ready which could be around 2:00 0r later.

[Swaybar]

We arrived around noon..had to wait until 2 before allowed in room.

[ballarinamom]

Also, though it says you will arrive in Galveston at 8:00, it will be much earlier than that. My parents did self disembark on Rhapsody and were off by 7:30. Then they started calling the other groups around 8:00. We were the last group and were called at 10:00 and in our car by 10:30.

[ballarinamom]

You may be wondering what to do until your room is cleaned. Eat lunch, get the lay of the land, buy your drink card, sign up for spa treatments, drop off your passport at the pursers desk for stamps in the ports, go to the casino for a lanyard, change dining assignments if needed. Or just grab a drink and enjoy the view!

[suseg]

We were onboard by 11:30 AM. Since I needed a wheelchair (spinal surgery) my friend and I were the very first ones onboard.....isn't that special? There was another lady in a wheelchair and our "pushers" had a race up the gangway, what a fun way to start our cruise. We were in cabin 1062, btw no swaying at all up on that level, had "Joselito" as our steward and our room was ready when we got there. So, we dropped off our luggage, went to the buffet....first stop Sur la Mer (which wasn't quite opened) I loved the zuchinni and calamari fritter as well....and then I had a steak sandwich from the grill. After sitting in the lovely sun (I'm from Idaho and anything above 15 degrees, in February, is bloody well tropical) for awhile we went to our cabin to prepare for our Cruise Critic get together and so that I could lay down for a bit before people arrived.

 

Checking in was quick and efficient. Eventhough my friend's surname begins with a "U" and mine a "G" we only went to one station. "Linda" checked us in and couldn't have been more accomodating.

 

All in all it was all good.

[*Mach*]

I was onboard by 12:30.

 

That being said, my room wasn't ready until nearly 3:30 so I had to drag my carry on bag and laptop along with me...

 

There's plenty to do and see in the meantime, eat, drink, chat, eat, drink, wander, eat and drink!!! (do you see a trend here??? :D )

[2Okies]

So it sounds like we can head over to the terminal early, and get on if we can, or wait if we can't. Right?

[*Mach*]

So it sounds like we can head over to the terminal early, and get on if we can, or wait if we can't. Right?

 

Yep... I was there at about 10:30... 10:45 and we were able to mill about for a while as they prepped for the wedding party. At 11:00 AM we were shuffled into the area where the embarkation process begins.

[2Okies]

Yep... I was there at about 10:30... 10:45 and we were able to mill about for a while as they prepped for the wedding party. At 11:00 AM we were shuffled into the area where the embarkation process begins.

 

 

Wow. We can't wait! Thanks for the info.

[232271]

Wow. We can't wait! Thanks for the info.

 

 

When we got to Terminal for our last Thanksgiving cruise the line wrapped around the waiting area like 3 times.(this was a pre-line, the offical line wasnt opened yet) Some people had gotten there before 10 am and the line wasnt taken until after 11 sometime. It was very hard standing with that many people crammed all together. Tempers flared at times. Not to mention all the noisy kids.

 

We are going to try to get to the terminal at 11, to avoid all this, hoping they have dropped the ropes by then.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Matlily]

We got there at 12noon and were on by about 1pm. but when we got back we didn't get off the ship until gone 11am there where delays!!!!

[PotatoHead123]

We were on the September 23rd Conquest Cruise. Per very helpful instructions by Deb on our role call we headed to the terminal around 11:00. A porter met our taxi as we drove up and took all our luggage. We then walked down to a door where there was a small room and a lady at a desk there checked our Carnival e-doc info. (Don't tear your docs on the perforated line if you have info for more than one person on a page. One of the girls who traveled with us thought the lines were supposed to be cut but she kind of got a little bit of a talking to. LOL)

 

Anyway... once we went up to the next level there was a huge room with roped off areas that reminded us of Six Flags. We were able to scoot under about four of these lines to get to the end of the line of people that made up two rope lines so not many people yet. There was a long bank of check in people up against the far wall so the line went pretty quickly. When it came our turn we went to one of the check-in people and this is where they looked at our e-docs and our passports and gave us our S&S cards. (and also gave us another lecture about tearing the e-docs on the lines) They also gave us a little paper to read about getting on board the ship.

 

There were four sections of chairs set up in the huge area on over to the side of this huge room and we were directed there. We weren't able to sit because we were on the same ship as Machman and as he said there was a huge wedding party waiting to board . They took up one whole section of the chairs and when they finally boarded we were able to sit down but there were tons of people still standing even after that. As we were sitting and looking around we noticed that the roped lines where we were at the beginning were full all around to the end now so we didn't have to stand in line as long since we had arrived earlier. There were probably about 100 to 200 people ahead of us so I was thinking if we had arrived to board at around 10:30 we would have been able to get a seat from the beginning. LOL

 

All in all we were able to get on the ship and were eating lunch by 12:30 I think but I think it would have gone a lot faster except for the wedding party. I was curious why it took so long to board them. I wondered if they were waiting for all the party to arrive or what? I think they had to get dressed before they boarded the ship because we saw some of them bringing in their wedding clothes and then they would appear dressed. Curious about these things. :p

[JHCALLAHAN]

We got there about 1:00 PM as per instructions and there were probably 2000 people ahead of us.:eek: I plan on going earlier this time, at least be more toward the front of the line.

 

Be forewarned, embarkation SUX and debarkation SUX even worse. There were 9 lines of customs and at least an hour wait in line. Next time I plan on doing self assist. The regular way you still have to go hunt your bags in dozens if not hundreds of others than all look alike, THEN haul them thru a seemingly endless serpentine line to customs. Wouldn't be that much more trouble to haul them off the ship as well, assuming you don't pack like the Beverly Hillbillies:D.

 

Good news is the cruise is GREAT otherwise. Be prepared and be patient.

 

Fair winds,

JHC

[trarecar]

No problem with getting there early. Lots of people do.

[themnms]

i try to arrive early always. We were on the Conquest in April and got to the port at 1130a, this turned out to be too late as there was a huge group of about 2000 before us. We did not get on until about 245pm. My worse embarkation ever..this compares to embarking in New York in June, 15 minutes max!!!..the reverse was...debarkation on the Conquest was a breeze and the Miracle in New York, horrendous!!!

 

So get there early, spend the time exploring the ship and eating lunch!!!Most importantly , have a blast!!!

[UncleInci]

As everyone else is saying, get there as early as you reasonably can. Half the ship will be there by noon - that is not an exageration. However, if you are a Plat or in a Suite, you skip most of all the lines and will be the first to board the ship after the wedding parties get on board.

 

Rob

[2Okies]

Last year in November we sailed on the Ecstasy. We didn't get there til about noon, and really the embarktion wasn't that bad. Maybe it was because it was our first cruise, and everything was new and exciting anyway. We had fun talking to the people in line, and actually got a lot of cruising advice from them! Everyone likes to tell first-timers the ropes! They ended up being some cruising friends we hung out with some on the cruise. They were a middle aged married couple, and it was me and my 15 year old daughter! But, we had fun together!

 

However, the Ecstasy hadn't come into port that day to unload, and then load passengers on the same day like the Conquest does. It just sounds like it will be chaos at the port with the morning passengers getting off, and the new cruisers wanting on!

 

Regardless, we can't wait. I guess we can stand a little discomfort to get to sail for 7 days! We won't have any special treatment though - we have inside regular staterooms! Just ordinary folks are we. LOL!

[*Mach*]

Last year in November we sailed on the Ecstasy. We didn't get there til about noon, and really the embarktion wasn't that bad. Maybe it was because it was our first cruise, and everything was new and exciting anyway. We had fun talking to the people in line, and actually got a lot of cruising advice from them! Everyone likes to tell first-timers the ropes! They ended up being some cruising friends we hung out with some on the cruise. They were a middle aged married couple, and it was me and my 15 year old daughter! But, we had fun together!

 

However, the Ecstasy hadn't come into port that day to unload, and then load passengers on the same day like the Conquest does. It just sounds like it will be chaos at the port with the morning passengers getting off, and the new cruisers wanting on!

 

Regardless, we can't wait. I guess we can stand a little discomfort to get to sail for 7 days! We won't have any special treatment though - we have inside regular staterooms! Just ordinary folks are we. LOL!

 

Get there early. Makes it easy.

 

It wasn't uncomfortable in any way, just a bit tedious. The guy that was answering questions, etc. was quite surprised that it was taking as long as it did. He mentioned that he normally starts boarding passengers at about 11:30...

[1plustripletsplus1]

My family sailed on the Conquest that left Sept. 30.

We got to EZCruise parking about 11. A porter met up with our shuttle and took our luggage. We had our carry ons and proceeded into the building. There was a small room like a previous post had said. Then we got into the room with roped off lines. We scooted under 3 rows and got to the end of the line. It was around 11:30. We chatted with people in line, (Easy to do when you have 5 kids with you!) and before you knew it we were at the desks. I looked out of the window and saw a dolphin jump out of the water and thought that wait was worth it so I could see this! There were a few people that were gripping about the lines so much they failed to notice the beautiful dolphin outside.

We walked up a maze of ramps, had our picture taken and walked onto the ship! We had our pictures taken for our S&S cards. Even though it was only 12:50 we did go to our room and drop off our carry ons in an out of the way area. We went downstairs to lunch. Walked around a bit and went back to our room around 2. From there we met our room steward, grabbed our lifevests and wondered around 'till it was time for Muster.

Hope this helps!