Sea Dog

30 minutes ago, Ryan79 said:

Me too! On my last cruise we disembarked at 8am and there were already several hundred people in line to board. They had a long morning of just standing in one place for a few hours to look forward to! When we embarked for that cruise, we got there at 11:30 and had our first drink at 11:45. 

Last couple of cruises I was on board by 11:00am. Ideally that would be perfect.

2 minutes ago, CruiseGus said:

Occasionally there are delays disembarking, and while not all people come on time, not early, enough do that it helps with crowd control.  Much easier if the 11:30 folks show at eleven and are walked right on board because all went smoothly.  I belive the goal is to walk you directly on as you show up.

I had one delay because of an inspection but even that took 30 minutes and I was on board by 11:30.

My main reason for wanting to get on board early is to make my dining package reservations and get my desired times.

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I would assume just to try to prevent a mob coming to the port super early.

Yeah they try but I am always amazed how many people get there 9am or earlier just to stand in line. It’s not like there are places to sit outside.

5 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I had 11:30 on Adventure in July. I was on board at 10:45

3 hours ago, Colon said:

Also, on August Adventure of the seas I got the earliest one 11:30 am and I was on board at 10:40 am. 

That’s encouraging. I’m just curious why the 10:30 slot went away. I’ve always been able to get a 10:30 slot. We are planning on being at the terminal by 10:30 hopefully they will be letting people inside the doors.

Normally when I have checked in I have secured a 10:30am check-in time. For my upcoming Adventure cruise I got in when check in became available right away but the only early check in was 11:30am. Is this usually the case for Fort Lauderdale? I have gotten 10:30 in the past. Will any earlier times become available the closer we get to the sailing? Our cruise leavesOctober 21st on Adventure from Fort Lauderdale.

28 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Which would likely be Chops

Chops it is. That’s what I was thinking because Giovanni’s is on the other end. Wanted to get to the nearest specialty. Don’t know if Izumi on deck 5 will be taking reservations for all the other restaurants or just Izumi. Lots of people tend to go there first to make those reservations. Thanks everyone.

Upon embarking where would be the best place to make specialty restaurant reservations?

I asked Matt about it this morning on his Facebook live feed and he recommended get there at normal time. You may be delayed but probably not by much.

I would be interested in hearing experiences about MEI. My TA who is a friend of mine has booked 3 cruises for us and manages to screw something up every time. We went yesterday to pick up our cruise documents ( which I also printed out on my own but thought I would be nice to visit) and come to find out after getting home she did include the set sail passes. Now I know I have them on the Royal App but this mistake was completely avoidable. Rule number one, don't do business with friends.

Grills or Fishlips. Right by where the ships dock. We plan on getting a day early before our cruise and watch the ships do their sailaway at happy hour.