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Boarding Delay


Johnstewarth

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We are sailing on Rhapsody of the Seas, leaving this Saturday. We had indicated in our online check-in that we planned to board between 12:00-12:30. Based on suggestions I've read here, we had planned to arrive about 10:30 in hope of boarding earlier. This week, we received an email from RC stating that our check in is now an hour later--1:00-1:30--due to a routine Coast Guard inspection.

Does it still make sense to arrive early--say 11:30 or 12:00 noon--to get a jump on the checking in process in hopes of being some of the first to board the ship? Are the inspections sometimes completed early, in which case boarding begins sooner?

Thanks for any advice!

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I sailed Serenade's first sailing after her transatlantic in September, meaning they day I boarded was the ship's first arrival in an American port in months. Because of this, There were a number of inspections going on, including coast guard.

We were not delayed at all in boarding, and boarded around 11AM. The inspections seemed to be being performed amidst the guests -- I think most things that they are inspecting aren't in guest areas anyway. 

I wouldn't change your arrival plans, I think it's likely you'll be allowed to board while inspections are ongoing. 

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I think that's what's going on with Rhapsody as well. She's arriving from a repositioning cruise from Barcelona.

We are so excited about this cruise we can't stand it! We first sailed on RCL in November 2017 (Empress of the Seas to Cuba), and loved it. Earlier this year we sailed on a Disney cruise and really didn't enjoy it nearly as much, though it was more than 2-3X the price. So being back with RCL this week is awesome, and we already booked another 3 night cruise on Mariner in January.

Thanks for your perspective!

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