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Check-In Experiences - UPDATED 05/11


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Tomorrow is officially CHECK IN day!

Here are a few questions that may have been asked and answered in other posts, but I am not only seeking answers, I am also seeking experiences and opinions thereto:

1. Is check in at midnight?  We live in Pacific Standard time zone.  Does that mean check in is at 9:00 om here because it is midnight on the east coast?  Or is it based upon the cruise destination time?  Alaska is one hour behind (Alaska Time) us.  Would check in be at 1:00 am our time then?  Are you confused yet?

ANSWER: Check-in time IS based upon the time zone for embarkation port city of your cruise. Thank you @HeWhoWaitsand @Ampurp85

2. Does checking in as soon as you can make that much of a difference than checking in later in the same day?  We want to board early so to avoid buying lunch in Seattle on embarkation day.  

ANSWER: Kind of...I checked in at 12:05 am on check in day and snatched up the 11:00am slot.  At 10:00 am this morning, the 11:00am slot was gone.  

UPDATED ANSWER: Three days into checking in and 12 noon slots are still open.

3. Check in on App v. website?  Pros v. cons?  Thoughts?

ANSWER: App!  I went online to the website and it directed me to install the App.  The App had options to skip straight to "Check-in" and upload documents later. 

UPDATED ANSWER: UPLOADING documents was a breeze and pain free.  I suggest that you make stacks of each member's passport, vaccine, and booster cards, and a form of payment for onboard charges.  Go through each stack for each member.  Take a nice selfie.  It took no more than 15 minutes to check in my family of four.  I will update as to when Vaccine info is accepted in order to give you guys an idea of the time it takes.

4. how does checking in affect pending royal up offers, it at all?

UPDATED ADDITIONAL QUESTION AND ANSWER:

5. Is ArriveCan registration necessary to sail to Alaska even if you DO NOT get off of the ship in Canada?

ANSWER: Yes.  As long as your Alaskan cruise ship is in Canadian navigable waters, all passengers on the ship must have registered with ArriveCan prior to boarding.  Thanks to @10-42for the info...Port info on ArriveCAN is Ogden.

6. How long does it take for RCCL to validate Vaccination records?

ANSWER: It took 16 days for ours to be validated.

7. How long does it take for room assignments?

ANSWER: We got our room assignment and updated SeaPass Cards yesterday, the 30 before cruise mark!

Thanks in advance to all of you wonderful members who have helped us through these past 100 or so days!!!

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1. Check in opens at midnight in the time zone of the departure port.

2. Earlier check in ensures availability of all the potential boarding time slots. Later the same day may or may not have the earliest slots available. 

3. You can start with as little as selecting the time slot if you use the app then go back later and add the details. More information is required up front if checking in on the website.

4. Checking in has no impact on pending Royal Up offers.

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1 hour ago, HeWhoWaits said:

2. Earlier check in ensures availability of all the potential boarding time slots. Later the same day may or may not have the earliest slots available. 

3. You can start with as little as selecting the time slot if you use the app then go back later and add the details. More information is required up front if checking in on the website.

Hoping to read comments as to when they checked in and what boarding time they got relative to when they checked in.  For example, Sally checked in at midnight and got the 11 am boarding time; whereas, Sully, her brother, checked in at 7 am and got a 2pm boarding time.

Is the App easier than the website?

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I think it's much easier to check in on the website because you (or at least I) can type all that information faster. But I really don't think there's a need to check in as soon as it opens (especially if it's not time zone friendly to your location) vs. waiting until the next morning.  My last two cruises plus one I just checked in for I waited until the next morning and still got the 11am slot

Checking in has no impact on Royal Up. The Royal Up system has no insight into the check in status of your reservation.

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7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I think it's much easier to check in on the website because you (or at least I) can type all that information faster.

That is a good point.  Any uploading issues that you know of using the website?  I keep reading of tales where a certain document won't load, etc.

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6 minutes ago, CruisingNewb said:

That is a good point.  Any uploading issues that you know of using the website?  I keep reading of tales where a certain document won't load, etc.

One thing I've noticed is that I get an error message every time I upload a photo of a passenger. Then I just try again with the same photo and it takes it.

The vax card upload is only available on the app but that's not a big deal since that can be done later anyway.

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11 minutes ago, Pooch said:

You cannot go directly to arrival time on the website, only on the app.  If you want to check in as early as possible for arrival time, I would use the app, ONLY selecting arrival time for all passengers, close it, go to bed.  Enter the rest when convenient.

There you go! Thank you SO MUCH for that info!  App it is!

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27 minutes ago, Pooch said:

You cannot go directly to arrival time on the website, only on the app.  If you want to check in as early as possible for arrival time, I would use the app, ONLY selecting arrival time for all passengers, close it, go to bed.  Enter the rest when convenient.

I did not know you can do just arrival time on the app. Good info. 

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4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I did not know you can do just arrival time on the app. Good info. 

The app lets you select each section separately and in any order.  So go to check in and immediately click on arrival time and pick your desired time (have to do each passenger separately but it’s quick).  

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6 hours ago, MrHaga said:

Newbie here....

What do you mean by arrival time? Do they set your boarding time slots based on arrival time? How does this work.....

Thanks

In this context, "arrival time" and "boarding time slot" are the same thing. Different posters use different terminology but we're all talking about when you can board the ship.

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I checked in starting at Midnight and got an 11am Check-In Slot for all the people in my party, which seemed to be the earliest spot. Did everything on the App and it was very smooth. Got my documents uploaded (Passport and Vaccine Cards) with zero issues. Will go back in later and add the selfie photos.

Note: It was a couple minutes after midnight until it let me in. Just kept refreshing the App.

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Check-in could open at 5pm, 9pm and after midnight. No standard across the board time, as it has to do with the port you sail out of and how that coincides with your local time. I have checked in at 8pm, 10pm and midnight as I live in Chicago. It is a learning experience.

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  • CruisingNewb changed the title to Check-In Experiences - UPDATED

I note you say you checked later that day and the 11am check in was gone.  For those who do not get the time period they want they should continue to check the app periodically (or religiously if  you have the time).  I had an 11:30 on a check in (did not realize the check in had opened 45 days ahead-what was I thinking?!) and I checked back recently and found an 11:00am check in.  

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1 hour ago, Pattycruise said:

I note you say you checked later that day and the 11am check in was gone.  For those who do not get the time period they want they should continue to check the app periodically (or religiously if  you have the time).  I had an 11:30 on a check in (did not realize the check in had opened 45 days ahead-what was I thinking?!) and I checked back recently and found an 11:00am check in.  

That’s good advice!

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On 4/25/2022 at 11:33 AM, smokeybandit said:

One thing I've noticed is that I get an error message every time I upload a photo of a passenger. Then I just try again with the same photo and it takes it.

The vax card upload is only available on the app but that's not a big deal since that can be done later anyway.

Where is that in the app? I’ve been trying to find it.. 

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It’s under the check in link.  There are 4 sections to complete check in (I’m not eligible for any check ins right now so not sure of the exact wording):

1. First section is where you enter your passport, CC, upload a picture if you wish.

2. Next section is for uploading a picture of your vax card.

3.  The all important arrival time section.  You can go right here as soon as check in opens and get an early arrival time then complete 1 & 2 later.

4. Health questionnaire which doesn’t open until the day before you sail.

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1 hour ago, RickinSTL said:

Where is that in the app? I’ve been trying to find it.. 

If you click on check in on the homepage of the app , one of two things will happen
1. you are not yet eligible to check in you will get a message to check close to sailing. To see when your check in will open click on the little "person" at the top of the app (to the right of the calendar)  There you will see your sailing date/Deck Stateroom etc and a box that let's you know when your check in will open.
2. It will open and you can select to enter your
Travel Info
Arrival Time (this is the time you will be at the pier to do your check in)
Vaccination 
Health and Safety-which will open about noon the day before your sailing

You can always click on Arrival time within the Check In on the app to see what is available and update it as you please, it does not erase your previous choice.




 

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Thanks for all the information I have been reading on this thread.  VERY HELPFUL.

Here is a new question that I have not seen the answer for:

I am traveling with 2 other families (all extended family members).  We have all linked our reservations together (3 reservations - 6 people).  Can I check in everyone or just my husband, who is on my reservation?

 

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1 hour ago, FireFishII said:

Thanks for all the information I have been reading on this thread.  VERY HELPFUL.

Here is a new question that I have not seen the answer for:

I am traveling with 2 other families (all extended family members).  We have all linked our reservations together (3 reservations - 6 people).  Can I check in everyone or just my husband, who is on my reservation?

 

If the reservations are linked, yes, you can check everyone in. You can get everyone a good check-in time and then input passport, vax, etc later. 

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  • CruisingNewb changed the title to Check-In Experiences - UPDATED 04/29
On 4/26/2022 at 10:30 AM, MrHaga said:

I ordered cruise for me, girlfriend, and our 2 kids.....Do I checkin for all of us in one app, or do i need to download apps on their phones aswell and do the checkin their phones aswell?

If you set up the cruise, the reservation number that you enter into the app will automatically populate all travelling members that you booked for.

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1 hour ago, HeWhoWaits said:

But not at midnight like the opening of check-in. Look for them the afternoon of 30 days to boarding.

And your docs may be ready prior to you getting the email with them, which can come a couple days into that 30 day window. But you can download them from your account the same area you'd see your SetSail pass.

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20 hours ago, Harbuddies said:

can anyone tell me how long after you check in on the app does it take to receive the e-docs? I checked in last Tuesday and have seen nothing as of yet and we are paid in full.

 

thanks for the help:)

What is your destination?  Are we on the same cruise?  I checked in last Tuesday.  No docs yet but I am checking daily and update this thread as soon as things in the check in process occur.  I will let you know when our docs are ready if you are still waiting and haven't gotten yours at that time.

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On 4/28/2022 at 3:53 PM, Ampurp85 said:

If the reservations are linked, yes, you can check everyone in. You can get everyone a good check-in time and then input passport, vax, etc later. 

And you can check in multiple linked reservations on either/both the App and the Website??

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