Earliest check-in??

[Kellyrich]

Our check in window opened at midnight, I was on my phone ready and got the 11:00 spot, which I'm assuming is the earliest.  Would you arrive earlier than that or do they not really start letting people on the ship until 11:00?

[Peter D]

I think it all depends on when they fully clear the ship from the previous sailing.  I suspect you have the earliest advertised check in time, but that's not to say your 11am time could not start early, if the ship is ready to start.

[smokeybandit]

11am check-in doesn't mean you get on the ship at 11am. It may be noon before you actually board

[LovetoCruise87]

11:00am just means that you will begin the check-in process around 11:00. It takes time to get the entire process started. Like smokeybandit stated, it could be noon before you are actually on the ship

[recogneyes]

Keep checking your app - we had 11:00am boarding and closer to sail date 10:30am was available so we changed to that.  Every half hour is one step closer to actually getting on the ship.  

[Johnstewarth]

We scored a 10:30 boarding time on Quantum in June.  We were originally scheduled at 11:00, but then 10:30 opened up.

 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

My brother and SIL boarded Adventure yesterday.  They had the earliest boarding time of 11am.  They arrived at the port shortly after 10:30...said it was a bit hectic but were on board and taking pictures by 11:10am!  Every port...every embarkation is different.  Just never know.

[CJS2766]

I got a 10:30 for our Alaska cruise next Friday 

 

[Kellyrich]

Thanks everyone!  I'll keep checking and arrive a little early "just in case"!

[LovetoCruise87]

14 minutes ago, Kellyrich said:

Thanks everyone!  I'll keep checking and arrive a little early "just in case"!

Never hurts to arrive a little early. Have a great cruise!

[CrznTxn]

With more people on the ships they have started opening up earlier check-in times. We saw a 10:30 slot on our June cruise check-in and snagged it. The wife went back and checked our May cruise on a whim where we had an 11:00 time slot as the earliest but it now showed 10:30. She snagged it and now we can start enjoying our vacation a little earlier. It is the little things in life that give us the greatest pleasure.

[SPS]

2 hours ago, Kellyrich said:

Our check in window opened at midnight, I was on my phone ready and got the 11:00 spot, which I'm assuming is the earliest.  Would you arrive earlier than that or do they not really start letting people on the ship until 11:00?

FYI: This might be the earliest check-in time available RIGHT NOW. When I checked us in on the app just after midnight for our Odyssey cruise, noon was the earliest time available. A few days later, 11:00 became available on the app. (Good news is you can update to another time!)

I had thought for sure we would be in the earliest group to board. To my surprise, other passengers had 10:00 & 10:30 check-in times when we arrived on embarkation day!

[Levi is good]

Does check-in open at midnight in the time zone of the departure port, or some other standard?

Thanks  

[HeWhoWaits]

2 hours ago, CJS2766 said:

I got a 10:30 for our Alaska cruise next Friday 

 

I keep checking but 11:00 remains the earliest available to us.

[CJS2766]

18 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

I keep checking but 11:00 remains the earliest available to us.

Are you checking on the app? When I checked yesterday, I was able to move my time up to 10:30 on the app and printed out my updated sail pass.

[OCSC Mike]

17 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

I keep checking but 11:00 remains the earliest available to us.

It likely varies by port/ship. 11am was the earliest for my Harmony 5/29 when I checked in but a few days later 10:30am popped up.

[HeWhoWaits]

30 minutes ago, CJS2766 said:

Are you checking on the app? When I checked yesterday, I was able to move my time up to 10:30 on the app and printed out my updated sail pass.

Checking on the app and online. Still haven't seen earlier than 11:00.

[CruisingNewb]

7 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Checking on the app and online. Still haven't seen earlier than 11:00.

Same.

[luiiismdo]

3 hours ago, CruisingNewb said:

Same.

just keep checking. i have an upcoming sailing on symphony may 28. 45 days out checkin opened but boarding times did not. 34 days before sailing boarding times opened up & like yourself 11am was the earliest. Just last week, 21 days before sail date10:30 am opened up.

i think it has to do with capacity & the more that we get back to pre-covid sailing numbers of passengers, they'll open more time slots as they've had success with the timed boarding

[MZ1]

Got 11am 45 days out.  38 days out we got 1030am for Symphony in June.  

[Ampurp85]

10 hours ago, Levi is good said:

Does check-in open at midnight in the time zone of the departure port, or some other standard?

Thanks  

Around midnight in the time zone of the port of departure. Not always exactly but usually within a few minutes.

[SpeedNoodles]

11 hours ago, Kellyrich said:

Thanks everyone!  I'll keep checking and arrive a little early "just in case"!

This is one reason that check in in Seattle is an absolute cluster.  People aren't sticking to their check in times and just showing up "a little early just in case".

[rbdavis3591]

Saw that first hand today.

[Pattycruise]

12 hours ago, Kellyrich said:

Thanks everyone!  I'll keep checking and arrive a little early "just in case"!

Don’t bother being early At Bayonne, it won’t work.

[Al F]

If your sailing on the Ovation out of Seattle it doesn't matter what your checkin time is everyone shows up early and it's chaos. You won't see a RC employee anywhere outside amongst the sea of people. The ship doesn't leave port on time because it's so bad. 

[Pattycruise]

7 hours ago, Al F said:

If your sailing on the Ovation out of Seattle it doesn't matter what your checkin time is everyone shows up early and it's chaos. You won't see a RC employee anywhere outside amongst the sea of people. The ship doesn't leave port on time because it's so bad. 

You need to pay the guy from Bayonne to go to Seattle with his megaphone.....he'll get boarding done appropriately.
It doesn't help when in the FB groups people say to "show when you want".  It invites the chaos.
I've done a lot of sailings out of Bayonne and all my FB groups there are people saying "show when you want".....LOL  and I warn them it's not true.  I know not everyone is in the groups but I must say I appreciate my "megaphone man" and his cohort that check your set sail pass to ensure only those who can enter do and I equally enjoy those who are turned away.  Especially when they get on the line after he shouts his rules and they get to the front thinking they will get past the rules.  Nope, off the line for you!.  

[OCSC Mike]

Recent Harmony reports suggest Port Canaveral hasn't been enforcing the check-in times either. He needs to come down here too.

[smokeybandit]

They should make a rule that for every half hour prior to your assigned time that you try to check in you're prevented from sitting by the pool or ordering a drink for 1 hour.

[OCSC Mike]

22 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

They should make a rule that for every half hour prior to your assigned time that you try to check in you're prevented from sitting by the pool or ordering a drink for 1 hour.

I like it. We need penalties for those who don't go to muster too.

[FoxboroCruiser]

I know are all always anxious to board as soon as possible, but has anyone tried waiting until later to avoid the crowds?  Thinking for our next cruise, may be show up closer to the end of the embarkation times then the start… could be less stressful?

[smokeybandit]

I like to board as soon as possible if for no other reason that I have a hotel to check out of.  For those driving to the port it'd be a lot easier to come later.  For me, there's a lot of thumb twiddling waiting for my window

[OCSC Mike]

I drive to PC in about an hour but I'm not letting people who choose to not follow rules stop me from taking the earliest time I can get and arriving on time since that is my preference.

Anyone who would prefer to arrive later, by all means, do so. I don't find it stressful, just annoying.

[Ampurp85]

I have arrived later, when I can't fly in the day before and it is still a mess around 1pm. The great part is I can usually do muster and head straight to my cabin. I loathe people who don't do muster. All 5 of my last sailings with the new eMuster have had Captain announcements of 500+ pax who hadn't done it. They need to have their drink package on hold until they complete it.