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Are check-in times still being enforced?


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For us in Miami a couple weeks ago.  We had a 1pm check in time but our flight arrived at 9:30am, we decided we would drop our bags with the porter and then leave again.  Before leaving decided to verify that we couldn't check in yet (about 10:45am) and the guy looked at us like were crazy for considering leaving and coming back so we checked in then.  It does make sense though, why would you want people waiting around for their check in time when you could just check them in as they show up.

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Seems to vary somewhat by port and timing. I've done three cruises since restart. The first (Tampa) they were pretty strenuously enforcing check-in times. The second (Galveston) they had separate lines for each time but, once the 11:00 line was through, the let the 11:30 line go and so on. So most people were able to actually get through the line and board earlier than their check in time. My last cruise a few weeks ago (Canaveral) they made announcements about only coming to the line if you were in a certain time group. but it didn't seem to be strenuously enforced. But your mileage may vary. 

The intent of enforcing the check-in times was to limit the number of people in close contact inside the port building at any one time so, barring another major COVID surge (fingers crossed), my hunch is you'll see enforcement of times be less strict just like them relaxing other protocols. But unless Royal says something official, plan on being there for your check-in time. 

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Port Canaveral has barely enforced the check-in times. Yes, they will have lines that say 11am, 1:30am, 12pm etc. but if they are moving along, they will let anyone in. I think pretty soon it will be if you show up, you can board across most ports. Which sucks because if I have a 10:30/11am time I should be able to board without people who have a 1pm check-in time making the lines longer. 

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They didn't enforce it at Cape Liberty for Oasis last Sunday, and I was bit pissed off about it.  We had a 10:30 check-in time, got there at 10:40, and the line was insane.  We had our fully vaxxed children with us but still had to wait in the long line of people who had vaxxed and unvaxxed children while people without children were in a separate line.  It didn't matter what anyone's check-in time was; I was told there were people there at 9:30 to board, even though the earliest boarding time was 10:30.  And there were many people who had later boarding times waiting on the 10:30 line.  In the long run, it was a very minor issue, but when they stress that you must not get there earlier than your check-in time, it was annoying.

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1 hour ago, Kirsten said:

They didn't enforce it at Cape Liberty for Oasis last Sunday, and I was bit pissed off about it.  We had a 10:30 check-in time, got there at 10:40, and the line was insane.  We had our fully vaxxed children with us but still had to wait in the long line of people who had vaxxed and unvaxxed children while people without children were in a separate line.  It didn't matter what anyone's check-in time was; I was told there were people there at 9:30 to board, even though the earliest boarding time was 10:30.  And there were many people who had later boarding times waiting on the 10:30 line.  In the long run, it was a very minor issue, but when they stress that you must not get there earlier than your check-in time, it was annoying.

I’m surprised. I’ve done quite a few cruises since Sept and “bullhorn man” and his cohort ensure only announced times can enter. Maybe they had a day off. 

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While I'm not in favor of enforced boarding times, I do believe that, as stated, depending on the day of the week, port, ship, who got a wedgie that day, and so on, your boarding time may or may not be enforced.  It's like most service/hospitality industry rules, and/or procedures, they become suggestions because of all the squeaky wheels and the industry is afraid to piss ANYONE off.  Well, except for those of us that follow the rules even if we don't like them.  

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2 hours ago, Kirsten said:

They didn't enforce it at Cape Liberty for Oasis last Sunday, and I was bit pissed off about it.  We had a 10:30 check-in time, got there at 10:40, and the line was insane.  We had our fully vaxxed children with us but still had to wait in the long line of people who had vaxxed and unvaxxed children while people without children were in a separate line.  It didn't matter what anyone's check-in time was; I was told there were people there at 9:30 to board, even though the earliest boarding time was 10:30.  And there were many people who had later boarding times waiting on the 10:30 line.  In the long run, it was a very minor issue, but when they stress that you must not get there earlier than your check-in time, it was annoying.

Thats frustrating. You go through the trouble of uploading kids vaccination records etc and it seems like it doesn't move things along qt all.

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45 minutes ago, 10-42 said:

While I'm not in favor of enforced boarding times, I do believe that, as stated, depending on the day of the week, port, ship, who got a wedgie that day, and so on, your boarding time may or may not be enforced.  It's like most service/hospitality industry rules, and/or procedures, they become suggestions because of all the squeaky wheels and the industry is afraid to piss ANYONE off.  Well, except for those of us that follow the rules even if we don't like them.  

thats annoying. looks like i am going to have fun tomorrow boarding the adventure

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8 minutes ago, shof515 said:

thats annoying. looks like i am going to have fun tomorrow boarding the adventure

I believe that it is annoying when a policy is obfuscated with this, that, or the other thing.  A policy should be treated as a policy, not a suggestion.  I'm a "Black and White" kind of guy. I don't see too much gray in my life.  

I've never boarded a ship that enforced boarding times.  I've never had a problem with it.  My last cruise which was just this past May 13th on the Ovation, I was Star Class and we avoided all the lines and was escorted in through the VIP entrance(s).  That's not to brag or make myself feel better about myself.  But, I did see the inside of the terminal and even with boarding times, people congregated both outside in the line up to get into the terminal and inside the terminal.  The only social distancing I saw was by accident, when the line moved forward but someone didn't notice right away then had to move quickly to catch up.  So, my belief, the best of intentions haven't produced any verifiable beneficial results.  Just confusion!

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1 hour ago, 10-42 said:

I believe that it is annoying when a policy is obfuscated with this, that, or the other thing.  A policy should be treated as a policy, not a suggestion.  I'm a "Black and White" kind of guy. I don't see too much gray in my life.  

I've never boarded a ship that enforced boarding times.  I've never had a problem with it.  My last cruise which was just this past May 13th on the Ovation, I was Star Class and we avoided all the lines and was escorted in through the VIP entrance(s).  That's not to brag or make myself feel better about myself.  But, I did see the inside of the terminal and even with boarding times, people congregated both outside in the line up to get into the terminal and inside the terminal.  The only social distancing I saw was by accident, when the line moved forward but someone didn't notice right away then had to move quickly to catch up.  So, my belief, the best of intentions haven't produced any verifiable beneficial results.  Just confusion!

Pre-pandemic, I couldn't care less about boarding times.  If people got there early, good for them and let them on.  However, this time I was given several reminders about arriving no earlier than my boarding time, and that I wouldn't be let on if I arrived  earlier.  I felt like I was being punished for having children; bullhorn man was telling families without children to go on a separate, much shorter line and we had to wait on the "people with children" line.  Both of my children are fully vaccinated; we had their vaxx cards as well as their negative test results, plus we were sky class (I don't know if that makes a difference, but it didn't to the staff at Cape Liberty), but we still had to wait.

Anyway, it ended up being a minor annoyance, but I wanted to get on the ship ASAP since you can't start booking shows and events until you are officially on the ship. I just know for my next cruise not to expect a supereasy check in due to me bringing my offspring.

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11 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Pre-pandemic, I couldn't care less about boarding times.  If people got there early, good for them and let them on.  However, this time I was given several reminders about arriving no earlier than my boarding time, and that I wouldn't be let on if I arrived  earlier.  I felt like I was being punished for having children; bullhorn man was telling families without children to go on a separate, much shorter line and we had to wait on the "people with children" line.  Both of my children are fully vaccinated; we had their vaxx cards as well as their negative test results, plus we were sky class (I don't know if that makes a difference, but it didn't to the staff at Cape Liberty), but we still had to wait.

Anyway, it ended up being a minor annoyance, but I wanted to get on the ship ASAP since you can't start booking shows and events until you are officially on the ship. I just know for my next cruise not to expect a supereasy check in due to me bringing my offspring.

I don't blame ANYBODY for wanting to get on early/as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, Sky Class really doesn't make a difference as far as terminal processing is concerned unless you have The Key, as well.  I feel for you though.  It must have been very frustrating.  It is also a Royal shortfall, there shouldn't be any discrimination because of family status.  

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30 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Pre-pandemic, I couldn't care less about boarding times.  If people got there early, good for them and let them on.  However, this time I was given several reminders about arriving no earlier than my boarding time, and that I wouldn't be let on if I arrived  earlier.  I felt like I was being punished for having children; bullhorn man was telling families without children to go on a separate, much shorter line and we had to wait on the "people with children" line.  Both of my children are fully vaccinated; we had their vaxx cards as well as their negative test results, plus we were sky class (I don't know if that makes a difference, but it didn't to the staff at Cape Liberty), but we still had to wait.

Anyway, it ended up being a minor annoyance, but I wanted to get on the ship ASAP since you can't start booking shows and events until you are officially on the ship. I just know for my next cruise not to expect a supereasy check in due to me bringing my offspring.

In that case bullhorn man assumed your kids were not vaxxed, his mistake.  Now you know vaxxed kids go to the same line as you would.  Just keep moving along on that line and tell smarty pants your kids are vaccinated. Also Sky class and Star class go before the first boarding time.  I can’t imagine why he sent you to the line with kids, unless you had a stroller, they tend to “exit right”…wherever that goes….

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17 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

In that case bullhorn man assumed your kids were not vaxxed, his mistake.  Now you know vaxxed kids go to the same line as you would.  Just keep moving along on that line and tell smarty pants your kids are vaccinated. Also Sky class and Star class go before the first boarding time.  I can’t imagine why he sent you to the line with kids, unless you had a stroller, they tend to “exit right”…wherever that goes….

Star Class goes through/enters the terminal at whatever time you and the Genie sets up.  It's based upon your desires and the availability of the Genie.  Sky Class CAN process in as early as 11:00 AM.  As usual, exceptions can apply.

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41 minutes ago, 10-42 said:

I don't blame ANYBODY for wanting to get on early/as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, Sky Class really doesn't make a difference as far as terminal processing is concerned unless you have The Key, as well.  I feel for you though.  It must have been very frustrating.  It is also a Royal shortfall, there shouldn't be any discrimination because of family status.  

It does make a difference at Cape Liberty, Star and Sky class are called first, and then those who have the Key. 

 

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13 minutes ago, Pattycruise said:

It does make a difference at Cape Liberty, Star and Sky class are called first, and then those who have the Key. 

 

Unless things have changed, when we took the Anthem out of Liberty, just as the pandemic was kicking in, Star was not called, the Genie came to the entrance, after we texted him to let him know that we were there and we met him at the purple Star banner at the entrance to the terminal and he ecorted us to our suite.  

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8 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

In that case bullhorn man assumed your kids were not vaxxed, his mistake.  Now you know vaxxed kids go to the same line as you would.  Just keep moving along on that line and tell smarty pants your kids are vaccinated. Also Sky class and Star class go before the first boarding time.  I can’t imagine why he sent you to the line with kids, unless you had a stroller, they tend to “exit right”…wherever that goes….

We told him they were vaxxed and it didn't matter.  All families with children under 12 had to wait on one line to get into the terminal, regardless of vaxx status, and everyone else got on the other line.  Sky, Sea, and Star class did not matter either. 

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15 hours ago, Kirsten said:

We had our fully vaxxed children with us but still had to wait in the long line of people who had vaxxed and unvaxxed children while people without children were in a separate line. 

This a giant pet peeve of mine. It happens all the time and it's incredibly dumb. 

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12 hours ago, 10-42 said:

Unless things have changed, when we took the Anthem out of Liberty, just as the pandemic was kicking in, Star was not called, the Genie came to the entrance, after we texted him to let him know that we were there and we met him at the purple Star banner at the entrance to the terminal and he ecorted us to our suite.  

You know, when I'm wrong, I'm wrong and I don't have a problem admitting it, I'm human and make mistakes.  As much as I hate to admit it, in this case, isn't that I was wrong, and I was, but my wife and I talked about this last night and she informed me that the cruise I was talking about was the Symphony out of Miami, not the Anthem out of Liberty.  Although we did cruise out of Liberty on the Anthem but not Star Class.  What I hate to admit to is the "Senior moment" that I experienced while engaged in that conversation.  So, to be honest and to do a mea culpa I was wrong to invoke Anthem and Liberty in that conversation.  Please accept my apology for this error.

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We found it fairly loose, since the restart we've sailed out of Nassau, Galveston and Los Angeles. Like most here, were planners so we arrived about 30 minutes early factoring in potential delays that didn't happen and there was no delay in boarding. We traveled with family who had different check in times and still we all boarded together. Keep in mind these times were all within 30 minutes of each other so it was not a significant variance from our time of arrival. I think some had 11 and some had 1130 and we arrived about 11 so they let us all on together. One other caveat, those three cruises varied between 25% and 65% capacity so there were really no lines, those days are clearly behind us.

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