Check in time -is earlier better?

[Suzanne Elise]

So after reading how crowded the buffet is on embarkation day we moved our check in time to later and will just go out for an extra lunch in Galveston.

Is there a reason that having a later check in time is bad?

One of the videos seemed to suggest earlier is better.

Our hotel is close and we have a rental car.

Thanks! We cruise MONDAY!

[bluer101]

We like the earliest possible as it gives us more time on ship. 

[Pattycruise]

Now that booking entertainment on the larger ships can be done online it takes that need to be onboard “first” out.

however, if you have dining packages that need to be booked you might run out of times you are interested in.

additionally if there is an issue with your dining, you’d want to get to the main dining room to fix it ASAP.  Ex. My mother-in-law and I had linked reservations but they had put us at different tables.  So we went to the MDR to-get it fixed.   You can see your dining room/table/time in the app under your “person” once you connect to ship WiFi. The good news is typically 1/2 the sailing is new people, so they won’t know to look at their seating time/table so you’ll be a step ahead. 
don’t forget to go to the muster station, after you play your 2 safety videos, and scan in

[Xaa]

I would have stayed earlier.  For the reasons stated above and just to simply get my vacation started earlier.  If you are willing to pay for lunch, you could do the same at a specialty restaurant onboard.  Otherwise, you can avoid the buffet by choosing one of the free options onboard like Solarium Bistro or Park Cafe etc.

Have a great trip!

[ScottD]

I would definitely do earlier....even if you don't want to do buffet for lunch, you can grab something at the other spots offering free food....or do what we are going to, and go to somewhere like Playmakers, where you pay a very small amount for what appears to be pretty good sized portions of bar food. PLUS all the extra time you have to explore and check out the pools and other areas of the ship

[FionaMG]

We often choose a later boarding time because it means we don't have to get up early and rush to get to the ship. Our overnight(s) pre-cruise are part of our holiday and we want to enjoy those too.

When you board later, depending on the time you set foot on the ship, your stateroom may already be open so you can go straight there and dump your carry-ons rather than having to drag them around the ship with you. Also the early boarders will mostly have finished their lunch by then and will be heading off to find their cabins, freeing up space in the dining venues.

Another good option is to book a boarding day lunch at one of the speciality dining venues. They are about half the price of dinner at the same venues and the menus are almost the same. We did this on our last cruise and found it to be a great experience to start our cruise.

[Suzanne Elise]

16 hours ago, ScottD said:

I would definitely do earlier....even if you don't want to do buffet for lunch, you can grab something at the other spots offering free food....or do what we are going to, and go to somewhere like Playmakers, where you pay a very small amount for what appears to be pretty good sized portions of bar food. PLUS all the extra time you have to explore and check out the pools and other areas of the ship

Thanks Scott, I was wondering if the bars served food. I've seen it mentioned for the bigger newer ships but not for Adventure.

Who knows maybe we will change our time again, but since we have a hotel and a rental car I'm still thinking we are probably good with the later check in. It's just a 5 night cruise with 24 hours in port, we don't really have any specialty dining plans. I was on a celebrity cruise 18 years ago in south america and I just cant remember enbarkation at all.