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Late Boarding


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I'd love to hear from people who tested this rule and won or lost.

Without testing the limits myself, my understanding is.... yes.  The final manifest has to be submitted to the government in order for the ship to receive clearance to leave.  The manifest must be precise.  

I've read accounts from people accusing foul play when they showed up late and were "rudely refused boarding despite paying $$$$$$ for a cruise they saved up for X years... "

However that was likely a suspect review from a disgruntled guest who probably didn't post the truth so it's hard to discern if that is reliable data or not and the exact timing involved.

It's something I never will attempt to test.  Since I fly in, I almost always fly in the day before to avoid testing the results of showing up 'late'.  The only time i don't fly in the day before is when I have used Air2Sea for my flights.

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When I sailed on the Disney Magic, I was probably one of the last to board.  I came from a church service in Jacksonville that ended at 12:30PM.  I made it to Canaveral just a little bit before the boarding ended. But the departure time was at 5:00PM.

RCL ships leave at 4PM so with the average drive time from Jacksonville, I’ll arrive at Canaveral about 45 minutes before sail off.  I don’t think they’ll let me board.

What do you think?

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6 hours ago, RatedPG said:

When I sailed on the Disney Magic, I was probably one of the last to board.  I came from a church service in Jacksonville that ended at 12:30PM.  I made it to Canaveral just a little bit before the boarding ended. But the departure time was at 5:00PM.

RCL ships leave at 4PM so with the average drive time from Jacksonville, I’ll arrive at Canaveral about 45 minutes before sail off.  I don’t think they’ll let me board.

What do you think?

Nope! If you aren't here for safety drills, I can't see them letting you onboard.

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8 hours ago, RatedPG said:

When I sailed on the Disney Magic, I was probably one of the last to board.  I came from a church service in Jacksonville that ended at 12:30PM.  I made it to Canaveral just a little bit before the boarding ended. But the departure time was at 5:00PM.

RCL ships leave at 4PM so with the average drive time from Jacksonville, I’ll arrive at Canaveral about 45 minutes before sail off.  I don’t think they’ll let me board.

What do you think?

Wow! You like to live the life of adventure.   A little traffic or a problem like a flat tire and you could have been out of luck.

Even though I fly in early I often fly to Orlando for cruises that leave out of South Florida.  I always leave around 6AM to make the 3 - 3-1/2 hour drive, leaving plenty of room for error. Of course, I'm of the Matt school of thought on getting to the pier as early as possible.  

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9 minutes ago, WhiteSoxFan said:

Wow! You like to live the life of adventure.   A little traffic or a problem like a flat tire and you could have been out of luck.

 

 

I admit that it added some sense of thrill to the cruise experience.  

I did not want to miss the church service and I kept on telling myself that if I missed the boat I was willing to bear the consequences.

Here are some more details:

I parked my van by the church's side exit facing outwards so I can drive off as soon as the final "Amen" was said.  Funny thing is that on my way out, somebody asked me to join them for prayer.  I had an energy bar for lunch in the van.  Disney announces the names of people coming on board so being one of the last ones to board, I can see all those people with puzzled looks at this guy in church attire.  They must have been thinking, "Formal Night comes early on this cruise". LOL

000 Energy Bar.jpg

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A few years ago we took a RCCL-affiliated bus from DC to Bayonne.  There were stops in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Dover.  We arrived when they were doing the life boat drill. It was a nightmare trip -pouring rain the whole way.  I don’t think the ship would have left without us as it was all arranged through RC but it was a long day and ensuing cruise was the one where Explorer (repositioning from Bayonne to FL) sailed right into a nor’easter, lost 2 lifeboats, flooded one of the aft elevator shafts and knocked out sliding glass doors on deck 5. 

However, if you are not on RCCL-sanctioned transportation I am certain they would not wait.

We are being delayed out of Baltimore today (departing 5PM vs 4PM) due to traffic associated with Fleet Week. We are in an aft JS and have a perfect view of the ongoing air show. Dan is in pilot geek heaven. Too bad the weather is so crappy (low cloud cover) but a low show is better than no show.

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