Norbert

Do you have to board the ship at your pre-arranged boarding time by deck level? This gives others more time for lunch, etc before cruise departure time. What happens if my deck boards at 1:00 and I show up at noon? Thank you for any advice.

doug_stallings

If you show up early, you may or may not get on early depending on how quickly boarding is progressing.

chepar

I have sailed on Celebrity the last 3 or 4 cruises I've taken and I wasn't even aware that they assigned boarding times based on your cabin deck level. Guess that shows how much attention I pay to my paperwork.

I always show up pretty early - between 10:30 and 11:00 and usually I am on board fairly quickly. I like to get on board early to walk around and take pictures of the empty public spaces.

This past January in Ft. Lauderdale was the slowest it's taken me, but that was probably because of the amount of time it took for customs/immigration to process the passengers getting off the ship (which we experienced ourselves at the end of our cruise). The terminal was closed to arriving passengers so everyone had to wait outside. Once the doors opened a large line formed to get through security and it was slow going. Even with that, I estimate we were on board within an hour or so after arriving at the terminal.

The quickest I've ever had was boarding in Harwich for a Baltic cruise - we breezed through and were on board in maybe 10 minutes.

doug_stallings

Actually chepar makes a good point. It depends a lot on where you're boarding. Which port is this?

Norbert

We are sailing out of Seattle for an Alaska cruise. Also is Global Entry good when disembarking back in Seattle?

chepar

I sailed on the Solstice out of Seattle a couple of years ago. We arrived (as usual) between 10:30 and 11:00. We were probably on board within 20-30 minutes.

If I had not been traveling with a my extended immediate family I could have been on board faster (waiting for other family members to finish checking in, photos, etc.)

However, the crowds do increase the later in the day it gets. By the time noon rolls around, there are significantly more people on the ship and trying to board than earlier in the day.

If you do board early, remember that your cabins won't be ready until around 1:30 or so - so anything you have with you, you'll be schlepping around until you can go to your cabin. I always just carry my day bag and have my carryon delivered with my suitcase to my cabin.

Dukey1

The cruise line says you must be ON BOARD two hours prior to the published departure time. It also warns people not to arrive too early because they may have to wait to physically check in, get their pictures taken, etc. You do NOT board by "deck level." What WILL happen is the physical check in process is divided between suites and non-suites often times.